Looking for great neighborhood near Portland, OR on the Washington side

May 29, 2017 2:13 AM

Can you recommend a great neighborhood within an hour of Portland (ideally less) on the Washington State side? It could be in Vancouver, Washington, or in any of the small towns nearby.

Wish list:
- Cute Victorians or farmhouses
- Walkable downtown
- Not dangerous, rundown, etc.
- Within an hour of Portland (preferably much less)

It's ok if it's more expensive than Portland. It just has to be in Washington for (reasons).

posted by 3491again to Travel & Transportation around Portland, OR (8 answers total)

My friends love White Salmon, across the Columbia from Hood River. It's very tiny and blends with the nearby small town of Bingen. I don't know if it was ever fancy enough to have Victorian farmhouses but there are cute older homes and it is quaint while also having a market, brewery, and delicious deli. I can't imagine the crime is very high.
posted by amanda at 7:25 AM on May 29, 2017

My husband and I just moved to Vancouver from Atlanta and I'm absolutely smitten! I'd read a bunch of stuff online that made it sound like a bad spot (just online forums of people bitching, as people do) but we have really enjoyed our move and are so glad we ended up here and not in proper Portland.

We live in Rose Village, which is about two miles from downtown Vancouver. It's not a huge downtown but it's perfect for us; definitely enough restaurants and coffee and stores to keep you busy, but not crazy crowded and not dirty. I like to think of Vancouver as little baby Portland, before the homelessness got so bad. The farmers market on weekends is my favorite place to be and my parents who live in Other Vancouver were super impressed by its size.

Nearby neighborhoods include Arnada, Esther Short, Carter Park, Shumway, Hough, Lincoln, and Harney Heights. MeMail me if you want to talk!
posted by masquesoporfavor at 8:39 AM on May 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

"Within an hour of Portland" is probably going to be difficult, and needs more definition. Like, certain times of day you can't even go from N to SE Portland in an hour. So it depends on what you need to reach in Portland. Most of southern Washington doesn't meet your criteria. There's not much out there that meets your criteria. White Salmon is lovely and meets some of your other criteria, but is just over an hour away (which also doesn't take traffic into account). So if you're looking for 'much less' than an hour commute, there aren't many options on that side of the river.

There are only a handful of places that meet your criteria and they mostly land in Oregon. Throwing the WA requirement in there is going to make this a pretty tall order to fill.
posted by furnace.heart at 8:40 AM on May 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Are you commuting to Portland proper during rush hour? The I-5 and I-205 bridge situation at rush "hour" (7am-930am, and 2:30pm or 3pm-6:30pm, I'd guess at minimum) is basically a pair of parking lots, especially for non-reverse commuters (living in WA and working in OR).
posted by cnidaria at 2:23 PM on May 29, 2017

A friend of mine lives in the Hough neighborhood in Vancouver, and it is super-cute. Walkable to Main Street shops, and it looks like a mini-Portland.
posted by homodachi at 3:28 PM on May 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Teenage me would never believe I'd say this, but Camas has a tiny walkable downtown and is easily within an hour of Portland. I've also been hearing some nice things about the same general area of Vancouver that homodachi mentions. But I agree that you will want to consider when and why you would be travelling for that 1 hour or less goal. I would consider Vancouver, Camas, Washougal, Skamania, Ridgefield, and Battle Ground to all be less than an hour from Portland. But that doesn't mean the daily work commute from one of these places to a job in Portland would be less than 1 hour. (I reverse-commute from Portland to Washington, so I get to see that parking lot all the time.) But if you're just wanting to be near a big city to catch concerts and go shopping, you would be able to adjust your travel times to avoid commuter traffic.
posted by Secretariat at 4:59 PM on May 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

If you're working in Oregon and living in Washington, keep in mind you'll still pay Oregon income tax. If there's other reasons for living in Washington, Camas and Washougal are nice, and about an hour from Portland depending on where you have to go.
posted by fiercekitten at 10:31 PM on May 29, 2017

I live in Washington and work in Portland but my job is headquartered in Tennessee so I still get the sweet income tax deal. Maybe you're lucky like me!
posted by masquesoporfavor at 11:00 PM on May 29, 2017