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Old 06-30-2016, 02:55 AM
 
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
3 posts, read 7,581 times
Reputation: 14

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Greetings to all,

I currently reside in downtown Phoenix, AZ (in the arts district.) It's sort of a hip part of town and definitely higher end. I recently was offered a position in Vancouver, WA and will likely be relocating within 2 weeks.
Does anyone here have advice for someone moving to Vancouver from a desert climate and transient state? More specifically, advice on what neighborhood to move in. I will be using public transportation and my work is located at St Johns Blvd, Vancouver, WA 98661.

My requirements for my neighborhood are simple:
-Safe, quiet, and occupied by working professionals and families
-Near my work
-Near Public Transporation
-Possibly in uptown or downtown
-Close to Farmer's Markets
-Something furnished would be ideal in the beginning

Please any advice from current residents or people with direct experience living in Vancouver, WA would be greatly appreciated. Names of neighborhoods and communities will be extra helpful.
I have yet to visit Washington State, so an insider's insight would be fantastic!

Respectfully
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Old 06-30-2016, 09:27 AM
 
Location: WA
5,292 posts, read 7,585,880 times
Reputation: 8235
Vancouver has sucky public transportation for an urban area this large. But on the plus side there is a bus route that runs right down St. Johns Blvd. Consult the C-Tran web site and look up route #25 http://www.c-tran.com/ If you want to use public transportation I would suggest you live somewhere along route #25 so you don't have to transfer as the bus frequency is about every 35 minutes and a transfer could put a serious bite into your commute time. But route 25 also runs right through the downtown area so you have good options.

Apartments and rentals are extremely tight in Vancouver and you are working with pretty tight notice. Anything you can find in the downtown Vancouver area may have to do. The farmers market is right downtown as is much of what you will likely want to do as a single. You may not have the chance to be very picky. On the plus side, there aren't really any bad areas so you don't really have to worry about getting stuck in the ghetto as might be the case in Phoenix. Also be aware of your nearest grocery. There aren't a lot of options right in downtown so if you are depending on public transit at least think about grocery shopping when you plan your daily geography. There is a Fred Meyer (similar to Target but with better grocery) about 2 miles east of downtown and a Safeway about 1.5 miles north of downtown. I think those are your two nearest full service large groceries. Both would be bikeable but would be a pretty long walk, especially in winter.
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Old 06-30-2016, 09:31 AM
 
Location: CA, OR & WA (Best Coast)
469 posts, read 518,976 times
Reputation: 433
The area your describing to live is downtown. The issue is affordability. Not sure what your budget is but the area has gotten quite expensive (local standards) to live in and that is only if you can find an available space. I'm sure you have seen/read about the housing crisis in Portland, same thing in Vancouver WA.

I relocated here as I work from home and can utilize the income tax advantage. I have meet so many other people in my area (uptown) that are transplants for the exact same reason. My point is that most of us are transplants and are able to afford the homes, and have increased the value tremendously (that's your competition)

Ester Short Neighborhood (ground zero) lots of nice apartments
Hough Neighborhood (best of the best) nothing ever goes on the market and if it does its big $
Arnada (Same as Hough, but little cheaper as you get closer to I-5, but not much.
http://assets.site-static.com/userFi...rhoods_650.gif

Uptown is quite nice, a little cheaper the further north you go but not much.

St Johns is quite a long street so depending on what end your working at gives you options.
I see a bus line going down it.
http://www.c-tran.com/system-maps/c-...ull-system-map

Crime is typical of any city, homeless, property crimes but nothing like Portland.

Good luck
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Old 06-30-2016, 11:47 AM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,570 posts, read 57,505,129 times
Reputation: 45957
I would avoid living on St Johns / St. James to have a better Vancouver experience.

Personally I like a guiet home to retreat to, so.... If single / renter, I would seek a place within Officers Row / Ft Vancouver Trust rentals. 4th of July brings crowds, but the other 364 days per yr are pretty quiet, and short walk to downtown / library.

I think you have picked a good time of yr to come to Vancouver.

Get a home / apartment with lots of big south facing windows. Dark winters will be much better with graylight daylight, the more the better for you ( and your health). Our first winter was sickly, part due to a dark/damp home.
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Old 06-30-2016, 03:33 PM
 
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
3 posts, read 7,581 times
Reputation: 14
I'm not sure how to thank everyone individually but thanks to you all who replied.
I certainly have some research to do, but now have a better idea of where to focus my energy.
Does anyone know the average salary for living in Vancouver, WA?
I researched salaries online, but would like to hear what people personally earn and a little bit about your lifestyle.
I'm not a materialistic person, but I do enjoy eating organic food; which is pretty costly. I also need to be able to save for travel and vacation. Those are my only big expenses. Other than that, I just need a nice, clean and quiet neighborhood to enjoy.
The position I'm being offered is a management position, but the company is small and family owned. As a result, they currently are not offering benefits. I'm a cancer survivor who routinely has to see my oncologist, so it's a big deal not having health insurance right off the bat.
Does anyone know about WA state and the insurance it possibly offers? Arizona has a great program, so I'm hoping for something similar in Vancouver.

Any insight again is greatly appreciated! You guys seriously rock for taking time out of your busy lives to offer advice!!
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Old 06-30-2016, 03:35 PM
 
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
3 posts, read 7,581 times
Reputation: 14
Great advice on the windows. I'll definitely keep this in mind for the winter time. I'll miss the Arizona sky, but I'm super excited about the opportunity to live somewhere new!
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Old 06-30-2016, 06:02 PM
 
1,070 posts, read 2,016,407 times
Reputation: 733
Pertaining to health exchanges, I believe Washington's is rated relatively high from what I gather.

Region Three - individual health plans for 2016 -- Clark, Klickitat, Skamania counties - Office of the Insurance Commissioner

For instance, in this study, it is ranked 4th out of the top nine states in performance with AZ not in the top nine:

Health insurance exchange state rankings: 9 top performers | Managed Healthcare Executive

I've also heard of other studies and comparisons that rank Washington's exchange highly. However, costs are about in the middle as it relates to the 50-states. Therefore, it may be slight more expensive than AZ.

Compass Oncology does have a clinic in Vancouver. Compass is a well regarded cancer center that has multiple locations in the Portland metro area.

Vancouver - Compass Oncology

(as it relates to "thank yous" you can leave a private comment that relates to a particular post by using the icon and will give the poster points toward forum reputation. You can also Direct Message a member (if they haven't disabled it) to converse privately off the forum by clicking on their user name and choosing "Send a direct message to....")
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Old 07-08-2016, 04:29 PM
 
18 posts, read 24,472 times
Reputation: 14
possibly the wife and I are coming up from California for a new adventure! thanks for the advice
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Old 07-14-2016, 10:45 AM
 
Location: Southwest Washington
2,316 posts, read 7,789,823 times
Reputation: 1746
Quote:
Originally Posted by thehandiimanaz View Post
I'm not sure how to thank everyone individually but thanks to you all who replied.
I certainly have some research to do, but now have a better idea of where to focus my energy.
Does anyone know the average salary for living in Vancouver, WA?
I researched salaries online, but would like to hear what people personally earn and a little bit about your lifestyle.
I'm not a materialistic person, but I do enjoy eating organic food; which is pretty costly. I also need to be able to save for travel and vacation. Those are my only big expenses. Other than that, I just need a nice, clean and quiet neighborhood to enjoy.
The position I'm being offered is a management position, but the company is small and family owned. As a result, they currently are not offering benefits. I'm a cancer survivor who routinely has to see my oncologist, so it's a big deal not having health insurance right off the bat.
Does anyone know about WA state and the insurance it possibly offers? Arizona has a great program, so I'm hoping for something similar in Vancouver.

Any insight again is greatly appreciated! You guys seriously rock for taking time out of your busy lives to offer advice!!
City Data has a lot of useful statistics and info on their homepage. According to census data, the per capita income in Vancouver is about $26,000 and the median household income is about $50,000. As a single person, I think you can be quite comfortable here at $35-40,000. If you were in Portland, for instance, that would probably be poverty wages and have you relegated to a very unsafe neighborhood.

I would second those who said to try and find a place to live near the bus route that runs along St. Johns Blvd. The transfers can be a real joykill, especially in the winter. I wouldn't live right on St. Johns or Fourth Plain (east of I-5), but otherwise the Rose Village or Fourth Plain Village neighborhoods are actually a good compromise between "niceness" and affordability. They're really more "up and coming" or "transitional" which means they haven't quite made it there, but they're getting nicer every year. Downtown is a good option and it's still quiet, though less quiet than it is east of I-5. Just expect higher prices, as others have mentioned, west of I-5.

Oh, and I should mention that the Safeway downtown is not nice at all. In fact it's pretty run down, moldy, and with meth heads in the parking lot at all hours. There are really no good natural and organic options there. Fred Meyer has a great selection, however, so plan on shopping there. I'm not sure if there is a bus that goes by Chuck's, but they're a great natural market too. We are personally keeping our fingers crossed that New Seasons will build a store downtown at some point--they're a great natural grocer in this area. They do have a Vancouver store about 10 miles east of downtown, but it's inconvenient to reach via bus.
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