What do you know about Stevenson, Washington? (Vancouver, Yakima: new house, to live)

[hannie]

We're thinking of relocating here. I'd appreciate any info. you have

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by hannie

We're thinking of relocating here. I'd appreciate any info. you have

I grew up near there. It's absolutely GORGEOUS. Check out the Skamania county website. There are some really good links with helpful info.

http://www.skamaniacounty.org/

I've lived in a couple different parts of the US and I still consider this area home.

[hannie]

I have a brother in Washugal, another brother in Portland and another brother in Vancouver. That's the main reason we're thinking of moving up there. That and the beauty of the area + the relatively low prices. We live in North County San Diego. Here are my concerns:

Bookstores? Libraries? Cultural events? If I start a book club, will anyone show up? Exercise venues, such as water aerobics, Jazzercise? Shopping? Volunteer opportunities? I guess my main questions is this: will I be able to drive to stuff every day easily? I love to curl up with a book and my knitting, but not everyday. So, will I go buggy?

Also, it seems that Stevensen is growing. I keep seeing new houses posted. True? Do you know anyone who still lives there? Has it changed since you were there?

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by hannie

I have a brother in Washugal, another brother in Portland and another brother in Vancouver. That's the main reason we're thinking of moving up there. That and the beauty of the area + the relatively low prices. We live in North County San Diego. Here are my concerns:

Bookstores? Libraries? Cultural events? If I start a book club, will anyone show up? Exercise venues, such as water aerobics, Jazzercise? Shopping? Volunteer opportunities? I guess my main questions is this: will I be able to drive to stuff every day easily? I love to curl up with a book and my knitting, but not everyday. So, will I go buggy?

Also, it seems that Stevensen is growing. I keep seeing new houses posted. True? Do you know anyone who still lives there? Has it changed since you were there?

Honestly, even though Stevenson is growing, it's still a pretty small community and a rural area. For the things you're looking for, I'd look more towards Washougal and Camas.

They're getting ready to build a new Washougal library and finished remodeling the Camas library a few years ago. (The Camas library is gorgeous!) Downtown Camas has LOTS of shopping and they're currently redoing most of downtown Washougal to accomodate more shops, too.

There are various exercise places in the two towns. They both also have various cultural events. But they're also significantly closer to Vancouver or Portland if you are looking for specific arts/music stuff.

[hannie]

I really appreciate your feedback. I like Camas a lot. I just haven't seen as many houses I like there. I usually find great ones in Stevensen. Most of the houses I've found in Camas are track houses. One other question: what do you know about Hood River/ White Salmon. We thought Hood River was charming and bigger than Stevensen, but I've heard the wind is crazy.

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by hannie

I really appreciate your feedback. I like Camas a lot. I just haven't seen as many houses I like there. I usually find great ones in Stevensen. Most of the houses I've found in Camas are track houses. One other question: what do you know about Hood River/ White Salmon. We thought Hood River was charming and bigger than Stevensen, but I've heard the wind is crazy.

The entire gorge has crazy winds, particularly during the winter and spring time. Yes, further east is usually a bit windier, but you'll still have the winds all the way through Camas.

And I love White Salmon/Hood River. There's a very high liklihood that we will end up moving there when my husband finishes his residency. Bingen is also a very cool little town.

[hannie]

You are so informative! I think it's very generous of you to respond so thoroughly and so quickly. Thank you very much. I'd love to hear anything else you have to say about White Salmon, Hood River, The Dalles, and Stevenson. We will be relocating from So. Cal in two and a half years, and we want to learn as much as we can about the area. My brother lives in Washugal. We've visited him several times. He keeps us posted on Washugal/Camus info. He has said that nobody is interested in the Hood River area because the winds are so terrible. Never having experienced winds like that, we don't know whether it would bother us or not. We wouldn't have to go to jobs everyday since we'd be retired.

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by hannie

You are so informative! I think it's very generous of you to respond so thoroughly and so quickly. Thank you very much. I'd love to hear anything else you have to say about White Salmon, Hood River, The Dalles, and Stevenson. We will be relocating from So. Cal in two and a half years, and we want to learn as much as we can about the area. My brother lives in Washugal. We've visited him several times. He keeps us posted on Washugal/Camus info. He has said that nobody is interested in the Hood River area because the winds are so terrible. Never having experienced winds like that, we don't know whether it would bother us or not. We wouldn't have to go to jobs everyday since we'd be retired.

The winds can get pretty nasty. We found downed trees and lots of branches on the ground on more than one occasion while I was growing up. On the upside, air pollution is usually out of the area quickly, when there is some. One advatage of being east of Camas is that you don't have to worry too often about the smell from the Camas paper mill.

Camas and Washougal are butted right up against each other and unless you've lived there for a while, you may not be able to tell where one ends and the other begins. Literally, one side of the road can be Camas and the other side Washougal. There are even areas where the police and fire departments of both cities respond because of this.

The weather in any community in the Columbia River gorge can be unpredictable, at best. There have been times where I've seen rain, sleet, hail, snow, sun, and rainbows...all in the same day. It's nuts, but at least it's interesting.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me. I have no life, I'll usually get back to you pretty quickly!

[sobaskinlillegard]

Both my boyfriend and his roommate grew up in Stevenson. Both their families own property there and have for several generations. I have been down there a few times and hate to leave. We live in Yakima for now, but once we get the property back up to specs and I have my degree from UW, we'll be moving back to Stevenson, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
I've never heard anything bad about the town, nor have I experienced any snobbery from anyone there. I enjoy every second of the fresh air, green mountains, humidity, and overall country feeling.
I hope you enjoy Stevenson as much as we all do, it's a unique place in all the best ways!

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by hannie

...Here are my concerns:

Bookstores? Libraries? Cultural events? If I start a book club, will anyone show up? Exercise venues, such as water aerobics, Jazzercise? Shopping? Volunteer opportunities? I guess my main questions is this: will I be able to drive to stuff every day easily? I love to curl up with a book and my knitting, but not everyday. So, will I go buggy?

Also, it seems that Stevensen is growing. ...

kind of an old post so....

Library great, Swimming pool at HS is really great ($2.30) also Skamania Lodge and Bonneville Hot Springs have pools.

Quilting and the arts are popular, demographics changing, more folks will be interested in a book club. Curling up with a book is a good idea, as it gets lots of rain, and unfortunately some houses are about to fall into the creek

EZ access to other entertainment, but not too bad itself.

Smoked Salmon Chowder in a breadbowl at the Big River Grill on Friday nights is good. (especially today, 32F and raining)

Meth is an issue, as with other poor rural areas.