Walkable Neighborhoods for Dog Lovers (Vancouver, Camas: HOA fees, big house, school district)

[Farmer15]

We'll be visiting Vancouver area soon for our first look about. We're interested in checking out neighborhoods that work well for active retirees who love getting outside for long dog walks (on sidewalks & even trails). While we don't mind jumping in the car to run grocery errands and such, we don't want to have to drive the dogs to walkable places (at least not on a daily basis). 55+ community is not required, big house not required. We do like the idea of 1 story house to take us into old(er) age or at least a first floor master and dog friendly fenced back yard. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

[StealthRabbit]

Vancouver: Adjacent to Burnt Bridge trail (very long route, I prefer Minnehaha / Ross Sub station area, west to Vancouver Lake) https://www.traillink.com/trail/burn...e-creek-trail/
Camas: Near Lacamas / Round Lake trail
Washougal: Near Bimart / Safeway (dogpark) or Pendleton Mill (tunnel to Riverside walk) Also a LARGE Nature preserve accessible from the River trail or SR 14.
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/steigerwald_lake/
Columbia Gorge Refuge Stewards
(numerous Columbia Gorge Trails east a few minutes) Hiking the Columbia Gorge Columbia River Gorge Hikes - Hiking in Portland, Oregon and Washington

Ridgefield: ? should be able to take dogs walking in Nature Preserve, our Choc Lab likes to go hunting there!
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/ridgefield/

[Farmer15]

Thanks so much, Stealth, we will enjoy checking out all of these places.

[Jane917]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Ridgefield: ? should be able to take dogs walking in Nature Preserve, our Choc Lab likes to go hunting there!
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/ridgefield/

It is my understanding that dogs are not allowed in the Refuge.

[Goin' Coastal]

My friends relocated from 2 acres out in Sandy, OR, to a beautiful little neighborhood in Vancouver, in Fisher's Landing.

They are close to Heritage Park, on the east side of 164th, and one of the things they love about their new neighborhood is the walking trail layout there. They walk their little dog there a couple of miles a day.

The houses and yards are also manageable for someone wanting a bit less to care for but still have the open concept and plenty of room to entertain family.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Jane917

It is my understanding that dogs are not allowed in the Refuge.

That's correct. Dogs are not allowed in the one in Washougal as well

Basically there are lots of walking trails all over the Vancouver area. But they seem most abundant around Camas where all the subdivisions put in trails.

If what you want is places to walk for exercise and to walk the dog then Camas is pretty decent in that respect. Where it fails in walkability is in terms of having shopping and restaurants and such within easy walking distance unless you live right in downtown Camas.

[Farmer15]

Thanks, Goin' Coastal and Texasdiver, this is quite helpful. Am I correct to assume that all these subdivisions have HOA fees? If so, do you know of an easy way to look them up?

[StealthRabbit]

It is very EZ to find a non-HOA subdivision in SW WA +/-

Do you want lawn and exterior care? There are some HOA's that offer / require that.

unless there is a clubhouse / pool (rare) / golf / waterfront... the fees are usually less than $300/yr

Clark GIS is very helpful in property search. / costs
https://gis.clark.wa.gov/gishome/
(realize taxes shown MAY be under deferral (thus not representative of what you would pay). just multiply your offer price by levy, tho if your offer is a bargain, you will be assessed higher) http://dor.wa.gov/docs/Pubs/Prop_Tax/SeniorDefs.pdf

[Farmer15]

Thanks for the tax website. I looked at a sample house on there, just to get the feel for how it works. Does the millage rate and levy include school taxes, or is that billed separately? Here we pay two tax bills annually -- one to the town and one to the school district -- so figuring out total millage rate is a bit tricky and much higher than one initially thinks!

[Farmer15]

And what is this levy for "mosquito control" all about? I thought you guys didn't have bugs out there! ;-)