What's life & weather like along the Columbia River gorge? (White Salmon: sales, homes)

[jcapaus]

Can anyone tell me about the comparisons of the WA and OR sides of the Columbia River gorge around the Hood River area? I'm having a hard time discerning where the climate changes from wet to dry. Are property values about the same, and what about drive time to Portland?

THANKS!!

[rambrush]

Its a tad breezy along the gorge, oregon has no sales tax and washington does. (Ok I can not tell a fib its a lot breezy) the river creates a funnel like from Umatilla to Astoria
Oregon has more towns along the river.

[StealthRabbit]

Commute = 45 - 50 min HR > PDX (airport) and 1hr to downtown Portland (excluding the winter days of freezing rain... at times it is 'impassable')

The weather changes dramatically between HR (WS) and Cascade Locks (North Bonneville) (check out a rain / wind map, do a search of this forum) Look closely at elevations and narrowness of gorge. The "vortex" - Very high wind is between Cascade Locks and Corbett - HR / White Salmon is really ideal. (mix between rain / dry and wind and less wind.)

Underwood is pretty good, but getting east of WS (HR) you run into really dry and rocky terrain (and ticks / rattlesnakes). The 'Scenic Gorge' restrictions and large land holdings of USFS in Eastern Skamania County make it difficult to find the right spot.

Property values are quite similar. Property taxes can be better in OR, But 8% OR income tax can bite you. The ideal spots (Parkdale / Odell valley in OR and Troutlake/ BZ in WA are pretty expensive. But there are benefits to one side over the other for availability of work and larger volume of homes.

Moderator cut: off topic