KATU
June 2, 2023
VANCOUVER, Wash. — There aren't any facts to back this up, but the talk along Vancouver's waterfront is that people are picking it over downtown Portland when it comes to dining out.
Chad and Lindsey McKinney and their kids say they'll go to Salt & Straw occasionally but really prefer staying on the north side of the river.
"We mentioned to our son, would you like to go to the waterfront, and he was like, yeah! Can we walk along the waterfront, can we do this, can we do that, can we go to this restaurant? So, they know what it is, and they like it as well," said Lindsey.
But as much as they like visiting, they think it might be too spendy to live on the waterfront.
"It’s surprising how many apartments have gone up, but they look quite nice. I’m in construction, and I found out how much those apartments are going for, and you might as well be in Portland. Some of them are renting studio apartments for five grand a month. You pay for the view, I guess. It is pretty," said Chad.
Jim and Celeste Faust say the choice is easy if they had to decide between spending the night in Portland or on the Vancouver waterfront.
"Easily here, hands down, yeah. A number of years ago that wasn’t the case. We were always over there. Always over there. But now Vancouver has everything we need. It’s a city within a city here, on the waterfront," said Jim.
But can there be too much of a good thing?
Waterfront reservations can be hard to get sometimes. So can finding a parking spot.
But the Fausts are willing to deal with that and see the waterfront as a place that will just keep growing.
"I think Portland, with everything going on there, they’re saying let’s go to Vancouver for dinner, and it’s 50-50. Some people are saying it's not gonna make it, and we’re saying it’s gonna make it. We’ve got the population. We can do it. But we’ll see," said Celeste.
