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| Small town living by the big city - 5/23/2013
No income tax in WA. No sales tax in OR. Portland, OR offers all the culture one could seek plus great restaurants. It is a great walking city and weather is quite moderate. [read more...]
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| Much to offer - if one is wealthy... - 4/14/2013
I have lived in Vancouver for most of my 59 years, and am very sorry to see what has happened to what was once a pleasant place to live. As more and more people have moved here, the quality of life has deteriorated, and dramatically.
Wealthy people have purchased almost all of the nice properties; this includes those along the many waterfronts, where the public used to enjoy access for recreation. So, there are now only a handful of public access places for river and lake activities; as a result, ever greater numbers of people are crammed into ever smaller areas. Worse still, many of those who flock to the few public places left have no respect for the natural beauty of the area. Instead of picking up after themselves, they litter these places with all manner of trash, and despoil the very beauty they supposedly seek to enjoy.
Anyone who has a pet dog, and would like their dog to enjoy some sort of freedom is out of luck here. Leash laws abound everywhere, so the poor dogs have precious few places where they can run free. My own dog died in 1989, and I haven't had one since because of the terribly restrictive rules and regulations that either didn't exist or were tolerantly overlooked when my dog was alive. This is a lousy place for a dog to live - unless it has a rich owner with a huge piece of property.
Freedom for the resident people has also become all but non-existent. Big brotherism is rampant, and the local authorities seem determined to put us all in a safety bubble of their design - for our own good, of course.
I am only a few years from retirement, and hope to God that I can find a better place where I can actually enjoy the rest of my life. [read more...]
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| Vancouver NOT for drinkers! - 2/17/2013
I have gotten drunk all over the P.N.W. and I can tell you hands down, that it is NOT a good place to get drunk! Cops are VERY hard on being drunk, and also on public pissing, so if you want to wip-it-out, best go somewhere else, cause the cops will beat you. I have been arrested 4 times, all for public pissing, I tell you it's just not worth it. [read more...]
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| Mild All-Year Climate - 5/23/2011
I have lived here all 50+ Years of my life. We have a mile climate all-Year round which lends itself to all-Year round outdoor activities. At times during the fall and winter it can rain a bit much and become a little depressing but, when the sun comes out it is fantastic. I try to take a short vacation in early spring to a sunbelt location. All in all I highly recommend the West Coast to live and play.
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| Housing in Vancouver - 12/20/2010
As a Realtor in Vancouver, I am very familiar with the neighborhoods and homes for sale in Vancouver. Vancouver is basically a suburb of Portland Oregon without the state income tax. It has all the advantages of being part of a large metropolitan area, lots of cultural actvities, great shopping, but better schools and lower crime. Housing prices are lower in Vancouver, and property taxes are lower as well.[read more...]
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| outdoor fun - 2/22/2010
Across the river from Portland. Provides both city and suburban life. A lot of outdoor recreation. Have to tolerate a lot of rainy days for 8 months of the year[read more...]
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| VANTUCKY! - 2/17/2010
Dood this town... haha... wow!! what to say!!...this town is extremely white trash.. i lived in Vancouver for about a year.. i came to live in Portland but didnt have money to afford a place there yet and i knew someone who lived in Vantucky so i was able to stay with them.. Im originally from Ohio... originally originally from Alaska. but anyways.. ive seen white trash in Ohio... i didnt think it would be the same in the west coast near such an awesome city like Portland. first of all Vancouver is no way in heck an alternative to Portland. 2 entirely different places. Vancouver is the suburban wasteland that all other suburban wastelands look up to. haha. there are huge empty lots and is very very spread out. you have to drive a car everywhere to go anywhere in vancouver.. West vancouver is extremely horrible there. rednecks in huge trucks smokin with their infant in the FRONT SEAT! there are bike lanes in this city but i never see anyone bike on them. i live in Portland and worked up there and road my bicycle in the lane..SOme old lady jsut flipped me off for no reason and i was just sitting stopped at a red light.. and then some other lady in a ghetto pontiac or whatever look at me with her meth teeth and her shirt was like half off yelled GO back to your side of the river!!! wtf!! haha people in vantucky are very angry and closed minded. in some parts there are expensive houses but i dont understand why becuase the area is a complete waste of space.. nothing cool to see except a bunch of big dumb rich houses that people for some reason spend there money on. There are a couple things i do like about vantucky i have to admit.. they have a restuarant called mongolian grill on mill plain and its soooo good. and youll see random little skatepark type things everywhere which is pretty cool. other than that its walmart infested and downtown... omg i swear i say a tumbleweed go by like the old westerns... freakin ghost town! nothing to do there except get drunk...you have to that in order to keep your sanity living there. whenever i go over there with my girlfriend to visit her parents when we leave, and see the sign that say welcome to Oregon!!! omg.. i get so excited eveytime...i say in my head... phew!! i made it back.[read more...]
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| Vancouver WA - 10/11/2009
Considered a suburb of Portland. Reasonably nice community but cultural activities of major significance is in portland.[read more...]
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| Decent living. - 7/5/2009
Vancouver is a nice town.. well it's more of a city now. Thanks to the population boom in Portland, OR we have had overspill. Since housing prices are cheaper here a lot of people choose to commute. The housing prices have gone up a bit though but you can still find decent homes for $150,000 or extravagent homes for $600,000. Its a semi spread out kind of city with different sections and areas which are very diverse and its quite nice. Downtown Vancouver is very cute and has lots of places to explore. As with sister cities you get some bad neighborhoods and schools but it isn't too bad. There has never been anything too big on the news or in the paper that would make me discourage people from moving here. The schools are good if you are in the right area. Fort Vancouver is a decent school but a lot of teachers are moving away and new teachers are coming in. It is a bad kind of school but all the the other schools here are great. Some have a few portables but not a whole lot. There are tons of restaurants that aren't chains if you know where to find them. I think Vancouver is just about to boom and become a realy great place to live. I have lived here all of my life.. and to me its home. It really is a good place to live and grow up. There are tons of parks and things to do. I recommend it here.[read more...]
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| Housing - 5/29/2009
Vancouver Washington has very little planned communities. I have seen developments really bad and odd places. Housing is way over priced for what you get. You would think that when you are looking for a home the outdoor space would be important. It is not important in this town, except for homes over $500K+. Even the luxurious homes $1 million+, located near the Columbia River is next to the railroad tracks. Just imagine, having a cocktail party, and the train goes by a breaks all your stemware. Poor city planning, huge meth problem, homeless people everywhere. The best thing about this city are the trees, and the short commute to Portland Oregon.[read more...]
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| I used to like Vancouver until I lived here for aw - 5/22/2009
I am not a native. I liked Vancouver at first, but then realized that it is overrun by meth heads and people who look like ex-convicts walking up and down the streets. There are small parts that at least look better from the outside, but like the others there is so much property crime and it seems the police don't do much about it (perhaps there aren't enough police because of the cutbacks?) Also, people don't know how to merge into traffic here, they stop way back and try to edge their way in and that clogs up the traffic trying to get on the freeway. What they're supposed to do (I've seen this in many other cities that know how to merge)is to move all the way up to the end of the merge and then what's supposed to happen is evey one or two cars should let you in and the next, and the next and so on. This keeps the traffic moving. But alas! the people already on the freeway (must be the natives)start honking and get very angry and try to move up so the car can't merge in. That's because they don't understand the science of merging. Maybe instead of getting mad they should think about how the traffic moves better with the way I just explained. They do this in all major cities I've been in. The drivers here drive like small town drivers, not to mention the engineering and the signs posted are ridiculous!! The signs can be very confusing and alot of times there are no signs posted when there should be and you end up missing your exit (unless you've done it so many times, you end up remembering. But it must be hell for people from somewhere else, and Portland is guilty, too. My husband is from England and he thinks the roads, signs, etc. are atrocious not to mention how much TRASH there is accumulated on the onramps and offramps. It seems to get somewhat picked up every three months or so by the juvenile detention people or the inmates at Clark County Jail. Have they run out of drug addicts to help keep the city clean? I'm thinking about joining the transportation committee or at least go to their meetings. I'll bet it's a circus. Two more things: I've never seen a city where it takes more than two days on average to pick up a dead animal and even if it's a dog that was hit on the freeway. I have called everyone that I could think of and they seem not to care and pass the buck to highway patrol (animal control) or I have to leave a message. I've had to at times cover my eyes part way so I wouldn't have to see a poor dead dog that had been lying in the hot sun for at least three days (the carcass was showing by then)it's ridiculous for a city this size to have problems like this. It makes the place seem so "backward". One more thing I have never seen anywhere else. NO STOP SIGN AT FOUR WAY INTERSECTIONS IN NEIGHBORHOODS. What? have stop signs become so expensive now they can't fit them into the budget?? A friend of mine keeps reminding me to slow down and look both ways in our neighborhood because she said there had been many accidents at this intersection with no stop sign. Just like when a bicyclist, a teacher i might add was hit and killed because the stop sign was covered by tree branches and the community had called many times before to get the branches cut so people can see the stop sign. So I guess someone has to get killed at an intersection in a neighborhood that doesn't have a stop sign. I'd like to know, who engineered this city, the roads, etc. Who would be responsible for all of the above? Does anyone know? or CARE? I agree with you Bo, except I am not a native. I liked Vancouver at first, but then realized that it is overrun by meth heads and people who look like ex-convicts walking up and down the streets. There are small parts that at least look better from the outside, but like the others there is so much property crime and it seems the police don't do much about it (perhaps there aren't enough police because of the cutbacks?) Also, people don't know how to merge into traffic here, they stop way back and try to edge their way in and that clogs up the traffic trying to get on the freeway. What they're supposed to do (I've seen this in many other cities that know how to merge)is to move all the way up to the end of the merge and then what's supposed to happen is evey one or two cars should let you in and the next, and the next and so on. This keeps the traffic moving. But alas! the people already on the freeway (must be the natives)start honking and get very angry and try to move up so the car can't merge in. That's because they don't understand the science of merging. Maybe instead of getting mad they should think about how the traffic moves better with the way I just explained. They do this in all major cities I've been in. The drivers here drive like small town drivers, not to mention the engineering and the signs posted are ridiculous!! The signs can be very confusing and alot of times there are no signs posted when there should be and you end up missing your exit (unless you've done it so many times, you end up remembering. But it must be hell for people from somewhere else, and Portland is guilty, too. My husband is from England and he thinks the roads, signs, etc. are atrocious not to mention how much TRASH there is accumulated on the onramps and offramps. It seems to get somewhat picked up every three months or so by the juvenile detention people or the inmates at Clark County Jail. Have they run out of drug addicts to help keep the city clean? I'm thinking about joining the transportation committee or at least go to their meetings. I'll bet it's a circus. Two more things: I've never seen a city where it takes more than two days on average to pick up a dead animal and even if it's a dog that was hit on the freeway. I have called everyone that I could think of and they seem not to care and pass the buck to highway patrol (animal control) or I have to leave a message. I've had to at times cover my eyes part way so I wouldn't have to see a poor dead dog that had been lying in the hot sun for at least three days (the carcass was showing by then)it's ridiculous for a city this size to have problems like this. It makes the place seem so "backward". One more thing I have never seen anywhere else. NO STOP SIGN AT FOUR WAY INTERSECTIONS IN NEIGHBORHOODS. What? have stop signs become so expensive now they can't fit them into the budget?? A friend of mine keeps reminding me to slow down and look both ways in our neighborhood because she said there had been many accidents at this intersection with no stop sign. Just like when a bicyclist, a teacher i might add was hit and killed because the stop sign was covered by tree branches and the community had called many times before to get the branches cut so people can see the stop sign. So I guess someone has to get killed at an intersection in a neighborhood that doesn't have a stop sign. I'd like to know, who engineered this city, the roads, etc. Who would be responsible for all of the above? Does anyone know? or CARE?[read more...]
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| Family friendly community on the cusp of something - 3/1/2009
I never thought I would love living in Vancouver, WA as much as I do. At first, it was simply an extension of the Portland Metro area. Now that I've lived here for over 5 years I've come to really enjoy and appreciate this communitiy. From the breathtaking views of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens to the sparkling Columiba River from the waterfront restaurants, the natural beauty of my community is ever present. For those with young children, the parks and recreation system is unparalled. On a warm summer afternoon you can play in the fountains of Esther Short Park and relax to a concernt under the majestic trees, hop from one soccer game to the next or enjoy a beautiful hike right through the city. Vancouver still has a small town feel but there is definately an urban vibe if you choose to look for it. Unique and inspiring restaurants are constantly making a go of it and there is an international element from Greek to Hawaiian that can absolutely compete with it's large and sometimes imposing neighbor to the south. With the upcoming waterfront development in it's early planning stages, the opportunity to purchase an urban craftsman house is perfect. Vancouver is no longer relegated to the shadows of Portland but is finally coming into its' own.[read more...]
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| A lot of rains - 12/27/2008
A lot of rains[read more...]
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| Income tax in Vancouver is 0% - 11/22/2008
Any city in Washington State has a zero percent income tax. This is commonly misquoted for washincton cities on sperling.[read more...]
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| Across the Bridge - 10/5/2008
I live in a city on the northern side of the Columbia River which divides two states, Washington and Oregon. The great advantage to living in Vancouver is that I can hop across the bridge and be in Portland. I also am only 260 miles from Seattle, which is a tremendous city in Washington.[read more...]
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| safe life - 8/27/2008
Living in Vancouver, WA is so safe. I like here.
Never worried about my car been stolen, or someone robbed me, it won't happen.[read more...]
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| Income Tax ?? - 7/21/2008
As a resident of Washington, I thought we did not have any state income tax - why does it show Vancouver, Wa as having 9.0% income tax? I live in Lacey, WA and we do not have any income tax. Why the difference?[read more...]
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| vancouver - 1/29/2008
in vancouver if you live on the right side of town it can be prety cwiet,and pecefull, the other side of town can be just like a big party to some but to others it can be hard to live there but thay seam to like it and i'm sure anyone that moves here will like it to.[read more...]
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| vancouver - 1/29/2008
I think in vancouver the culture and recreation iis awsome. I think this beacause vancouver is so active. There have been many attempts to make every one active, and thats why vancouvers the best.[read more...]
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| Vancouver WA - 1/29/2008
Dear web site Vancouver Washington is the best place in the whole worlds. There is the Columbian river, it is freezing, no fish and dirty! Some of the best qualitys in ariver. There is lots and lots of trees with lots of animals. Love Bob[read more...]
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