Moving to Vancouver area

[SkylarVT]

DH and I think we are finally ready to move away from Southern California. We have been debating it for a year or two and our neighborhood here isn't getting any better plus it's hot and smoggy a lot. DH does not want to go through another 105 degree summer! We were looking into the Portland area but we need at least 3 acres so that would be hard to get in the city. We are looking into Vancouver, Battle Ground and Ridgefield. We have a client in Vancouver that suggested those areas for us. Any other ideas? I would like to be 30-40 minutes from the airport and in an animal friendly area with acreage, but close to grocery and health food stores. We raise service and therapy dogs so we need to be in an area zoned for animals. And we are currently leasing and paying about $2,000 per month so we would like to stay in that range or less. Lastly is Vancouver fairly AP and homeschool friendly?

[evergreenmom]

I live in Vancouver...the Salmon Creek area and is it SUPER AP and Homeschool friendly...it is amazing. That is why we stay here. Good luck with your move and I look forward to meeting you!

Lisa

[erickalynne]

Camas would also be a great area. Everything you're looking for. On the E side of Vancouver, we have a whole foods. Also in Camas, there is a great fuit and veggie produce store, I love it there. About 30 mins from airport, DEF. animal friendly.

[SkylarVT]

Thanks for the info. We will look into Camas too. Glad to hear that things are very AP out there.

[SkylarVT]

Okay, so we are going to do this! We are going to move in March/April though because this is going to be a huge move for us. We are planning on coming out in November and I would like to know what area to look in. I am really torn on whether we should focus on Battle Ground & Brush Prairie or Camas & Washougal. Those seem to be the areas that have houses available on a few acres. I like the idea of being close to the river and Washougal seems to have horse property. Is either area better for families? I want there to be other kids and parks close by. Is either area better for hiking/outdoor play? We spend a lot of time outside training the dogs, and we need a nice walkable downtown to take the dogs for public access training. We will use Portland once a week or so, but we need somewhere close by to take the dogs every day. Is the weather different in either place, (colder near the river, etc.)?

[meenajo]

Hi there, and welcome (soon) to the area! I can't think of any big differences between the BG/Camas areas. We've considered going out either way ourselves (we live in Vancouver) and our decision would probably come down to finding the best spot for the $. If you have time I'd really recommend checking out both areas, they're not that far from each other.

The river is nice and there's some beach access points. If you get up a bit higher (like the hills N of Washougal) you might get some more snow. Battle Ground is growing/developing at a much faster rate so there are new businesses going in.


Good luck, and come visit us on the Vancouver/ SW Wa thread sometime :)
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=960311&page=2