The Pros & Cons of Hood River (Portland, Boardman: apartments, to rent)

[map_of_seattle]

As someone who reads these forums when preparing to relocate, I wanted to do one for Hood River.

Pros
Always overwhelmed by beauty. Always startled by the two mountains-- Adams & Hood.
There's a large hispanic community, due to the orchards. Very friendly & nice.
Because of the tourists, everything is kept clean & up-to-date.
There's next to no traffic around 9PM. Whole town goes zzz.

Cons
The locals are sour, fake, or trust fund babies. The nice people are in White Salmon & The Dalles.
To live here is enormously expensive. Never, ever shop downtown. Also entirely too expensive.

In the Heights, I had to learn which streets were one-way & in which direction.
This is harrowing the first few times. & for such a small place, there's traffic.
Often you wait a considerable amount of time for traffic coming up the hill.

If you're looking for apartments, just forget it. There's none in Hood River.
Instead you'll likely have to rent something overpriced & not even worth it.

There's lots of housing options in The Dalles, & it's a very pretty half-hourish commute.
But I would live in White Salmon if I could. Now White Salmon-- that's a loveable place.
There's not much in the way of housing options there either though. For the middle class.

Oh, speaking of which. Steel your nerves for the toll bridge between Hood River/White Salmon.
You'd think with a $1 toll either way they'd widen it. No, pretty sure they're painting it instead.

People spaz out about the outdoor activities here. I don't know too terribly much about that.
You'd think Portland would be an easy outing, but it's just not. It feels like a long way away.

Well, those are my thoughts. I've had bad luck here, but good luck to you, whomever you are.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I worked in Hood River for 3 years and lived there for 1 and I'd say that's a fair assessment. It's a gem of a place but nearly inhabitable unless one has money or has been there for 25 years.

[Smiled]

Portland IS a bit of a drive - especially in winter. As to White Salmon being where the nice people live... meh.

[Lootmeister]

Driving downtown Hood River is frustrating to say the least. People walk out in front of you to the point where it's very dangerous. I'm surprised there's not more pedestrian vs. car accidents.

I've yet to figure out whether these brainless people are locals or tourists.

Beautiful views. Great food as well. The Thai restaurant over by Char Burger is OUTSTANDING!

[Hemlock140]

When I have been there it's always been too windy for my taste, maybe just the time of year?

[map_of_seattle]

It seemed windy a lot of the time I lived there. Is windsurfing capital of the world for good reason!

[hamellr]

This is a very simplistic explanation, but as the temperature fluctuates between Eastern Oregon/Washington and the Willamette Valley/Lower Columbia River, the difference in air pressure as the temperatures change makes itself felt as wind through the Columbia River Gorge.

[Grumbler]

An old family friend of mine moved from Sunnyvale, CA to Boulder Creek, CA then to Corvalis, OR and finally The Dalles, OR. He's happy there which, knowing him, tells me that it's a good place to live. Stayed overnight at The Dalles a few times, and wouldn't be adverse to living there. As for Hood River, we've only stopped there for fuel while enroute to the Huckleberry Inn at Gov't Camp for breakfast.

[highdesertguy]

Hi everybody, soon i will have to work at Boardman, Or, but I would like to live somewhere in between Portland and Boardman so i can be able to visit often Portland, any suggestion?? at the present i am living in Californias High desert

[Sherwoody]

If you lived in The Dalles the drive to work would be over an hour and an hour and a half to Portland. I would want to do either.