Join us for an engaging journey through the vibrant streets of the Lettered Streets Neighborhood, where history, community, urban planning, and housing innovation meet. The City of Bellingham Planning Staff leads tours.

Join us for the first installment of the 2025 Beyond the Front Door Speaker Series, featuring Michael Andersen from Sightline Institute. Andersen is the Director, of Cities & Towns at Sightline Institute. This engaging presentation will provide a comprehensive look at Portland’s fully funded Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) program.

Portland’s funded IZ program has broken new ground by offering meaningful financial support to developers, such as tax exemptions and fee waivers, ensuring affordability mandates are feasible and sustainable. Michael Anderson will explore:

• A policy overview of Portland’s funded IZ program.
• What fully funded IZ means and why it matters.
• Early successes, ongoing challenges, and opportunities for improvement.

How Portland’s experience can inform housing policies in other jurisdictions. Whether you’re a housing advocate, policymaker, or simply curious about innovative solutions to the housing crisis, this session is not to be missed. Learn from one of the leading voices in housing policy and gain actionable insights for your community. Register now to secure your spot and be part of this important conversation.

The Beyond the Front Door Housing Education Series takes you into your community through events, public engagement opportunities and speakers on key housing topics, built to keep you engaged, educated, and mobilized!

This annual week of events in October builds awareness and support for innovative housing solutions that educate, engage, and empower housing stakeholders across Whatcom County. Past events include “Parking Reform for Affordability,” “Eviction and Your Options,” “Barriers & Opportunities for Housing Access,” “Telegraph Townhomes Tour,” and so many more!

Whatcom Housing Alliance hosts two Community Summits every year. They provide an opportunity to strategize and align on mission and goals and to assess the direction of the organization. We also take this opportunity to learn from other community’s and thought leaders by hosting a keynote speaker. Stakeholders from the private and public sector convene in these meetings to learn, network and innovate. We encourage you and your organization to become a member, in order to attend and enjoy in these opportunities!

Whatcom County for Everyone is our newsletter that puts citizens across Whatcom County in touch with public policy happening in and around their city. This is all done in a digestible, approachable and educational way. Public meetings, state policy, calls to action, emailing stakeholders. This is the best way to be involved in your community and to make a difference!

Join us for an engaging journey through the vibrant streets of Bellingham, where history, community, urban planning and innovation meet. Tours are led by City of Bellingham Planning Staff.

Our neighborhood tours spotlight the unique characteristics and potential of Bellingham’s diverse neighborhoods, offering a close-up look at unique housing styles, local stories, and the evolving vision for our city’s future. Whether you’re curious about middle housing solutions, historic architecture, or the community spirit that makes Bellingham special, these tours are your chance to connect with neighbors and reimagine our shared spaces. Perfect for residents, newcomers, and anyone passionate about the future of housing and community in Bellingham!

The Transportation and Housing Summit is a community-focused event that brings together residents, policymakers, urban planners, and advocates to explore the critical intersection of housing and transportation. This summit provides a platform to discuss innovative solutions for creating more accessible, sustainable, and affordable communities. Topics include public transportation infrastructure, parking strategies, bike-friendly development, and the role of housing in shaping equitable and connected neighborhoods. Through engaging panels, interactive discussions, and actionable insights, the summit aims to foster collaboration and drive impactful change in addressing the pressing challenges of housing and mobility in our region.

In the fall of 2024 we held our 2nd Annual Design Competition. This year we focused on Middle Housing. We received design submissions from the Pacific Northwest’s best design firms and architect’s. We awarded our Jury, People’s Choice and Honorable Mentions at our Awards Party in downtown Bellingham.

In the fall of 2023 we held our first design competition. This event set the precedent for all future design events, with designs from around the Western US. Our People’s Choice and Jury Awards were unveiled at our Awards Party.

WHA Members have can join our Task Forces to offer feedback and be apart of the collective action it takes to help shape local housing policy. The feedback offered in our Task Forces makes it’s way to our Steering Committee, who can choose to support, advocate, and respond to municipal housing policy decisions at the local and state level. It’s the vested and collective effort of our members that creates the education our elected officials, staff and stakeholders need to build effective housing policy.