Possibly moving to downtown Vancouver??!!Heard it's sketchyHELP signing lease tomorrow!! (renters, condos)

[tahoepdx]

Getting ready to sign a lease tomorrow in the downtown Vancouver area and have a couple of questions. Heard today from a friend that downtown Vancouver is full of meth heads at night. Kinda freaked me out, gotta be honest. The place is down by Esther Short Park, right near the library. How is that area at night? Should I not sign this lease tomorrow? Is it safe to be walking around late at night or is there a major tweaker problem? Thank you in advance for ANY replies!!

[StealthRabbit]

All is relative... It has a few issues, BUT I know several single gals who live there and love it, and have not complained about the homeless / pan handlers. It certainly is well patrolled and a decent place, just a few issues with homeless.

One has to be SMART and cautious wherever you land. Not sure of the particular place you have selected, so show up tonight LATE and walk the streets for a few hours.

Stop and talk to the cops, They will be honest!! (if you bring them a donut from Voo Doo in PDX)

[NWbyNW]

DOWNTOWN is actually pretty laid back. There is a nice large park downtown, Esther Short Park, and some urban shops and cafes along W 8th, so you can leisurely walk to to get some goods. You might actually greatly enjoy it. Main Street has many shops and restaurants to choose from as well as grocery stores further north up the road.

You are also real close to the waterfront and an area the city plans to redevelop. Should be exciting in the next X amount of years.

[blue bird]

It's a virtual ghost town with empty residential buildings during the rest of the year. It's packed during summer only.

[jertheber]

The troubling factor for any city today is the state of it's local economy, with regard to that, Vancouver is no exception. The downtown area has already had a fair amount of urban renewal since the eighties, shops have sprung up, bars with music, waterfront restaurants, a couple of live theatre venues, and more new condos for the crowd who likes city living, not to mention housing for those folks who work south of the river and need to live as close to Portland as possible.

All in all, as the Stealth Rabbit has stated, you do need to be aware in any city these days. I've lived in various places over fifty years and Vancouver has become my permanent home, I love it here and have posted many times on CD to that end.

To be close to a very large metropolitan city (Portland) while living in a quiet low traffic burg makes more sense than anything I could imagine. Try going to Tommy O's, a nice place that has a great Jazz Jam on Sundays evenings with some of the areas best players present. Go to Shanahan's for their happy hour food and pleasant vibe. Try the riverfront restaurants for the neat water views of marine traffic and great sunsets. The riverfront walk is a great place to walk and get an opportunity to experience the grandeur of the Columbia river. Burnt Bridge Creek trail also is there for those who love to bike or walk.

Main street has most anything you'd want from hardware to furniture, Uptown, a few blocks north has a decidedly small village feel to it, Meth is everywhere in this nation at present, from Montana to New York, Vancouver isn't the capital of drug use/abuse, far from it, most of the residents are law abiding types who love their little town and work hard to keep it real. Above all, remember that most of the American populace lives in the boring burbs and fears anything that smacks of a city, give them a Fred Myers store and a Carls Jr and they're happy.

[Alaskan Mutt]

I just moved in downtown. Have not seen anything that really concerns me. I have seen a couple homeless people making the rounds, however they seem to ignore everyone around them. I am sure there things I am not seeing but that applies to anywhere you move. There is some traffic noise as well as planes flying overhead. However it is not as bad as I thought it would be. It helps that I have air conditioning and can keep the windows closed during the day.

[DeerOne]

Downtown Vancouver is wonderful. Full of a variety of shops and the people, so friendly compared to Oregon. The main reason I love downtown Vancouver is the feel of a small town; totally dislike the large companies moving in and building high rise buildings and, the modernization....hopefully they will stay at their end of town (near the I-5 corridor) or move back to where they came from. The homes are wonderful to see and cozy. The residents are so friendly and take care of their property - well, most of them. Some build fences around their property and cut off some areas of their property and let it go to seed. Guess they think if not in their view they don't need to worry about it. The only thing that gets to me are the homeowners who let their property go (and the renters who think they don't need to are for that property. If I were the homeowner I would kick their tails out for letting my home go to seed and become an eyesore. Too bad homeowners (where there or not) don't take pride in their property - but those people are far and few between. As for the "druggies" they have never proven to be a real problem and they do not bother you. Not like Portland where they get in your face. Waterfront picnics, festivals are wonderful to see and Saturday Market cannot be beat. Wonderful people, wonderful town.