Does Vancouver seem like a transient culture to you? (Camas: transplants, rental)

[MtnSurfer]

Hello,

I'm curious if folks consider their town and closer neighborhood as somewhat transient? Where we live in now in Monterey there is a large military presence. Then there are locals who have lived here their whole lives. However, since there are somewhat limited jobs depending on one's profession we don't see as many of those local 'lifers.' I would say there is pretty high turn over if one has military friends which we do. Most are from somewhere else and like us eventually move on. We've been here for 11 years which seemed like a good amount of time to get the know the people and area.

How would you describe your area? Are there more folks who've been there for a shorter time? And do see others leaving after a while who you've gotten to know? Or are most long timers? Just curious.

Derek

[texasdiver]

No, it's not like a military town or college town or even a government town with a part-time legislature.

Vancouver has an old-time population of long term residents, many of them older who have been here for decades or generations. You wanna meet these people, shop at Bi-Mart.

Vancouver also has a lot of newer residents who have moved into the area from Oregon and other mostly west-coast cities like CA. But they tend to mostly move in and not out which accounts for the population growth. My neighborhood is near Fisher Investments which is a big investment company that relocated here from CA about a decade ago. So I have a variety of neighbors who are CA transplants who came up here from CA with Fisher. And another bunch who have tech-related jobs, mostly in OR. No neighbors that I know of who are actually long-term multi-generational residents of Clark County who grew up here.

I know of a few teachers who have left for other states, but mostly for family reasons. Last year I had one teacher colleague who moved to Louisiana and another moved to Arizona. But those were for family/spouse reasons. One had a spouse who got a university teaching job in Louisiana, the other was moving closer to her mother in AZ. More typically, the people who leave the area are retirees who have left for warmer or sunnier places like Bend or more rural areas like the Oregon Coast.

[silibran]

My sense is that more people come here than leave. Of course there are some who live here because of a job transfer, then move on for another job. In my neighborhood, there is a steady trickle of move outs and move ins from spring through summer. Several neighbors have left, to be replaced. But the biggest change I sense is how the Great Recession caused homes to become rental properties. Some of the instability here is caused by that.

I do know that our traffic is different than it was when we moved here in 2012. And it continues to grow in volume.

[Jane917]

The development I live in in Ridgefield is only 5 years old, at the most. Lots of long time Clark County residents live here. The family that sold the farm for development (3rd generation) even lives here. The young families that are buying here seem to have lived in the area all their lives. I can't think of a single resident in my development of 68 homes who moved here directly from out of state. Even those from California seemed to have lived somewhere in Clark County before moving here.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Jane917

The development I live in in Ridgefield is only 5 years old, at the most. Lots of long time Clark County residents live here. The family that sold the farm for development (3rd generation) even lives here. The young families that are buying here seem to have lived in the area all their lives. I can't think of a single resident in my development of 68 homes who moved here directly from out of state. Even those from California seemed to have lived somewhere in Clark County before moving here.

That is dramatically different from my street in Camas. I have not encountered a single neighbor who is actually from Clark County. We have some Californians, some Oregonians, two families from Texas (one Hispanic retired Navy officer and one Asian family from Houston) new neighbors who just moved in from Hawaii, and the rest are from UK, Romania, Taiwan, China, Phillipines, and India, mostly for jobs in tech or medicine.

[Jane917]

Camas is much more diverse than Ridgefield. Did you see much ethnic/regional diversity when you worked here in Ridgefield?

Wait, we have one young couple who recently moved in. I hear they are Russian (though they are more likely Ukrainian). I have not talked to them. Apparently they speak little English, but I do believe they moved to my neighborhood from Battleground. I think it is their parents who actually own the home.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Jane917

Camas is much more diverse than Ridgefield. Did you see much ethnic/regional diversity when you worked here in Ridgefield?

Wait, we have one young couple who recently moved in. I hear they are Russian (though they are more likely Ukrainian). I have not talked to them. Apparently they speak little English, but I do believe they moved to my neighborhood from Battleground. I think it is their parents who actually own the home.

Yes, Ridgefield is MUCH less diverse. I saw practically no ethnic diversity in the schools when I taught there. Virtually no black kids, very small number of east Asian and south Asian kids, and a small number of Hispanic kids. There were a handful of Russian and Ukranian kids who quickly blended in. Camas is much more diverse and Vancouver proper is even more so, judging from the schools. In the advanced science classes in Camas and the Evergreen schools like Union and Mountain View the white kids are in the minority.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

That is dramatically different from my street in Camas. I have not encountered a single neighbor who is actually from Clark County. We have some Californians, some Oregonians, two families from Texas (one Hispanic retired Navy officer and one Asian family from Houston) new neighbors who just moved in from Hawaii, and the rest are from UK, Romania, Taiwan, China, Phillipines, and India, mostly for jobs in tech or medicine.

Wow, I had no idea Camas was that diverse. I really enjoy having some cultural diversity and it has been one of my favorite parts of living in Monterey. We have students from around the world who come here to study languages. Because of this Monterey is known as the Language Capital of the World and even has a festival to celebrate that designation. Monterey celebrates being Language Capital of the World.

It sounds like the larger Vancouver area has both extremes from Camas to Ridgefield and probably a lot in between.

Derek

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Jane917

The development I live in in Ridgefield is only 5 years old, at the most. Lots of long time Clark County residents live here. The family that sold the farm for development (3rd generation) even lives here. The young families that are buying here seem to have lived in the area all their lives. I can't think of a single resident in my development of 68 homes who moved here directly from out of state. Even those from California seemed to have lived somewhere in Clark County before moving here.

Jane, that's interesting that there are so many 'locals' moving into these new developments in Ridgefield.

We purchased a home in a new development in the Hockinson School District. At this stage I have no idea what the neighborhood demographic will consist of - if most will be locals or first time Clark County residents like us. I guess we'll discover more once when we move-in in two weeks.

Derek

[elkotronics]

Mtn Surfer - I'm sure you will add to the community you're moving in to. You're smart and experienced enough to add to the community in southwest Washington you're moving in to. Welcome to Washington state!