New ‘Portland Loo’ Under Construction Adjacent to Bellingham Station

The City of Bellingham is in the process of constructing a new public restroom at Railroad Avenue & E. Magnolia Street, adjacent to Bellingham Station, the Whatcom Transit Authority’s bus hub in Downtown Bellingham.

According to the City, the new “Portland Loo” comes after the opening of Bellingham’s first such public restroom in Waypoint Park near the Acid Ball, Granary Building, and Kulshan Brewing Company’s Trackside Beer Garden earlier this year. The design, first developed in Oregon’s largest city, has been adopted by scores of other cities, including Kalamazoo, Michigan, Arvada, Colorado, and Burlington, Vermont. 

As Curbed wrote last year when New York City officials announced they were pursuing a Portland Loo pilot project across its five boroughs: “They’re ruthlessly functional and built with metal slats meant to deter any activity other than relieving oneself.”

Designed to be open 365 days a year, the Portland Loo’s design includes “a gender-neutral fabrication, with ample space for wheelchair users or strollers, is easy to clean, resistant to common vandalism, and the open grating and interchangeable components make repairs simple and ensure a natural fresh outdoor scent,” according to the City's announcement. 

The WTA’s existing public restrooms at Bellingham Station close at 7 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and 5 p.m. on Sundays, so the new Portland Loo may come in handy for transit passengers and others downtown in the evenings.

Another Portland Loo will soon be constructed at Railroad Avenue & E. Chestnut Street and should open in the coming weeks. 

Prospect Street in Downtown Bellingham near the Whatcom Museum in Old City Hall.
Prospect Street in Downtown Bellingham near the Whatcom Museum in Old City Hall. (Photo by Michael Grass / BhamByBus)

State Releases 2024 Population Estimates for Counties and Cities; Bellingham Nearly at 100,000 Residents

On Friday, the Washington State Office of Financial Management released new 2024 population estimates for cities and counties (.pdf), which are used for the allocation of select state revenue. Looking at where the state’s estimated population stands for the City of Bellingham, it’s nearly 100,000 — 97,270 people to be exact. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Bellingham had 91,482 residents.

The state’s estimate for Whatcom County’s 2024 population is 238,000 people. The county’s 2020 population, according to the U.S. Census, was 226,847 people. 

Looking at the state’s top 25 cities by population change between 2023 and 2024, Bellingham ranks sixth with more than 1,300 new residents. Seattle, ranked first, adding more than 18,000 new residents in the past year, and is now approaching a population of 800,000 people, as The Urbanist reported Monday.  

Looking at the Transit Accessibility of Bellingham’s 2nd (Likely) Trader Joe’s Location  

A follow-up to last week’s BhamByBus blog post looking at the Birchwood Food Desert and transit accessibility on Bellingham’s northwest side: Although Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s recent agreement with Albertsons, where the grocery giant will relinquish the non-compete clause for its former Birchwood location, won’t immediately lead to a new grocery store in the socio-economically diverse neighborhood in need of better grocery access, there’s some promising grocery store news nearby. 

It looks like Trader Joe’s is gearing up to open a second location in Bellingham’s Cordata neighborhood, a one-seat bus ride away from Birchwood on a route with frequent service.

Last week, local news outlets, including the Cascadia Daily News, Bellingham Herald, and KGMI News, reported that the City of Bellingham approved permits for demolition work at the former Bed, Bath and Beyond store (4255 Meridian Street at W. Kellogg Road), which closed in April 2023. Although Trader Joe’s hasn’t commented on the news nor confirmed that Bellingham will be getting a second location of the grocery chain, the permits list the name of the Monrovia, California-based grocery store chain.

Route 232, which serves the WTA’s Green GO Line and runs through parts of the Birchwood neighborhood via Northwest Avenue, terminates at Cordata Station, a major WTA bus hub that’s about a 10-minute stroll or roll away from the store location. Community Food Co-op’s Cordata store (315 Westerly Road at Cordata Parkway) also provides solid transit-oriented grocery access. For folks in Lynden, the second Trader Joe’s location is also near WTA bus stops on Route 26 (Cordata/WCC to Lynden).

While good transit access to nearby grocery stores isn’t a replacement for an in-neighborhood grocery store, it can help ease some of the pain for those who don’t drive or otherwise lack access or have limited access to a personal vehicle. Beyond Route 232, Birchwood is also served by Route 4 (Downtown to Cordata/WCC via Hospital), which sees buses once an hour for most of the day Monday-Saturday, serves the existing Trader Joe’s location (2410 James Street at Alabama Street) in the Sunnyland neighborhood, which is also accessible via the Gold GO Line. 

While a second Trader Joe’s location would seemingly ease pressure on the existing store’s infamous parking lot and jammed aisles which have irked many Bellinghamsters over the years, given intense crossborder shopping interest and (perhaps) the forces of induced demand, it may only lead to partial relief. BhamByBus hopes locals who shop at Trader Joe’s not overlook taking the bus as potential way to avoid unnecessary parking disquietudes.     

Many WTA buses have signs detailing the holidays where there's no bus service.
Many WTA buses have signs detailing the holidays where there's no bus service. (Photo by Michael Grass / BhamByBus)

No WTA Bus Service on July 4

Regular Whatcom Transit Authority bus riders know the holiday drill, but for those who may not know: WTA buses will not be in operation on Thursday, July 4 for the Independence Day holiday. In addition to July Fourth, WTA does not operate buses on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.