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The crime rate is atrocious - the murders of "people who know their victims" is Very high.
Really?
I'd love to see your statistical basis for this because local media reports certainly don't support this position.
Water is hard to come by? Depends where you drill, I guess, but I know numerous people in the areas surrounding Klamath that have excellent wells and zero water quality issues.
"Some locals love the place while others (specifically people who moved here from California) feel 'stuck' here." I recently moved here from the Chicago-land area thinking I would be saving money, considering Illinois is one of the most expensive states to live in. Ha, was I wrong. Between the house payment, and the utilities I am wiped out every month and I receive a decent salary. I have been wanting to move since I got here. I knew I was in for a change coming from Chicago, and I was expecting the worse. But this town has surprised me, the worst was not enough. Sadly, I have to admit the people who are friendly are few and far in between and I cannot put my children into the schools due to the horrific state of disrepair that exists here. After an abusive marriage and traumatic divorce, my best friend, who lives here, convinced me to move here. Needless to say we are no longer best friends. Furthermore, as far as feeling stuck, I have to admit even though there is no sales tax, the utility companies seem to make up for that, and feel the need to gorge me every month, I am very stuck (for now). However, I am a firm believer of "if there is a will there is a way" and I am determined to find a way. The sooner the better, for me and my children.
Swarms of Bugs - I hear these are called "midgies" and are a real mess June through mid-September, as read somewhere else on this forum. We are seriously considering moving there for retirement years, as it is out of the big city and easier to navigate, has decent medical care, pretty scenery and one of the major factors for my husband and myself is that it has alot of sunshine and low humidity. We also hear there are 4 distinct seasons, something we experienced living in Salt Lake City for 10 yrs and loved it! We'd thought of returning to AZ for retirement years, where we both met and married and started a family. Husband's job has taken us to 5 states over many years - and now, we have been in Portland, OR area for past 6 yrs. Portland is my place of birth and one of our kids was born there. 3 of our 4 kids have moved to the Portland area - and now we have 2 grandkids there, as well! We don't want to move too far but Klamath Falls area seems to be the best place for smaller communities and the place in Oregon that can boast being the sunniest!
Question about the "midgies". Are they in the city or more in the rural areas? We are going to be using our vacation plan and staying at the Running Y next week checking things out. I could ask the locals there but I'm thinking it will be downplayed, so I'm asking you folks here on this forum for the straight scoop on these bugs! Also, in terms of snowfall, we got about 68 inches a year in Salt Lake and it was doable for us - dry, easier to navigate, etc. But we are looking for some place with alot less snow so we don't have to use that old snow blower through the winter months!! How deep does the stuff get, on average, and does it require more than a few scoops with a snow shovel?
Thanks for your help!
Swarms of Bugs - I hear these are called "midgies" and are a real mess June through mid-September, as read somewhere else on this forum. We are seriously considering moving there for retirement years, as it is out of the big city and easier to navigate, has decent medical care, pretty scenery and one of the major factors for my husband and myself is that it has alot of sunshine and low humidity. We also hear there are 4 distinct seasons, something we experienced living in Salt Lake City for 10 yrs and loved it! We'd thought of returning to AZ for retirement years, where we both met and married and started a family. Husband's job has taken us to 5 states over many years - and now, we have been in Portland, OR area for past 6 yrs. Portland is my place of birth and one of our kids was born there. 3 of our 4 kids have moved to the Portland area - and now we have 2 grandkids there, as well! We don't want to move too far but Klamath Falls area seems to be the best place for smaller communities and the place in Oregon that can boast being the sunniest!
Question about the "midgies". Are they in the city or more in the rural areas? We are going to be using our vacation plan and staying at the Running Y next week checking things out. I could ask the locals there but I'm thinking it will be downplayed, so I'm asking you folks here on this forum for the straight scoop on these bugs! Also, in terms of snowfall, we got about 68 inches a year in Salt Lake and it was doable for us - dry, easier to navigate, etc. But we are looking for some place with alot less snow so we don't have to use that old snow blower through the winter months!! How deep does the stuff get, on average, and does it require more than a few scoops with a snow shovel?
Thanks for your help!
The midges vary by year - this year they showed up early August and were gone by late September. Some years they show up in July with the first truly hot weather. They are the worst around flood-irrigated fields (Hwy 97), the A canal and the lakes and swarm the heaviest toward sunset. They have no mouths or stingers, so they are just an irritant in terms of swarms and keeping the front of your car cleaned off. There are 3 sizes of midge, and the smallest is smaller than the average window screen mesh, so they're a nuisance inside the house at night, since they are attracted to bright lights.
Running Y is one of the buggier parts of town, due to the lake and golf course.
I'm not sure I'd say that the Klamath Basin (or, really, the southern half of Eastern Oregon) has 4 full seasons - more we have winter and summer with two short shoulder seasons. Winter in Klamath is November to about March and then April and May are pretty mixed weather - very cool to cold nights, can get up into the 70s during the days but can also stay down in the 30s and 40s. Summer is usually June, July, August, September, with fall (Oct and Nov) being either "Indian Summer" with day temps in the 60s and 70s and occasional 80s and nights below freeing or, as can happen in Nov, and excellent preview of winter-to-come. Surprise frosts can come in the summer, but then 70 degree days can come in the winter, too (maybe not as frequently as the other way around).
Snow is quite variable - this last winter we never had more than a foot or so at a time and it didn't stick around very long. The ground thawed in February and never refroze. The winter before it started snowing heavily in December and didn't really melt off until March. Neither of those extremes is typical. Supposedly we average around 33" of snow annually, but there is quite a bit of variance in that number.
Chamber of Commerce will tell you Klamath has 300 days of sun, but my weather station says 220-240 over the last 4 years.
Last edited by PNW-type-gal; 10-07-2009 at 04:16 PM..
We moved fom the Willamette Valley to Klamath Falls area. LOVE it here. Slow pace, "real" people. There are homes for sale in all price ranges. My hubby builds custom homes - I assure you that you don't need $500K for a nice home. Check out Southview. It's a mid-range community surrounded by country and close to Running Y Resort (where you will find expensive homes). Believe it or not, prices are coming down. You can buy a nice home in the Running Y Resort for $300K. Great place to raise a family, especially if you like outdoor recreation. As everywhere, some schools are better than others, but they are mostly small schools where active, interested parents can make a difference. It's a bit old-fashioned here, but we think that's a GOOD thing. a
Does anyone in Klamath Falls remember Richard A Kendall? We recently found out that he lived there, but sadly that he had also died on July 5, 2006. Dicky was my Uncle and we had tried to find him for several years. At this time we don't know anything about his life in Klamath, or how he died? He would have been 68 on May 11, 2010. Please email me at shukran@iwon.com if you knew him. Thank you.
I moved here from Southern California in 2006. I love it here. Low cost of living, wonderful, kind, friendly people, amazing climate! I love the snow in the winter and the heat in the summer. The best thing about summer is that even though it's 99 degrees during the day, it cools off at night pretty quickly. Lots of things to do if you are an outdoor person- we water ski and boat on Upper Klamath Lake- very few other boats, unlike anywhere in CA-fish, hike on wonderful trails, if you are a hunter the hunting here is supposed to be great (I'm not a hunter) fantastic birding, lovely wetlands, canoeing, great skiing at Mt. Bachelor (about 3 hours away) and Wilamette Pass( about 1.5 hours away). Not much shopping but Fred Meyer's has everything basic. Thank goodness for the internet! Several great stores downtown if they can hold on a little longer in this crappy economy. Now the schools are just OK (my kids are grown) but OIT is fantastic. Several decent restaurants, but not a huge selection. Home prices are dirt cheap. 1/2 the properties in Klamath County are rentals (my husband worked for the census part-time and found out). There are no jobs here however, unless you are in the medical field or are lucky enough to work for the State of Oregon. We also have a shortage of doctors. The hospital is state-of-the-art and newly renovated. The crime rate is typical for a rural community...lots of drugs and related crimes of theft, assault, child abuse, and domestic violence. Lots of Churches to chose from if you are so inclined. We have a couple of great theaters- the Ross Ragland and The Linkville Playhouse. 4 awesome golf courses in our area- the Running Y Ranch is Arnold Palmer designed, Harbor Links is on the lake, Reames is private and Shieldcrest is just a nice fun course.Let's see what did I forget? Limited car dealerships and no mall- but I don't miss one at all.
OMG K FALLS IS AMAZING!!!! I grew up there and plan to go back i am in salem right now and hate it k falls makes me feel alive and happy very nice place to raise kids IT IS DEF THE NEXT BEST THING!!! I miss it there so much!! Even though they dont have like huge rec areas like alot of entertainment it has enough to be entertained the fair in tulelake like 30 mins away is awesome and there in train rides in chiloquin along with the casino there is tons of swim holes everywhere Camping everywhere i just had a great time being a kid there and cant wait for my son to grow up there and have his own memories this is a place for your kids to have those special memories id go back and be a kid here in k falls ten million times over i had such a blast and People who say they hate it and leave Well they ALWAYS come back!!! What does that tell ya go check it out before you move you will just love the car show and all the parades they have all year round too its Awesome and the snow is soooo pretty there too
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 .
I think you covered it all. I have lived in Chiloquin for 13 years and have hated for 12 this town is very predigest in every way you can think of. I have lived in a lot of small towns and this is the worst.
Well it was nice to read our community is represented as a good/ nice place where the criminal justice system is fair and our jail is able to hold 144 inmates and that the statement about our "little section" of the newspaper does not mention most of the listings are repeat offenders released back into the community . The fact is there is very little actual crimes being committed in the city,and that is good. there are
way to many of the same people going to court for the same charges and being routinly arrested
If anyone really paid attention to the facts, they would appreciate those who wish to make these important details matter to someone
Moderator cut: Please do not post libelous material
*** Before crapping all over the information previously presented in the thread, please recognize it was posted before jail closures.
Last edited by Cornerguy1; 02-08-2011 at 11:08 PM..
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