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Hi Vancouver,
My wife and I are thinking of a move to your city. We haven't explicitly visited yet (we will soon), but we did visit Portland and Seattle. Can I ask y'all some questions? We are really attracted to the "big city" life but don't mind living 30 mins away from it. What we enjoy most from the city is cool places to shop and eat, unique / high end stuff, not just big box stores. Will Vancouver/Camas fill that need or will we have to go to Portland often. Speaking of Portland... We are politically center on most things though, having never lived in a super blue geographical area, will we be outcast or will we be fine?
Hi Vancouver,
My wife and I are thinking of a move to your city. We haven't explicitly visited yet (we will soon), but we did visit Portland and Seattle. Can I ask y'all some questions? We are really attracted to the "big city" life but don't mind living 30 mins away from it. What we enjoy most from the city is cool places to shop and eat, unique / high end stuff, not just big box stores. Will Vancouver/Camas fill that need or will we have to go to Portland often. Speaking of Portland... We are politically center on most things though, having never lived in a super blue geographical area, will we be outcast or will we be fine?
The thing with Vancouver is we're a part of the Portland metro area. What that means is relatively easy access to big city stuff like shopping, restaurants, the airport and all the cool parts of Portland like the big parks, Japanese garden, rose garden, music festivals, etc...
Vancouver has a lot of restaurants without having to cross the river, but if you do its normal stuff. Some people literally drive into Portland daily. Eventually, you lose track since it just becomes second nature. Want to pick up some great camping gear, drive over to REI or Next Adventure. How about listen to live Jazz while eating a meal, pick a restaurant and go, catch fall colors in a beautiful park, head to Hoyt Arboretum, paddle the Willamette and meetup with some local PDXers, etc....
Before we moved here, I was overthinking being on the 'Washington side' vs. not when in reality it just blends together once here. One of the big differences is you can chose when to be in those larger crowds or not. You also also have the tax advantage if not working in OR.
Now if you want big city life in walking distance that's another story. Then you're probably better off living closer to downtown. It's just a matter of preferences like any place near a big city. How close is close enough? That's a totally subjective choice and preference.
The thing with Vancouver is we're a part of the Portland metro area. What that means is relatively easy access to big city stuff like shopping, restaurants, the airport and all the cool parts of Portland like the big parks, Japanese garden, rose garden, music festivals, etc...
Vancouver has a lot of restaurants without having to cross the river, but if you do its normal stuff. Some people literally drive into Portland daily. Eventually, you lose track since it just becomes second nature. Want to pick up some great camping gear, drive over to REI or Next Adventure. How about listen to live Jazz while eating a meal, pick a restaurant and go, catch fall colors in a beautiful park, head to Hoyt Arboretum, paddle the Willamette and meetup with some local PDXers, etc....
Before we moved here, I was overthinking being on the 'Washington side' vs. not when in reality it just blends together once here. One of the big differences is you can chose when to be in those larger crowds or not. You also also have the tax advantage if not working in OR.
Now if you want big city life in walking distance that's another story. Then you're probably better off living closer to downtown. It's just a matter of preferences like any place near a big city. How close is close enough? That's a totally subjective choice and preference.
Derek
Derek, thanks so much for your thoughtful reply. We are excited to check out your city.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,694 posts, read 58,012,579 times
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Jobs? If needing to work in Oregon (income tax), usually best to live in Oregon.
Schools?
Politics? SWWA is a non-issue. Oregon can be politically charged.
Commute to Portland is very easy during off hours.
If frequently crossing to Oregon, consider living near a bridge or transit center.
There is a lot of variety and benefit to Portland. Traditionally very pleasant to visit. At the moment there is a lot of strife, let's hope it mellows back down.
Jobs? If needing to work in Oregon (income tax), usually best to live in Oregon.
Schools?
Politics? SWWA is a non-issue. Oregon can be politically charged.
Commute to Portland is very easy during off hours.
If frequently crossing to Oregon, consider living near a bridge or transit center.
There is a lot of variety and benefit to Portland. Traditionally very pleasant to visit. At the moment there is a lot of strife, let's hope it mellows back down.
We don’t have jobs lined up there as it’s a couple years away of an idea but I’m a nurse practitioner she’s a physician assistant. No kids and won’t have them so schools are a non issue. Thank you for the advice about living near bridge if crossing to or frequently. Where should we live if we want clean nice shopping centers with a bit of luxury? We do understand a minority of Vancouver is more rural or small town feel.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,694 posts, read 58,012,579 times
Reputation: 46171
If walkable shopping is your thing.... consider near Fisher or Salmon Creek transit centers (Decent nearby shopping + Oregon access)
Personally, without kids... I would seek a place to lease within the Ft Vancouver National Trust. (close to library, park, waterfront, downtown, (including Farmers Market) + transit...) https://www.historictrustproperties....ntial-leasing/ (Wait list required, sign up early no harm in turning down your spot)
There are also new condos available on Vancouver Waterfront.
SFH good selection near Fisher and Salmon Creek transit centers. Salmon Creek area may have the best employment options for you (Kaiser and Legacy). But... 40 yrs in Vancouver, I really prefer the QUIET living / light traffic / walkable city of Central Park / Ft Vancouver Trust. Though there is some airport, freeway, and train noise there. Not hoards of people in cars waiting at stoplights (Salmon Creek).
I would put my RE $ to work somewhere else (such as a sunny vacation destination with rental homes / apartment / commercial building and space for you to visit (frequently). I would pick San Diego / Coronado since it can be a simple direct flight, and no car required. We often fly down for the weekend / organ concert / activities.... Income tax free LV or Reno / Carson City is another good location for investment property / frequent sunbreaks from PDX.
I keep multiple investment properties in locations I like to visit that have opposite weather to PNW. Each has a free place for me to stay, and I keep a car there to use. (Tax deductible travel + good cash flows and equity gain). All have paid for themselves in income, and I could sell any very quickly. (They turn good profits).
If walkable shopping is your thing.... consider near Fisher or Salmon Creek transit centers (Decent nearby shopping + Oregon access)
Personally, without kids... I would seek a place to lease within the Ft Vancouver National Trust. (close to library, park, waterfront, downtown, (including Farmers Market) + transit...) https://www.historictrustproperties....ntial-leasing/ (Wait list required, sign up early no harm in turning down your spot)
There are also new condos available on Vancouver Waterfront.
SFH good selection near Fisher and Salmon Creek transit centers. Salmon Creek area may have the best employment options for you (Kaiser and Legacy). But... 40 yrs in Vancouver, I really prefer the QUIET living / light traffic / walkable city of Central Park / Ft Vancouver Trust. Though there is some airport, freeway, and train noise there. Not hoards of people in cars waiting at stoplights (Salmon Creek).
I would put my RE $ to work somewhere else (such as a sunny vacation destination with rental homes / apartment / commercial building and space for you to visit (frequently). I would pick San Diego / Coronado since it can be a simple direct flight, and no car required. We often fly down for the weekend / organ concert / activities.... Income tax free LV or Reno / Carson City is another good location for investment property / frequent sunbreaks from PDX.
I keep multiple investment properties in locations I like to visit that have opposite weather to PNW. Each has a free place for me to stay, and I keep a car there to use. (Tax deductible travel + good cash flows and equity gain). All have paid for themselves in income, and I could sell any very quickly. (They turn good profits).
We live in Camas and are comfortable enough to be able to shop and dine in Portland as much as we really wanted. What we found is that even pre-pandemic we did it less and less than we thought. Vancouver and Camas has (or had) a growing number of good restaurants and there is something more satisfying about patronizing the businesses in your neighborhood or town rather than driving across the river to seek out whatever latest Portland restaurant that you read about. Of course both my wife and I work in Vancouver and Camas so we never have to cross the river.
So how much do we really drive over to Portland? Only a couple times a month actually. Mostly for specialty shopping at Ikea, Powell's Apple store, REI and a few eclectic places that don't have a real counterpart in Vancouver like specialty nurseries, sailing stores, etc. And then for the occasional Timbers, Blazers, or Winterhawks games, which mostly happens when we have visitors. We used to go over to places like the Zoo and OMSI when the kids were a bit younger, but the've mostly aged out of that sort of thing now. And then sometimes when we want some sort of very eclectic food that we can't find in Vancouver. For example, my wife is from Chile and if we wanted some good authentic South American fare, we' have to go to Portland.
We live in Camas and if my wife and I want to go out to dinner it is about 5 min to downtown Camas or 192nd Ave where there are a nice array of choices. About 15 min to downtown Vancouver or the Vancouver waterfront where there are more choices and a growing number of upscale destination restaurants. Or about 20-25 min into Portland. In the evening it is about 20 min to get into NE or N Portland neighborhoods, and about 25 to get all the way into downtown or NW Portland spots. You still have to drive into Portland if you want eclectic fare like Ethiopian or Peruvian or farm-to-table vegan and that kind of thing. But if you are looking for more ordinary Asian, brew pub, seafood, Mexican, steakhouses, or Italian fare you can find plenty of that on the Vancouver side. I hope that the pandemic doesn't wipe out too many places.
You will still probably find yourself going into Portland for high-end serious shopping. But Camas has a decent selection of galleries and boutiques and such if you just like the browsing and window-shopping. The question is, how much of that do you really actually do on a day-to-day basis. Your best bet is to just come visit for a couple days and see if you can imagine living here.
Last edited by texasdiver; 01-16-2021 at 11:14 PM..
We live in Ridgefield and are retired. We moved to the area to be closer to kids and grandkids, who live in Portland. When we moved here we thought we would be going into Portland often to shop, eat, play, etc. In reality, we rarely go to Portland, other than to see family. With COVID, that is rarely happening now. Of the three sons we have in Portland, one moved to Boise a year ago. MD married to an MD. Another son and DIL are PAs with good jobs, but they are soon moving to Hood River where one took a new job. If they did not have young kids, I doubt any of them would have left Portland. When kidless they loved the city activity and took full advantage.
With your professions, you should be able to pick your spot to live and not live too far from work. If you chose Camas, the downtown is lovely and vibrant, and not too far from a lot of medical opportunities. If you really want the city life, you could rent in the Pearl District (make sure you have a parking spot), enjoy all the colorful activities, and take public transportation everywhere.
Plan your visit to take a look at both sides of the river, and be sure to look at some of the suburbs around Portland that might offer what you are looking for.
If you are thinking about moving now I will give you a definitive "no" in answer to your question. From your posts, it says you are thinking about a few years down the road so things may change but I would be surprised. We live in Camas and it's a wonderful town but we have school age kids. That is why most people move here right now. You've mentioned in a few posts about high end shopping. There really is nothing high end on this side of the river. You need to go into Portland for higher end shopping. If you want a smaller town with upscale dining and shopping you are much better off looking at Beaverton or Lake Oswego.
The big issue is that driving to OR yields an instant 8% discount, so as a result retail is depressed on the Vancouver side. Here's the thing though, if you are really talking about ultra high end like Fendi, Gucci, etc. you really need to be in the Seattle/Bellevue area. The Portland Metro area just doesn't have the current demographics to support that stuff.
It would probably help to know where you are now as a comparison.
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