Living in Vancouver? (Seattle, Bellevue, Rainier: condo, crime, tax)

[formosa]

I am very familiar with Bend and Redmond (OR) and I am currently house hunting in Vancouver. My observation of the general home price is Bend > Portland = Vancouver= Redmond (OR).

Central Oregon definitely has better weather and qualify of life in my opinion. If you want to stay in that area, I would suggest Redmond. There are tons of new communities under construction in Redmond now. Most are over 400k. I only saw a DR Horton project which is at 3xxk range for small homes but it is sold out. If you could find a property close to the Dry Canyon that will be a big plus but you want to avoid the north end where the wastewater treatment facility is. Terrebonne is just a few miles north of Redmond for your consideration as well. It is cheaper and you can do your shopping in Redmond\Bend.

Currently the rent in Portland metro is quite expensive. The home price is up so is the rental price. Buying is still a better option. For example, my next door house 1900SF is worth 440k-450k and the rent is $2,600. A friend who bought a house in North Hazel Dell, Vancouver last year rents her house out for $1800/month. She paid 325k for the 1600 SF house right before the pandemic hit.

I do notice there are tons of affordable condos for sale in downtown Portland now. I am sure you know why. I would not live in the City of Portland.

[CaseyLF]

I have a friend who said where he lives in Vancouver is less wet and grey than Portland. Is that possible?

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by CaseyLF

I have a friend who said where he lives in Vancouver is less wet and grey than Portland. Is that possible?

Not in my experience.

[Mossa]

What do you local guys/girls think. How will current sociopolitical issues in Portland impact Vancouver area? Just curious.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Mossa

What do you local guys/girls think. How will current sociopolitical issues in Portland impact Vancouver area? Just curious.

Not much if at all.

Vancouver/Camas/Ridgefield etc. are separate cities and suburbs and there is very little spillover from the social justice protests and other nonsense within inner Portland and the rest of the greater metro area.

In fact, probably less than 5% of Portland itself is affected by that stuff. Mostly just parts of inner SE and parts of downtown and the Pearl. The rest of Portland is more or less business as usual.

I you watch the NextDoor App forums for Vancouver or Camas that stuff NEVER comes up. It's all petty crime, car prowling, mail theft, and fussing about ultra-local political nonsense.

[Mossa]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Not much if at all.

Vancouver/Camas/Ridgefield etc. are separate cities and suburbs and there is very little spillover from the social justice protests and other nonsense within inner Portland and the rest of the greater metro area.

In fact, probably less than 5% of Portland itself is affected by that stuff. Mostly just parts of inner SE and parts of downtown and the Pearl. The rest of Portland is more or less business as usual.

I you watch the NextDoor App forums for Vancouver or Camas that stuff NEVER comes up. It's all petty crime, car prowling, mail theft, and fussing about ultra-local political nonsense.

Thank you, texasdiver. How about people or businesses moving over the River more than usual? With more of remote work and all. Also, I didn’t just mean protests, I meant Portland homeless situation as well. Does that have an effect?

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Mossa

Thank you, texasdiver. How about people or businesses moving over the River more than usual? With more of remote work and all. Also, I didn’t just mean protests, I meant Portland homeless situation as well. Does that have an effect?

All the Portland suburbs are growing. Wilsonville, Clackamas, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood, etc. i haven't really noticed that the Vancouver side is growing faster. If you drive around any of those OR suburbs they all look about like they are growing just as fast.

Correction. I think single family residential development is growing faster on the WA side but that is mostly because of looser land use regulations, not for political reasons.

Downtown Vancouver and the waterfront area seems to be growing super fast right now. But that is more location. It is closer to downtown Portland than many of the other suburbs in OR that I just mentioned. And is much more urban. So is kind of unique and will probably evolve to be the 3rd downtown area in the Portland metro after downtown Portland and Lloyd Center. Might have already passed the Lloyd District in terms of office space. I don't really know.

[Mossa]

Thanks for responding, texasdiver.

[StealthRabbit]

nearly 50% of my coworkers from Oregon have fled to WA (location of employer) during past 5 yrs. I expect that to continue until some action is implemented in Portland for homeless crisis. So, I do expect continued strong housing and business growth in SWWA. Eventually that will change the politics of SWWA (which has been happening for 30 yrs). Leading to a 'Me-Too' social change in SWWA within ~20 yrs. within 30 -50 yrs the region will become homogenous. A 'new-order' / expectations / rules / tolerance for trash. The old folks who spent the last 80 yrs making Vancouver desirable will be displaced or dead.

It's getting pretty close... Been to Delta Park (?) lately?, Remember, that used to be a very nice park / place to take families and attend events... Through the GI Joe Store era... not so long ago.
https://growingupwithgijoes.com/2017...owsdelta-park/

[Mossa]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

nearly 50% of my coworkers from Oregon have fled to WA (location of employer) during past 5 yrs. I expect that to continue until some action is implemented in Portland for homeless crisis. So, I do expect continued strong housing and business growth in SWWA. Eventually that will change the politics of SWWA (which has been happening for 30 yrs). Leading to a 'Me-Too' social change in SWWA within ~20 yrs. within 30 -50 yrs the region will become homogenous. A 'new-order' / expectations / rules / tolerance for trash. The old folks who spent the last 80 yrs making Vancouver desirable will be displaced or dead.

It's getting pretty close... Been to Delta Park (?) lately?, Remember, that used to be a very nice park / place to take families and attend events... Through the GI Joe Store era... not so long ago.
https://growingupwithgijoes.com/2017...owsdelta-park/

Thank you, Stealth, but wouldn’t pendulum in Portland swing the other way by then? 20 years of situation worsening at current rate. What would that look like? and wouldn’t it become intolerable even for the super tolerant progressive Portlanders to the point of taking some drastic action just out of sense of self preservation?