Plenty of neighborhoods with views in Vancouver

Vancouver has a number of area with sharp relief over the valley. These neighborhoods offer anywhere from 50-300 feet of rise over the Valley floor and that can provide nice views without dealing with extra snow and ice in the winter. The best views in the city are in a handful of neighborhoods from urban high rises to middle class suburbia, and extremely expensive. For this article I am excluding the more rural neighborhoods in the Cascade Foothills. Those are not really 'in town.' They do offer high elevation opportunities however in Vancouver, Camas, Washougal, and Battle Ground. But today I'm sticking with the Urban Growth Boundary for the City of Vancouver. I have a map showing the areas discussed in this article below.

Greater Downtown (Waterfront, Downtown, Uptown):

Downtown Vancouver and the Waterfront offer mid-rise and high-rise apartments and condos that offer spectacular views in nearly every direction depending on the location inside the building. Generally the best views from greater Downtown are South (Columbia River & Portland, East (Cascade Mountains, Mt Hood, Columbia River), and West (Coastal Mountains, West Hills, sunsets). Uptown, Hough, Arnada, Carter Park, Lincoln, and Shumway offer mostly peek-a-boo views to the south unless you are in a taller apartment building of which there are fewer in those areas. The very best views are in Viewpoint Condos floors 8-11, Smith Tower apartments floors 8-15, Kirkland Tower floors 2-12, Riverwest, Rediviva, The Columbia, all apartments on the waterfront, all with good views from some units on any floor.

Northwest Vancouver (NW Vancouver, Lakeshore, Felida, Salmon Creek):

Most of this area is a slim section of land along a steep bluff that runs all the way from Uptown to the tip of Felida. This skinny view zone is about 7 miles long and features mostly southwest views. In Lake Shore the vertical relief is a respectable 150-175 feet offering unobstructed views across Vancouver Lake, the Columbia off to the Coast Mountains. A wide range of neighborhoods with modern homes, modest homes, newer luxury homes, and some condos and apartments. The Salmon Creek portion of this view zone is a pair of 3-4 mile skinny zones overlooking the Salmon Creek Greenway. The vertical relief is fairly short at around 75-100 feet. Homes are perched on both the Felida side and the Salmon Creek side with the former offering a northern view and the latter a southern view. 

Greater Heights Area (Harney Heights, The Heights, Father Blanchard, Ellsworth):

The Heights is a large flat plain at the top of a long series of bluffs both to the north and south. Harney Heights is the value proposition for views. Only a select number of homes even have a view that isn't peek-a-boo. But to the north there are several small house built in the 40s to house shipyard workers that still can be found for a relative bargain. The Northside bluff has a short vertical relief of about 50-100 feet but it's enough to get above the neighborhood below and offer nice views of Mount St Helens and the Cascades. On the southern bluff the vertical relief is some of the best in the area with nearly 300 feet in some places. These views tend to look south across the Columbia River offering views of the local hills as well as city lights including Vancouver and Portland. Aviation buffs may enjoy watching the frequent aircraft land across the river at PDX. The relief is quite steep in this area.

Columbia Shores and Evergreen Highway :

Columbia Shores is a condo lovers dream with three condominium projects ranging in price from moderate to ultra expensive. The area has excellent highway access and it's own mix of shops and restaurants including local favorites Beaches and McMenamins on the Columbia. This neighborhood is right on the water so units up front facing the rive generally are the only ones with a view. The Village at Columbia shores has a tallish mid-rise tower that the top two floors see across the river. The Meriwether is perched right on the river and every unit faces the river. These are 7 figure units. Most views from this area are southerly.

Further east is the Evergreen Highway area named for the old evergreen highway that serves as the main arterial for the area all the way to Camas. With the exception of Shorewood Condominiums that offer multiple mid rise towers overlooking the river, most of this area is single family homes and resort style condos. Tidewater Cove features that resort style living right on the river with tennis, swimming, hiking, restaurant, and private yacht harbor. Most of the homes that line up along the shores of the Columbia are extremely large and expensive. Moving up the slope can actually reduce the cost due to the presence of more 'normal' sized homes some are older. But most of this area lies well above out local median price of $500,000. This zone offers mostly south and southwest views, but a few streets bend toward the south east offering some Mount Hood views as well as the river.

East Vancouver (Fishers Landing, Cascade Park, Columbia Palisades, Greater Orchards):

Cascade Park does not have the steep relief seen in the Heights to the west. The steep relief is below in the previously discussed Evergreen Highway area. So finding a house with a view here requires a little luck as some houses are not high enough above the neighbor to get a clean view. But there are some. cascade Park is a 40 year old neighborhood that has held up well and features spacious homes on classic oversized lots often more than 10,000 SF. Cascade Park does have a senior community situated around a well kept 9 hole golf course. 

Fishers Landing has some souther views from area near the SR 14 Freeway and some overlooking the Columbia Tech Center which is built at the bottom of former gravel mines. that created a steep relief bluff to offer views to the north that can include Mount St. Helens. 

The newly developed Columbia Palisades area is right on the border with Camas and offers a range of housing from high density urban apartments and condos to single family homes perched on a very steep bluff at nearly 400 feet of elevation. Considering the Columbia River lies at just 25 feet above sea level this gives these homes a high up feel without having to deal with mountain roads. Multiple mid-rise projects are proposed for the mid to high density area including a two tower 6 and 7 floor building underway now.

In greater Orchards you will find a long skinny section of housing that is built up along the souther edge of the Burnt Bridge Creek greenway. These are modest homes price at or near the local median and due to the wide greenway the homes often have nice views of the foothills and even Mount St. Helens. The relief is very short and not real steep. This area has some development right on the edge of the urban growth boundary allowing for some homes to have views despite having no bluff or hill to perch on.

Mount Vista: 

This is a smaller area but it is located on the highest hill in Vancouver's Urban Growth Boundary. Mount Vista can offer views in nearly any direction due to its status as a stand alone hill. The top of the hill sits at roughly 500 feet and thus is free from the high elevation snow issues found in the Cascade Foothills neighborhoods to the east. You won't find many, if any, Columbia River Views here but you will find some of the best multi peak Cascade views anywhere in town. To the east there are some homes that offer the full five peak experience on super clear days with the usual Mount St Helens 8,363', Mount Adams 12,281', Mount Hood 11,239', and the super clear day only Mount Rainer 14,411' and Mount Jefferson 10,497'. 

The map below features several dark gray areas that have lots of view homes. The areas with significant relief have the elevation range and the base elevation in the "valley". The skinny posters show the general direction of views in these areas.