The City of Bellingham relies heavily on maps and data, known in the industry as a Geographic Information Service or GIS. Over a third of the city staff use GIS daily to perform their jobs and provide services to the citizens and utility customers of Bellingham. Services such as planning, crime analysis, utility management and customer service rely on GIS as an integral part of their service delivery.
Below is a portion of data maintained by the city and available free of charge from this website. The files available for download are in the ESRI file geodatabase format and packaged as groups related to general subject areas along with symbology definition layer files defined by city GIS staff. One category at the bottom of the list contains common GIS data in shape file format. You can request any of our maintained GIS data sets that are not included in that package as a shape file by contacting us at GISHelp@cob.org.
| Data | Description | Data Download |
|---|---|---|
| Cartography | Cartography layer files contains data used for cartographic purposes. These include buildings, parks, forests and street polygons. | Cartography.zip |
| Parcels & Easements | Parcels and Easements layer files contains data that logically associates with, or is comprised of parcels. These include the tax parcels themselves, coded parcel lines, addresses and subdivision annotation. County parcels are also available as provided by Whatcom County. Other "Landbase" data mapped by the GIS department such as Easements, City Property and Right of Ways are also stored here. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | Landbase.zip |
| Planning | Planning layer files contains layers defining boundaries used for regulatory purposes by the City of Bellingham. Includes municipal boundaries, historic boundaries, political districts, and other boundaries used in relation to land use and development issues. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | Planning.zip |
| Regional | Regional layer files contains geo-political boundaries for Washington State, the United States, North America, and the World. Also included are a variety of jurisdictional boundary, planning, infrastructure, and environmental layers specific to Whatcom County. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | N/A |
| Schools | Schools layer files contains jurisdictional boundaries of Whatcom County school districts, and point locations of public schools including elementary, middle, and high schools as well as local and state colleges and universities. Also includes specific attendance area boundaries for Bellingham School District elementary, middle, and high schools. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | Schools.zip |
| Sewer Utility Infrastructure | Sewer Utility Infrastructure layer files include the basic components of the City of Bellingham's sanitary sewer system. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | SewerUtilities.zip |
| Sewer Utility Miscellaneous | Sewer Utility Miscellaneous layer files contains data that comprises the City's sewer system. These include Eden's customer service points and sewer basins. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | SewerUtilities.zip |
| Stormwater Utility Infrastructure | Stormwater Utility Infrastructure layer files contain data the comprises the City's stormwater system. These layer files include catch basins, manholes, clean outs, pipe ends, fittings, ditches culverts, mains, laterals and detention basins. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping standards used by the City. | StormUtilities.zip |
| Stormwater Utility Miscellaneous | Stormwater Utility Miscellaneous layer files contains data that comprises the City's stormwater analysis group. These include rain gauges and local watersheds. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | StormUtilities.zip |
| Survey | Survey layer files contain data that is related to property mapping references in the vicinity of the City of Bellingham. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | N/A |
| Topography | Topography layer files contains data commonly used in compilation of a topographic map. Includes layers depicting physical geography such as contours, shaded relief, and slopes. Also contains "hardscape" layers depicting man-made features such as buildings and docks. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | Topography.zip |
| Transportation | Transportation layer files contain data that comprises the City's transportation system. These layer files include railroads, sidewalks, trails, wheelchair ramps, WTA bus routes and bus stops, parking stalls, parking meters, bike racks, alleys, driveways, platted streets and travelled ways. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping standards used by the City. | Transportation.zip |
| Water Utility Infrastructure | Water Utility Infrastructure layer files contains data that comprises the City's water system infrastructure. These include mains, valves, hydrants, associated fitting and water customer points. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | WaterUtilities.zip |
| Water Utility Miscellaneous | Water Utility Miscellaneous layer files contains data that comprises the City's water system areas. These include pressure zones, flushing districts, leak detection zones and preventative maintenance districts. The data has been symbolized and color coded with mapping parameters conveniently pre-set. | WaterUtilities.zip |
| Common Shape Files | Collection of common city GIS data in a shape file format. The following features are included in this collection: buildings, easements, parcel lines, tax parcel polygons, storm mains, storm open channel, sewer gravity mains, sewer pressure mains, street centerlines, water mains and zoning sub areas. | CommonShapefiles.zip |
Click here to visit the data download site.
