Swiss familly moving to vancouver looking for good advice (Camas: sales, house)

[mousou]

Hi nothwest folks,

Me and my familly we will be moving from switzerland to vancouver WA soon. And I never been there. I will be living in a temporary place before I found a permanent housing. As I have children I prefere to target directly the good area where to go to avoid my children to change school several times.

So do you have any recommandation on the area where the house and street have character. You know I'm an european I like old stones and obviously schools have good reputation.

Cheers

[wakalapi]

First, welcome to Washington in the United States!

Unfortunately, I do not think Vancouver has much of the old time European stone architecture. But if you are willing to adapt to recently styled ramblers and tri-levels, the area will make you more than happy. I can't say much about which neighborhoods and schools are best, but I tend to like the northeast portion, myself. The smaller towns of Camas and Washougal are also very commutable from Vancouver and Portland.

HINT: Go across the river, to Portland, to do your major shopping to save around 8-1/2% on sales tax. Portland is in the state of Oregon, where there is no sales tax!

[diggitydot]

You might be able to find some neighborhoods with character in older areas of the county. Most of the new construction is fairly generic. Unfortunately, the older areas usually have older schools.

I have several family members who teach in the county. Fisher's Landing Elementary in eastern Vancouver is excellent as well as the entire Camas school district. (My sister is a teacher and she moved into Camas just so her kids could attend school there.) Washougal schools are also improving dramatically.

Personally, I love some of the older areas of Camas. My great-grandparents built their home in the 1890's in Fern Prairie, (Camas), and it's always been one of my absolute favorite places.

One thing to remember is that "old" to us here in the states is usually anything prior to 1900. Especially on the west coast which wasn't heavily populated until the later part of the 19th century.

[mousou]

Now for me it definitively sound best to move the east Vancouver. As my company has his office in this area (Evergreen), I will be even able to commute by bike.
Many thanks to the people that answer to this post. Do you know any web site, blog etc. that can show me more about the region? I saw the official vancouver and washington state web site, but there are unfriendly to navigate.