Crime in Longview/Kelso

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by travelling_paws

Wow, this surprises me. I have friends in Astoria Or, and have been thinking about moving out your way - Astoria real estate prices are high, but I've looked at prices anywhere from Longview to Long Beach...much cheaper. Guess there's a reason for that...
Is it just Longview where crime is bad, or does that extend to surrounding areas?
Mind you I'm currently (and temporarily) living in Flint MI, which is one of the highest murder/crime rate cities in the entire country. So just about anyplace else would feel safer!

Longbeach, WA is a really nice little town. But stay away from Longview. It used to be one of my favorite towns when I was a kid since it was my first real hint that we were on our way to the coast. But it's become a total dump in the last several years and the meth capitol of the NW.

Meth is an ENORMOUS issue in Kelso/Longview. So much so that the hospital routinely tests newborns for meth in their system. Something like 20% of all newborn babies end up testing positive for it. Yikes.

Even though it doesn't seem so on the map, Longbeach and Longview are quite a ways away from each other. Not a whole lot of crime overlap because, honestly...it's too far for most of the tweakers to get to.

[rebubble]

I moved to Kelso from California 2 years ago because the housing prices are extremely low. "Think 1980's". Drugs and crime are everywhere in the country! I don't feel scared walking at night here. I think many of the "old timers" want newcomers to stay away. I had one woman tell me she didn't want the value of her house to go up, because then she would have to pay higher taxes. This is the dumbest backward thinking I can imagine. Kelso is close to Portland and close enough to Seattle, for those of us that are looking for a little culture. The weather here is nice most of the time and there are just enough amenities to make life worthwhile. I think if more educated people moved here it would improve the area. It's the natives that tolerate crime and drug use as a given because they have a friend or relative who crossed those lines. It's the new blood that have much higher expectations.

Don't bite the hype! Move to Kelso!