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Old 05-30-2014, 12:18 PM
 
Location: Portland Metro
2,318 posts, read 4,608,197 times
Reputation: 2773

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Long story short: We live on the south side of the Portland Metro area, and my wife is being required to report to work in Vancouver (east side off of 164th) at least 4 days per week. We own a home, and we have kids in schools (elementary and middle) that we like. Kids have their social circles all set too. I work from home and can work anywhere.

I think we need to consider a move to put her closer to work to avoid the commute. I know Vancouver fairly well, have friends in east Vancouver, so I'm familiar with the area and housing stock. And I'm not one of those Portland "Vancouver haters"... I actually think we would enjoy what Vancouver has to offer, while still enjoying what Portland has to offer.

My question: If you or anybody you know with a family has made this move how did it go? Specifically, I'm interested in the following:

Did you benefit financially because of the income tax situation?

Did you find the schools to be similar? Superior? Inferior?

Were you able to "trade up" on your home?

Any other considerations?

I know there are a lot of threads that deal with some of these topics individually, but I'm hoping to hear from others who are in a similar boat. I think for us, the big question revolves around the schools and making sure the kids don't suffer, either academically or socially. I realize the social thing is more kid-driven though...

When I think about that commute... Ugh! We have 8 years until my younger child graduates high school. That's a long time to make that commute.
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Old 05-30-2014, 10:36 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,639 posts, read 57,661,644 times
Reputation: 46079
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjpop View Post
...... I actually think we would enjoy what Vancouver has to offer, while still enjoying what Portland has to offer.

My question: If you or anybody you know with a family has made this move how did it go? Specifically, I'm interested in the following:

Did you benefit financially because of the income tax situation? HUGE advantage during earning yrs,,, allowed me to 'retire' pre-age-50 (as a single income (hourly) wage family)

Did you find the schools to be similar? Superior? Inferior? Both! but EZ to get superior (Camas + Running Start)

Were you able to "trade up" on your home? Many times - On home number 10 $500k tax free gain every 24 months.

Any other considerations? WA People / conversations are more 'reasonable'. Oregon subscribes to 'group' think', sometimes can be a problem, Good to be able to express yourself and not be ostracized (students and adults)
... big question revolves around the schools and making sure the kids don't suffer, either academically or socially. I realize the social thing is more kid-driven though...

When I think about that commute... Ugh! We have 8 years until my younger child graduates high school. That's a long time to make that commute.
Don't do the commute ! invest your time in family - poof - they are GONE! Either get a job in OR, or come to WA. (or somewhere else)

I cannot say enough good about Running Start. (Free college instead of High School) one of mine did both HS and Running Start, but each were required to get AA at same time as diploma, and to work a career centric PT job. They did sports as well. No super stars in any activity, but excellent and engaged in all. At age 30, they are very well adjusted and had 4 yrs head start on most kids (earnings and travel).
!)'s of thousands of WA kids enjoy and benefit from this option, tho it is not perfect for all. The profs and opportunities and lifetime skills my kids acquired at Clark College has served them very well. (Math and Science dept is University level)

There is a branch campus (Clark college / Running Start) near Walmart / 192nd. Most of my Camas HS friends use this east campus and also attend sports and arts at Camas HS. (our evergreen Union)

http://www.clark.edu/academics/programs/running_start/

So... I would come to Vancouver in a heartbeat ... (probably Camas district) the sooner the better. Kids are SO resilient (fortunately). We homeschooled and lived on 5 continents. Not the most ideal, nor ez, but we did it together through thick and thin (We always ate on $100/month, when we ran out of money... we got creative!). We traveled A LOT!!! +/-.

This group is excellent educational resource (Clark Homeschoolers Assc). Many of the directors / primary people are current or ex teachers in the region. They will gladly direct you to excellent schools and activites (They are very reasonable, and will talk schools... As Homeschool family, We worked in Public schools 2x / week (I worked 28 yrs of night shift so I could be home during the day with family not at night when I'm tired and grumpy... I can have that attitude at work! (EZ!! )
Clark County Home Educators - News & Events

Go to one of these performances and get another idea of Clark County youth!
CYT Vancouver Presents 'Godspell' - Clark County Live!

Also some excellent 4-H clubs / events.
http://clark.wsu.edu/youth/

Family hiking and backpacking out your back door... (Columbia Gorge / St Helens).

Of all the adventures we did as a family... I wish we would have done more backpacking and bike camping. Kids loved it and remember and still do themselves.
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Old 06-02-2014, 12:28 PM
 
4,059 posts, read 5,595,447 times
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You don't specify where on the south side you are. If you were in LO or WL or HV, the school situation will probably be fairly comparable. The advantage of Vanc/Camas imo is that you can by and large get into a better school district at a lower housing cost.

The commute is a little trickier - you note that she'll be in Vanc 4x per week, which implies she'll still be commuting to somewhere in Portland 1x per week. If it's on the east side, it's probably still a good tradeoff. If she's looking to commute to downtown Pdx that day, however, that one day (afternoon particularly) will often be hell unless she can flex her schedule.

That said, I'm not sure there's a better suggestion. Northeast Pdx would offer a better compromise commute -reverse commute from NE to Vancouver is generally pretty easy, esp. if you're north of say, Stark. And still in a better position to go downtown once a week.

The trouble with that solution is that by and large the schools in NE Portland aren't as good as Vanc/Camas. But on the whole, I think Vanc/Camas is a very nice family area, and I'm there just about every week. Lots of groups and events. If I had school aged kids (and might before too long) I wouldn't hesitate to live there.

The commute into Pdx is, imo, the main thing holding Vancouver back from growing even faster and a big part of what keeps housing prices lower than on the OR side of the river.
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Old 06-02-2014, 07:35 PM
 
Location: Portland Metro
2,318 posts, read 4,608,197 times
Reputation: 2773
Thanks for the responses. We currently live near Washington Square, and kids are in the BSD. My wife's commute is about 40 minutes if traffic isn't terrible--1.25 hours has been the worst commute so far. And last week was the first commuting week for her, so it's just the beginning.

My wife's 1-day-per week would be working from home, so she wouldn't be commuting. I can't see any reason why we would need to live more than a couple of miles or so from where she works in Vancouver, since I work from home.

Thanks for your reply, Stealth. I know that the tax situation would benefit us, maybe not as much as it did for you, but it should be a net gain for us.

Anybody else have thoughts? Particularly anyone who has experience with kids in the public schools? I think I'll need to start doing my homework. We likely wouldn't move until next summer. My older kid will be a Freshman in Fall of 2015 and my younger kid will be going into 6th grade.
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Old 06-02-2014, 09:18 PM
 
Location: Southwest Washington State
30,585 posts, read 24,994,154 times
Reputation: 50795
Move! But decide ASAP. Houses go fast this time of year. On the other hand you could probably sell yours pretty fast too, if it is in good shape.
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Old 06-03-2014, 09:09 PM
 
Location: Portland Metro
2,318 posts, read 4,608,197 times
Reputation: 2773
Quote:
Originally Posted by silibran View Post
Move! But decide ASAP. Houses go fast this time of year. On the other hand you could probably sell yours pretty fast too, if it is in good shape.
Thanks, silibran, but our move definitely won't be any earlier than Spring/Summer 2015. Unless my wife starts suffering road rage!
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Old 06-04-2014, 10:14 AM
 
4,059 posts, read 5,595,447 times
Reputation: 2892
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjpop View Post
Thanks, silibran, but our move definitely won't be any earlier than Spring/Summer 2015. Unless my wife starts suffering road rage!
Lol - 205 seems (anecdotally from me driving on it and listening to traffic reports) to have an increasing number of bad days. More accidents, more congestion, etc.

Be especially nice to your wife for the next 12 months!
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Old 06-04-2014, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Portland Metro
2,318 posts, read 4,608,197 times
Reputation: 2773
Quote:
Originally Posted by bler144 View Post
Lol - 205 seems (anecdotally from me driving on it and listening to traffic reports) to have an increasing number of bad days. More accidents, more congestion, etc.

Be especially nice to your wife for the next 12 months!
Yeah, I've been looking at traffic on my phone and 205 around Oregon City/West Linn looks terrible just about every afternoon.

I'm thinking she'll actually get used to the commute over the summer, but when school starts next fall and she starts commuting in the rain and the dark it will be very bad. I'm going to have to increase my flower budget!
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Old 06-04-2014, 05:31 PM
 
656 posts, read 1,985,065 times
Reputation: 908
We didn't move from Portland but we did move from the East Coast to Camas 2 years ago. Here's my 2 cents:

We landed ourselves specifically in the Camas School District. I thought we were in an excellent school district where we came from, but after 2 years being here I am thrilled with all the educational opportunities our kids (ages 10 and 13) have enjoyed. The schools are well kept/modern and my kids have enjoyed all their teachers. My kids are in the high-cap program for elementary and AP classes for middle schools and they have both been challenged every step of the way. We are currently at Grass Valley Elem and Skyridge Middle schools and have no complaints. Stealth is right, that Running Start is a great program that most of my neighbors have reaped great savings during those college years.

I worried about the schools...in fact it was my greatest worry. If I had a chance to do the move again I would of done it much earlier knowing what I know now.

We landed ourselves in a great neighborhood off of 192nd Ave in Camas and are close to everything. Both my husband and I work from home so we didn't worry about commuting.

Good luck in your decision.
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Old 06-04-2014, 07:25 PM
 
Location: Portland Metro
2,318 posts, read 4,608,197 times
Reputation: 2773
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwalk65 View Post
We didn't move from Portland but we did move from the East Coast to Camas 2 years ago. Here's my 2 cents:

We landed ourselves specifically in the Camas School District. I thought we were in an excellent school district where we came from, but after 2 years being here I am thrilled with all the educational opportunities our kids (ages 10 and 13) have enjoyed. The schools are well kept/modern and my kids have enjoyed all their teachers. My kids are in the high-cap program for elementary and AP classes for middle schools and they have both been challenged every step of the way. We are currently at Grass Valley Elem and Skyridge Middle schools and have no complaints. Stealth is right, that Running Start is a great program that most of my neighbors have reaped great savings during those college years.

I worried about the schools...in fact it was my greatest worry. If I had a chance to do the move again I would of done it much earlier knowing what I know now.

We landed ourselves in a great neighborhood off of 192nd Ave in Camas and are close to everything. Both my husband and I work from home so we didn't worry about commuting.

Good luck in your decision.
That's a lot of food for thought kwalk. From this thread and other threads it sounds like Camas SD is the place to be. My middle schooler is in a program here in the Beaverton SD that has a special track for higher performers and we've been really happy with that. So happy, in fact, that we'd want to allow him to finish out 8th grade so that he completes all three years of the track. For example, we think he will probably be far enough along in Spanish once he completes 8th grade that he'll be able to test out of it to satisfy any foreign language requirements in high school, if such a test is available. In contrast, my elementary schooler is pretty bored with his current 4th grade curriculum, particularly in math. We like his teacher personally, but he needs more differentiation in the curriculum than the school is able to provide, so we're disappointed about that. This is after having a positively excellent experience with his 3rd grade teacher--the variability from grade to grade is a bummer. We're considering adding in Kumon or some other extra program just to supplement.

kwalk, how do you feel about the culture of the schools your kids are attending? I grew up in a rural town in which intelligence and bookishness were considered traits to be ridiculed, so I didn't really thrive (I was a "brain" and it wasn't a compliment). Both of my kids want to do well in school because they are surrounded by other kids who have the same values. What's the attitude like in your kids' schools?

Also, did you look at the Evergreen SD at all? Or if anyone else wants to chime in? I know at least some Evergreen SD schools are highly rated (i.e. Fishers Landing). How are the middle and high schools? I'm sure there's a thread or two on this--I'll need to do some searching.

Thanks again to all for the feedback.
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