Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the
Columbia River
The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
in the U.S. state of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, located in
Clark County. Incorporated in 1857, Vancouver has a population of 190,915 as of the
2020 census,
making it the fourth-largest city in Washington state. Vancouver is the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...
of
Clark County and forms part of the
Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area
The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington centered on the principal city of Portland, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsbo ...
, the 25th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Originally established in 1825 around
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of ...
, a
fur-trading outpost, the city is located on the Washington–Oregon border along the
Columbia River
The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
, directly north of
Portland, and is considered a
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...
of the city along with its surrounding areas.
History
The Vancouver area was inhabited by several Native American tribes, most recently the
Chinook and
Klickitat nations, with permanent settlements of
timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...
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 known European contact was made by
William Robert Broughton in 1792, with approximately half of the indigenous population killed by
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
before the
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...
arrived in the area in 1806. Within another fifty years, other diseases such as
measles
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
,
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...
and
influenza
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...
had reduced the
Chinookan population from an estimated 80,000 "to a few dozen refugees, landless, slaveless and swindled out of a treaty".
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, wit ...
wrote that the Vancouver area was "the only desired situation for settlement west of the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
." The first permanent European settlement did not occur until 1824, when Fort Vancouver was established as a fur trading post of the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
. From that time on, the area was settled by both the US and Britain under a "joint occupation" agreement. Joint occupation led to the
Oregon boundary dispute and ended on June 15, 1846, with the signing of the
Oregon Treaty
The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to ...
, which gave the United States full control of the area. Before 1845, American Henry Williamson laid out a large claim west of the Hudson's Bay Company (including part of the present-day Port of Vancouver), called Vancouver City and properly registered his claim at the U.S. courthouse in Oregon City, before leaving for California. In 1848, Williamson had it surveyed and platted by
Peter Crawford. In 1850, Amos Short traced over the claim of Williamson and named the town Columbia City. It changed to Vancouver in 1855. The City of Vancouver was incorporated on January 23, 1857.
Based on an act in the 1859–60 legislature, Vancouver was briefly the capital of
Washington Territory, before capital status was returned to
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region.
Europea ...
by a 2–1 ruling of the territory's supreme court, in accordance with
Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was an American military officer and politician who served as governor of the Territory of Washington from 1853 to 1857, and later as its delegate to the United States House of Represen ...
' preference and concern that proximity to the border with Oregon might give some of the state's influence away to Oregon.
During 1852–54, future United States President
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...
, then a captain in the U.S. Army, was
quartermaster at what was then known as Columbia Barracks. Soon after leaving Vancouver, Grant resigned from the army and did not serve again until the outbreak of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
in 1861. Other notable generals to have served in Vancouver include
George B. McClellan,
Philip Sheridan
General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close a ...
,
Oliver O. Howard
Oliver Otis Howard (November 8, 1830 – October 26, 1909) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the Civil War. As a brigade commander in the Army of the Potomac, Howard lost his right arm while leading his men against ...
and 1953 Nobel Peace Prize recipient
George C. 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
Pearson Field also once known as Pearson Airpark, is a city-owned municipal airport located one mile (2 km) southeast of the central business district of Vancouver, a city in Clark County, Washington, United States.
Pearson Field is t ...
) 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
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...
, over the North Pole. The first of these flights was performed by
Valery Chkalov in 1937 on a
Tupolev ANT-25
The Tupolev ANT-25 was a Soviet long-range experimental aircraft which was also tried as a bomber. First constructed in 1933, it was used by the Soviet Union for a number of record-breaking flights.
Development
The ANT-25 was designed as the r ...
RD airplane. Chkalov was originally scheduled to land at an airstrip on
Swan Island in nearby
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
, but was redirected at the last minute to Vancouver's Pearson Airfield. In June 1975, a monument was dedicated commemorating the event near State Highway 14, then moved to the north side of Pearson Field in 1987. Chkalov Drive, in east Vancouver, was named in his honor.
The neighborhood of Sifton was the terminus of an early electric
trolley operated by the Northcoast Power Company that also served nearby
Orchards from 1910 until 1926. The trolleys made ten stops and ran once per hour, charging 15 cents each way. A mural in the heart of Orchards depicts the trolley and the rural character of the area at the time it was operating. The community was named after Doctor Sifton, a promoter of the trolley service.
According to the archives of the Vancouver ''
Columbian'' newspaper, the Orchards-Sifton route ran along Vancouver's Main Street to 26th street (renamed Fourth Plain Blvd), then from 26th to K Street and thence north to 33rd street. From there, it ran on 33rd over Burnt Bridge Creek and past the city limits. At that point the trolley became more like a regular train as it followed a cut through the wilderness. Few houses were seen between Vancouver and Orchards. The public's growing preference for motor cars in the 1920s heralded the end of the trolley.
Separated from Oregon until 1917, when the new
Interstate Bridge
The Interstate Bridge (also Columbia River Interstate Bridge, I-5 Bridge, Portland-Vancouver Interstate Bridge, Vancouver-Portland Bridge) is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, Parker through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 ...
began to replace ferries, Vancouver had three shipyards just downstream which produced ships for
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
brought an enormous economic boom. An
Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primar ...
aluminum plant opened on September 2, 1940, using inexpensive power from the nearby
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...
hydropower turbines at
Bonneville Dam. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor,
Henry Kaiser opened a
shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...
next to the U.S. Army base, 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
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. M ...
,
landing ship tanks, and
escort carriers
The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...
. 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
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
flood of 1948.
Vancouver has recently experienced conflicts with other Clark County communities because of rapid growth in the area. The city's first annexation more than doubled its size in 1909, with the largest annexation of 1997 adding and 58,171 residents. As a result of urban growth and the 1997 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 most of the more historical parts of the city, as well as recent high-density mixed-use development. East Vancouver includes the communities of Cascade Park East and West, which had populations of 6,996 and 6,956 in 1990, before annexation.
More than one-third of the Vancouver urban area's population lives in unincorporated urban areas north of the city limits, including the communities of
Hazel Dell,
Felida,
Orchards and
Salmon Creek. If county leaders had approved another major annexation plan in 2006, Vancouver would have passed
Tacoma and
Spokane to become the state's second-largest city.
Etymology
Vancouver shares its name with the larger city of
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
in southern
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...
, Canada, approximately to the north. Both cities were named after British sea captain
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what are ...
, but the US city is older. Vancouver, British Columbia, was incorporated 29 years after the incorporation of Vancouver, Washington, and more than 60 years after the name Vancouver was first used in reference to the historic
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of ...
trading post on the Columbia River. City officials have periodically suggested changing the U.S. city's name to Fort Vancouver to reduce confusion with its larger and better-known northern neighbor. Many
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
residents distinguish between the two cities by referring to the Canadian city as "Vancouver, B.C." and the United States city as "Vancouver, Washington," or "Vancouver, USA."
Local nicknames include "Vantucky" (though this is often used as a derogatory term)
and "The 'Couv(e)".
Geography
Vancouver is located just north of the
Columbia River
The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
and the
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
border, just west of where the
Columbia River Gorge bisects the volcanic
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...
and just east of where the
Willamette River
The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...
enters the Columbia. The city of Vancouver is in the Western Lowlands region of Washington. When clouds do not blanket the Puget–Willamette trough formed by the Cascade and
Coast Range,
Mount Hood
Mount Hood is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific coast and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about east-southeast of Portl ...
,
Mount St. Helens,
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a ...
,
Mount Jefferson and
Mount Adams are all visible from Vancouver.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Climate
Vancouver lies just north of Portland, Oregon, with which it shares a similar climate. Both are classified as warm-summer Mediterranean (Csb) on the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
, with certain key exceptions. High pressures east of the
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...
create something of a
venturi effect, leading to cold east winds down the Columbia River Gorge. Unsheltered by the
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...
, Vancouver has historically seen colder temperatures, including "silver thaw" storms where freezing rain cakes limbs and power lines. Such storms can paralyze Vancouver. This occasionally freezes the river, and in 1916 cut electric power in the city for almost two weeks. Rainfall occurs frequently throughout the fall, winter, and spring, but ceases around the middle of June, with dry and warm weather lasting through September. Average annual precipitation is . Heavy snowfalls are infrequent and snow often falls and doesn't stick, with major snowstorms only occurring every 2–4 years. 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 occurring in June 1894 and May 1948. The
1948 Columbia River 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 5, 1972, tornado which rated F3 on the
Fujita scale, striking a local school. An EF1 tornado struck on January 10, 2008, just after noon, causing moderate damage along a path from
Vancouver Lake to the unincorporated Hazel Dell area.
Because many Vancouver residents work in Portland, there is typically significant rush-hour traffic congestion on two bridges that cross the Columbia River – the
Interstate Bridge
The Interstate Bridge (also Columbia River Interstate Bridge, I-5 Bridge, Portland-Vancouver Interstate Bridge, Vancouver-Portland Bridge) is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, Parker through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 ...
and the
Glenn Jackson Bridge. In 2017 there were 297,932 weekday vehicle crossings on the two bridges.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
of 2010, there were 161,791 people, 65,691 households, and 40,246 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 70,005 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 80.9%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 2.9%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 1.0%
Native American, 5.0%
Asian, 1.0%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 4.3% from
other races, and 4.8% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or
Latino people of any race were 10.4% of the population.
There were 65,691 households, of which 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.6% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.7% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.02.
The median age in the city was 35.9 years. 24% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.9% were from 25 to 44; 25.3% were from 45 to 64; and 12.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.8% male and 51.2% female.
2000 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
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/km
2). There were 60,039 housing units at an average density of 1,403.0 per square mile (541.7/km
2). According to the 2010 US Census, The racial makeup of the city was 76.2%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 2.9%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 1.0%
Native American, 5.0%
Asian, 1.0%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, and 4.80% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or
Latino people of any race were 10.4% of the population.
16.4% were of German, 9.2% English, 8.4% Irish and 7.9% American ancestry. 89.2% spoke English, 5.1% Spanish, 3.2% Russian, 1.4%
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
and 1.1%
Vietnamese as their first language. A large increase in persons with Russian or Ukrainian as their primary language has occurred.
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
In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic f ...
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 Vancouver economy is characterized by
border economics with neighboring Portland, Oregon. The state of Washington levies no individual or corporate income taxes and levies a property tax below the national average and a sales tax above the national median.
The State of Oregon has even lower property taxes and no sales tax but one of the highest state income taxes.
As a result, many Vancouver residents prefer to shop in neighboring Portland where they do not pay sales taxes,
then live and work in Vancouver where they do not pay state income tax (though Washington residents who work in Oregon must pay Oregon income tax.) For the same reasons, the city is popular with retirees. Conversely, the city is less favored by students and young adults. In 2003, 70% of workers in Vancouver worked in Clark County. There is a risk in sales tax avoidance because Washington has a use tax 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 Washington, although the rule is rarely, if ever, enforced except for purchases requiring registration, such as motor vehicles.
The taxation and demographics of the area depresses the retail sector of Vancouver's economy. Oregon has stricter development laws to protect the timber industry; therefore, Vancouver tends to attract a higher proportion of the region's sprawling development. The voting base also led to rejection of extension of Portland's light-rail system into the city for several years. In 2013, Washington transitioned away from being a
control state
Alcoholic beverage control states, generally called control states, less often ABC states, are 17 states in the United States that, as of 2016, have state monopoly over the wholesaling or retailing of some or all categories of alcoholic bevera ...
.
The economic history of Vancouver reflects the region. Moving from a salmon- and trade-based indigenous economy by the
Chinook people, the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
pioneered extractive industries such as the
fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
and timber. Subsistence agricultural gave way to market and export crops such as apples, strawberries and prunes. Largely bypassed by the railroad in the 1880s, when the Oregon Steam Navigation company would ferry trains across the river downstream from
St. Helens, Oregon to
Kalama, Washington
Kalama (kaw-law-maw) is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,959 as of the 2020 census.
Etymology
James W. Phillips' ''Washington State P ...
, 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 1940s, including the
Kaiser shipyard and
Alcoa
Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primar ...
, as well as a
Boise Cascade paper mill, just west of the Interstate Bridge.
As the
old-growth forest
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...
s were depleted and heavy industry left the United States, Vancouver's economy largely changed to high tech and service industry jobs, with many residents commuting to Portland. Vancouver contains the corporate headquarters for
Nautilus, Inc.
Nautilus, Inc., located in Vancouver, Washington, United States, is the American worldwide marketer, developer, and manufacturer of fitness equipment brands Bowflex, Modern Movement, Nautilus, Schwinn Fitness, and Universal. The products are s ...
,
ZoomInfo,
Papa Murphy's Pizza and The Holland (parent company of the
Burgerville
Burgerville (originally Burgerville USA) is a privately held American restaurant chain in Oregon and southwest Washington, owned by The Holland Inc. As the chain's name suggests, Burgerville's sandwich menu consists mostly of hamburgers. As of ...
restaurant chain).
The
Port of Vancouver USA operates a port on the Columbia River, which separates
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
to the south and
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
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
Lewiston is a city and the county seat of Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States, in the state's north central region. It is the second-largest city in the northern Idaho region, behind Coeur d'Alene, and ninth-largest in the state. Lewiston is ...
.
The Vancouver Energy project was a proposed crude oil transport hub in the Port of Vancouver USA. It was estimated to produce the equivalent of $1.6 billion in employment income during the terminal's construction and for its first 15 years of operation.
Vancouver Energy ended its bid to build the hub in February 2018 following Governor Jay Inslee's rejection of the project.
Largest employers
According to the City's 2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,
the largest employers in the city are:
Downtown revitalization
In 1997, the city of Vancouver decided to dedicate the next 15–20 years to redeveloping and revitalizing the downtown core, west of I-5 and south of Evergreen Boulevard. The first projects started in the early 2000s with the construction of many tall
condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
structures around
Esther Short Park
Esther Short Park is a public park and town square located in downtown Vancouver, Washington. Established in 1853, it is the oldest public park in the state of Washington. and one of the oldest public parks in the West.
It is located in the city' ...
. The most lauded outside investment was the construction of a
Hilton hotel directly across from the park.
The Downtown redevelopment of Vancouver continued after a slowdown during the 2009–2012 recession. Numerous projects began to rise up around the city core and as of mid-2020 more than three dozen projects with mid-rise or high-rise structures were completed, under construction, or proposed.
In 2016 the first ground was broken for the $1.5 billion, 21-block redevelopment of Vancouver's waterfront at the former site of Boise Cascade Paper Mill. The site had been inaccessible to the public for more than 100 years. The project was planned for 3,300 residential units, and roughly 1 million square feet of office and retail space. Around 15,000 people were in attendance for the official grand opening, in 2018, of the project and associated public space including Grant Street Pier, a cable-stayed viewing deck that extends out over the Columbia River.
The Redevelopment of Terminal One master plan was approved by the city council in 2017. This $500 million project will include multiple phases over several years including a seven-story AC Marriott hotel that began site preparation and construction in late 2019. Future plans in the master plan called for a
mixed-use complex of mid-rise buildings on four blocks and a complete rebuild of the original 100-year Terminal One dock and pier. A public open-air market is also planned.
''
The Columbian'' newspaper finished building a new seven-story building adjacent to the Hilton in 2008. Early in 2010, ''The Columbian'' filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the building defaulted to
Bank of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank ...
. In June 2010, the City of Vancouver agreed to purchase the former downtown Columbian office building for use as a new city hall. The city bought the two-year-old building and for $18.5 million, a fraction of the $41.5 million sale price the owners of The Columbian office building had been asking prior to filing for bankruptcy. In 2011, the city consolidated five separate buildings housing 300 employees into the new building, located at 415 W. 6th St. The move is saving the city approximately $1 million a year in facility lease and maintenance costs.
The Fort Vancouver Regional Library District opened a new library on C Street at Evergreen Boulevard in 2011. Future plans on C Street include a new
Marriott
Marriott may refer to:
People
*Marriott (surname)
Corporations
* Marriott Corporation, founded as Hot Shoppes, Inc. in 1927; split into Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation in 1993
* Marriott International, international hot ...
hotel and roughly 250 new condominiums.
Significant urban scale development since 2015 in the Vancouver Downtown area visually changed the city skyline.
Arts and culture
In the early 2000s, Vancouver began seeing a revitalization of the local arts scene and cultural events. In 2010 there was a movement among local artists to form cooperatives and meet with established local gallery owners for a monthly forum known as "Art Conversations". Many of Vancouver's art galleries are located in downtown Vancouver, and in 2014, the City Council formally designated an "Arts District" in the downtown core.
The
Kiggins Theatre located within the Downtown Vancouver Art District, was built in 1936 by architect Day Hillborn. It was named for J.P. Kiggins, an entrepreneur and politician who cut a swath through town in the early 20th century, serving as Vancouver's mayor for 15 non-consecutive years between 1908 and 1935. It was renovated and reopened in 2011 as an independent film and community event venue.
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra first formed in the late 1970s. Conducted and directed by Dr. Salvadore Brotons, the Symphony regularly performs concerts.
Annual events
Every June since 2006, the Recycled Arts Festival held in Esther Short Park has featured the work of dozens of artists whose creations are made from at least 75% reused or recycled materials, along with live music and food.
Since the mid-1960s, Vancouver hosted a
Fourth of July
Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...
display on the grounds of
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in the states of Washington and Oregon. The National Historic Site consists of two units, one located on the site of Fort Vancouver in modern-day Vancouve ...
that draws many people to the city. The display routinely ran to 45 minutes, attracted up to 60,000 visitors and was broadcast on area television, one of the largest west of the Mississippi River. Due to the death of key organizer "Mister Fireworks" Jim Larson and a
poor economy, the show was not held in 2009.
A shorter, redesigned show debuted in 2010 and brought in approximately 35,000 people.
As of 2019, The Historic Trust (formerly the "Fort Vancouver National Trust"
) continues to organize the fireworks event.
The fireworks were not held in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19.
4 Days of Aloha, also known as the Hawaiian Festival, takes place in late July in Esther Short Park, Clark College, and Fort Vancouver. Started in 2012 by "Aunty" Deva Yamashiro, a hula dancer and self-appointed cultural ambassador for Hawaii, the festival features live music, dance performances, craft workshops, and a celebration of Hawaiian food, arts, and culture.
Late August features the
Vancouver Wine and Jazz Festival in Esther Short Park, which brought 13,500 attendees in 2012 and which is considered the largest jazz festival in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Thou ...
.
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
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...
and craftsman bungalows downtown, to small wartime
tract housing and
ranch-styles mid-town, with rural styles and larger homes in the outer ring. In addition to the reconstructed
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of ...
at the
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in the states of Washington and Oregon. The National Historic Site consists of two units, one located on the site of Fort Vancouver in modern-day Vancouve ...
, the city was named one of the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
' "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" for 2003.
Other notable buildings in Vancouver include:
* The
Covington House at 4201 Main Street, a
log cabin
A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers.
Eur ...
and boarding school built 1846–1848
*
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, dedicated in 1873, where Evergreen Boulevard crosses
Interstate 5
* The
Proto-Cathedral of St. James the Greater (formerly St. James Church) 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; it is now the site of the
Clark County Historical Museum
The Clark County Historical Museum, Vancouver, Washington, is located in a 1909 Carnegie library and is operated by the Clark County Historical Society, established in 1917. It opened at the old Carnegie Library building on May 24, 1964. The ...
* The 1914
Chicago-style U.S. National Bank (now the Heritage Building) at sixth and Main
* The 1916
U.S. Post Office at 1211 Daniels Street
* The
vertical-lift Interstate Bridge
The Interstate Bridge (also Columbia River Interstate Bridge, I-5 Bridge, Portland-Vancouver Interstate Bridge, Vancouver-Portland Bridge) is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, Parker through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 ...
, which opened on February 14, 1917,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
's 58th anniversary
* The 1935
art deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
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
* The Hilton Hotel and Vancouver Convention Center across from
Esther Short Park
Esther Short Park is a public park and town square located in downtown Vancouver, Washington. Established in 1853, it is the oldest public park in the state of Washington. and one of the oldest public parks in the West.
It is located in the city' ...
Many of these buildings have been repurposed. The 1867 Slocum House, an
Italianate
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...
villa-style residence originally built one block south of its current location in
Esther Short Park
Esther Short Park is a public park and town square located in downtown Vancouver, Washington. Established in 1853, it is the oldest public park in the state of Washington. and one of the oldest public parks in the West.
It is located in the city' ...
, was moved to its present location in 1966 and now houses a winery and art gallery.
The Carnegie Library was expanded in the 1940s, becoming the
Clark County Historical Museum
The Clark County Historical Museum, Vancouver, Washington, is located in a 1909 Carnegie library and is operated by the Clark County Historical Society, established in 1917. It opened at the old Carnegie Library building on May 24, 1964. The ...
after a new library was built in 1963. Other buildings have been torn down for urban renewal or renovated to house professional offices for lawyers and accountants.
Education
Public schools
Vancouver has two school districts:
Vancouver Public Schools and
Evergreen School District.
The Vancouver Public Schools cover most of west Vancouver and has seven high schools:
Hudson's Bay High School,
Columbia River High School
Columbia River High School is a public high school in Vancouver, Washington, United States. It is part of the Vancouver Public Schools system and opened in 1962. Columbia River has over 1,200 students. Columbia River is a magnet school in the VSD ...
,
Fort Vancouver High School
Fort Vancouver High School, known as FVHS and Fort Vancouver High School Center for International Studies,https://fort.vansd.org/ is a public high school located in Vancouver, Washington. It is named after Fort Vancouver, an early trading outpost ...
, Lewis and Clark High School,
Skyview High School,
Vancouver School of Arts and Academics
The Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (VSAA) is a public arts magnet school for grades 6 to 12 in Vancouver, Washington, United States. It is part of the Vancouver Public Schools and in addition to traditional academic studies, the school's ...
, and
Vancouver iTech Preparatory (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.
Vancouver Public Schools' elementary schools include
Sarah J. Anderson, Chinook, Eisenhower, Felida, Ben Franklin, Fruit Valley Community Learning Center, Harney, Hazel Dell, Hough, Martin Luther King, Lake Shore, Lincoln, Marshall, Minnehaha, Peter S. Ogden, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sacajawea, Salmon Creek, Truman, Walnut Grove, and Washington.
The Evergreen School District covers most of east Vancouver and has seven high schools:
Evergreen High School,
Mountain View High School, Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School, Heritage High School,
Union High School, Legacy High School, and Cascadia Technical Academy (formerly Clark County Vocational Skills Center).
The district has six middle schools: Cascade, Covington, Frontier, Pacific, Shahala, and Wy'East.
Evergreen School District's 21 elementary schools are: Burton, Burnt Bridge Creek, Columbia Valley, Crestline, Ellsworth, Emerald, Endeavour, Fircrest, Fisher's Landing, Harmony, Hearthwood, Illahee, Image, Marrion, Mill Plain, Orchards, Pioneer, Riverview, Sifton, Silver Star, Sunset, and York.
Vancouver is also home to the
Washington School for the Deaf and
Washington School for the Blind, and (through Evergreen School District) Home Choice Academy, for home-schoolers.
Colleges and universities
*
Clark College
Clark College is a public community college in Vancouver, Washington. With 11,500 students, Clark College is the largest institution of higher education in southwest Washington. Founded in 1933 as a private two-year junior college, Clark Colleg ...
(two-year)
*
Gateway Seminary
Gateway Seminary ("GS") is a Baptist theological institute based in Ontario, California with campus in Fremont, California, Phoenix, Arizona, Vancouver, Washington, and Centennial, Colorado. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. ...
*
Washington State University, Vancouver
Media
Vancouver is located within the Portland media market for print, radio, and television media. It does, however, serve as the hometown for some media, including:
* ''
The Columbian''
* ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...
'' (based in Portland, Oregon; also covers some southwest Washington news)
* ''
The Vancouver Voice
''The Vancouver Voice'' was an alternative newspaper serving Clark County and Southwest Washington in the United States, with a focus on the area's largest city, Vancouver. It ceased publication with volume 5, issue 13 of August 19, 2011.
Histo ...
'' was, at one time, southwest Washington's only alternative periodical, published from 2006 to 2011.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Vancouver has two interstate freeways,
I-5 and
I-205
Interstate 205 may refer to either of two unconnected Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 5
* Interstate 205 (California), a connector in the San Francisco Bay Area
* Interstate 205 (Oregon–Washin ...
, both of which run north–south, across the
Columbia River
The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia ...
into Portland and toward
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...
. It also has two heavily travelled
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
s 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 Boulevard, and meets with the south end of north–south-oriented 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 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.
There have been multiple discussions about extending Portland's
Max Light Rail system into Vancouver. In 1995, Clark County voters rejected a ballot measure that would have funded a light rail extension north into Vancouver. Opposition to paying for light rail was strong at that time, but slowly declined over the following several years, eventually leading Vancouver officials to begin discussing the idea again. Meanwhile,
TriMet reconstituted its planned MAX line to Vancouver as a shorter line running only within Portland, which could potentially be extended across the river and into Clark County at a later date. This extension of the MAX system opened in 2004 as the
Yellow Line, running as far north as the
Portland Expo Center
The Portland Expo Center, officially the Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center, is a convention center located in the Kenton neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States. Opened in the early 1920s as a livestock exhibition and auction facili ...
, approximately south of downtown Vancouver. In 2012, Vancouver voters rejected a sales tax proposal to fund light rail operations in connection with the
Columbia River Crossing
The Columbia River Crossing (CRC) was a joint freeway megaproject from 2005 to 2013 between Oregon and Washington, which proposed to widen and modernize Interstate 5 where it crossed the Columbia River. Central to this was the replacement of th ...
proposal. In 2022,
Interstate Bridge Replacement Program includes a new proposal for a light rail extension into downtown Vancouver.
Vancouver has always been well served by rail; current freight railroads operating in Vancouver include the
BNSF,
Union Pacific, and the local shortline
Lewis and Clark Railway
The Lewis and Clark Railway is a county-owned railroad located in Clark County, Washington. The line is long, beginning at the BNSF interchange at Rye Junction in Vancouver, Washington and stretching northeast, passing through Brush Prairie a ...
.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
, the national passenger rail system, provides service to
Vancouver Station. The long-distance ''
Coast Starlight
The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's format ...
'' and ''
Empire Builder'' serve the city, as well as the regional
Amtrak ''Cascades''.
Pearson Field
Pearson Field also once known as Pearson Airpark, is a city-owned municipal airport located one mile (2 km) southeast of the central business district of Vancouver, a city in Clark County, Washington, United States.
Pearson Field is t ...
, 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 a 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 opposition from the public, the Vancouver City Council passed the measure 5–1 with then Mayor Royce Pollard saying, "...statistics be damned. I support this."
Notable people
Sister cities
Vancouver has one
sister city:
*
Jōyō,
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...
,
Kansai
The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...
, Japan
Vancouver previously had a sister-city relationship with
Arequipa
Arequipa (; Aymara and qu, Ariqipa) is a city and capital of province and the eponymous department of Peru. It is the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and often dubbed the "legal capital of Peru". It is the second most populated city ...
,
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = National seal
, national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...
, between 1961 and 1993, but that relationship ended.
See also
*
List of mayors of Vancouver, Washington
References
External links
*
Vancouver Chamber of Commerce official websiteVancouver USA Regional Tourism Office
{{Authority control
Cities in Washington (state)
Cities in Clark County, Washington
County seats in Washington (state)
Washington (state) populated places on the Columbia River
Portland metropolitan area
Cities in the Portland metropolitan area
Ukrainian communities in the United States
1857 establishments in Washington Territory