Battle Ground vs Camas?

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Based on your no. 2, I also believe Camas is your number one. Homes are more expensive, but not outrageously so. Schools are top notch; there are tons of families all over the place in Camas; when schools let out I see lots of young ones running home or boarding yellow school buses.

Also, ensure you look into the Running Start program. This program allows high school juniors and seniors to earn college credits -- for free. It's fantastic, so you really should be taking advantage of it to knock down those college tuition bills and launch your children with as little debt as possible while preserving your retirement and bank accounts. Be advised, though, it's really college -- the professors won't take attendance, and they won't care if your sixteen-year-old fails to show up, they'll simply fail them. So make sure your kid(s) have the temperament, mindset, and abilities to independently handle more difficult academic work as a high school junior.

Plan ahead. Get a house that triangulates between work commute, grade school & high school commute, and potential college/Running Start commute, in this order of priority.

Another benefit I find to living in Camas is proximity to lots of services, as well as proximity to Portland. You can live very close to the bridges, and you can be in Portland or the PDX airport in fifteen minutes. We find this is a huge benefit to living in Vancouver, and particularly Camas. I'm glad we're not further north, because we really, really like being able to quickly jet over to Portland for healthcare, some quick shopping, a quality takeout or sitdown meal (Portland has some of the best restaurants in the U.S., period), or even to peruse the Whole Foods or outdoor markets. We go to Portland quite a bit, love it. Then love leaving and coming back to more peaceful Camas, it's ideal to my mind.

Finally, broadband -- once again, lots of great options in established and new Camas neighboorhoods. Though I think you will find good service in Salmon Creek, Fisher's Landing, and other closer-in neighboords, and this includes true fiber (which we have) as well as very good wired broadband. Be much more careful if you plan on going farther north or east, or if you buy a huge plot with lots of acreage. You may be relegated to well water, septic, and reduced internet/broadband choices -- these were a definite no-go for us. So we looked to more established neighborhoods and triple-checked we could get fiber at our home. You don't necessarily need fibre, for example Comcast Xfinity is very good and widely available. Just make sure you've got some kind of wired broadband -- not DSL, not satellite broadband (which is awful).