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Please don't confuse my last post as me wanting less information. The more information the better. I learned many valuable things about Camas; and so, will many future readers/researchers.
We are fairly new to the area, and I can provide a little bit of my own insight about the Niche quote as well as our experience with the schools.
My take on the Niche quote: Camas is a lovely place, but it’s not for everyone. We moved from the San Francisco Bay Area and I can imagine some of my friends writing that post. If you come from a very progressive, liberal place where anyone with different thoughts or values is shamed and shunned into silence, then it will be a shock to meet people who don’t think or feel the same way about every topic. I personally enjoy meeting and being friends with all kinds of people, so I like the thought diversity in Camas better than the “only one way” of thinking in San Francisco. Politics are not the main topic of discussion here, so I’m not sure that I even know my neighbors’ political leanings. Someone has a pro-Trump decorated pickup truck a block from my house, and it always makes me smile to see it because I’m happy to live in a place where pro-Trump and anti-Trump neighbors live cheerfully and peacefully together. We haven’t experienced nor seen any kind of discrimination since we have moved here. I really like the people in Camas a lot. I think the Niche post is more about the poster’s lack of comfort being around people who aren’t like themselves, than a reflection of any real intolerance in the larger community.
School quality: Camas schools are very good. If you have reasonably bright kids with a strong work ethic, then it’s a great place to be. I’m not sure that it is so great for kids that are extremely bright or kids that need extra attention or help to thrive, though. I sadly have to admit that the Highly Capable (Hi Cap) program has been a disappointment in the elementary school. All the school does is try to group the Hi Cap kids into one class. There is no Hi Cap curriculum. The teachers are pretty good at providing differentiated math assignments for everyone, which helps a bit. The kids are tested in 5th Grade to determine math placements for middle school, and I’m hopeful that it will allow each kid to learn at a pace that works better. Compared to schools in Texas that have real programs for gifted kids in elementary school, Camas definitely comes up short for gifted kids. It is ahead of where we were in California that did absolutely nothing at all for gifted kids.
To me, the schools are very, very good, but they really don’t belong in the very top tier nationally. I think that Niche does a very good job of accurately assessing school quality. Camas High School is very good, but not one of the elite schools nationally.
I’m not sure whether this is what you are looking for in a town and school, but I do hope it helps you to decide whether this is a good fit for you and your kids.
We are fairly new to the area, and I can provide a little bit of my own insight about the Niche quote as well as our experience with the schools.
My take on the Niche quote: Camas is a lovely place, but it’s not for everyone. We moved from the San Francisco Bay Area and I can imagine some of my friends writing that post. If you come from a very progressive, liberal place where anyone with different thoughts or values is shamed and shunned into silence, then it will be a shock to meet people who don’t think or feel the same way about every topic. I personally enjoy meeting and being friends with all kinds of people, so I like the thought diversity in Camas better than the “only one way” of thinking in San Francisco. Politics are not the main topic of discussion here, so I’m not sure that I even know my neighbors’ political leanings. Someone has a pro-Trump decorated pickup truck a block from my house, and it always makes me smile to see it because I’m happy to live in a place where pro-Trump and anti-Trump neighbors live cheerfully and peacefully together. We haven’t experienced nor seen any kind of discrimination since we have moved here. I really like the people in Camas a lot. I think the Niche post is more about the poster’s lack of comfort being around people who aren’t like themselves, than a reflection of any real intolerance in the larger community.
School quality: Camas schools are very good. If you have reasonably bright kids with a strong work ethic, then it’s a great place to be. I’m not sure that it is so great for kids that are extremely bright or kids that need extra attention or help to thrive, though. I sadly have to admit that the Highly Capable (Hi Cap) program has been a disappointment in the elementary school. All the school does is try to group the Hi Cap kids into one class. There is no Hi Cap curriculum. The teachers are pretty good at providing differentiated math assignments for everyone, which helps a bit. The kids are tested in 5th Grade to determine math placements for middle school, and I’m hopeful that it will allow each kid to learn at a pace that works better. Compared to schools in Texas that have real programs for gifted kids in elementary school, Camas definitely comes up short for gifted kids. It is ahead of where we were in California that did absolutely nothing at all for gifted kids.
To me, the schools are very, very good, but they really don’t belong in the very top tier nationally. I think that Niche does a very good job of accurately assessing school quality. Camas High School is very good, but not one of the elite schools nationally.
I’m not sure whether this is what you are looking for in a town and school, but I do hope it helps you to decide whether this is a good fit for you and your kids.
We are fairly new to Camas as well also having moved from Texas, although in our case it was a move back to the NW as I grew up here in Oregon.
Your comments ring pretty true for our experience and in the past 2 years we have had kids in elementary, middle school and HS in Camas. The schools are among the best in the region (Portland metro) but probably don't stand up in terms of resources and performance to the very top performing schools nationally. But that is probably a consequence of the more egalitarian nature of the Pacific Northwest compared to other regions of the country. The very highest performing and most elite public schools around the US are all found in EXTREMELY wealthy enclaves such as uber-wealthy Dallas suburbs and the uber wealthy NYC suburbs in CT. Places like that. The NW just doesn't have the same concentrations of wealth and exclusivity that one finds scattered around some of the other giant metro areas around the country. So you just aren't going to find the same kinds of schools that have unlimited resources and exclusive populations of affluent kids with high-pressure parents. And that is probably a good thing anyway.
If you are going to live in the NW then Camas schools are close to the top in terms of resources and performance. There are scattered schools around the affluent suburbs of Seattle that have more resources and probably higher scores on some measures. But Camas comes pretty close. And there is really not much to complain about. Our kids are doing well and we have no meaningful complaints.
Last edited by texasdiver; 05-11-2018 at 11:36 PM..
I am curious how the Camas elementary schools and middle schools stack up against each other?
Camas school district is quite deliberate about drawing boundary maps that distribute wealthier and more modest neighboods across all the schools. So they all have relatively comparable student populations. For example, the west end of the downtown area which is more modest feeds into Prune Hill Elementary (surrounded by affluent neighborhoods) rather than the much closer Helen Baller elementary. What that means is that all 6 elementary schools are roughly equivalent in size, resources, and student populations. You can probably poke around review sites and such and find subtle differences but I suspect it is mostly statistical noise. The particular teachers you draw is going to have 10x the impact than the particular school. The administrative staffs also rotate around to some extent so that isn't a good reason to chose one school over another either.
Same thing for the middle schools. They are both good. I wouldn't let that govern your housing search. There are more important factors such as commuting time/distance and getting the right house.
How about the health care system, the hospital and doctors in Camas? Especially for retirement? Is Camas a good place for retired couple?
There are no hospitals in Camas. The nearest hospitals are Peace Health in Vancouver about 15 minutes away or Legacy in Salmon Creek about 20 minutes away, or Providence in Portland, about 20 minutes away if there is no traffic, upwards of an hour during morning rush hour. Of course there are medical clinics all over Clark County for primary care. Just depends on what provider you are with.
I would not recommend Camas as a first choice for a retirement location. First, because real estate is mostly higher end larger single family houses. Very few smaller town houses or patio homes of the sort I'd want if I was downsizing and retiring. It's really more oriented towards families. Unless of course you want to knock around in a big empty house. Second, you'll pay a real estate premium for the schools. The school system is top rated in the region so people with kids and the means to do so tend to pay a premium to move to Camas simply for the schools. If you are retired I assume you don't have school age kids.
If it were me and I liked the area, I'd probably look more in East Vancouver for a smaller patio type home that is closer to shopping and that sort of thing, perhaps right off 164th in walking distance of Fred Meyer and the other shopping. Or off 192nd in walking distance of QFC. Lots of nice smaller homes in that area.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Washougal (5 minutes east of Camas) is an excellent place for retirement.
Quite active senior Center and Senior volunteer opportunities and places to hike / nearer proximity to the Columbia Gorge.
Nearby the Camas / Vancouver border (east Vancouver);
If you can stomach suburbia / neighbors .... Fairway Village is a 55+ area.
Vista Del Rio is a quite nice 55+ MHP with handicap direct access to EVERY home.. it is very unique (and simple) design for USA and a great idea. Several of our retiree friends have enjoyed 30+ yrs in either location.
How about the health care system, the hospital and doctors in Camas? Especially for retirement? Is Camas a good place for retired couple?
Good points above. A different perspective, I do think Camas is a good place to retire -- and there are a decent number of retirees here, many in the view homes. Retirees like it here because the homes are nice, the views are spectacular, and you are close to the freeways. PDX airport is very close to Camas; hop on the 14, cross the 205 bridge, first exit, and you're at the airport, it can be done in eight minutes if you speed. Downtown Portland is around 20 minutes by car (non-rush hour), so it's very doable to pop over for food or shopping, even if you are going into downtown Portland -- the thing that takes the longest is finding good parking. Morning and evening commute is a different story, the traffic is brutal and a 20-minute drive can turn into 1.5 hours, no exaggeration.
Also, Camas is situated well for shopping. Yes, you have to drive a few minutes to most of the Vancouver stores like Whole Foods, but I actually prefer a little distance between us and the retail locations. Thus we get less cars, less traffic, less people in our Camas neighborhood, it's quieter, and I prefer it. Well worth the seven-minute no-traffic drive to visit retail. I absolutely prefer it being away from us.
If instead you want walkability to shopping and services, I'd cross Camas off your list and take a close look at the Portland neighborhoods, because you can walk or bike to everything in Portland. People can and do live in Portland and own no car. If you need to drive somewhere or take a roadtrip, it's easy to Uber it or rent a car for a week, and the occasional Uber/Lyft is much, much cheaper than owning a car (massive depreciation as car sits parked 98% of the time, monthly insurance, annual maintenance, repairs, fees and taxes, gas). So if you want to walk and not drive, start looking to downtown city centers anywhere in the U.S.
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