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I lived in Klamath Falls for four years, I went to college there. I actually just got back from there, I went to my friends' graduation! I'd forgotten how much I liked the area...it's very pretty. I may end up moving back there in a couple years if my husband decides he wants to transfer to Oregon Tech.
The only real drawbacks about living in K-Falls are the lack of anything fun to do outside of hunting and fishing (I swear the entire town shuts down at 5 pm Friday and doesn't open till 9 am Monday) and the incredibly hateful hardcore religious fundamentalists...I never saw so many cars plastered with judgmental, hellfire-and-brimstone Bible verses and "Jesus Saves" decals until I moved there. The atmosphere is gradually getting better though, there's a natural foods store downtown now.
Note: The incredibly hateful hardcore ones are still here and they are multiplying. Been stuck here 10 years and finally getting out. This place even has its own sickness named after it. "Klamath Crud"
Dear Dorothy,
Oh, you poor lost soul. I too have been a victim of Klamabama and no, once your child leaves the Klamtucky soaked streets they do not seem to have any lasting mental issues. In fact, they clear up almost immediately. I'm so sorry that you have a term of 36 months to serve in this living hell. Feel lucky I've been going on month 122 and have received a most recent pardon and will be leaving soon. As for the gas station attendants...just wait until you drive in with a brand new vehicle that you are so proud of. You haven't even made the first payment yet...and it happens. You tell the highly educated attendant that you would like to fill it up. He replies, "ya want me ta top that off"? No, you answer smiling back at him...but you see the look in his eyes (you'll become familiar with that vacant stare). You are watching him from your mirror simultaneously as you are watching the pump. You see the numbers slow down and it shuts off. Relieved, you pull out your bank card and you get a twitch in your left eye, an alarm, quickly you look in your mirror and the man has reappeared and he is cramming all he can into your car (new paint, no payment yet) and it is spilling over the side like friggin' Niagra Falls. Now you are angry, he appears at your window and proudly tells you how much it costs. All you can do is submit and pay. This has happened to us countless times. My husband makes them wash it off the car. Here is a hint, this always cracks my husband up: You must say this, "Please fill up my tank, that does not mean when it stops you run over and continually cram more in. When it stops, it stops, it's done". Yes, that sounds like I'm being a bit aggressive but that is all they understand here. Trust me...it's all they know. Another hint: There is no secret handshake that the liberals know, you can pick us out actually quite easily- we are the ones smiling, and are friendly. We are few and far between but we are here. You will find that the school system here is quite broken down. We also tried the private schools. We found they are no different than the public schools once you get past the better building and grounds. There are no private schools here that are not bible affiliated. We home schooled our boy from 1st grade through the 4th and it helped tremendously. He was then old enough to hold his own back in the shark pool. He goes to Peterson. They seem to do ok over there. Depends highly on which teacher you get. Some are very good and some are verrry lackluster. The principle over there really has it together. He does a lot for the kids. When the school system failed the kids and took away a lot of programs including PE he would take them outside and run and do different things outside on the playground with them.
As far as getting better. Education is on the back burner here. They can't get anything passed here to help get funding for these schools. Its the same for the colleges here too. These people aren't willing to pay an extra 22 cents per thousand dollars on taxes to get funding for education.
One school just south of Klamath Falls is so eaten up with mold, they have installed modular buildings out back of the school and moved the kids out there. They won't repair the buildings or build new. No money. Now it looks like a little trailer park. Most of the school buildings around here are literally falling down around the kids, it is disgraceful. I hope this is helpful, none of this has been eggagerated for comedic value, its all true. Best of luck, and don't be suprised when someone cuts you off in traffic or pulls right out in front of you... you get flipped off because you got too close. It's the darnedest thing we've ever seen.
The gas pumping thing is, unfortunately, all over Oregon, including the larger metro areas. I can't tell you how many times I have had to say - "please don't top it off, it's very bad for the evaporative recovery system."
Likewise, school funding is a state-wide issue - we have one of the shortest school years in the country, and it'll just get worse from here. Having voted for the school levies, the KCC levy and the fire district levies, it's disappointing to me to see if all get turned down.
I find all this talk about Klamath Falls being a terrible place to live ridiculous. I now live in Portland Oregon and I regret ever having moved! In the Portland suburb where I live, a very nice uppity neighborhood, there is by far more crime, violence and drama all around. In contrast, Klamath Falls is an amazing place to live. It is beautiful, quiet and enjoyable. And where I live now I would never walk out alone after dark, whereas in Klamath Falls I could walk anywhere, anytime. There are no drive by shootings, people do not die in fights every day, no gang wars, just a bunch of people sadly depressed by the struggling economy. If you want to talk about killings and such, look to Chiloquin Oregon, 50 miles from Klamath. But as for Klamath, it is a nice place to be. However, as a side note, the shopping is terrible and it would be nice to have something other than a bar to head to at night.
What I see over and over again on City Data is that people move from Place A to Place B and complain that Place B is different from Place A. It's smaller or larger, warmer or colder, and uniformly less friendly than where they'd previously lived for years.
Moving to a new city is a huge adjustment, and part of the moving process is accepting your new city for what it is, rather than trying to force it to be what you want - because that isn't going to happen.
Klamath Falls is a small town, mostly blue collar, and it's spent the last decade going through some growing pains (as has a good bit of the US). It's off the beaten I-5 track (a fact I like) and somewhat insulated and insular. You won't find a Starbuck's (although Human Bean, Daily Bagel and Matteo's are quite good). There is no mall to hang out in. There are few "fine dining" places - most restaurants here are casual and focus on "hearty" rather than quality.
The central city core - Main Street - has had some tough years. In the last couple years, several new places have opened, but my impression is that they are hanging on by a thread in this down economy. For the size of the town, the sprawl is significant, and mass transit is lacking, unless you want to go down Washburn or up/down 6th.
The focus of life here, though, is outside the town - the mountains, the desert, the forests, the lakes, the rivers. Doesn't matter what your outdoor recreation of choice is, it's here. If you are a city person, uninterested in the outdoors, and require city amenities, then Klamath Falls is not for you.
Just my opinion here, but I'd take ANYWHERE in the PNW over the deep South anyday,(I'm sort of "stuck" here in Louisiana at the moment!) Having lived in the Seattle,WA. area,(working with the Navy), I fell in love with that whole region-(the drizzle and overcast weather notwithstanding). I only wish I would've had the time to do more of what was available,(mostly outdoors stuff) up there. I'll glady give up 7 months of high humidity, high crime rates,(especially in New Orleans)bubba/cajun/redneck types, bad drivers, and trash everywhere,(most folks here seem to have little pride in thier community). My hope is to keep saving my money and eventually in a few years head back up that way.
My family is thinking about moving to Klamath Falls.
Can you tell me how home rentals are there and prices?
It would have to be a 3 to 4 bedroom, large home.
Also how is the town?
Is ther things to do there?
How is the schools?
are the people friendly?
a overal on the town please...
We work in Real Estate here - the inventory goes up - the prices have fallen some but not as much as was forecasted and there are MANY underlying issues in Klamath County that make this a Very Difficult place to live if you are a decent human being.
There is an absolute Urgency here that drives everyone to work work work all the time....
The crime rate is atrocious - the murders of "people who know their victims" is Very high. The meth use here has risen over 500% in the last few years - and the "officials" here do not follow their own laws and protocols - environmental health is non-existent - the LAND is beautiful - the climate good if you need high desert without all the sand and high temperatures - we are VERY close to Crater Lake and Diamond Lake and many many natural and beautiful places.
The air quality is not so good as we are constantly getting smoke from every fire in the Northwest and it Sits here in the Basin. Did I mention water is also hard to come by? Clean water does not exist here either.
The System here is basically without funding or Hope for the locals - the education levels are too embarrassing to report -http://www.city-data.com/zips/97601.html - there are some stats from the census - there are never many good paying jobs and there is LOTS of opportunity here for people who can work from their homes doing their own thing.
Retiring here is NOT a good idea if you have any really serious health issues - the education level of the health professionals is very low as well. Sky Lakes medical center used to be known as "Murder West" (Merle West) and is now known as "Die Lakes" by the locals....
There are CONSTANT ads for "County Mental Health workers" - the good counselors quickly get burned out and leave.
The area itself is a place that drugs come to and go from. That is not just Klamath but also Chiloquin, Sprague River, and the other outlying areas. People do their deals openly on the streets here.
For instance, Chiloquin has no police - and accordingly it is as dangerous as living in a Very bad big city downtown....
Gangs, Indians(I am Indian from a different tribe and these folks here do Not care about anyone who is not a Klamath or Modoc Indian)
Kids beat up an electrical pole worker a few years back. For fun. In Chiloquin there is a law still on the books that says you Have to own a gun if you live in Chiloquin. (No they don't enforce it)
To me, who has lived in many many small towns and large ones across the US Klamath Falls is like a rude, backwards, brutally stupid mentality where the locals tend to resolve things with their fists, or their guns or their knives. They DO understand mental illness here and have NO CONCEPT of anything approaching mental health. Yet it is a "free rights" state meaning unless you are bleeding you can be harrassed, stalked, stolen from and all sorts of things without anything being done by the authorities.
There is nothing positive for kids to do here. Unless you are involved with a Church and even those are limited....
We finally moved away from Chiloquin itself to another small town - the first thing I noticed when we moved here was a picture on the grocery store board "Have you seen my dad? He is missing". Locals joke about all the bodies buried on the 'tablelands'.
Lets see, have I covered it all yet?
O yeah - schooling levels are also poor.
Have troubled kids? Don't let them get mixed up with the system here because they will get Hurt.
Brain Drain has happened here....
Positives? More people are moving in from Outside this closed area and every single one that adds skills Helps immensely....
Good place to be IF you don't mind not having a social life. Good place for business IF it is the right kind of work.... Plenty of opportunity for people who Know ANYTHING - most of the resources sit here and rot due to lack of initiative and knowledge....
Homes here have a HUGE "deferred maintenance" issue - in fact you can apply that concept to life in general here .
Last edited by Cornerguy1; 08-03-2009 at 08:40 PM..
Reason: Do not post libelous accusations
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