looking at Vancouver, from Miami.... (Orchards, Camas: rent, appliances, buying a house)

[red305]

Just looking around for new places to consider...The cost of living in Miami is getting higher by the second, and I just want to see what my options are. I have a few questions regarding Vancouver, WA:
1) Would this be a good place to start and raise a family (schools, crime, etc)???

2) How is the cost of living??? Houses in miami are in the low 300's...

3) How is the weather, is it overcast alot???? Does it snow there??? How cold does it get???

4) Beaches????

5) Culture? are there music concerts, art fairs, etc...??

6) Racism- would they accept a hispanic family???

7) Jobs- are their jobs in the IT, engineering, and Social Work fields?????

thanks,
-ed

[tinyfairypeople]

1) Would this be a good place to start and raise a family (schools, crime, etc)??? Honestly, the best places for schools are the Evergreen School District on the east side of Vancouver, the Battle Ground school district, and the Camas/Washougal schools. Vancouver Public Schools have a lot of neat magnet programs but aren't the best as far as test scores go.

2) How is the cost of living??? Houses in miami are in the low 300's... Housing prices are about the same here. We are buying a house for 225k and we are at the very low end of the spectrum.

3) How is the weather, is it overcast alot???? Does it snow there??? How cold does it get??? If by overcast you mean cloudy, then yes. It rains here from about september to June. Not constant rain but that is the rainy season. That is why this area is so green and beautiful. The summers are ususally clear from about mid June to mid September and the highs get in the 80's to 90's. Last summer had quite a few days over 100. It does snow but usually only in the forum of snow that doesn't stick. We had maybe 1 day this winter when snow stuck on the ground but only for about an hour. Last winter we had 3 or 4 days like that. The winters hover right around 40 degrees. In the colder months it says between 32 and 40 something. A night it can drop down into the 20's or teens if a cold system moves through, like it currently over us.

4) Beaches???? The beaches in the Pacific Northwest are beautiful but cold and windy most of the time. You have to drive about 2 hours from the Vancouver area to get to the beach. There is this really neat town in Oregon called Pacific City and it is modeled after Atlantic City (from what I have heard) with lots of shops and fun stuff to do around. The water temperature is usually around 50 to 60 in summer. People get brave and swim in it. You can't feel it once your body goes numb

5) Culture? are there music concerts, art fairs, etc...?? Culture is great. We are big on state fairs here. There is one for every county and every state all summer long. Portland is a major local hub for concerts and the music scene. There are often concerts at the Oregon Zoo in the summer. There are farmer's markets in downtown Portland and downtown Vancouver year round as well as many festivals and events in Waterfront park in Portland.

6) Racism- would they accept a hispanic family??? Yes, your family woud be accepted.

7) Jobs- are their jobs in the IT, engineering, and Social Work fields????? Well, Portland is a huge city full of poor or struggling people so there are definately social working fields open. As far as IT and engineering, I know that Hillsboro Oregon is a major hub for industry and am sure that those opportunities exist in Portland as well as in Vancouver

[FunTimes]

For a home in the low 300's from $310-$340 you can expect a house with the following:

2100-2400 square feet
2-3 car garage
Larger lots
possible custom items suich as A/C, stainless appliances, granite, tile floors, central vac, etc.

There are currently several hundred homes in this range to choose from so finding something special and right for you shouldn't be a big problem.

I was born in Clearwater and all of my family is around Tampa so I am very familiar with the climate. We have all four seasons here, and while some may think that is to much that is why I live here. Our summers are nice, the fall makes the leaves change, the winters are considerably mild, and the spring brings out the most beautiful colors.

January through March are months with a pretty high chance of rain. Snow on the valley floor may happen once or twice. April will bring some more rain with more sun sprinkled in with temps around 50-55. I have seen it get as high as 80 though. May starts to really make the change. June is nice, and July really starts our summer months. July-early September there is very few days with any rain, and the temps are around the 80's with possible highs in the 90's. Late september to late October is still pretty dry but temps get back in the low 70's and then down to the 60's. We always joke that the real rain will start on Halloween night, and about that time until the end of the year it does start the rainy season. There are still days that it doesn't rain and if you can handle the cold it is really nice out. This week the sun has been out all week, but we have seen temps as low as the teens and highs only in the mid 30's to the low 40's.

Being Hispanic in this area would not upset anything. I am almost positive that you would feel very comfortable here.

As a floridian let me answer your question about beaches. I try to explain this to people here and they do not always understand what I mean. We do not have any real beaches here. What we do have is some great locations on the coast. It is a different atmosphere, but one I am sure you would enjoy.

As far as music we have great resources for indoor and outdoor concerts. We also have a grat arts atmosphere.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[red305]

thanks, keep the comments coming!
we would actually want a home in the upper 100's or low 200's...is that feasible in Vancouver?

[StealthRabbit]

$200k will be possible, but difficult. Will need to probably rent for awhile during your house shopping spree. Might have to look in nearby areas (preferred) or less desirable areas of Vancouver, some of these are not so bad, and have good areas in their region (example, Orchards Neighborhood). RE is in high demand, as many folks move from Oregon to Vancouver.

Culture is very diverse, and not divisive. There is large Hispanic population in parts of Portland, and in Woodburn and Canby ~ 30 min south, and Woodland, WA ~ 30 min North, so you can stay active in your own culture too with celebrations, arts, and foods.

For least cold areas, be North of SR 500 and West of I-205. I was in Ridgefield (20 Min North of Vanc) on Weds to fix my kid's car... and it was 45F (balmy !) , but it was 20F at my home with 50 mph wind Frigid ~ 25 min east of Vanc. My fuel tanks were frozen and registered 13F. (It's been this way for a week, freezing rain coming tonight, common transition of weather for me, but only ~ 2x / yr in Vancouver) Lesson... weather varies greatly in Clark County. We get over 100" of rain / yr, as does some higher elevation Amboy areas, but Vancouver gets less than 50"