Life in Chiloquin or Prospect (Medford, Klamath Falls: employment, to buy, schools)

[k.stvns]

I would like to hear from someone who lives in Chiloquin or Prospect.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by k.stvns

I would like to hear from someone who lives in Chiloquin or Prospect.

I live near Chiloquin, not in it, and I don't recommend the town area. Out of town is fine if you're prepared for rural living with virtually no services and definitely no job opportunities.

[k.stvns]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

I live near Chiloquin, not in it, and I don't recommend the town area. Out of town is fine if you're prepared for rural living with virtually no services and definitely no job opportunities.

Don't recommend the town area and no services? Please say why?

I received a job offer working in Crater Lake National Park for the National Park Service. I am trying to explore my options with respect to housing. I decided on K-Falls, but the drive will take its toll on me eventually.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by k.stvns

Don't recommend the town area and no services? Please say why?

Have you driven through town?

Out this way we have virtually no sheriff services - when you call 911 you get directed to a web site to report your problem (including in-progress burglary). This is a county-wide budget/funding problem and is unlikely to get any better anytime soon. Fire and ambulance are volunteer.

There are no jobs, outside the tribal center and tribal casino. There are huge drug/alcohol issues, far beyond what's normal for rural small towns in the area. Chiloquin was a boom town in about 1930, but after the mills closed, parts of the town were just boarded up. There is no grocery store, just two 7-11 style places both in need of cleaning and paint.

The pluses are: it's a beautiful area and relatively inexpensive to buy. There is a nice tiny library and community center, with a small but cute art gallery attached. And a good, small, hardware store.

ETA: since you've added a bit of info - you'd be better off looking in Fort Klamath and out in the Agency Lake area. You'll be driving into K Falls (about 40 minutes) or Medford (about 90 minutes) for shopping and groceries. Klamath Falls to the Annie Creek entrance of Crater Lake is well over an hour's drive, even on a good day. To the rim or the main office is quite a bit further. There really is no "town" anywhere close to Crater Lake.

[k.stvns]

Oh sheesh! I definitely don't want that. I can adjust to small town living, but it sounds more than I care to tolerate.

I suppose the budget/funding problem has little effect on K-Falls?

Thanks for the information.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by k.stvns

Oh sheesh! I definitely don't want that. I can adjust to small town living, but it sounds more than I care to tolerate.

I suppose the budget/funding problem has little effect on K-Falls?

Thanks for the information.

The funding problem is county-wide and it's not great in K Falls, either. The entire area counted on that Federal subsidy to replace timber dollars, and, even though it was obviously going to phase out, no one at the county or city level bothered to budget or save for it. (This is a huge problem across ALL of Southern, Eastern, Coastal and Central Oregon.) Hence the area is short millions of dollars from the budget and services, including police, schools and particularly the county jail, are being cut. There is some talk of the subsidies being put back in various funding bills, but the other problem is that the area had a huge building boom in the 80s/90s and that was virtually ALL of the employment increase. When that collapsed, jobs vanished, to be replaced by nothing.

That all sounds quite grim, but this is a fairly grim time for rural/small town Oregon.

[k.stvns]

Thanks for the information. I really need to do some deep soul searching then.

[Hawk J]

If i was going to work at Crater Lake i think i might put a used truck camper on my pickup, or get some other used recreational vehicle, to live in. Do some fishin, camping, exploring during my offtime.

[k.stvns]

If I was an outdoor type of guy, I probably consider that. But my job is a permanent one.

[Nell Plotts]

Ask your future colleagues for recommendations. Often there are issues such as access in the winter that should be a factor.