The Guide Meridian/Cordata Neighborhood is an area of Bellingham that has experienced a great deal of change. Once a rural residential area, the neighborhood has transitioned to more commercial and industrial use during the last 10 years. Most of the change is taking place adjacent to Meridian Street, Bakerview Road (right) and Cordata Parkway. A noticeable increase in traffic congestion has taken place in this neighborhood along with the commercial expansion.

Housing in this neighborhood has transitioned from mostly single-family homes to apartments, condominiums and multiple-family residences. Many of the newer apartments and condominiums have been built by the Whatcom Community College campus. A variety of retirement housing is located in the Guide Meridian neighborhood too. Senior housing options range from houses to condos to assisted living facilities.

Yes it’s true, Bellingham has grown into a two bus station town.  With the opening of its new Cordata Bus Station last week the Whatcom Transit Authority (WTA) now has two bus stations.  The new Cordata Station will service the fast-growing Cordata neighborhood.  With the growth of Whatcom Community College and the area in general, it seems like a natural place for the extension of the bus system.  With lots of condos, apartments, and new homes in the area, the Cordata neighborhood is the fastest-growing Bellingham.  The Community Food Co-op has just opened their second store across the street from station, the Bellis Fair Mall is a few blocks away, as are lots of other shopping opportunities along the Guide Meridian.
According to recently released Federal Transit Administration statistics, ridership on Whatcom Transportation Authority buses has grown faster than in any other major U.S. city.
WTA is at the top of the list of the country’s 150 largest transit agencies. Those 150 agencies represent 97 percent of the nation’s transit ridership
Ridership increased 20.7 percent from July 2007 to June 2008, compared to the previous year. The 150 top agencies saw an increase of only 2.6 percent.
Can you say high gas prices. Also Western Washington University students have a new universal bus pass paid through student fees that went into effect nearly a year ago.
Increased service has helped as several new GO lines have buses running every 15 minutes.

Bellingham’s Community Food Co-op, our natural cooperative grocer is opening their new store on January 15. The ’second store’ will serve the north side of town, located in the fast growing Cordata neighborhood. It is conveniently located across the street from Bellingham’s new Cordata Bus Station and down the street from Whatcom Community College. It is not the prettiest building I have ever seen, but it is functional, within budget and green. The new store was built to meet the standards for LEED certification, a national rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Co-op began in 1970 in Fairhaven as a single 900-square-foot store with fewer than 10 items and has grown to a 12,000-member-strong natural grocery store chain of 2 stores. I first joined the co-op in it’s early days in the mid 70’s when you could work in the store for your membership and discount. I remember spending time in the old co-op (which was located in the Good Earth Building, in a space equivalent to it’s current produce department. where the Artwood Gallery is today), cutting weighing and packaging cheese and cleaning up the store.

The Co-op has a large selection of organic produce, meat and seafood, wine, an awesome deli with lots of delicious home made salads, an espresso bar, great house wares and fun stuff, bulk items, natural and organic grocery items, baked goods, dairy, supplements and wellness products. The Deli is one of my favorite lunch spots. They are big on supporting local suppliers and farmers and offer a wide array of local vegetables and fruits and many other locally produced items.