Raised my family in Hood River, 17 years.
Left back in 2011. Spent the next 10 years traveling to and from HR. Still travel to the area couple times a month.
It's a beautiful place during peak seasons. All of them.
The in between can be kinda gloomy IMHO. Not as much rain as the dark side but when it rains, it rains. Downtown is best avoided during the summer as the wind chasing crowd has one if the highest Karen to sprinter ratios around second only to Bend.
Lots of tech in Hood River and nearby. Not so sure about other work at the moment.
One thing that often gets over looked, sadly is the drug problems there. Cascade locks, HR, Bingen and the dalles have a higher then average rate of drug use. I've seen it first hand destroy many young and old lives.
It's often swept underthe rug as to not tarnish thr image of the town. Just know it's there more then you've likely been told. Watched it go from kids smoking weed to kids shooting heroine under the bridge on the east end of town. As of a month ago, that is still the norm sadly.
It also has a strange population surge. You get wind chasers, mostly Canadian lol, and also large influx of migrant workers coming to work then leaving in the fall. The town's population increases some ridiculous number then falls back to the locals during the winter.
I've lived in downtown all the way up to Parkdale.
Best advise I can give is find a place in thr upper valley. Living up there balances alot of the things that I personally don't like about Hood River. It is one of the most beautiful little Valley in the state. I've seen blues kids overhead and 80s, surrounded on all sides by clouds. Call to town and it's 40 and raining. Also when it's clear you always have one if thr best views of Mt Hood you can find.
Good luck.