Moving to Vancouver (Seattle, Spokane, Bothell: transplants, spring break, real estate)

[PENRAWEE]

Hi there,


My husband and I have been discussing about moving out of California for a while. We want to raise our kids in the place that they can go hiking, camping and spending more time outdoor.


Life in California is very crazy and cost of living here is very expensive. we don't feel the sense of community here since it's too big. We like to visit Portland but we don't want to live in Portland.


We want to live in the small town that we can walk kids to school and no hurry every day. Could everyone tell me about Vancouver? Are there any good schools for kids? We are planning to move when they start middle school. And how much are the houses there?


I would really appreciate any suggestions or inputs so we can plan. My kids are in 3rd and 1st, we give ourselves 2 more years.


Thank you so much.

[StealthRabbit]

Just to keep your eyes wide open to the challenges to your 'preposition that kids might enjoy being outside in PNW'... here is a post from OREGON forum yesterday,,, (Moving AWAY from PNW...)
Some say that this winter has been the worst ever. What say you?

I asked my kids "What would you guys say about moving back to Arizona?" I expected a fight but I got the same answer. "Well, at least we could go outside." Then I asked them what if the house had a pool? (Our last and now rented home in Tucson did not have a pool.) They were all on board, and excited to leave. We wanted to list for 500k, the realtor said comps are 550... She said we will list it for 589k. I thought that was ridiculous. We had 2 offers by the end of the week, one with no contingencies.

It all came together in a week like it was destiny and now we are back in AZ.

My wife doesn't even work anymore. (CoL is HIGH here, (housing)_ forcing parents to work work double jobs... not worth it while you have kids at home)

Even our animals are happier. Our cat and dog rarely come in the house anymore. Where as in Oregon I couldn't get them to go outside.

In Portland, I'd be sitting at my computer or in front of the TV all night and turn in early. Maybe I'd put on my hoodie and go meet friends and stuff my face and drink.

Here, I'm about to go sit in my hot tub with my family and have a drink. It's 72 outside and We're going to turn the lights off and stare at the stars.

Every situation varies, but no place is perfect and there are a LOT of negatives to 200+ days / yr of drizzle.

(Pluses too,,, green and damp, ez to garden (in the mud).)

But.. yes, There are STARS during the winter!!! (you may not see them till Jul 5th in PNW)

Plenty of good schools within walkable neighborhoods.

You might consider Woodland (less expensive) or Ridgefield (pretty trendy / expensive) for a smaller town.

[cyberous]

What part of CA do you live in so we can have reference to what your comparing it to. There are a lot of CA transplants here. I myself go back and forth and am glad I missed the weather here for Jan & Feb.

[waishome]

I'm eagerly awaiting replies... was it really THAT bad this winter? And if it was, won't it be better next winter? We are moving from Orange County, CA to Vancouver and I am SOOOO nervous about the change in weather, but I think the quality of life will be worth it. Fingers crossed! I grew up in Spokane, went to college in Mi and now live in So Cal. I don't remember the PNW being dreadful... But since we only ever visit family in summer, I get anxious about it... A friend in Bothell says they have a 2nd spring break or something like that so families can get away. Is that true in Vancouver/Camas area? I question daily if we're doing the right thing but at the same time, playing in the dirt, puddles, digging for worms, being around good people... that outweighs a lot, right? (Just tell me what I want to hear, please! lol)

Penrawee... what part of Cali are you leaving?

[silibran]

Where we live in Vancouver, it seems like suburbia, with lots of fenced in subdivisions and centralized shopping at strips and centers. The eastern part is newer and development there is nicer. There are neighborhoods where you could walk your kids to elementary school, but walking to the library or other destinations could be problematical. Some areas do have better access to shopping.

On the west side, homes are older and some are pretty substandard. I've been following RE on Redfin for awhile now, and I see few fine older homes. There are some fabulous expensive homes, but they are almost always newer. There does seem to be a surge of newer homes built for families, but they are are almost always cramped looking, two story and jammed cheek to jowl with other, similar homes.

But, this is a nice place to raise a family. There are opportunities to do the outdoor things, and people here are avid ourdoorspeople. I have no first hand knowledge of schools, but a frequent poster tells us that Camas and Hockinson are the best school districts in the Van area. Evergreen would be next, with Vancouver Public, last.

We have been here since July, 2012. This is the worst winter we have experienced here, but honestly, the unusually cold weather only lasted a few weeks. The real downer is the unusual amount of rain. This is a La Nina year. La Nina years do not necessarily last only one year. I don't know if next year will be drier or not. The problem with snow and ice here is that the cities are unprepared for it. They don't get that much normally, so when they get an unusual amount, the city shuts down. It is weird to see after my lifetime in a midwestern city. Streets don't get plowed, and parking lots can remain icy.

However, spring here lasts a long time. Its a little later than normal this year, but it is full swing now and will last through May. Usually we see things greening up as early as late Feb. The point is, we do have seasons. But the extremes of heat and cold are not usually felt here. What makes winters so dreary is the constant overcast sky and rain. And the rain has been bad this season.

When high temps are forecast, many people here become quite anxious. And high temps seldom last more than a few days, in my experience. The newer homes are air conditioned. And lots of people escape on weekends to the Coast when it gets hot here.

Every place has its weather problems though.

I think it is a perfectly good place to live in. I think after a couple or three years, you would get used to the weather.

[cdelena]

This was a cooler and wetter winter most and set some records, so no, it won't be this bad regularly as records are not set every year. I certainly expect changes in this weather pattern with better conditions coming.

[ladybugnw]

We've lived in camas for almost 6 years. Before that, Portland area. When the weather is nice, this is one of the most beautiful places you could live with easy access local trails and very close to the Gorge with more hikes and a gazillion trails with waterfalls.


The schools are amazing in Camas. However, starting to get overcrowded. Sports are very competitive, but a lot of opportunities. East Vancouver schools-Evergreen School District (look for Union HS, Mt. View HS) are the best. Vancouver school district has a great "art" magnet school and their schools up in Salmon Creek area (where I5 and 205 meet-look for Skyview HS) are excellent too. That is also where WA State Univ Vancouver campus is located. If you are commuting to Portland, E van/Camas has easier freeway access.


That being said, we are dying with the weather. We want to move so bad. Every year I say this around March but this year we have all been sick all winter and we are all going crazy. It was sunny two weeks ago and we all went out and had the best day every. Even my teenagers were happy but the next day (heavy rain back) everyone was angry and cranky. I finally put it together. This weather is a mood killer and a happiness sucker. Sorry to be a Debbie downer, but my husband and I both grew up in the NW and I never remember a winter as horrible as this one. He follows the NW Weather service on Twitter and for the months of Jan and Feb, it was 86% gray/rain. There are so many days I just want to get outside but the weather is miserable. Spring Soccer season is basically a mudbath. Every practice and game I line my car with trash bags. Right now, they can't even start soccer because all the fields are too wet to be played on. When our budget allows, we try to get out of here in the winter. If you can plan to go somewhere Sunny in Jan/Feb and then again in April/May, you will survive. It doesn't really get "summer" here until the end of June. September and October are usually Gorgeous. Another thing. The wind in Camas is awful. If you've heard of the "EAST WIND" from the gorge, well, we get it pretty bad here.


Lot of CA transplants up here and lots of locals don't love that you just moved here from CA and bought a super expensive house, driving up the cost of our real estate because it is cheap for you compared to CA prices. Id get your liscense plate changed asap. haha.


Just keeping it real. It is a great place to live if you can hack the weather.

[silibran]

I admit that I get a bit out of patience with people who can't handle bad weather. I lived in St. Louis all my life, before living here, and I can talk bad weather with you all week long and twice on Sunday. Yes the winters are dreary and wet. Yes this winter has been worse than last winter or the winter before. But we aren't as wet and dreary as Seattle. And we aren't as cold as the Midwest. Nor are we as hot as the South. In the grand scheme of things it is simply not that awful here.

[Michie1]

Originally Posted by silibran

I admit that I get a bit out of patience with people who can't handle bad weather. I lived in St. Louis all my life, before living here, and I can talk bad weather with you all week long and twice on Sunday. Yes the winters are dreary and wet. Yes this winter has been worse than last winter or the winter before. But we aren't as wet and dreary as Seattle. And we aren't as cold as the Midwest. Nor are we as hot as the South. In the grand scheme of things it is simply not that awful here.

I totally agree! We are CA transplants and we love it here, it's beautiful!

[missca]

We moved a year ago from Northern CA and are inside most of the year. With rain almost every day, we do not get out nearly as much as I we did in CA. Please think about it! Average weather is 40 and rain.