Potential Move To Camas from SF Bay Area (Seattle: 2013, houses)

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by 182pilot

From what I hear that is 100,000+sqft of commercial going in around that overpass. It's just that all but a small portion of Ridgefield just feels like a suburb of Vancouver. The 205 seems much less congested than the 5.

My experience is that they are both equally congested on the WA side of the river.

On the Oregon side I-5 from downtown to the Columbia seems worse but it is also narrower than I-205

In any event, 205 on the Oregon side can be an absolute nightmare as well in either direction during rush hour.

[182pilot]

I posted over in your thread just now too. We really liked Belz Place. We almost went for it on the Parklands until we found out the details on the commercial part. Right now we're leaning towards Fern Prarie. Interestingly, the initial looking started with us thinking we would land in Ridgefield. My wife put a stop to that the first time we drove out there. It's tough to commit to making such a drastic change but at least we've put some years in the process. If my wife had her way and a big pile of money she'd be moving to Pacific Grove.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by 182pilot

I posted over in your thread just now too. We really liked Belz Place. We almost went for it on the Parklands until we found out the details on the commercial part. Right now we're leaning towards Fern Prarie. Interestingly, the initial looking started with us thinking we would land in Ridgefield. My wife put a stop to that the first time we drove out there. It's tough to commit to making such a drastic change but at least we've put some years in the process. If my wife had her way and a big pile of money she'd be moving to Pacific Grove.

The funny part of that is I've had several from the PNW forums tell me (in a friendly way) we should probably just stay in Monterey. haha

I have to admit as a CA native, this is my favorite part of the state from a livability standpoint. We're just far enough outside the large cities to not experience all of their problems. And population growth is basically flat due to environmental land use restrictions. This keeps traffic low and the area beautiful but very limited in terms of housing availability.

If we had a big pile of money we would gladly stay as well. Unfortnately, as you well know RE is completely insane in the Bay Area including coastal regions such as Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel and PG. But we've loved living here for over a decade while raising our kids in the area. It's a fun and beautiful place to live that's for sure.

Derek

[StealthRabbit]

as mentioned... preserve your Prop 13 (by whatever means necessary).

While the grass is 'greener' for a few extra months in PNW, most of my 1,000's of No CA coworkers returned (eventually).

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

The funny part of that is I've had several from the PNW forums tell me (in a friendly way) we should probably just stay in Monterey. haha

I have to admit as a CA native, this is my favorite part of the state from a livability standpoint. We're just far enough outside the large cities to not experience all of their problems. And population growth is basically flat due to environmental land use restrictions. This keeps traffic low and the area beautiful but very limited in terms of housing availability.

If we had a big pile of money we would gladly stay as well. Unfortnately, as you well know RE is completely insane in the Bay Area including coastal regions such as Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel and PG. But we've loved living here for over a decade while raising our kids in the area. It's a fun and beautiful place to live that's for sure.

Derek

One of the reasons we moved back to the Northwest was our kids. We wanted to settle in an area where they could reasonably become educated and launch into careers and adulthood in a region that is still reasonable and prosperous. We were also looking for a region that looks to be sustainable for the long term in the face of climate change as our kids and future grand kids are looking at 50-100 years. We never really planned to stay in Texas long-term and after a couple of extremely brutally hot summers with drought were basically done with Texas. Right now it is booming but just doesn't feel sustainable for the long term in the face of looming water and climate issues. California is much prettier than TX but has its own issues with population pressure and cost of living and it just feels increasingly hard to make a start in that state.

I think upper midwest states like MN, MI, and WI will also be good places to live in the future with the great lakes and may become even more pleasant with climate change. But they are still dealing with a legacy of deindustrialization and other issues. Plus we have deep roots in the northwest and none in the upper midwest.

[izzy2017]

Anyone interested in Belz Place may also want to check out Summit Terrace by Cascade West. They haven't started building yet but we went to the parade of homes this weekend and they had information out about it. Looks like similar lot sizes to Belz Place.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

as mentioned... preserve your Prop 13 (by whatever means necessary).

While the grass is 'greener' for a few extra months in PNW, most of my 1,000's of No CA coworkers returned (eventually).

Stealth, we don't own in CA so no Prop 13 to preserve for us. Though if we did we might consider staying.

Derek

[StealthRabbit]

OK, but for the next thousand readers of this thread.. Preserve your CA Prop 13 (If applicable), you might desire to return to CA at some point. Has proven beneficial to many before you. (allows a few more options).

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

Though there is a difference when it comes to something like [a] bridge. You certainly don't saying 'I am driving over I 5 bridge.' In that case its perfectly normal to say I am driving over the I 5 bridge. lol

Derek

That's because "bridge" is the object of your sentence, not "I-5." No one says, "I'm driving over bridge."

I lived in CA for 25 years, but where I lived we never said "the 5" or "the 80." Seems like more of a SoCal thing, though it's creeping everywhere, apparently! Those dang Californians, bringing their weirdo ways to the PNW!

I noticed a long time ago that there isn't really a rule explaining when to use "the." Example: if you listen to BBC World News, you'll hear Brits say, "The victim was taken to hospital." We say, "The victim was taken to *the* hospital." Yet, we don't say, "I took my kids to *the* school." We just say, "I took my kids to school."

[182pilot]

With my thread coming back to life, I should close the loop. It looks like we are probably going to settle in Fern Prairie. We wanted something with acreage but not up the mountain. Without traffic you can get from the Fern Prairie Market to PDX in less than 20 mins and that definitely will be helpful since I'll be flying with some regularity. Visited the new Elementary School and was very impressed. It's obviously brand new so it will show great but even non-facilities elements were much more impressive to me.