The scoop on living in Downtown Vancouver (Salmon Creek, Camas: to rent, insurance)

[Mizeriqua]

I just returned from my second vacation to Oregon/WA and spent some time at MIL's house. She lives in Edgewood Park area. Fabulous but likely out of my price range for buying. We did some driving around and exploring of Vancouver and I officially like the west side of town. I find the east too suburbany, I am trying to get out of that here in Dallas. I really liked downtown Camas too, but maybe it's too far from Portland where I have friends and will spend a fair amount of leisure time.

I have a number of homes on my radar on the letter streets near downtown, between Kauffman and St Johns and perhaps between Mill Plain and 39th ish.

I'd like to know if this general area is good for me, my partner and my teenage son, who will be in High School when we arrive.

Is it safe, as in gangs, drugs, shootings, robberies, etc? Would you walk your dog in the evening? Do you need an alarm system? Homeless people wandering the neighborhoods?

I will be working in Vancouver near 136th and Mill Plain and partner's job is TBD. He works for GP, so the paper mill is an option, or he's be going to have to commute to OR, but his hours are never 9-5 anyway.

Is Hudson's Bay HS good? I see options for Magnets and Running Start in 11/12, he will be in 9th grade next year when we arrive. He will prefer AP classes, and likes ice hockey and band.

I'm really drawn to the older, more charming housing in this area and hope it's nice. Will probably need to buy a fixer, which is fine because we are pretty good with DIY projects. I am ok with a small-ish house but want some land for gardening and maybe chickens.

Any info on this are would be greatly appreciated!

[ratchetjaw]

Looking forward to having you!

East Vancouver isn't nearly as suburban as it was 20-25 years ago. If you want a glimpse of what it was like then, head up NE 138th north of the Padden Parkway. Annexation in 1994 has really taken its toll on this part of once-unincorporated Clark County. Yes, Camas is quite far from Portland, but that should actually be considered a GOOD thing. The violent crime rate here isn't as high as it is in the west end (for example, consider the silly ongoing "Nortenos-versus-Surenos" soap opera), though we tend to have more non-violent crime (gambling, drunken driving, the occasional raid of unauthorised cannabis gardens, etc.) in addition to the occasional robbery or carjacking. You can partially attribute this to gentrification of the east side.

Basically, I wouldn't walk my dog at night in the Alphabet District or really anywhere west of Andresen Road unless I have a loaded pistol at my side and my life insurance policy paid up. Especially in the Fourth Plain area between about Andresen and Interstate 5. Nasty part of town. Downtown's really come along within the past 15 years or so, but even that's still too close for comfort. In East vancouver you'd be closer to your respective jobs than you would near downtown, especially if the husband opts to work at the mill. Landover Hills and Fircrest are decent and relatively safe neighbourhoods to be in (from experience, having lived in both) as might be Airport Green; if you're rich or into upscale, stately housing, First Place or Cimarron. Avoiding Cascade Park/Crestline/Mountain View and Hearthwood (the latter of which FP and AG border on), if possible, may be advisable.

[Mizeriqua]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond ratchet. I have to admit though, I am bummed! I really love the houses that are smack in the middle of your "do not live there" zone

If it's really that bad, I wonder why some of the housing prices are through the roof? Are Lincoln neighborhood and Rose Village also within these boundaries and equally as crappy?

I know that I am supposed to rent first, buy later...the stubborn and impatient me just doesn't want to wait! But I want my next home purchase to be very long term, so I will be more cautious.

If anyone on the forum lives in the general area around Clark College, or in Lincoln/Rose Village, I would love to hear your take as well.

Cheers!

[StealthRabbit]

my son just bought a place 3 blks from Clark. It is a decent neighborhood and was well under $200K.

He did running start 12 yrs ago. He wished he would have bought it then...

There are plenty of nice neighborhoods in central area, and a few to be avoided (4th Plain)

[ratchetjaw]

Huh. They must have been undergoing urban renewal like downtown, then, in recent years. Growing up on the east side (then-unincorporated Clark County), all you'd ever hear was about what a bad part of town that all was.

Either that or I haven't been paying as close attention as I probably should be.

[hml1976]

So I like Lincoln, it's very cute for a few blocks around the park there. But, I wouldn't send my kid to high school in that area.

Like other posters have mentioned, you're just better off in east Vancouver or farther north in the Felida/Salmon Creek areas for schools and jobs.

[ratchetjaw]

Where is Lincoln, anyways? Out near Hazel Dell or Ridgefield somewhere?

[StealthRabbit]

Lincoln is above Vancouver Lake and North of 39th NW corner of the map (ugh they changed the map, not as user friendly)
Neighborhoods | City of Vancouver Washington

[captiv8ed]

Mizeriqua, please take ratchetjaw's opinion with a grain of salt, given that (s)he doesn't even know where lincoln is! Hard to be an authority on an area when you don't even recognize one of its main residential neighborhoods. It sounds like ratchetjaw's opinion is stemming from hearsay and anecdotes.

Lincoln and Hough are both really sweet neighborhoods. Here is some crime data:
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

This map gives an overview:
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

I lived in Hazel Dell for a year and now live in West Cascade Park. Hazel Dell was great for us. Our street was quite suburban, but the houses were built in the 60s and still had quite a bit of charm. Big trees. Very close to downtown Vancouver and Portland.

Now we are out here on the eastside. I like it but I am constantly struck with how suburban it is! Rows and rows of houses and strip malls. It is ridiculously safe though. Couples walking dogs late into the evening.

People have mixed experiences with Hudson's Bay High. We homeschooled our son instead of enrolling him there. The magnet options are great and some people do boundary exceptions.

[ratchetjaw]

captiv8ed, as an almost-lifelong resident of Vancouver, I find the first part of your post an affront. It may or may not interest you to know that I have about 25 of my 30 years based here. How much of that timespan can you claim to have spent in and around Vancouver? I have worked the most recent 10 of those as an independent courier primarily in the east side, a trade in which one can gain an intimate familiary with the areas one services.

"(s)he"

He.

"Hard to be an authority on an area"

When did I ever claim to be an authority on Vancouver? I don't remember ever having written that on here. I only know what I know from having lived and worked here nearly my entire life.

"when you don't even recognise one of its main residential neighborhoods."

"Don't know/recognise" and "don't remember where it is because I don't go out there very often" are two different concepts. (Thanks, stealthrabbit.)

"It sounds like ratchetjaw's opinion is stemming from hearsay and anecdotes."

When anybody posts an opinion about something to a forum, it's hearsay and possibly anecdotal; that's how it works. Most of it, particularly information pertaining to the east side, is gained from experience. Either from living in those areas or from travelling through them heavily. Just because your residence presumably hasn't yet been burgled or vandalised, or you haven't yet witnessed a drugs trade (more likely to happen) occuring across the street near Mountain View, as you stated in another thread (which is not "west Cascade Park") within the past six months doesn't mean you won't.