Portland v. Vancouver (Gresham, Beaverton, Tigard: homes, transferring to, school districts)

[Jessica92102]

We are transferring to Portland next year, and we have been researching homes in the Portland/Vancouver areas. We have small children and schools are a major consideration. Husband doesn't commute except to airport (frequent travel) so 45 minutes-1 hour at most from PDX is okay.

We would prefer homes on large lots (1 acre or more) and the $ seem to stretch a little farther in Vancouver. Any glaring reasons why this is NOT preferable to living in OR?
I appreciate your input.

[smugglervt]

My husband and I and our four kids (7,5,3,1) are moving to the Portland area as well. We are having the same "issues" as to which side of the river to move to. My husband is there right now and has been checking out West Linn, Tigard and Tualatin in OR and Vancouver, Camas and Ridgfield in WA. If you are looking for space, Ridgfield seems to be the way to go. We would like a bit of a lot too, but the plot sizes seem to be quite small (or sloped in many cases), but my husband said that Ridgefield provides more space. However, we have heard the schools are not as strong there in comparison. Lake Oswego (OR) seems to have excellent schools but is expensive. Camas (WA) has very good schools and is very close to PDX (and issue for us too), but has a pulp mill nearby and tends to have an odor from time to time. Let me know what you discover because we are still in the search portion of the move. We have to sell our home here first before we make the big move.

[Jessica92102]

Thank you! We have 2 children, ages 3 and 8 months, but plan on 4 as well. We are in the beginning of our search, so your information is helpful! My husband lived in Beaverton but that was years ago and prior to children, so he has no real feel for what would be good for a family.
Good luck on your search!

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by smugglervt

... Camas (WA) has very good schools and is very close to PDX (and issue for us too), but has a pulp mill nearby and tends to have an odor from time to time. ...

The paper mill is really downsizing, and I assume will be gone at some point. The smell is much improved, and very infrequent, tho possible. You can strategically find a place that is upwind, or behind a hill on the downwind side.
I'd consider north Vancouver (hazel dell / minnehaha) there are some nice older homes on large lots. School merit depends on ages and particular bent of child. We ended up having to home school, but did 5 moves / 3 international. Kids did 'running start' (college (free) instead of HS grades 11 and 12)

I'd definately consider WA instead of OR for schools, but gonna require some personal choice and investigating. School people (teachers / parents / admin) are very defensive and opinionated... (Flame - Flame )

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by janb

The paper mill is really downsizing, and I assume will be gone at some point. The smell is much improved, and very infrequent, tho possible. You can strategically find a place that is upwind, or behind a hill on the downwind side.

I'd consider north Vancouver (hazel dell / minnehaha) there are some nice older homes on large lots. School merit depends on ages and particular bent of child. We ended up having to home school, but did 5 moves / 3 international. Kids did 'running start' (college (free) instead of HS grades 11 and 12)

I'd definately consider WA instead of OR for schools, but gonna require some personal choice and investigating. School people (teachers / parents / admin) are very defensive and opinionated... (Flame - Flame )

I'm absolutely in agreement with janb.

I really like Camas, particularly for families. Excellent school district, lots to do, only about 10-20 minutes out from the Portland airport (depending on traffic, of course), fun stuff to do in the downtown area (miscellaneous festivals and such), an art gallery, nicely rebuilt library, hiking/swimming/water skiing at the various lakes around town, the Jack, Will & Rob Center, a fairly well educated population, good mix of different social groups, very nice/friendly locals, and fairly affordable homes.

Most WA school districts aren't in the dire financial straits that plague Oregon districts. Oregon tied their school funding to property taxes several years ago. When their property tax system was adjusted to only limit very small increases each year, their schools ended up getting royally hosed. Not that it's a bad thing to limit property taxes, but to tie the majority of their education funding to that one resource was stupidity incarnate. Hence, the severe funding shortfalls and school closures in Oregon districts.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by smugglervt

Camas (WA) has very good schools and is very close to PDX (and issue for us too), but has a pulp mill nearby and tends to have an odor from time to time.

Keep in mind that when it's cloudy (9 months of the year) the smell is trapped between the ground and the clouds. So time to time is all the time. I worked in Gresham when I was pregnant and even that far away you could really smell the pulp mill. I definately had "Pulp Mill Sickness" with the morning sickness.

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by PDXmom

Keep in mind that when it's cloudy (9 months of the year) the smell is trapped between the ground and the clouds. So time to time is all the time. I worked in Gresham when I was pregnant and even that far away you could really smell the pulp mill. I definately had "Pulp Mill Sickness" with the morning sickness.

First, that's the beauty of living in either Camas or Washougal. On the days when there's any noticeable smell, it's usually, (usually, but not always), carried across the river to the Gresham/Troutdale areas. There have been days when I've driven from east of Washougal over to Gresham and been floored by the difference, not having noticed anything in Camas while I was driving right next to the mill itself.

Second, the EPA has really cracked down on the mill and their emissions of the foul-smelling gases have been greatly reduced since the nastiness of several years ago. Heck, the mill even calls local news organizations, emergency services, and health workers to inform them of any higher than normal releases so people with respiratory issues or sensitivities can be informed.

Third, the mill will cease to exist fairly soon. It's been slowly laying off the workforce over the years and now only employs about 900 people. (Compared to its hey-day during WWII when it employed over 9,000.) The Camas mill is no longer competitive in the market with competitors having more technologically advanced machinery and a more highly trained workforces. It's really on its last legs. Not that the facility couldn't end up being purchased and used for something else, but not likely as another paper and pulp mill. Mills of that size have a real problem with rampant overhead costs, especially if it doesn't have the most efficient machines/workers.