Vancouver Info - visiting right now (Camas, Battle Ground: real estate, for sale, apartments)

[Holly]

I just wanted to say thank you for all of the suggestions made earlier on the food. We have eaten at two restaurants so far - Aquariva - it was good. Italian Food served in small portions like Tapas. We also ate lunch in Vancouver at Joes something diner. Looks a like a dive kinda but the food was good and cheap. Tonight we ate in Portland at Jakes Famous Crawfish. I didn't expect it be upscale but the food was really good. And the service was excellent. No one was really dressed up though.

So far we have been here a day and a half and everyone has been super nice. It did rain when we arrived but it was not heavy and then turned into a mist. Today it called for clouds possible rain - and it did rain off and on. but we did see the sun at least twice today for about a half an hour or so each time.

Everyone we have run into has been super nice. Almost scary how nice everyone has been.

We drove up towards Battle Ground -- Not impressed - it is a smaller town for sure. had your average stores - video store, some food places, but not a whole lot. The houses were nice. Very small lots but that seems to be the case every where around here. the houses were also a little small, but I am use to an area where the average house is close to 2000 sq feet with close to a .5 acre or more for each house. In georgia where the housing is a lot cheaper.

It has been cold here. But not a bitter cold which is good.

Vancouver - was OK - the Downtown wasn't as big as I had imagined it to be - pretty spread out. the area around the ester park / famers market (i think that was the name of the park) was really pretty and nice. Much past that it was like any other downtown I would guess. Drained out by malls. Somone made the point that the downtown in Vancouver struggles because people go to Portland to shop because of no sales tax. Being sunday i am guessing it seems more empty. Portland is a lot bigger with bigger buildings in the downtown area. But I hear Vancouver is a lot cheaper to live. So I say just drive to Portland for stuff. its not that far away.

well we continue on our search this week to determine if we wish to live here. Tomorrow we look at apartments.

I hope this helps anyone looking into the area.

[woodyw]

Holly -

My wife and I just returned from a similar trip to yours. We did miss visiting Battle Ground, so I thank you for your comments about that area. I hope you will continue adding your thoughts, since we feel that our short week there was not enough - much more we want to see and learn.

For what it is worth, we had two meals at Beaches [1919 SE Columbia River Drive, Vancouver WA] that were great. The atmosphere can't be beat - great service - great food (though a tad pricey) - great view of the river.

We did find Washougal to be a neat community. If you get a chance you might visit that area. Some old, some new, pretty much something for everyone. Clocked it at 20 minutes to PDX from there, but that was on a weekday afternoon.

Have a great trip - and thanks for your input.

[Holly]

Your very welcome. Today my husband I went to Camas and Fisher's Landing Area. We spoke to a real estate agent that lives in Camas and she said that the town was very friendly get to know your neighbor kind of thing. I thought it seemed like a very cute down town. Only a couple of blocks. Not a lot of conviences so if you like to go down the street to Target its not your place. But I will also its not a long drive to conviences either. Maybe 15 mins. We also looked in East Vancouver - that seemed like a nice area. Although we looked at SummerField Apartments - and thought it would be a great place to rent initally until we talked to our friend who is on the police department in that area and was told that was not the place to live.

We did eat the spaghetti factory though - very good food, good service and not that expensive. We also went to Big Al's which is an arcade, bowling alley, sports bar, pool table place. It was huge and the games were fun to play. Some games were not as expensive as others but it was normal for that type of place. Pool was only 10 dollars an hour for the table. We ate there and the food was pretty good. Once again not too expensive. They messed up my husband order a little bit and took money off without us asking. Always a plus.

Housing costs well lets just say coming from Ga. it is sticker shock. For around a 1100 sq foot home. 3 bedroom and 2 bath your looking easily in the 200,000's range. Although if you can increase your price range closer to the 300,000's you get a lot more options. At least in the camas area. But your not really gonna find a nice home bigger than 1200 sq feet anywhere in this area for 200 or under. We were told that in Vancouver area not a lot of great apartment buildings to rent in. Although we may look at renting a house. We don't want to buy until we know we will like the area. We are going to be taken around by our friend tomorrow and shown some areas.

Of course another huge problem that we have personally and others may not is that we have a 70 pound lab and 2 cats. Although there are pet friendly places. But its back to when we looked at the apartment buildings on the outside we were less than impressed.

The other question - is once again it did rain today. Although I can see why people say the rain is different. It rained off and on but not a down pour by any means, but we didn't see the sun today. Not sure what tomorrow will bring.

But someone had a point - since Washington is beautiful in the summer - they plan their vacations for the winter time - go to the super nice sunny areas then. Which is an option. the scenery is beautiful here. Lots of trees every where.

I was also told that this is the place to be if you like outdoor stuff. Hiking, Walking trails, camping, fishing etc. I can see that because there is stuff about biking and walking trails all over the place. And people do seem to adjust to it raining. And no matter where you like there is no such thing as paradise. You have just to define what you can tolerate.

My verdict on the city remains unanswered. I promised myself I would not decide yes or no until Saturday when we leave.

once again hope this is helping others - because anyone moving from the east coast its a big move. 40 hours worth of driving from where i live.

[hml1976]

Hi Holly,
We just moved here from Nashville (well I did with the kids, my husband has been here since Dec) last week. We're staying at the Mission Hills Apartments on 18th street, they're quite nice and allow pets, we have 2 cats and our neighbors have a big dog.

The sticker shock is getting to us as well, we had a beautiful home in Nashville, actually we still have it its for sale still. I think we're looking at Camas for the schools but will definitely not have the same quality of home we had in TN.

Best of luck!

[Holly]

Thanks - Yea the sticker shock is a bit much for us as well. I think we have decided to rent a home initially. There seems to be plenty of houses for rent in the area and it will be cheaper than us buying. We want to make sure we really know the area before we buy and we really want to have a house. So if we eventually move here we plan on just renting a home instead of an apartment. But thanks for the information on the apartment.

I was told to live towards camas area or possibly the helen dell area (i think was the name). The downtown area i was told to stay away from as far living there. I think my biggest suggestion for people moving to the area would be to contact the local police department in that area and ask what areas to stay away from. I was told there are plenty of nice pockets to live in. Battleground is also a nice place to live but like I mentioned earlier you have to drive just a little bit to shopping but its not a long drive.
Another thing you should definitely be aware of is to ask if they have air conditioning. From my understanding you may only need a few days in the summer, but since I don't do being uncomfortable sleeping that will be something I ask for. Basements are hard to come by but for houses more on a hill you might be able to find one.

Today the Sun did come out for a little bit towards the end of the day. So, even though it rains the sun does seem to come out every now and then. so its not complete gloom and doom 100% of the time. however i can see it would take getting use to it. things do seem to remain soggy on the ground though. But i guess you can't have green without water.

Traffic is heavy in the morning but I guess that would be normal. Although in Vancouver Driving around the traffic is not horrific. You can get to where you need to go without sitting in traffic forever.

The people do seem a little more laid back here which is nice.

Tomorrow we plan on touring around Portland to see what its like. But we are still looking to live in Vancouver.

After reading all of the posts on the Pacific Northwest and the rain and the questions about dealing with the constantly gloom I have decided it really comes down to your overall attitude and the way you think about things. If know you are the type of person that requires lots of sunshine to be happy then no this is not the place for you. However, if your concern is based on just the thought of the gloom and doom I guess it is what you make of it. I can't honestly say that I will be 100% happy here, but the only way for me to honestly make that decision is to try it out and live here for a full four seasons to see whats it like. Part of me thinks I could handle it and part of me thinks this would rive me nuts. Only time will tell I suppose.

So good luck to anyone trying to decide what to do and where to live. Maybe the only answer is to have a summer home and a winter home. but if I could afford both of those life would be easier all the way around. = )

[doloresmc]

We live in Nebraska but my husband wants to move to the Pacific Northwest area. After doing some research we have narrowed it down to the Vancouver area. We will be visiting the area in a couple of weeks. Just like you mention in your post I don't know if I'll like it but I'm willing to give it a try. We are also thinking on renting until we know for sure and then buying. But just as you mention I don't think we'll ever have a house there that's comparable to the one we own now.
I really appreciate your posts so keep it up please.
Thanks a lot!
Dolores

[allforcats]

"Gloom" is an entirely subjective choice. I call the clouds the embrace of the heavens. :-)

[scirocco22]

^*heh*

[Holly]

that is a very nice way to look at the clouds. which goes back to it all depends on your attitude.

tonight we spent time with a couple that moved out here from Georgia as well about 2 years ago. here is there impression and what they think of the area:

the summer makes up for the winter - although the beautiful part of the summer only last two months. the winters do suck per se but its not freezing bitter cold here. You do have indoor things to do like the indoor minature golf (i read about in portland), the Big Al's place I mentioned earlier etc. They are extremely family oriented out here. they are always getting flyers for mommy and me play dates etc. I did notice that the communities do put on lots of classes you can take for not much money. like pottery, dance, karate, etc. Then more towards teh summer they do have festivals and in small downtown park they have movie in the park night - bring your blanket and kids and dogs. It is very dog friendly here and very family friendly. people bring their kids every where. People for the most part are very honest and nice. No for the most part they do not speed and you will get a ticket for speeding. (which is nothing like back in Ga. if your not doing 10 over the speed limit at a minimum your going to slow). housing is much smaller with MUCH smaller lots than Ga. but they said they have gotten use to living on a smaller lot with neighbors being much closer. they also happen to have wonderful neighbor which really helps. oh and people fly places a lot more than drive. I guess its common to take a flight to seattle which is only about 2 to 3 hrs from here. to me thats driving distance. there also apparently alot nice day trips - weekend trips close to the area as well.

so that is what they think about the area.

Traffic is heavier at rush hour when we left - but it really seems to be mainly congested around the bridges going back forth. but we have not driven much in portland itself yet. you still have some drivers being idiots but its not every other driver. One other odd thing I am not use to at least here is that they have on some of their on ramps at rush hour times a traffic light - but it just changes from red to green and one car is allowed to go on a green light and it changes quickly back and forth. and people actually obey it. in macon ga. no one would pay attention to that. so we guessed it was to give a time delay between cars so that people can get on the highway easier. or so thats the guess. I did ask them about public transportation and if its nice or if its seedy. and i was told a lot of people use it. you do have your seedy characters ***** but everyone does seem to use it.

i am still surprised at how many little park spaces i see all over the place with walking paths, and bike paths on the roads everywhere. apparently a lot people are very serious biking and walking so those trails really are used. every day i have seen several people on each of the trails. raincoat on and just walking. so i guess i can no longer use the excuse its raining - i can't go for a walk and get exercise if we move out here. = )

tomorrow we explore portland itself.

p.s. i am happy i can help others from my point of view at least. i am trying to be as objective as possible with my east coast view. And for reference for others - I have lived in WV (near DC harpers ferry area, VA, NC, GA currently, NY (long island) when i was younger and go back to visit family. i have traveled from Massachusetts down to Florida, Texas, Ca. and NV and several other places) so i definitely have east coast view on things. and the east and west coast are definitely worlds apart in many aspects.

[cn1221]

I live in Vancouver and can’t wait to leave. The weather here is miserable. It has been raining and gloomy for months. It supposed to be raining for the next 10 days so you will see what winter weather is like here. Unfortunately this weather can last through April. The gloom will wear on you and it can be depressing. So get used to the wet weather if you plan to move here. I also can’t stand the traffic in Vancouver. Around mill plain and I205 it can be very heavy. Most of Vancouver is a suburb with strip malls. It might not be a bad place for family. The schools are better than Oregon.