Battle Ground vs. Ridgefield

[freedom2007]

I'm not sure why someone would warn to stay away from Battle Ground. I moved to Ridgefield from a very nice neighborhood in Portland about 6 months ago and drive to Battle Ground several times a week. It has a lot of amenities, and do I feel it is too far from the freeway for good commuting, but it is growing and if you don't need to commute much, it is a nice community with lots of amenities. The land is flatter there.

Ridgefield is really great - yes it is growing, but I feel that is a good thing. There were some problems with the city management (well documented in the newspaper), but I think that is behind them and new people have come into positions and that will probably spell positive change. Coming are a new medical center, a new community center and movie theater and a planned housing development. I think those things will round things out a bit. It is close to the Refuge, lots of trees, farms, etc., and I don't see it really getting too enormous. It has small town character and charm, but I can easily get to Portland. The schools are highly rated, and at first I was somewhat disappointed in the academic offerings, but I realize I have high expectations and the school has high parental and community involvement and a small town charm that can't be beat.

Property/housing is still quite reasonable in Ridgefield too. Good luck.

[mom05]

KLPeake's post was dead on. They are both very nice towns and anyone that says otherwise probably doesn't live there.

Whether you pick Ridgefield or Battle Ground is 100% up to what you want in a town. Battle Ground is the 2nd largest town in the county, but is still small and quaint. It has the convenience of larger chain stores like Safeway, starbucks and so forth and a major interchange to I5 is being installed in 2 years. I have lived in BG for 3 years and love it. If you want land, it is more affordable out there, but it is a ways off the freeway and not as accessible to portland. Most of BG now connsists of commuters to Portland and Vancouver, it's a bedroom community. I have to say that I have been there 3+ years and NEVER ran into a racisit. It's a lovely place to live.

Ridgefield is very convenient in that it is directly off the freeway. You can commute to Portland, see a show, etc. If proximity to city is what you like, then you may be more happy there. Their downtown if extremely small and does not have conveniences of grocery chains, restaurants and so forth. There is a large development moving into ridgefield, but I don't know what's moving in there. I would assume large box stores, retail and grocery types. That will add to the value of the city.

If schools is a concern for you, do your homework. I personally think the school dyanmic change yearly. When we researched moving to BG, it was the second best in the county behind Ridgefield, but the margin was narrow. I would check test scores and so forth and judge for yourself. Yes, BG has turned down levies to build a new HS for years and it is a major problem. However, all schools in Clark County are going to continue to have the same problem. The levies are written poorly and our property taxes keep escalating. I am very pro school and have personally voted against the last 2 levies because my taxes have increased 4 times in 3 years and a total of over 200,000 in accessed value. Knowing north county is growing expentionally and the tax-base from home owners is increasing as well as the overall amount we pay in, it's difficult to pass a poorly written levy. One has to wonder where the money goes. I don't think this situation is unique to any city in WA, its a growing concern accross the nation.