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Old 02-16-2020, 05:41 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
8,175 posts, read 16,565,453 times
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Ridgefield continues to grow faster than any city in WA which is pretty staggering when you think about it.

In all honesty, I have no experience Ridgefield beyond simply driving through on my way somewhere else. So I'm curious why the rapid growth beyond even other parts of Clark County such as NE Vancouver which is also growing like gangbusters?

Do you think folks are commuting into PDX from Ridgefield even though further north up I5? Does it seem like more of a retirement demographic or are lots of families with school aged kids moving in as well? If so, it seems kinda strange that school bonds are failing unless their is a general distrust for city and schools officials.

Does Ridgefield growth appear to have any end in sight in terms of available land for building, mostly old farm lands I'm guessing? I know there is a lot of that same thing happening out here in NE Vancouver/Hockinson. Several farms just sold a large connected area to developers who will be building just east of us. We just received notice from the city this past week in which there is a limited window to protest. I can imagine the owners are getting offers on those farm lands that are simply too good to pass up, though thankfully there are still some holdouts. It's nice to have breaks with open land and trees between all the new homes being built. Hockinson and Union High school districts will be splitting all the students in our case since we're on the boarder of these two districts.

Derek
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Old 02-16-2020, 06:41 PM
 
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Many many people commute to PDX from Ridgefield. Yes, we have a lot of retired folks here, but all of WA has lots of retired folk. Families with children are moving here all the time, as can be seen by the increase in the school enrollment. Farms that were once outside city boundaries have been incorporated into the city and farmers are selling to developers. The farms outside the city boundaries can only be subdivided into 5 acre lots, so developers aren't much interested in them. I took a walk in our neighborhood today along the new addition of Tavener Ridge. It seems a house is sold before it is even finished. These are not houses retired people would purchase. They are two story homes on very small lots. They are first homes for many families. I saw strollers and bikes in most of the yards along my walk. Ridgefield is definitely having some growing pains, but I have faith it will all even out. Growth also means more services coming to town. The Refuge, our quaint downtown, the Marina, the parks, all bring in people to visit. I have no complaints.....although I would not like to be commuting to PDX.
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Old 02-16-2020, 07:51 PM
 
Location: WA
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Think of the Portland metro area as a balloon that is continually growing and land-use laws as the fist squeezing the balloon. Ridgefield is one of the few places in the greater metro area where there is a gap in the fingers and the balloon is squeezing out through them. Because of adjacency to I-5 there are parts of Ridgefield (not all) that are within the urban growth boundary and available for development. Most of Oregon has more restrictive land-use regulations on the outer fringe so you see less greenfield development of farmland into subdivisions. On the WA side, much of Vancouver is fairly built out so you see the development along the outer perimeter. Ridgefield, Battle Ground, Hockinson, Camas, etc.

There’s lots of growth also happening in Battle Ground and Camas but percentage-wise the rate is slower, but that’s mostly because Ridgefield is starting from a much smaller population. I wouldn’t actually be surprised if just as many new houses are being built in Battle Ground and Camas. Those are just bigger cities already so percentage-wise the increase will be smaller. Hockinson might also be growing just as fast but I don’t think it is an incorporated city so it won’t be listed in those stats along with Ridgefield. Ridgefield is also popular due to being next to I-5 and because the schools are perceived to be good. That won’t continue to be the case if they can’t pass bonds.

I’m sure Clark County has the stats on their web site. I’m just too lazy to look it up.
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Old 02-16-2020, 08:43 PM
 
Location: WA Desert, Seattle native
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This is a good point. Percentages are deceiving when compared with total population increase.
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Old 02-16-2020, 09:35 PM
 
Location: Fremont, CA
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That's a really good analogy, Texasdiver. I see the same thing happening in the SF Bay Area, only much further along (part of the reason I'm looking at a Vancouver move!).
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Old 02-17-2020, 11:55 PM
 
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Where is the potential development near Hockinson? What roads? Hadn't heard about that yet, but doesn't surprise me.
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Old 02-18-2020, 02:15 AM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scurrytom View Post
Where is the potential development near Hockinson? What roads? Hadn't heard about that yet, but doesn't surprise me.
There are multiple large developments around us at various stages, too many to list, actually. They basically start from Frontier Middle School then head east across Fifth Plain Creek all the way to Velvet Acres and beyond. Then north to 88th St. and Ward. We have a lot of farm lands intermixed with new residential development. The land is basically flat out here, so it makes things relatively easy to develop on. The latest farms apparently being sold are near Fifth Plain Creek and the high end development known as Monet's Garden. But if one looks out both east and north there are huge sections of farmland even beyond these. And some of it doesn't look to be doing a whole lot (speculation). So if offered the right price like these latest ones, they could potentially sell as well.

Hockinson and NE Vancouver are still growing quite a bit. That's why its a bit hard to imagine the growth happening faster somewhere else like Ridgefield. That's not to say it isn't. But what Texasdiver said also makes sense in terms of percentage compared to existing population in the case of Vancouver. And as for Hockinson, it may not even be on the official radar for these sorts of comparisons since it is not an official city. Though we have our own school district which we're very happy with.

Derek
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Old 02-18-2020, 08:34 AM
 
1,454 posts, read 1,928,931 times
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the demographics are certainly mixed; there's a high percentage of families w/children and a good mix of seniors and quite a lot of people that work from home. The income level is high here on average, so you get really safe neighborhoods and seeing better opportunities come in; I do know quite a few people that also commute into Portland (I certainly wouldn't). I think of Ridgefield as similar to the SF Bay Area; we-re close enough to commute in if someone chooses but all the outlying areas in SW WA/OR have their own flavor to their area so it's more about what you're looking for. For instance, Ridgefield is incredibly quiet- so if you like peaceful, it's certainly here. If you like more bustle- would want to be more central in SW.
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