Lived in Bellingham for a few years. Very laid back place. It's beautiful. Suffers from college town syndrome: constant turnover of half the population, loadsa shitheads. Rain Rain Wind Wind 66% of the time. Weed is legal there now and you'll be able to buy it in a motherfucking store by November. Not a big city...bands you'll wanna see generally skip it over but Sea and Van aren't far away. Rent, cost of living and quality of life are way better than the big cities. The "Bolt Bus" is direct to both locales and inexpensive.
Only do it if you got a job!!!! I would probably still be there if there was more opportunity.
Yeah this is about what I would say. I lived there for a couple years too. It was a fun place and I managed to meet some cool people there, but I did spend a lot of weekends in Seattle. There were a few good bands when I was there that would play house shows or sometimes on campus.