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Old 12-23-2016, 02:29 PM
 
8 posts, read 11,504 times
Reputation: 15

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My family and I will be re-locating to the Vancouver area in the summer of '17. We are specifically looking at Camas due to the "high" school ratings. We are coming from Austin, TX where we have lived most of our lives. We are a conservative, christian family that loves to be social. My questions/concerns are, How receptive and welcoming are the people of SW Washington? Is it an easy place to form relationships with other young families? If other people have moved that way from the south, how has the reception and assimilation been in settling there?
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Old 12-23-2016, 04:40 PM
 
1,624 posts, read 4,039,566 times
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The schools are great but over crowded. That says something. Everyone wants to be in the best school district. We avoided the Camas area because of the smell from the paper mill. It doesn't stink all of the time but when it does its pretty bad. I'm in Camas on business a few times a week and I always manage to be there on a smelly day. I have a friend in Prune Hill. She kind of regrets spending all that money on a luxury home and have to put up with the smell. That said. People have different levels of tolerance so it might not bother you at all.

There are so many transplants in the area that making friends is not as hard as it used to be. The native PNW people take a little longer to warm up to you but it will happen. Politics and religion are not really discussed at length. You will have have people from all sides. We get along because we don't talk politics and religion in polite company.

Stealth is a frequent poster here I believe he also has property in TX. He should be able to give you a wealth of knowledge.
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Old 12-23-2016, 06:34 PM
 
2,779 posts, read 5,484,439 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pmichelle31 View Post
My family and I will be re-locating to the Vancouver area in the summer of '17. We are specifically looking at Camas due to the "high" school ratings. We are coming from Austin, TX where we have lived most of our lives. We are a conservative, christian family that loves to be social. My questions/concerns are, How receptive and welcoming are the people of SW Washington? Is it an easy place to form relationships with other young families? If other people have moved that way from the south, how has the reception and assimilation been in settling there?
Welcome! Ignore the previous poster, she has a thing about Camas smelling that just hasn't been true in the last 20 yrs, come visit and smell for yourself

We've lived in Camas for almost a decade now and love it. We moved here from the southeast and have found it very welcoming. Perhaps not in the overt southern way but we have made close friends with many of our neighbors and through our children's schools. Politics and religion are quieter here and most people have a live and let live attitude. There are lots of churches with active communities. There are plenty of Texans around too and we have friends from Georgia and Louisiana as well as a bunch of other places. I think you'll find that with the current growth (Camas has nearly doubled in population since we moved here) that most people are from somewhere else and are eager to make friends.

If you have any neighborhood or school specific questions feel free to ask, there are several of us on the board that live in Camas.
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Old 12-23-2016, 06:57 PM
 
113 posts, read 127,229 times
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The paper mill is owned by the Koch brothers. To a Christian conservative, that should be a welcome smell.
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Old 12-23-2016, 07:35 PM
 
8 posts, read 11,504 times
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Redbelly, that made me lol
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Old 12-24-2016, 12:09 PM
 
Location: Southwest Washington
2,316 posts, read 7,798,782 times
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Sounds like Camas was made for you. For the region, it's pretty conservative and Christian. For you, it may not be as much, coming from the South. But Portland and Vancouver are essentially Sodom and Gomorrah. But as others stated, on this side of the Columbia we tend to keep our politics and religion to ourselves save for a bumper sticker here or there. But, yes, the schools in Camas are indeed excellent.

As for the social situation, I've lived in the Northwest my entire life, so my perspective may not be so pertinent. But my other half and I have personally met most of our friends through school and work and are on a cordial, first name basis with all of our immediate neighbors. I think that's fairly typical for this area. It takes a while to break the ice and for people to warm up to you here. The PNW is known for its reserved attitude and aloof niceness (see the "Seattle freeze" debate for more info). I'm sure it will be easier to form relationships with other families once you're settled into a local church and able to meet like-minded people that way.
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Old 12-25-2016, 08:50 AM
 
Location: Folsom, CA
538 posts, read 1,732,565 times
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Austin is not in the South. It's in Texas which is not the same.

“Texas is a state of mind. Texas is an obsession. Above all, Texas is a nation
in every sense of the word.”
JOHN STEINBECK
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Old 12-25-2016, 09:51 AM
 
1,624 posts, read 4,039,566 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hml1976 View Post
Welcome! Ignore the previous poster, she has a thing about Camas smelling that just hasn't been true in the last 20 yrs, come visit and smell for yourself

We've lived in Camas for almost a decade now and love it. We moved here from the southeast and have found it very welcoming. Perhaps not in the overt southern way but we have made close friends with many of our neighbors and through our children's schools. Politics and religion are quieter here and most people have a live and let live attitude. There are lots of churches with active communities. There are plenty of Texans around too and we have friends from Georgia and Louisiana as well as a bunch of other places. I think you'll find that with the current growth (Camas has nearly doubled in population since we moved here) that most people are from somewhere else and are eager to make friends.

If you have any neighborhood or school specific questions feel free to ask, there are several of us on the board that live in Camas.
Good Lord woman! I'm entitled to my opinion. I would say something else but as a Christian woman I can't. Merry Christmas.
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Old 12-27-2016, 09:18 AM
 
Location: CA, OR & WA (Best Coast)
471 posts, read 521,525 times
Reputation: 433
I worked for a company that was based in Austin for many years. My coworkers there would say "I don't live in Texas, I live in Austin" The meaning behind this is they said Austin is liberal where most of Tx is conservative. On my many visits I found Austin to be a beautiful and diverse place but way too hot in the summer to ever move there.

I don't think that Austin and Portland/Vancouver are that different other than climate. Camas seems to be where new money is moving to. I live downtown Vancouver and chose this area for a decent walk score. When I go to Camas it seems like its the young up and coming crowd. Nice cars, and McMansions (been there done that.)

As for people being friendly just put your self out there and people will reciprocate. We have properties in CA, OR, and WA and I have traveled all over the US and people are pretty much the same everywhere.
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Old 12-27-2016, 09:42 AM
 
Location: Folsom, CA
538 posts, read 1,732,565 times
Reputation: 319
Quote:
Originally Posted by cyberous View Post
I worked for a company that was based in Austin for many years. My coworkers there would say "I don't live in Texas, I live in Austin" The meaning behind this is they said Austin is liberal where most of Tx is conservative.
I suspect your coworkers were transplants. Texans are proud of their state including native Austinites.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNgMtK1ska8

Last edited by sanmiguel; 12-27-2016 at 10:01 AM..
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