Longview — how bad is it? (Seattle, Vancouver: low crime, hotel, neighborhood)

[time4family]

Hello. We are moving to Southwestern Washington. My husband will be starting a new job in Longview. I am trying to get a sense of the area through this forum. We are looking for a town outside of Longview (around up to 25 minute commute max.) to settle down in with good schools, low crime and low pollution. I have heard bad things about Longview and Kelso, such as meth and crime problems, and high highschool dropout rate. Are these true? Please tell me which towns you recommend surrounding Longview that meet this criteria. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

[Sobefobik]

Originally Posted by time4family

Hello. We are moving to Southwestern Washington. My husband will be starting a new job in Longview. I am trying to get a sense of the area through this forum. We are looking for a town outside of Longview (around up to 25 minute commute max.) to settle down in with good schools, low crime and low pollution. I have heard bad things about Longview and Kelso, such as meth and crime problems, and high highschool dropout rate. Are these true? Please tell me which towns you recommend surrounding Longview that meet this criteria. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

You are correct. I am currently living in Longview and can't wait to get out. The whole town is surrounded by several mills, which often stink up the town. You can actually smell the mills as you approach the Longview/Kelso exits.

Drugs are a huge problem in this area, and there is a high crime rate in certain areas (i.e. the Highlands). Fortunately there are towns within in a close distance. I am not familiar with schools and how well they perform, but check out Woodland, Cathlamet, Kalama and La Center. These are all small towns, but for not much further distance (you would not hit traffic for the commute) you could move to Vancouver. Vancouver is right next to Portland and is larger.

[hamellr]

Longview is known as the armpit of Portland for a reason unfortunately.

The town itself has taken great strides to make itself more friendly, but since Trojan closed it's had a hard time attracting the well payed citizens it used to have.

[AlohaHuey]

Aside from the noxious smells and the meth trailers, Longview is OK.

The WA state Portland suburbs (Battle Ground, Vancouver, etc.) are outside your commute requirements, but I'd strongly recommend you look there and commute a bit further. You'd be going the opposite way from the prevailing traffic flow.

[Count David]

25 minute commute zone:



Schools:
GreatSchools.org Search: 98632

Schools, if you are also considering OR:
GreatSchools.org Search: 97048

[Rob Allen]

A friend of mine recently wrote:

"Longview, to be honest, is not really a place for tourists. It’s just another rural Washington mill town, slightly better off than others because it’s located where the Cowlitz River empties into the Columbia. But the economic depression we’d noticed on our trip last August had taken its toll here, too, and even though the rain had let up a little, the place still had that gray look of despair that you really only see in the Pacific Northwest. (If you ever saw the old Twin Peaks, that show made great use of that dark, foreboding look of the country up here. The first couple of years of The X-Files worked that angle as well… come to think of it, The Killing on AMC is milking it too.)"

[justme027]

My family moved to Longview about a year ago and I had the same fears you did. However, we have found that the city's reputation is worse than the reality. We live in the Mint Valley area so we are a bit insulated from the worst areas of town, but have been pleased with our neighborhood and the school here.

In anticipation of our move, I spent a lot of time perusing this forum and was very discouraged. I was certain that our move here was going to be a disaster. However, reflecting about a year out, this city has it's problems, but it also has a lot of potential there for those that want to appreciate it.

[time4family]

Thank you all for your very friendly and helpful input. I really appreciate it.

[israel5959]

Help please...I'm moving to Kelso soon from Fresno Ca and plan to try and find work in Portland.Is that a good move or not???

[pw72]

Has anyone mentioned that Longview was a planned town to encourage lumber workers to live there? The town is actually well-planned and has a nice street grid, almost regal in places, especially around the old Monticello Hotel that was supposed to the the center of town. The streets are wide, and it really is not your typical lumber town. I worked there briefly decades ago, and was impressed. True, it may have a bad rep, but it doesn't deserve it. Yes, occasional pulp smell, but most of those factories are located south and the prevailing winds take it east-northeast, missing most of the population. Another factor is it is less than an hour to Portland, and just a couple hours to Seattle. I kinda like Longview.