Pacific Northwest - Courtyard Village Vancouver, WA

Hey everyone.

My wife and I just got approved for an apartment here. We are relocating and it's a pain to research anything via reviews since generally people only complain online vs. posting the good as well.

With that being said I know we have alot of Vancouver-ites here so any input on the complex/area?

2600 T St. North of Clark College is the address.

I am supposed to send a holding deposit tomorrow so just wanted to give a last effort to make sure all is kosher.

Thanks!!

I really can't say about the specific complex, but that is a nice centrally located part of town if you want to be able to bike places from there. Places like Portland, when you actually want to do something :P

That's kinda in the "hood" of Vancouver, but it ain't bad. There are not designated dangerous parts of town like LA, really. I wanted to rent a house nearby up on X St. soo bad , but wasn't ready to move while it was available. I love that location. About a half mile to downtown and the better of the two westside bike shops (Bad Monkey) and easy to get to Portland, as Ashen mentioned.

I'll roll by the apts after work today and offer up an impression.

I live in another hood-like pocket in Vancouver, but at $555 for a big 2-bedroom, I can't complain!

Hey everyone.

My wife and I just got approved for an apartment here. We are relocating and it's a pain to research anything via reviews since generally people only complain online vs. posting the good as well.

With that being said I know we have alot of Vancouver-ites here so any input on the complex/area?

2600 T St. North of Clark College is the address.

I am supposed to send a holding deposit tomorrow so just wanted to give a last effort to make sure all is kosher.

Thanks!!

Hey, Jaye...

As Lester said, that's the 'hood. It's going to be quite a change from Lancaster, though! A co-worker rented near there (W St., just east of Clark)- I'll see if she can add anything.

As an off-the-wall suggestion, try calling Bad Monkey Bikes and talk to Mike Lusby. He's a mechanic there, has been around The 'Couv for ages, is car-free and supporting himself on a bike mechanic's pay.

Apartments look OK, has big trees, which is nice. Walking distance to the grocery store.

Burgerville, McDonalds and a lame skatepark are not too far away. I think you're within a mile of Muchas Gracias on Fourth Plain - 24 hour delicious greasy tacos!

Hey guys, thanks for all the input so far. I have been stalling on sending the deposit and your answers are helping me out. My wife called the local PD and the cop who answered told her to stay clear of the whole Rose Village area and says they are "out there all the time" so she is getting nervous about it.

Lester,

Would you stand outside at 6am? 6pm? Midnight?
Would you let your wife/girlfriend stand outside at those hours? What if she was holding your two year old?
Could we go for tacos at Muchas Gracias at 3am without being afraid of being robbed or shot?
Are drugs and crime as rampant as this cop made it seem?

Thanks a ton! I really value your opinions since I have no experience in the area.

P.S. Not that it should matter, but of course in real life it does, we are late 20's fairly straight laced white folk. In certain parts of the town we live in now that alone can get you harrassed so thats the reason I mention it.

I've never had problems riding through there at night, it seems way less sketchy than when I lived in the hood in portland in the early 90s.

Wife and kid would be a tough call after dark, I don't have enough experience walking around there at night.

Yeah, that area use to be called Rosemere. They had to change the name to Rose Village, 'cause of the reputation of the old name. The closer you get to the college, and to downtown, the better. Good neighborhoods would be Arnada or Hough (pronounce like "how" with a "k" at the end). Also, Carter Park, or Uptown Village. There's nice apartments right around the Esther Short area, too. I live in Fruit Valley, which can be hit and miss. Depends on what block you're on. Actually, that's how all of Vancouver is, really. No bad neighborhoods, but bad blocks in overall decent neighborhoods. Things have really cleaned up in the last decade, whith the "downtown revitilazation (http://www.commerce.wa.gov/portal/alias__CTED/lang__en/tabID__52/DesktopDefault.aspx)" plan, folks restoring historic homes around downtown, etc. Most of the crime has moved out of downtown, and into central Vancouver. At any rate, no "bad" neighborhood in Vancouver compares to the "bad" neighborhoods of Portland, which doesn't even come close to the "bad" neighborhoods of other cities.

Vancouver Neighborhoods: http://www.cityofvancouver.us/nhoods.asp

Good luck!

I Have lived my whole life in the Vancouver and I have to say that is is a good place to live. I would pass on the apartment on T street and find a place to rent over in Cascade Park. This is in the East side of Vancouver. The apartment on T street is an area that has a lot of working class, blue collar working people, who live in that area. There are a lot of low income people, who live there also. I used to live on V street, which was across the street from the IGA supermarket. I used to watch the daily drunks walk past my duplex, heading to the IGA, so they can get their 40oz drink of choice. There are some very nice and inexpensive apartments in Cascade Park.

another vote for east vancouver. My wife and I have lived in an apartment in the Fisher's Landing neighborhood for the last 2 years. Quiet, nice neighborhood, right on a good east/west bike route.

another vote for east vancouver. My wife and I have lived in an apartment in the Fisher's Landing neighborhood for the last 2 years. Quiet, nice neighborhood, right on a good east/west bike route.

Yep, Cascade Park is nice. My wife and I started in an apartment in Fisher's Landing when we moved here, bought a house near Brush Prairie (and got in over our heads), and then moved into a smaller house in Cascade Park. The main bicycle route through town passes close by, so cycling is no problem. There's two supermarkets within walking distance, so shopping's a breeze.

Thanks for all the help guys. We did wind up passing on the Courtyard Village. Wound up with a nice place in Beaverton, OR which we move into on 10/12.

Here's to hoping everything goes well.