Need info for Lakeside-North Bend-Coos Bay (Portland, Bandon: apartment, lease, houses)

[LisaHannon]

Been reading the forums for a few months... my husband and I have signed a one-year lease on a house near Lakeside. He and I and our 17-year-old son will move in on June 1, 2011. I have a job with a major networking equipment company as a consultant, completely online, working from home, so for us, for now, Oregon's rather staggering unemployment rate is not an issue in the move.

We understand the weather... my husband was born and raised in Southern Alaska, and I spent six years all told in England, so we both understand and won't have too much of an issue with month upon month of clouds and rain. Plus, we're coming out of West Texas at the moment, where you can't park your car in the "grass" beside the road without starting a wildfire, and where most of the plant life is at least vaguely homicidal. Not a drop of rain in more than nine months now... As I write this, in early May, it is 102 degrees outside. Rain's looking pretty good at the moment!

Said that to say this: need someplace to start with the things we need. Any input welcome, both recommendations and negative feedback, if that's what you got... :

Must have: Internet Service Provider - preferably high-speed Internet, but have been working off DSL for a year, no major issues.

Must have: Garbage service - or is it worth it to haul our own? Electric is included in the rent, but garbage service we must pay for separately. Which is most reasonable?

Must have: Landline phone - long explanation, but landline works best when you're in virtual meetings. Best provider?

Nice to Have: Dish Network or DirecTV Satellite provider/installer, or Cable company. Haven't dealt with cable in a long time, and vaguely addicted to the DVR thing, especially since I keep odd hours, as I work with teams in Singapore, Hong Kong, India and Australia. Who is the best/most reasonable provider in the area? Are bundled cable/Internet packages worth it in this area?

Question regarding North Bend High School... My son will be starting his senior year there. What do you think of it? It's rated nearly twice as high in terms of City Data's standards as the schools where we're moving from, so we have some hope that this will be a good move for him.

Any other information that will make the transition easier is gratefully accepted. Can't wait to get there and start exploring...

[hamellr]

ISP, Landline, Garbage, etc, all only matter depending on how far out of town you actually live. Low population densities means it's not worth running to individual houses from a central location.

I hope you've seen the house in Lakeside or you may be in for a bit of surprise.

[Steve Pickering]

Have you actually been to Lakeside?

[hamellr]

If you're asking me, yes. I have family who live in "downtown."

I've spent some time up around (and on) the Coleman arm of the Lake - where we couldn't get Internet at all. The phone company offered DSL, but the line quality was so bad that it was pretty much useless, even talking on it you'd get a bad echo. Garbage service was stopped because the company charged 50% more to go out so "far." I will grant that has been five, six years ago, but I seriously doubt that things have changed that much.

There are some nice houses out there, don't get me wrong. But there are a lot of run down places too. If someone is moving into the area sight unseen, they should be wary of what they're going to find. This is one place where I feel that outside looks of a house have nothing to do with how it's going to be inside. It seems every house I've been in in the area has a leaking roof and/or windows and mold growing on walls and ceilings.

Overall the town itself is pretty far down my list of places to live. If I was living in the area, I'd prefer to be down towards Bandon more, maybe up the road to the North even. For the record, I LOVE small towns. Just something about the vibe of that specific town has always turned me off.

[juanicano]

I am relatively new to the area and it was somewhat of a surprise to me that the water/garbage/sewer were not through one company. Coming from California it was all billed by the city. Here (Coos Bay) our garbage company is Les Sanitation. I get my internet, land line, and cable through Charter. Another company that offers internet and phone service is Frontier. Best of luck on your move .

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by juanicano

Here (Coos Bay) our garbage company is Les Sanitation..

That's hilarious (though somehow it fits)! Sounds like something you'd hear on A Prairie Home Companion.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by hamellr

If you're asking me, yes. I have family who live in "downtown."

No, the question was for Lisa.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by juanicano

I am relatively new to the area and it was somewhat of a surprise to me that the water/garbage/sewer were not through one company. Coming from California it was all billed by the city. Here (Coos Bay) our garbage company is Les Sanitation. I get my internet, land line, and cable through Charter. Another company that offers internet and phone service is Frontier. Best of luck on your move .

There is some law in Oregon that keeps the cities from "engaging in utility services." This has been a huge problem with cities like Portland who wanted to roll out city wide Internet services. Yet Sewer/Water is frequently billed through the city.

This is one of those laws that needs to be changed.

[LisaHannon]

Thanks, everyone, for the replies... and no, haven't been to Lakeside, but my husband lived in the area some while back. The water/sewer/electric is part of the rent, but we have to arrange for garbage pickup (per the landlord). We're living about a mile and a half out of town, and the other person living in an apartment on the same acre of property has high-speed Internet, so hopefully, it will not be an issue.

And yes, it's sight unseen on the house, and I know that seems nuts, but we're coming out of West Texas, and it wasn't possible for us to go there first and find something... and sometimes, life demands that, in order to change your situation, you take a leap. We're leaping this coming Friday... and be in Lakeside by June 1. o.O

And, as far as the small-town thing goes, both of us grew up in different small towns. All of them are different... and much depends on what you what from them.

[Hawk J]

Howdy Lisa

I live in the mountains, but i have www.frontier.com for landline phone & high speed internet. I like it much better then the dialup i had for 3 lustrum.

For tv i have www.directv.com since 1995. You can go to their website, put in the zipcode. They will tell you if there is service to that area.

I burn whatever i can in a burn barrel, then go to landfill when needed.

There should be good bass fishin at 10mile lakes, & others along the coast. Good, friendly folks at www.oregonfishingforum.com

Best of Luck in your choices.

Drive Safely...