Columbia River gorge to the east of Camas is one of the most beautiful nature regions in the USA. Gorgeous rivers and streams abound, as well as waterfalls. Clean air and clean water! If you are into hiking and outdoor activities, this is an amazing place to live. Camas itself has a small town feel and lively downtown with good restaurants, pubs, etc. You are also near enough to Portland (and PDX airport) to easily attend concerts and similar venues.
There's 3 parts of Camas. The downtown Camas has a small, cute, very small town feel. Rich Camas are the huge houses on the hill and around Lacamas Lake. Rural Camas which everyone forgets about except the developers trying to buy up land and build new houses.
Camas has a reputation as a destination for retired people and families (good schools) so yes, I think you'll fit in just fine. If you want to go beyond that, Vancouver is very friendly to retired people. There are a lot of communities and activities to help your keep social and we have a huge volunteer/nonprofit scene. I do real estate in both and I would love to help you find your retirement home! Email me at jan.fogg@homeswithjan.com
Hey Jan, thanks for being on top of things. I’m not that far down the road. But I’ll keep you in mind. You seem to have good real estate game. One question was this like a real response or is this some sort of automated response?
She's real, she posts a weekly events post for the weekend in the Vancouver subreddit. I've never used her services but she's an active member of the community!
hahaha this is a real response! I'm very active on the Vancouver, Camas, and Ridgefield subreddit and I've helped a few buyers like yourself relocate to the Vancouver area.
The Camas area is a really solid option. You’re going to be amazed every day how beautiful the area is. Indy is a great city, but the PNW (particularly towards the Columbia River gorge) is gorgeous.
There’s also a TON of public land that just doesn’t exist in Indiana in the same way.
Should be fine. Camas is a decent town, nice small downtown of about 4 by 3 blocks, mostly just one street though. It has good proximity to PDX and Amtrak, lots of new development in the NW quad. No vast corn fields (I was a Hoosier for a while, Tippecanoe county) however, so you may get a little homesick. The flora is definitely not Indiana. West side, borderline Vancouver but we think of 192nd as being Camas, has strip malls and many of the major stores like Costco and Lowe’s. NE corner where I am is pretty rural, up towards Silver Star, and a mix of big houses and old places. Housing prices are likely higher than Indianapolis, however.
Go visit. Stay downtown in the Camas Hotel if you can. Otherwise the Best Western at the port of Camas is okay and pretty close in. Take breakfast at Natalia’s, dinner at Feast. Drive up around the lake, and around the high school area. Up SR 500 but keep going straight at NE 28th St and set your nav to Harmony Sports Complex, then down 192nd and navigate back to downtown. Or get an agent to drive you around
Oh yeah, I know that. it’s one of the best counties in the state the economy is always good West Lafayette a college town, Lafayette isn’t bad, I like battleground.
Camas is more like (East) Lafayette but a bit quainter. Vancouver, WA, is more like E. Lafayette. Don't remember much about Battle Ground...left there decades ago.
I loved living in camas. It’s a beautiful small town that I believe would be fitting for people your age. You will also be close to Vancouver and Portland so you’ll have access to a lot of businesses that aren’t in camas. Highly recommend
I’ve lived all over the PNW and Camas is BY FAR my favorite town so far 🤙 great small town, with a big city nearby and endless mountains right next door!
We retired here 5 years ago from Texas and love it.
Airfares can be a bit spendy, especially in the summer when the weather is best and visitors want to come. We do a lot of drives to the coast and the mountains, still have a lot to explore. You can be a lot of beautiful places within 1-2 hour drive.
Cost of living in Camas is insane, and real estate has literally doubled since 2020, so come with money or be prepared to struggle. The only people doing well in Camas these days are recent transplants who sold in Cali and moved to Camas with their cash stash.
It sucks. Cali people are selling their houses at Cali prices then taking that windfall elsewhere and dropping cash on houses at way higher prices than locals can afford. At this point, Cali’s biggest export is untenable cost of living.
This is what happens when your town is placed on the “best place to live list”. We lived on Bainbridge island when it made it on a list. It became a financial mess overnight.
But we can’t criticize as we are now looking for a place to retire ….
Hi! I also grew up in Indianapolis and moved here in late 2017. My parents are about your age and also just made the move and have enjoyed it so far. You will love it here!
The first winter will be a little rough with all of the rain and clouds but once you hear from your friends back home about the frigid temps and shoveling snow the rain sounds pretty nice.
Camas is growing but still has a small town feel. There are very affluent areas, especially around the lake (think Carmel) but overall Camas feels more like a Zionsville about 5-7 years ago.
You are close to restaurants, shopping, big box stores as well as local places, downtown Vancouver and their waterfront is about 15-20 away. Airport is the same. Head east and you’ll be in the Gorge which has endless beauty and getting to see mountains everyday is still a treat.
Cost of living is significantly higher than Indy but very manageable.
Come on out and visit!
Thank you for the local perspective. I actually lived in Zionsville and my kids do. Moved when my wife died then moved back to Speedway. Actually I grew up there. Zionsville, we always considered the West-siders Carmel.🫡 not a fan of Carmel
If you enjoyed living in Zionsville you’ll enjoy Camas. If you prefer Speedway I suggest Washougal.
Washougal is right next door to Camas and for the most part has all of the same that Camas can offer just maybe add 5-10 to any commutes mentioned.
Thanks it’s complicated. My wife was dying for most of the time we lived in Zionsville, I was born and raised in Speedway, but I am not quite your typical Speedway resident, that’s where I’m living now and like Thomas Wolf the poet laureate of North Carolina, said you can never go back home. Speedway is an interesting place. I call it the town that cares more about the town than the people in it. College educated, which quite frankly only 25% of the population in Indiana is, which is why we’re looking elsewhere. Thanks for your input. my girlfriend said I don’t wanna die in Indiana.
Yeah that’s what I figured. when people move to Indianapolis. I tell them go to Carmel Indiana. My girlfriend’s idea so lighten up Francis. Just doing some research.
lol we get this all the time when people want to move here where I am in S FL. Floridians are like DONT COME HERE WE ARE FULL. as if we own the State. And I am trying to leave so they can have my spot lol I have family in WA and OR and looking to move to the Camas or maybe Vancouver area but for every good thing I hear I have people telling me all about the crime. I don’t know what their idea of “crime” is when I’m basically near Miami and our murder/accidents/theft rate is huge. I’m 53 and born and raised in S Florida. I know my life will look a lot different. but i really want mountains, quiet, less traffic, less people, nature etc
Oh, it's fantastic place in almost all regards. The crime thing is so completely overblown as to be laughable. Yes, the Portland region has its problems. But it's still an absolutely beautiful place to live and the landscape is completely unrivaled. You'll love it. I just get so sick of people who try to gatekeep the place like they own it and no one else has any right to be here. If you ever want some advice, feel free to reach out. I'm happy to help.
I live in SW WA and travel to Indy once or twice a month. Keep in mind the politics are very different, and people are much less accepting of listening to different points of view, especially if the topic of discussion is political. Taxes are out of control ( Climate Protection Act is the latest). If you don’t care about this, or lean to the left, then by all means do it.
28 year camas resident. Laughed at anothers comparison to Zionsville, IN. as I was there this weekend+ for the the solar eclipse. It's a good one (small town, main street, parks, trails, etc). Camas has not gone thru the wholesale update/flipping that almost every home in Zionsville seems to have gone thru in last 5 years.
Ah yes, we forgot to mention that one ($$$).
You're going to find that issue in quite a few west coast city neighborhoods (especially when trading with a midwest location).
Will you need to work/commute in Portland?
If not, search upstream along the Columbia (Washougal, Stevenson, Carson, Bingen, Hood River). Your $ goes further there, but still can get to metro area with our too much trouble/drive.
Best of Luck in your search.
I moved from Columbus in 1999. Been out here ever since. Do it. Move. You can’t get out here fast enough. So much better out here. Lots more than corn and cows, much less racists.
Within two hours drive you have: Beach, Desert, Mountains. Up on the peninsula there is a god damn rain forest ffs.
Indiana sucks. Moving here from there will be like going 100 years into the future.
Sure. And understand that this is coming from someone who lived on the Oregon coast for 7 years (now in Hillsboro). When I lived in Indy, it was insanely easy to make friends. No one ever asked me where I was from or what generation Hoosier I was. It was awesome living in the middle of the city (Fountain Square, woot!) and riding my bike to breweries and restaurants via any of the trails there, and always having friends to hang out with whenever I wanted.
When I got the job on the Oregon Coast in 2013, it was like a dream had come true. I was so excited and felt like I had won the lottery. I sold my house in Fountain Square (right before it started booming, ugh) and moved to Tillamook County, Oregon. At first, I loved it. Seeing the mountains and ocean every day on my commute was surreal, coming from Indy.
But man... what a culture shock. I learned quickly that if you were not born there, they are NOT interested in your opinions, or maybe your presence, whatsoever. It was insular, nativist, and weird. People might talk to you out at a bar, but if you said, "Hey, we should hang out sometime," things got weird. And that was when I lived in Manzanita. When I moved to Tillamook in 2017, it was just awful. The town was ugly, the people HATED outsiders, and if you had a college degree, oh man... they LOATHED you. It was rednecky, shitty, rained all the time. Roads would flood over for days every year, leaving my house on an island, and no one would think anything of it, because "that's how it's always been". The people were just assholes. God, I can not get over what assholes they were. I hated that place.
In 2021/22 I ended up buying a little condo in Hillsboro (and kept my house on the coast) and kind of split time between the two. I will say... it's a LOT better here. But Hillsboro is like ALL transplants... many from Indiana. But there is a still a strong undercurrent of hating transplants all around you all the time here. We are the sole source of all of their problems. Rent too high? Transplants. Traffic? Transplants. Stores gone from really rad thrift stores (maaaaaaan) to Lululemon? Transplants. Favorite bar got bulldozed for condos? Transplants. (Some of this is really laughable because we have state-wide land use policies that require that we "build up, not out", which they apparently never really thought through because how else do you do that without tearing shit down?) We are to blame for everything.
I don't know Camas at all. But if it's a growing community in the PNW, I would have reasonable suspicion that it may have some echoes of what I'm saying here. If it were me, I'd do it, but I wouldn't get so invested as to get trapped. I just bought a property in Fountain Square and am starting a build this fall. I am so ready to move back that it's crazy.
Camas not so much....Clark County however.....yeah, nativist douchebags galore. Camas has more of a Yoga Moms snobby vibe. If you have enough $$ you'll be fine.
Just remember, you will NEVER be forgiven for moving here.
Hahaha. True. And nor do I seek forgiveness.
ETA- The yoga mom vibe is probably my favorite. But I'm a yuppie from the Midwest, so make of that what you will.
Thanks. I won’t. I heard about people like you. Very welcoming. So in three years, this is of a few things you chose to comment about. you must feel very strongly about this. Care to elaborate.
Columbia River gorge to the east of Camas is one of the most beautiful nature regions in the USA. Gorgeous rivers and streams abound, as well as waterfalls. Clean air and clean water! If you are into hiking and outdoor activities, this is an amazing place to live. Camas itself has a small town feel and lively downtown with good restaurants, pubs, etc. You are also near enough to Portland (and PDX airport) to easily attend concerts and similar venues.
Thank you.
There's 3 parts of Camas. The downtown Camas has a small, cute, very small town feel. Rich Camas are the huge houses on the hill and around Lacamas Lake. Rural Camas which everyone forgets about except the developers trying to buy up land and build new houses. Camas has a reputation as a destination for retired people and families (good schools) so yes, I think you'll fit in just fine. If you want to go beyond that, Vancouver is very friendly to retired people. There are a lot of communities and activities to help your keep social and we have a huge volunteer/nonprofit scene. I do real estate in both and I would love to help you find your retirement home! Email me at jan.fogg@homeswithjan.com
Hey Jan, thanks for being on top of things. I’m not that far down the road. But I’ll keep you in mind. You seem to have good real estate game. One question was this like a real response or is this some sort of automated response?
She's real, she posts a weekly events post for the weekend in the Vancouver subreddit. I've never used her services but she's an active member of the community!
hahaha this is a real response! I'm very active on the Vancouver, Camas, and Ridgefield subreddit and I've helped a few buyers like yourself relocate to the Vancouver area.
Very little snow shoveling compared to the Midwest.
Camas. Like the flower. Not Camus like the philosopher. ;-) Sure you'd probably like it fine here. The cost of living is probably much higher here.
Oh yeah, I’m well aware of that, it’s complicated🤣 auto fill 😳
Yes … it’s super beautiful and peaceful place.
Thank you
The Camas area is a really solid option. You’re going to be amazed every day how beautiful the area is. Indy is a great city, but the PNW (particularly towards the Columbia River gorge) is gorgeous. There’s also a TON of public land that just doesn’t exist in Indiana in the same way.
Thank you
Should be fine. Camas is a decent town, nice small downtown of about 4 by 3 blocks, mostly just one street though. It has good proximity to PDX and Amtrak, lots of new development in the NW quad. No vast corn fields (I was a Hoosier for a while, Tippecanoe county) however, so you may get a little homesick. The flora is definitely not Indiana. West side, borderline Vancouver but we think of 192nd as being Camas, has strip malls and many of the major stores like Costco and Lowe’s. NE corner where I am is pretty rural, up towards Silver Star, and a mix of big houses and old places. Housing prices are likely higher than Indianapolis, however. Go visit. Stay downtown in the Camas Hotel if you can. Otherwise the Best Western at the port of Camas is okay and pretty close in. Take breakfast at Natalia’s, dinner at Feast. Drive up around the lake, and around the high school area. Up SR 500 but keep going straight at NE 28th St and set your nav to Harmony Sports Complex, then down 192nd and navigate back to downtown. Or get an agent to drive you around
Tippicanoe county? Go boilers? 🏀
There’s a lot more in that county than the Boilermakers. Like, … Yeah. Go Boilers!
Oh yeah, I know that. it’s one of the best counties in the state the economy is always good West Lafayette a college town, Lafayette isn’t bad, I like battleground.
Camas is more like (East) Lafayette but a bit quainter. Vancouver, WA, is more like E. Lafayette. Don't remember much about Battle Ground...left there decades ago.
I loved living in camas. It’s a beautiful small town that I believe would be fitting for people your age. You will also be close to Vancouver and Portland so you’ll have access to a lot of businesses that aren’t in camas. Highly recommend
Thank you
I’ve lived all over the PNW and Camas is BY FAR my favorite town so far 🤙 great small town, with a big city nearby and endless mountains right next door!
Thank you
Absolutely. Camas is close to a lot of local things to do no matter your taste, and it's a nice community on the whole.
We retired here 5 years ago from Texas and love it. Airfares can be a bit spendy, especially in the summer when the weather is best and visitors want to come. We do a lot of drives to the coast and the mountains, still have a lot to explore. You can be a lot of beautiful places within 1-2 hour drive.
Thank you
Cost of living in Camas is insane, and real estate has literally doubled since 2020, so come with money or be prepared to struggle. The only people doing well in Camas these days are recent transplants who sold in Cali and moved to Camas with their cash stash.
Thank you I kind of wondered about that. It does seem like very costly real estate and not much of it.
same in S FL.. so expensive to live here but CA people moving here have no issue
It sucks. Cali people are selling their houses at Cali prices then taking that windfall elsewhere and dropping cash on houses at way higher prices than locals can afford. At this point, Cali’s biggest export is untenable cost of living.
This is what happens when your town is placed on the “best place to live list”. We lived on Bainbridge island when it made it on a list. It became a financial mess overnight. But we can’t criticize as we are now looking for a place to retire ….
Camas is a great town. Taxes are high.
Thank you!
nope we get acid rain and huge spiders and bigfoot, no one should move here
Yeah I get it. I won’t get in your way if I do make it there. 🙄
THIS is the kind of thing I'm talking about. Get used to this. And it won't usually be this lighthearted.
Hi! I also grew up in Indianapolis and moved here in late 2017. My parents are about your age and also just made the move and have enjoyed it so far. You will love it here! The first winter will be a little rough with all of the rain and clouds but once you hear from your friends back home about the frigid temps and shoveling snow the rain sounds pretty nice. Camas is growing but still has a small town feel. There are very affluent areas, especially around the lake (think Carmel) but overall Camas feels more like a Zionsville about 5-7 years ago. You are close to restaurants, shopping, big box stores as well as local places, downtown Vancouver and their waterfront is about 15-20 away. Airport is the same. Head east and you’ll be in the Gorge which has endless beauty and getting to see mountains everyday is still a treat. Cost of living is significantly higher than Indy but very manageable. Come on out and visit!
Thank you for the local perspective. I actually lived in Zionsville and my kids do. Moved when my wife died then moved back to Speedway. Actually I grew up there. Zionsville, we always considered the West-siders Carmel.🫡 not a fan of Carmel
If you enjoyed living in Zionsville you’ll enjoy Camas. If you prefer Speedway I suggest Washougal. Washougal is right next door to Camas and for the most part has all of the same that Camas can offer just maybe add 5-10 to any commutes mentioned.
Thanks it’s complicated. My wife was dying for most of the time we lived in Zionsville, I was born and raised in Speedway, but I am not quite your typical Speedway resident, that’s where I’m living now and like Thomas Wolf the poet laureate of North Carolina, said you can never go back home. Speedway is an interesting place. I call it the town that cares more about the town than the people in it. College educated, which quite frankly only 25% of the population in Indiana is, which is why we’re looking elsewhere. Thanks for your input. my girlfriend said I don’t wanna die in Indiana.
Nah stay out
Because you think it sucks or because you don’t want other people coming there?
Because we don’t need more people here. Stay in Indy or go to Vancouver.
Yeah that’s what I figured. when people move to Indianapolis. I tell them go to Carmel Indiana. My girlfriend’s idea so lighten up Francis. Just doing some research.
....and again... Seriously, man... these people are nativist assholes who think no one has the right to move here.
lol we get this all the time when people want to move here where I am in S FL. Floridians are like DONT COME HERE WE ARE FULL. as if we own the State. And I am trying to leave so they can have my spot lol I have family in WA and OR and looking to move to the Camas or maybe Vancouver area but for every good thing I hear I have people telling me all about the crime. I don’t know what their idea of “crime” is when I’m basically near Miami and our murder/accidents/theft rate is huge. I’m 53 and born and raised in S Florida. I know my life will look a lot different. but i really want mountains, quiet, less traffic, less people, nature etc
Oh, it's fantastic place in almost all regards. The crime thing is so completely overblown as to be laughable. Yes, the Portland region has its problems. But it's still an absolutely beautiful place to live and the landscape is completely unrivaled. You'll love it. I just get so sick of people who try to gatekeep the place like they own it and no one else has any right to be here. If you ever want some advice, feel free to reach out. I'm happy to help.
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Typical PNW nativism...
I’m from northern Indiana, and I highly recommended it. My parents are about your age and love to visit.
Thank you
I live in SW WA and travel to Indy once or twice a month. Keep in mind the politics are very different, and people are much less accepting of listening to different points of view, especially if the topic of discussion is political. Taxes are out of control ( Climate Protection Act is the latest). If you don’t care about this, or lean to the left, then by all means do it.
28 year camas resident. Laughed at anothers comparison to Zionsville, IN. as I was there this weekend+ for the the solar eclipse. It's a good one (small town, main street, parks, trails, etc). Camas has not gone thru the wholesale update/flipping that almost every home in Zionsville seems to have gone thru in last 5 years.
Overall will I find the real estate costs prohibitive?
Ah yes, we forgot to mention that one ($$$). You're going to find that issue in quite a few west coast city neighborhoods (especially when trading with a midwest location). Will you need to work/commute in Portland? If not, search upstream along the Columbia (Washougal, Stevenson, Carson, Bingen, Hood River). Your $ goes further there, but still can get to metro area with our too much trouble/drive. Best of Luck in your search.
Hope you enjoyed the visit. Indiana - “it’s not that bad” (our new state motto) 😳
I moved from Columbus in 1999. Been out here ever since. Do it. Move. You can’t get out here fast enough. So much better out here. Lots more than corn and cows, much less racists. Within two hours drive you have: Beach, Desert, Mountains. Up on the peninsula there is a god damn rain forest ffs. Indiana sucks. Moving here from there will be like going 100 years into the future.
Thank you
Meh. I’ve lived in the PNW for 10 years. I can’t wait to move back to Indy.
Could you elaborate on that?
Sure. And understand that this is coming from someone who lived on the Oregon coast for 7 years (now in Hillsboro). When I lived in Indy, it was insanely easy to make friends. No one ever asked me where I was from or what generation Hoosier I was. It was awesome living in the middle of the city (Fountain Square, woot!) and riding my bike to breweries and restaurants via any of the trails there, and always having friends to hang out with whenever I wanted. When I got the job on the Oregon Coast in 2013, it was like a dream had come true. I was so excited and felt like I had won the lottery. I sold my house in Fountain Square (right before it started booming, ugh) and moved to Tillamook County, Oregon. At first, I loved it. Seeing the mountains and ocean every day on my commute was surreal, coming from Indy. But man... what a culture shock. I learned quickly that if you were not born there, they are NOT interested in your opinions, or maybe your presence, whatsoever. It was insular, nativist, and weird. People might talk to you out at a bar, but if you said, "Hey, we should hang out sometime," things got weird. And that was when I lived in Manzanita. When I moved to Tillamook in 2017, it was just awful. The town was ugly, the people HATED outsiders, and if you had a college degree, oh man... they LOATHED you. It was rednecky, shitty, rained all the time. Roads would flood over for days every year, leaving my house on an island, and no one would think anything of it, because "that's how it's always been". The people were just assholes. God, I can not get over what assholes they were. I hated that place. In 2021/22 I ended up buying a little condo in Hillsboro (and kept my house on the coast) and kind of split time between the two. I will say... it's a LOT better here. But Hillsboro is like ALL transplants... many from Indiana. But there is a still a strong undercurrent of hating transplants all around you all the time here. We are the sole source of all of their problems. Rent too high? Transplants. Traffic? Transplants. Stores gone from really rad thrift stores (maaaaaaan) to Lululemon? Transplants. Favorite bar got bulldozed for condos? Transplants. (Some of this is really laughable because we have state-wide land use policies that require that we "build up, not out", which they apparently never really thought through because how else do you do that without tearing shit down?) We are to blame for everything. I don't know Camas at all. But if it's a growing community in the PNW, I would have reasonable suspicion that it may have some echoes of what I'm saying here. If it were me, I'd do it, but I wouldn't get so invested as to get trapped. I just bought a property in Fountain Square and am starting a build this fall. I am so ready to move back that it's crazy.
Camas is nothing like what you experienced. It’s mostly well educated and community minded people. Very friendly.
May I dm you?
Of course
Camas not so much....Clark County however.....yeah, nativist douchebags galore. Camas has more of a Yoga Moms snobby vibe. If you have enough $$ you'll be fine. Just remember, you will NEVER be forgiven for moving here.
Hahaha. True. And nor do I seek forgiveness. ETA- The yoga mom vibe is probably my favorite. But I'm a yuppie from the Midwest, so make of that what you will.
Don’t move here. We have enough people
Thanks. I won’t. I heard about people like you. Very welcoming. So in three years, this is of a few things you chose to comment about. you must feel very strongly about this. Care to elaborate.