We are now Vantuckians. For those not in the know, here is the definition from the Urban Dictionary:
Vancouver, WA. Think Kentucky but in a different part of the county, and just a city. Just across from the river from Portland, OR the whole city seems to be a few years behind and mullets and 4x4 raised American made trucks are plentiful.
WE are close to the downtown area, which means we skew a lot more towards urbanites, but we are still rife with bleached hair, lifted trucks, and people who spend a week's pay for fireworks for any occasion they can justify. Fourth of July was like Vietnam around here. People do not mess around! Its different here.
On the plus side.....it is somewhat cheaper to live here and is still close to work. We are currently in the throes of a seemingly endless parade of projects on our duplex (our nanny lives in the downstairs unit, which is awesome). So, in the past 6 months I have learned to (with varying degrees of success), install a dishwasher, a new kitchen faucet, a garbage disposal, wired up some new lighting in both bathrooms as well as repainted, caulked, removed old shower doors, and refinished the cabinetry in the bathroom (that one I need to work on more), and, with the help of Diane and Tia, repainted pretty much every inch of the upstairs. Next up will be re-doing the flooring (I would love to try my hand at it, but I think time and toddler constraints will have me shift that responsibility over to the pros) and then the yard (probably in inverted order).
The messed up part is we havent the intention of staying here for more then a few years really. But where to go if we left? Tia would like nothing more than to return to Portland. I am not opposed, but the reasons we left have not changed. For a nice house, in a good school district that keeps us near our respective jobs, we would need to spend about $450K. The same house in, say, Salmon Creek, might be nearer $300K. Plus, you know, another $100-$200/mo in taxes on the PDX side with the price difference. Ouch. Suffice to say, the discussion rages on.
In the interim, we are seeing lots of neighborhood flips, a slow revitalization of the downtown restaurants, and a new waterfront development in the works. Could actually be a pretty trendy place to live in just a few short years.
On the plus side.....it is somewhat cheaper to live here and is still close to work. We are currently in the throes of a seemingly endless parade of projects on our duplex (our nanny lives in the downstairs unit, which is awesome). So, in the past 6 months I have learned to (with varying degrees of success), install a dishwasher, a new kitchen faucet, a garbage disposal, wired up some new lighting in both bathrooms as well as repainted, caulked, removed old shower doors, and refinished the cabinetry in the bathroom (that one I need to work on more), and, with the help of Diane and Tia, repainted pretty much every inch of the upstairs. Next up will be re-doing the flooring (I would love to try my hand at it, but I think time and toddler constraints will have me shift that responsibility over to the pros) and then the yard (probably in inverted order).
The messed up part is we havent the intention of staying here for more then a few years really. But where to go if we left? Tia would like nothing more than to return to Portland. I am not opposed, but the reasons we left have not changed. For a nice house, in a good school district that keeps us near our respective jobs, we would need to spend about $450K. The same house in, say, Salmon Creek, might be nearer $300K. Plus, you know, another $100-$200/mo in taxes on the PDX side with the price difference. Ouch. Suffice to say, the discussion rages on.
In the interim, we are seeing lots of neighborhood flips, a slow revitalization of the downtown restaurants, and a new waterfront development in the works. Could actually be a pretty trendy place to live in just a few short years.
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