Pro and Cons on Klamath Falls

[Cornerguy1]

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.

[jlmnop929]

"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.

[Chrysaliswriter]

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!

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Chrysaliswriter

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.