Everything about Vancouver Washington totally explained
» For other uses, see Vancouver (disambiguation).
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the
Columbia River in the
U.S. state of
Washington and the
county seat of
Clark County. In 2007, the
United States Census Bureau estimated that the city's population was 160,800. It is part of the
Portland-Vancouver
metropolitan area.
The larger city of
Vancouver, British Columbia is located 305 miles (491 km) north of Vancouver, Washington. Both cities were named for sea captain
George Vancouver, but the Canadian city wasn't incorporated until 1886, nearly thirty years after Vancouver, Washington, and more than sixty years after the name Fort Vancouver was first used. City officials have periodically suggested changing the city's name to Fort Vancouver, Vancouver USA, or even Old Vancouver to reduce confusion with
Vancouver,
British Columbia. Washington residents distinguish between the two cities by referring to the Canadian Vancouver as "Vancouver, B.C." Current mayor
Royce Pollard is an advocate of the unofficial moniker "America's Vancouver."
History
The Vancouver area was inhabited by a variety of
Native American tribes, most recently the
Chinook and
Klickitat nations, with permanent settlements of timber longhouses. The Chinookan and Klickitat names for the area were reportedly
Skit-so-to-ho and
Ala-si-kas, respectively, meaning "land of the mud-turtles". First European contact was in 1775, with approximately half of the
indigenous population dead from
small pox before the
Lewis and Clark expedition camped in the area in 1806.
Based on an act in the 1859-1860 legislature, Vancouver was briefly the capital of the
Washington Territory, before being returned to
Olympia, Washington by a 2-1 ruling of the territory's supreme court, in accordance with
Isaac Stevens' preference and concern that proximity to Oregon might give its southern neighbor undue influence.
U.S. Army Captain (and future President)
Ulysses S. Grant was
quartermaster at what was then known as Columbia Barracks for 15 months beginning in September 1852. Soon after leaving Vancouver, he resigned from the army and didn't serve again until the outbreak of the
American Civil War. Other notable generals to have served in Vancouver include
George B. McClellan,
Philip Sheridan,
Oliver O. Howard and 1953
Nobel Peace Prize recipient
George Marshall.
Army presence in Vancouver was very strong, as the Department of the Columbia built and moved to Vancouver Barracks, the military reservation for which stretched from the river to what is currently Fourth Plain Boulevard and was the largest Army base in the region until surpassed by
Fort Lewis, to the north. Built on the old company gardens and skirmish range, Pearson Army Field (later
Pearson Field Airport) was a key facility, and at one point the
US Army Signal Corps operated the largest
spruce cut-up plant in the world to provide much-needed wood for airplanes. Vancouver became the end point for two ultra-long flights from
Moscow,
USSR over the North Pole. The first of these flights was performed by
Valery Chkalov in 1937 . Chkalov was originally scheduled to land at an airstrip in nearby Portland, OR, but redirected at the last minute to Vancouver's Pearson Airfield. Today there's a street named for him in Vancouver.
Separated from Oregon until 1917, when the
Interstate Bridge began to replace
ferries, Vancouver had three shipyards just downstream which produced ships for
World War I before
World War II brought an enormous economic boom. An
Alcoa aluminum plant opened on
September 2,
1940, using inexpensive power from the nearby
New Deal hydropower turbines at
Bonneville Dam. After the bombing of
Pearl Harbor,
Henry Kaiser opened a
shipyard next to the U.S. Army reserve, which by 1944 employed as many as 36,000 people in a twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week production of
liberty ships,
LST's, and "
baby flat tops". This influx of shipyard workers boosted the population from 18,000 to over 80,000 in just a few months, leading to the creation of the Vancouver Housing Authority and six new
residential developments: Fruit Valley, Fourth Plain Village, Bagley Downs, Ogden Meadows, Burton Homes and McLoughlin Heights. Each of these was later incorporated into the city, and are well-known neighborhoods, while the neighboring "shipyard city" of
Vanport, Oregon, would be destroyed by the
Memorial Day flood of 1948.
In 1956,
Willie Nelson moved to Vancouver to begin his musical career, recording "Lumberjack". The single sold fairly well, but didn't establish a career. Nelson continued to work as a radio announcer in Vancouver and sing in clubs. He sold a song called "Family Bible" for $50; the song was a hit for
Claude Gray in 1960, has been covered widely and is often considered a gospel music classic.
Vancouver has recently experienced conflicts with other Clark County communities because of rapid growth in the area. As a result of urban growth and annexation, Vancouver is often thought of as split between two areas, East and West Vancouver, divided by NE Andresen Road. West Vancouver is home to downtown Vancouver and some of the more historical parts of the city, as well as recent high-density
mixed-use development.
More than one-third of the Vancouver urban area's population has spilled into an unincorporated urban area north of its city limits, including the communities of
Hazel Dell,
Felida,
Orchards and
Salmon Creek. If county leaders had approved a major annexation plan in 2006, Vancouver would have passed
Tacoma and
Spokane to become the state's second-largest city.
Downtown revitalization
condominium structures around
Esther Short park and in the Uptown Village neighborhood. The most lauded outside investment was the construction of a
Hilton hotel directly across from the park. Currently the city is building a new
shopping complex, including a
Fred Meyer, just outside of the downtown core.
The Columbian newspaper is in the final stages of building a new seven-story building adjacent to the Hilton. There are plans in the future for a new development along C Street in downtown that would include a new
library, a new
Marriott hotel and roughly 250 new condominiums, along with other projects remain processing to start:
- Riverwest - Mixed use project which includes a condominiums building, hotel/condominiums building, offices building, and a new main library.
- The Luxe - 6 story offices and condominiums building.
- Waterfront Redevelopment - Which include 10K Residents Envision, Retails, Offices, Parks, and more.
- Prestige Plaza - 6 story building which includes condominiums and offices.
Geography and Climate
Vancouver is located at 45°38'1" North, 122°36'11" West (45.633743, -122.603011) just north of the
Columbia River, just west of where the
Columbia River Gorge bisects the
volcanic Cascade Range and just east of where the
Willamette River enters the Columbia. When clouds don't blanket the Puget-Willamette trough formed by the Cascade and
Coast Range,
Mount Hood,
Mount Saint Helens and
Mount Adams are all visible from somewhere in Vancouver.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 46.1
square miles (119.5
km²), of which, 42.8 square miles (110.8 km²) of it's land and 3.3 square miles (8.7 km²) of it's water. The total area is 7.14% water.
Vancouver lies just north of
Portland, Oregon and shares a similar climate, with certain key exceptions. High pressures east of the
Cascade Range create something of a
venturi effect, leading to cold east winds down the
Columbia River Gorge. Unsheltered by the
Willamette Valley, Vancouver has historically seen colder temperatures, including "silver thaw" storms where freezing rain cakes limbs and power lines. Such storms can paralyze Vancouver, frequently froze the river and in 1914 cut electric power in the city for almost two weeks. Close proximity to the river was also a concern for flooding, before dams constricted the river, destroying features such as
Celilo Falls. Periodic floods have been a nuisance, with two of the most destructive in June of 1894 and May, 1948. The 1948
Memorial Day flood almost topped the Interstate Bridge's support
piers and completely destroyed nearby
Vanport, Oregon. Other unusual storms include the
Columbus Day windstorm of 1962 and
an April 6, 1972 tornado which rated F3 on the
Fujita scale, striking a local school. A F1 tornado stuck on January 10, 2008 just after noon causing moderate damage along a 2-mile path from Vancouver Lake to the unicnorporated Hazel Dell area. No injuries or deaths were caused, however, moderate damage to a number of structures was reported as well as numerous uprooted large trees. The warmer counter-part to these cold gorge winds is the
Pineapple Express, a
subtropical jet stream that brings warm moist air from the southern
Pacific Ocean.
Because of its proximity to Portland, many people who live in Vancouver work in Portland. In 2003, 70% of workers in Vancouver worked in
Clark County. Those who live in Clark County and work in Oregon have to pay Oregon's relatively high
income tax. (Washington State doesn't have such a tax.) Additionally, they may choose to shop in Portland to take advantage of a wider variety of shopping choices, and the fact that
Oregon has no
sales tax. However, there's a risk in such avoidance because Washington does have a use tax that's due on all purchases made in Oregon that are then returned to Washington. Vancouver residents "shop at their own risk" when attempting to avoid the sales tax in Oregon although the rule is rarely, if ever, enforced and currently there are no checkpoints when crossing back into Washington from Portland.
Because many Vancouver residents work in
Portland, Oregon there's typically significant rush hour traffic congestion on two bridges that cross the
Columbia River, the
Interstate Bridge and the
Glenn Jackson Bridge. In 2006 there were 278,043 weekday vehicle crossings on the two bridges.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 143,560 people, 56,628 households, and 36,298 families living in the city. The
population density is 3,354.7 people per square mile (1,295.4/km²). There were 60,039 housing units at an average density of 1,403.0/sq mi (541.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.81%
White, 2.50%
African American, 0.97%
Native American, 4.51%
Asian, 0.54%
Pacific Islander, 2.86% from
other races, and 3.80% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 6.29% of the population. 16.4% were of
German, 9.2%
English, 8.4%
Irish and 7.9%
American ancestry according to
Census 2000. 84.7% spoke
English, 4.8%
Spanish, 2.8%
Russian, 1.2%
Ukrainian and 1.0%
Vietnamese as their first language.
There were 56,628 households out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.3% were
married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the city the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.
The
median income for a household in the city was $41,618, and the median income for a family was $47,696. Males had a median income of $37,306 versus $26,940 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $20,192. 9.4% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 16.1% of those under the age of 18 and 8.2% of those 65 and older.
Economy
The economy of Vancouver has paralleled that of the region generally. Moving from a
salmon and trade-based indigenous economy by the
Chinook people, the
Hudson's Bay Company pioneered extractive industries such as the
fur trade and
timber. Subsistence agricultural gave way to market and export crops such as
apples,
strawberries and
prunes. Largely bypassed by the railroad in the 1880's, when the Oregon Steam Navigation company would ferry trains across the river downstream from
St. Helens, Oregon to
Kalama, Washington, early downtown development was focused around Washington Street (where ferries arrived), lumber and Vancouver Barracks activities such as a large spruce mill for manufacturing airplanes. A 1908 railroad
swing bridge across the Columbia allowed greater industrial developments such as the Standifer Shipyard during the first world war. With the Interstate Bridge and
Bonneville Dam Vancouver saw an industrial boom in the 1940's, including the
Kaiser shipyard and
Alcoa, as well as a
Boise Cascade paper mill, just west of the Interstate Bridge.
As the
old growth forests were depleted and heavy industry left the United States, Vancouver's economy has largely changed to high tech and service industry jobs, with many residents commuting to
Portland, Oregon. As of 2007, the largest employers in Clark County are government agencies (including school districts) and
Kroger corporation's
Fred Meyer grocery stores. Rounding out the list are "high tech" manufacturers such as
Hewlett-Packard,
WaferTech, SEH America and labor subcontractors such as Volt Services Group. Vancouver also contains the corporate headquarters for
Nautilus, Inc. and The Holland (parent company of the
Burgerville, USA restaurant chain).
Downtown is home to a variety of independently-owned
small businesses, while outer areas are dominated by
clone town strip malls and
franchise stores.
Vancouver is also increasingly popular with
retirees, partially because of its proximity to Portland and Washington's lack of a state
income tax.
Education
Public schools
Vancouver has two school districts:
The
Vancouver School District
covers most of west Vancouver and has six high schools:
Hudson's Bay High School,
Columbia River High School,
Fort Vancouver High School, Lewis and Clark High School,
Skyview High School, and the
Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (grades 6-12). It also has six middle schools: Alki Middle School, Discovery Middle School,
Gaiser Middle School,
Jason Lee Middle School,
Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and McLoughlin Middle School.
The
Evergreen School District covers most of east Vancouver and has four high schools:
Evergreen High School,
Mountain View High School, Heritage High School, and Union High School.
Vancouver is also home to the
Washington School for the Deaf and
Washington State School for the Blind.
Private schools
Cascadia Montessori School - Montessori school offering 1st through 8th grade
Clark County Christian School - Pre-School through 12th grade
Columbia Adventist Academy - 9th through 12th grade
Columbia Ridge Baptist Academy- 1st through 12th grade
Cornerstone Christian School - NS through 8th grade
Firm Foundation Christian School - Pre-K through 9th grade
The Gardner School - Pre-K through 8th Grade
Kings Way Christian School - Pre-School through 11th grade
Our Lady of Lourdes - Private Catholic school offering kindergarten through 8th grade
Vancouver Christian High School - Private Christian High School 9th through 12th grade
Vancouver Community Christian - Kindergarten through 12th grade
St. Joseph Catholic Grade School - Kindergarten through 8th grade
Colleges and universities
Clark College (two year)
Washington State University, Vancouver
Architecture and Notable Buildings
Mother Joseph was one of the first architects in the region, and because of its relatively long history, Vancouver contains a variety of buildings. Homes vary from Victorians and craftsman bungalows downtown, to small wartime tract housing and ranch-styles mid-town, with rural styles and "McMansions" in the outer ring. In addition to the reconstructed Fort Vancouver at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, the city was named one of the National Register of Historic Places' "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" for 2003.
Other notable buildings in Vancouver include:
The Covington House at 4201 Main Street, a log cabin and boarding school built in approximately 1848
Officers Row, including The Grant House (first house on the Columbia Barracks) and the Queen Anne-style 1866 Marshall House
Mother Joseph's Providence Academy, constructed in 1874, where Evergreen Boulevard crosses Interstate 5
Saint James Church (originally part of the Quebec diocese), saw its first Roman Catholic mass celebrated August 16, 1885
The Carnegie Library at Sixteenth and Main, which opened on New Year's Eve, 1909, to showcase its unusual electric lights
The 1914 Chicago-style U.S. National Bank (now the Heritage Building) at Fifth and Main
The 1916 U.S. Post Office at 1211 Daniels Street
The vertical-lift Interstate Bridge, which opened on Valentine's Day, 1917, Oregon's 58th anniversary
The 1935 art deco telephone exchange building at Eleventh and Washington
The 1941 Clark County courthouse, designed by prolific local architect Day Hillborn
Smith Tower, a round downtown apartment building for the elderly, built in 1965
Many of these buildings have been re-purposed. The 1867 Slocum House, an Italianate villa style residence originally built one block south of its current location in Esther Short Park. It was moved to its present location at Esther Short Park in 1966 and now houses a community theatre company. The Carnegie Library was expanded in the 1940's, becoming the Clark County historical museum after a new library was built in 1963.(External Link) Other buildings have been torn down for urban renewal or renovated to house professional offices such as lawyers and accountants.
Public Libraries
Fort Vancouver Regional Library District
Annual events
Each Fourth of July, Vancouver hosts a fireworks display on the grounds of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site that draws many people to the city. The display, which typically runs for 45 minutes, is the largest west of the Mississippi River.
Late August features the Vancouver Wine and Jazz Festival in Esther Short Park, the largest jazz festival in SW Washington.
Each September sees St. Joseph Catholic School host the Vancouver Sausage Fest, drawing attendance upwards of 100,000 over three days.
Arts groups
The Vancouver Area Theatre Alliance incorporating: The Old Slocum House Theatre Company, Magenta Theatre, Vancouver OnStage The New Blue Parrot and Clark College's theatre department.
Vancouver Community Band (External Link)
The Felida Players Group - founded in 2006 by Will and Molly Sloan.
Junior Symphony of Vancouver
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra - a regional orchestra
Arts Equity Inc. at The Main Street Theatre - Vancouver's first professional theater
Bravo! Vancouver - a monthly orchestral/chorale concert series -
Local media
The Columbian
The local Comcast franchise has various public-access television channels, including FVTV, and CVTV(External Link)
The Oregonian (based in Portland, Oregon; this paper also covers some southwest Washington news)
The Vancouver Business Journal covers local business news(External Link)
The Vancouver Voice is southwest Washington's only alternative periodical
Nearby cities
Portland, Oregon
Battle Ground, Washington
Camas, Washington
Washougal, Washington
Ridgefield, Washington
Transportation
Vancouver has two interstate freeways, I-5 and I-205, both of which run North–South, into Portland, Oregon. It also has two heavily travelled state highways within the city limits. SR 14 begins at I-5 in downtown Vancouver and makes its way east. It is a freeway all the way until Camas. SR 500 begins from I-5 at 39th Street in north Vancouver, travels east connecting with I-205, and continues east into the suburb of Orchards where the freeway terminates at Fourth Plain Road, and meets with the south end of north-southbound 117th Ave.,SR 503. A third state highway, SR 501, starts at I-5 and heads west through downtown and continues along a path that runs between the Columbia River and Vancouver Lake.
The Port of Vancouver operates a port on the Columbia River, which separates Oregon to the south and Washington to the north. It handles over 400 ocean-going vessels annually, as well as a number of barges which ply the river and its tributaries as far as Lewiston, Idaho.
The area's mass transit system is C-TRAN, the Clark County Public Transportation Benefit Area Authority, which operates 135 buses, vanpools, and paratransit vehicles. There are also a number of express routes into Portland's downtown.
In 1994, Clark County voters defeated a ballot measure to extend Portland's MAX Light Rail system north into Vancouver (External Link). Portland extended the MAX line in 2004 as far north as the Multnomah County Expo Center in north Portland, approximately south of downtown Vancouver.
Vancouver has always been well served by rail; current freight railroads operating in Vancouver include the BNSF, Union Pacific Railroad, and the local shortline Lewis and Clark Railway.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Vancouver. The Amtrak station is in west Vancouver. Amtrak train 11, the southbound Coast Starlight, is scheduled to depart Vancouver at 1:08pm with service to Portland, Oregon, Sacramento, California, Emeryville, California (with bus connection to San Francisco), and Los Angeles. Amtrak train 14, the northbound Coast Starlight, is scheduled to depart Vancouver at 4:36pm daily with service to Kelso-Longview, Centralia, Olympia-Lacey, Tacoma and Seattle. Amtrak train 27, the westbound Empire Builder, is scheduled to depart Vancouver at 9:18am daily with service to Portland. Amtrak train 28, the eastbound Empire Builder, is scheduled to depart Vancouver at 5:07pm daily with service to Spokane, Washington, Grand Forks, North Dakota, St Paul-Minneapolis, and Chicago. Amtrak Cascades trains, operating as far north as Vancouver, British Columbia and as far south as Eugene, Oregon, serve Vancouver several times daily in both directions.
Pearson Field Airport, located near downtown Vancouver, is the main airport serving the city. The airport is intended primarily for general aviation without any commercial air service. The nearest commercial airport is Portland International Airport (PDX).
In 2008, Vancouver passed a citywide law requiring anyone on a wheeled device such as bicycle, skateboard, scooter or skates to wear a helmet while on any sidewalk, street, trail or other public property. Many local cyclists opposed the law as a misuse of city funds and police efforts, as well as encroachment on personal freedoms. Despite some reservations from the public, the Vancouver City Council passed the measure 5-1.
Sister cities
Vancouver has two sister cities:
Joyo, Japan
Arequipa, Peru
Source:Further Information
Get more info on 'Vancouver Washington'.
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