hi D.
i see you're not getting much feedback here. try the forums at city-data.com http://www.city-data.com/forum/vancouver-area/index2.html.
we moved to camas a few years ago. we looked all over the west side of camas because we wanted to stay in the school district (we saw 30 houses in one day!) and we wanted to stay close enough to shopping and the airport. we don't like driving so that was important to us.
IMO, just from driving around, i would stay away from the more rundown areas to be found near SR14 and downtown camas (the paper mill does smell occasionally but mostly in downtown). if you are coming east on lake drive, i would stop looking after 36th avenue, tho the neighborhoods on the east side of the lake by the high school can be nice. if you're looking to stay in the camas school district, you can also consider the western part of washougal up on crowne road. for whatever reason, they send the kids there to camas schools.
the weather on and at the south of prune hill can be more extreme as it gets blasted with weather from the gorge. i've heard of people waking up to icicles hanging from their shingles.
as for vancouver, fisher's landing is nice as well as the large block between 164th and 192nd streets. i'd say the farther west you go, the more densely populated it is (judging by the cars parked on the streets) but you'll have more rental opportunities. also i'd say that farther north or south from mill plain will be better.
i'm sure someone will take issue with what i've said but i don't claim to be an expert on the area. these are just my impressions.
sorry i can't recommend our realtor as she is not working due to back problems. she was with nw prudential.
good luck :)
