longview washington (Seattle, Vancouver, Olympia: rentals, houses, neighborhoods)

[acllettub]

Hello..I live on the East Coast (Ct) and am considering a move out to Washington State. I know and love Seattle but don't have a job offer there. Anybody familiar with Longview WA? It seems to be about 2 hours south. Would love to get any info about that general area from anyone who knows.
Thanks

[AlwaysSmiling]

Best bet would be to post in the Washington forum. They should be able to help you over there!

[fairweathergolfer]

You are aware you posted in the California forum? I am guessing since this is your first post, something was amiss when you posted this question. Hopefully a moderator will move it soon to the Washington thread. Good luck with your information gathering and welcome to City-Data!!

Originally Posted by acllettub

Hello..I live on the East Coast (Ct) and am considering a move out to Washington State. I know and love Seattle but don't have a job offer there. Anybody familiar with Longview WA? It seems to be about 2 hours south. Would love to get any info about that general area from anyone who knows.
Thanks

[BearBranch]

Longview is the home of Kurt Cobain. I went through there back in the early 90's. It seemed on the depressing side back then.

[Kelso's best 66]

Curt Cobain, maybe, but for sure Steve Miller. He's a RA Long kid.

There's a whole sub-culture going on here in Kelso-Longview. The town's are hurting as the recession and out-sizing have shut down and minimized many of the mill jobs, thus all commerce hurts. The towns, Longview and Kelso, have been a melting pot for generations due to the influx of immigrant timber/mill workers. After Mt. St. Helen's blew in 1980, the place has never been quite the same. There is a knowing of what a natural disaster can do. A lot of people quit smiling.

I've raised my 4 kids here and they are wonderful people. Good attracts good. This is a hard working community and is diverse in serving its own needs. Good education in elementary, middle and high schools. Good solid community college at LCC with WA State University Vancouver extension here, also. Loving, caring families are the majority regardless of finances. I've encountered caring medical people and services both in emergency and preventative. We have a wonderful Hospice Center. Many excellent dental professionals. Big box stores have pushed the local people out of business, but that is a national norm. The dollar's stretch is obvious everywhere. Gas is $3.54 a gallon today. Rentals average $350-800 a month. Houses a bit more. Utilities are water @ approx. $70 a mo, and electricity kickin' in at $120 throughout the winter. Food for a family of 4 or 5 can run $150 @ week. Throw in Comcast with TV, phone and Internet @ approx. $110. Cell phone reception is good most everywhere except in the low valleys. Wood fireplaces are used with wood either gained free or $65-120 a cord.

The plus side to the drive across town is that most all the streets are lined with blooming trees and all the parks are meticulously kept up. The beauty of the mountains, the closeness of the beaches, metro activities and shopping both N and S on the I 5 corridor, and 2 hours east will get you desert. Ski, both water and snow, 4X4, SUV, muddin', wind surf, boating, raftin', swim, and there's always seasonal sports. These two towns can't get enough sports. Toddlers to elemtary school kids partake. Our High schools have been rivalries for decades! Both boys and girls excel at all sports. National teams are honored with Seattle and Portland having a huge fan base. Can't beat the location. We're right in between the two!

Drugs, poverty and STD's? They are everywhere in our world's culture.

Nightlife? Lodges, taverns and casinos. Movies, three theatres, and eats, fast-food, pizza and great restaurants. If one wants stage productions, we have local talent, private and public, and highschool and college productions are great. We have dance studios and martial art academies. We have wonderful, award winning music programs in the schools as well as symphony productions at our classic Columbia Theatre. Not to mention, there's frontroom gatherings everywhere where close friends hang in close and live life together. The holidays are always big here in the Cowlitz Basin. The 4th of July is a huge celebration for 3-4 days at the Lake every year. Surrounding areas, Vancouver, Portland, the beaches and Seattle all host spectacular displays. Christmas is revered and Easter is usually rainy and filled with spring blossoms. Summer vacation is really big for everyone awaits the absence of rain. County fair and rodeo happen as the days start warming up. The sun gets hot during August and September, but there's always water and shade to take the sting out of those dog days. Speaking of which, people love pets here. We support our Humane Society.

Snow, hail, sleet, rain, sun showers, double rainbows, all within the same hour. Yep, and that's in the spring time. If you don't like getting wet, then this isn't the place. We get 30 inches a year, at least! Only a couple weeks a year are the valley floors covered in snow. Though silver thaws and ice stormers are known to shut down all commerce for days.

Hunters, fishermen and outdoormen are everywhere. People jog, bike, run marathons and drink good coffee! We buy cars and houses and plan futures. We are in transition in this area, bridging the 20th century with the 21st. Times have changed for our nation and world, but we have a community that I've been proud to call HOME for many decades. Sit on the banks of the Cowlitz, Coweeman or the great Columbia River and watch the sturgeon, salmon and steel-heads being caught. Watch the big ocean going ships cruise in to the port docks and up river to Portland. Be aware of the American Indian cultures and gaze at the Bald Eagles soar. One has to be apart of a community in order to love it.

It's those that don't that kick it in the shins. South Kelso and the Highlands don't wish to be degraded. They are poor and can't afford the self-improvements it takes to keep a neighborhood healthy. Having a truck that runs in order to make a dump run @ $11 a load is a challenge. Their children are given excellent nuturing and education in their schools. The homeless do have the Community Action Program and the Community House. We have drug rehabs and many 12 Step Program meetings. There are law enforcement officers that are reputable and serve unceasing. We have wonderful churches and clubs that support their communities. We strive to improve whenever and wherever we can. We have started real conversations with our local and state governments. Everyone can have a voice.

We have hope for a better future and many people that care and love one another everyday. It's the choices that everyone makes individually that make up the whole of our towns. Err in judgement will take care of itself.

There is a solid core of excellence here in this valley and surrounding areas. It is what you plan on bringing to us that counts.

[Kibbiekat]

Even thought this was on the wrong forum, I found it interesting to read. We moved from CA to CO last year, and Longview was our other possibility (a job for my husband). I'm happy here, but have wondered how it would have been if we'd ended up in Longview instead.

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by BearBranch

Longview is the home of Kurt Cobain. I went through there back in the early 90's. It seemed on the depressing side back then.

Longview? I thought Curt Cobain grew up in the Aberdeen/Hoquiam/Montesano area?

[Sobefobik]

I grew up in Longview Washington. There are very bad areas, and there are very good areas. Lake Sacajawea is beautiful, and the neighborhoods directly around the lake are very nice. Stay away from the 200 and 300 block!! BAD!! It's full of drugs and crime. One of the worst things about longview is the smell sometimes. As you enter Longview, the dump and and a major city mill are on your left hand side. There are many other mills that surround Longview, and this causes bad smells, and it's another reason why it is the 2nd most polluted county in the US.

For all the bad things about this little town, it is a nice place. The people are very friendly, and I have many friends there. My grandmother lives there, and she will probably never leave because she likes it so much. And, they have the best dougnut shop I've ever been to--Winchels.

Before you move there, I would definately check it out. Some people love it; some people hate it. It's the kind of place that grows on you. Visit on a sunny day. If you come when it is raining, you will get depressed.

Hope this helps!

[madicarus2000]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

Longview? I thought Curt Cobain grew up in the Aberdeen/Hoquiam/Montesano area?

He came from Aberdeen. Welcome sign into Aberdeen states "Come as you are".

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by madicarus2000

He came from Aberdeen. Welcome sign into Aberdeen states "Come as you are".

Right, I believe he was born in Aberdeen/Hoquiam and spent most of his early life there and then lived in Montesano (near Aberdeen/Hoquiam) for a brief period before moving on to Olympia.

I don't ever remember him being in Longview but maybe I missed that. I'll have to go look it up sometime.