Focus: Washington; A Lure for Canadian Dollars
This growing community is a geographic oddity - an isolated patch of the State of Washington that clings to the tip of a peninsula attached to the Canadian mainland.
Now, it and several other relatively isolated and sparsely populated communities in the northwest corner of Washington are the focus of major development.
Catering to a mostly Canadian market, developers are building condominiums, several upscale resorts and shopping malls.
Why all the interest in north Whatcom County, the American border region with a population fo 117,000, or less than 10 percent of the population of the greater Vancouver area? Real Estate agents say the American land is a bargain compared with land in lower British Columbia, where the demand for perperty far exceeds the supply.
And Canadians are in a buying mood, even with an exchange rate of about 75 cents to one Canadian dollar.
The lower mainland, as the southern part of British Columbia is known, is hemmed in by mountains on the north and the Strait of Georgia to the west. Much of the land just south and east of Vancouver is strictly zoned for agriculture.
When the border was drawn at the 49th parallel in 1846, there were complaints on both sides of the boundary. Canadians had difficulty building homes on the American side because of immigration restrictions. The American settlers complained that they had been isolated.
Situated at the southern tip of a Canadian peninsula and separated from the rest of the United States by Boundary Bay, Point Roberts has fewer than 200 residents and is just 4.9 square miles. Residents must drive through 23 miles of lower British Columbia - and pass through two border corssings - to reach the continental United States.
Blaine, the nearest American town to Point Roberts, is the site of the first large border project to be completed. The $200 million Resort at Semiahmoo opened in May. Semiahmoo is trying to attract the 2.5 million people who lived within a few hours drive. Vancouver, the most populous city in western Canada, is less than an hour away. Seattle is two hours to the south.
Semiahmoo's owners are also developing home sites and condominiums in the woods next to a golf course designed by Arnold Palmer. Up to half the buyers of the lots, which range in price from $50,000 to $160,000, will be Canadian, according to the resort's market analysis.
All of this is under way in an area that has long been a sleepy fishing harbor, and the historic home of the Salish Indians. Now, plans call for luxury summer homes and condominiums for up to 2,000 people.
So far, real estate agents say they are not having trouble selling property around Blain.
"You can buy one lot for $7,000 in the U.S, but that same lot will cost you $40,000 just a few miles over the border," said Jan Fortt, a real estate broker and 20 year resident of Point Roberts.
Lynne, Pawson, a broker who lives in Blain, said: "if you want to buy a new house, average size, in a subdivision just a few miles away in Canada it will cost you $130,000 or more. But you can get that same house for almost half that price here on the American side."
The Whatcome Country assessor, Vic Battson, said exact figures on how much of the county is Canadian-owned are not available. But he estimated it to be no more than 20 percent. However, in key parts of the country - the Puget Sound waterfront and other desirable summer-home areas - up to 90 percent the land is owned by Canadians, he said.
The land-buying rush started in the early 1970's Mr. Battson said, with the opening of Sudden Valley development situated around a golf course just south of Bellingham, the largest town in Whatcom County.
By law, most Canadians cannot live in the United States for more than six months of the year without a change in their immigration status - obtaining dual citizenship or becoming resident aliens. Thus, the majority of land sales are for investments and summer homes, according to brokers. But the immigration restrictions have not halted Canadian investment activity.
A developer in Vancouver, George Hodgins, said he is going ahead with a $60 million resort and golf course on 32 acres of Point Roberts waterfront. Mr. Hodgins said the development will proceed, provided the United States and Canada can settle on a long-term arrangement to get fresh water to Point Roberts.
Mr. Hodgins said available land around Vancouver is so scarce that the only logical place for Canadian resort and residential development is across the border. He said he offered 77 lots for sale in north Whatcom County in July and sold 73 within a month.
Some Point Roberts residents view their community as basically one big American shopping center for the 6,000 to 8,000 Canadians who cross the town's border every day to buy cheaper gas, beer, food and other amenities.
The two main taverns in the American town, with seating for 1,400, are intended to take advantage of liquor restrictions in Canada. Gas lines are a common sight in Point Roberts and Blaine.
Mr. Hodgins said Point Roberts should be turned over to Canadians, who he said own most of the land.
Even some officials, who complain about the expense of busing a small number of school children for the daily 46 mile round trip from Point Roberts to Blaine, say perhaps the land should become Canadian.
"Quite frankly, a lot of people on the US side think the Canadians could have it," said Mr. Battson, the county assessor. "This isolation creates a lot of expense."
"Already the stores around here are so crowded with Canadians that you can't find a parking space on weekends," said Ron Savage of Blaine, who works at the towns visitor's center.
"There are no hard feelings," Mr. Savage said. "Most of the American's who live here realize that if it wasn't for Canadian's, we wouldn't be here."
**Source: NewYork Times; Timothy Egan