Way OT - feedback on Klamath Falls, good place to live or not so much?

My husband has his sights on KF because of the lovely outdoorsy nature things to do.  I have first hand experienced "nice place to visit, wouldnt want to live there" and was wondering if I could get some feedback.

His job here is at a major airport so that is out, since the small airport there will not be doing freight forwarding, so a job for him is an issue. I have heard the economy is kind of funky there (not that it is not EVERYWHERE, but you know what I mean). 

we are not "big city, arts, fine dining multiple times a month" folks, so that's not a big deal.  I do not mind needing to drive an hour or whatever to go to the grocery store, since I only go every 2 weeks, I know KF has some big box stores.

I heard that also the city funding has taken a hit, like with the police force and other social sorts of services, do not know if that is making a difference that folks can feel?

We do not have children so the schools are not an issue.

My work is done remotely so, we do not need to worry about work for me.

So I guess, a feel for the atmosphere of the place, feedback on it, town life n whatnot! 

Thanks for any help you can give, and any information you can share that I have not thought to ask!

Thank you!

kfalls is a nice area..and crater lake is near by.. we actually ran a motel for a year near there and some of the people have been great. but there was a lot of mean people down there. jobs are hard to come by and the area is kinda cut off..which is fine if u dont mind it.. but for jobs and other things u need to be more self reliant down there. if he has a job where ur at now u wld be better off staying there.

Thanks for the info.  Yea, the job issue is a big deal.  We shall see!  Thanks again! 

Depends on which way you swing politically.  KFalls is in more "red-neck" territory.  It's warmer and dryer there than it is farther north.  Eugene has an airport, is more liberal (heck - bleeding heart liberal), and is probably a bit greener and wetter (especially in the winter).  I love living here because we are just over an hour from the coast and just over an hour from the Cascades Mountains.  Lots of outdoor recreation.  Yep, I enjoy Eugene lots more than KFalls.

 Hi Linda

I have been looking for work both where I live (Nebraska panhandle) and all over, including OR. I see some jobs in Portland and around like McMinnville, Tigard, and Hillsboro but also Eugene, Creswell and Keizer/Salem.

about all I know is that Portland is the biggest city, Salem is the State Capital, and the weather in general is wetter/cloudier the further north you are unless you are East of the mountains. is that right?

can you tell me a little more about Eugene? I love the idea of bleeding heart liberal and the outdoor opportunites but am a little afraid of the lack of sunny days and the cost of living. housing cost where I live now are VERY cheap so anywhere else I go will be a big shock.

thanks
Jackie

 Hi Jackie - when I was a kid watching old Tarzan movies (which were new back then!), they always talked about finding the "Elephant's Burial Ground" where all the old elephants went to die.  Back in those days, they figured if they could find it, they'd make a fortune in the elephant tusks that had to be lying about.  Well, Eugene is where all the old hippies go to die.  You see a lot of gray hair and tie-dye around here.  We have the University of Oregon, where I worked for 32 years, the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, the Oregon Bach Festival, the Oregon Country Fair (old hippies going wild in the woods for a weekend), the Eugene Celebration (this coming weekend, in fact), and the Eugene Saturday Market,  If you google any of those you will see that this is a pretty funky place to live, but I love it.  Even though we have a huge number of restaurants and some of them are really fancy, you're usually appropriately dressed if you're wearing jeans and Birkenstocks.  We have concerts at the Cuthbert Amphitheatre, some at the UO.  The housing prices are a bit high, and so are property taxes, but we have no sales tax, so cost of living as far as food and clothes go isn't too bad.  The trees here are HUGE.  They make the trees back east look like little matchsicks.  And the mountains - so gorgeous and peaceful.  The rivers are pretty clean but deadly cold.  Too many silly people drown each summer because they don't wear a life jacket when rafting and, if you fall out of the boat, hypothermia will not doubt take you before you can reach the shore.  It is wetter and cloudier the farther north you go.  The coast stays fairly cool all year.  It is drier to the east of the Cascades.  The area around Bend/Redmond/Sisters is called the "high desert" because it is a plateau at high elevation but it's very dry -- except in the winter, it snows there.  We hardly ever get snow in Eugene.  I'm orginally from the northeast and learned to drive in January, so I'm good on snow and ice, but I won't drive here in the winter because most everyone else has no idea what to do if we get a little dusting and they go into a skid.  It's dangerous!!  But, it's green, it's beautiful, it's clean, and I call it home.

 thanks, Linda, nice post - in fact, pure poetry!

big trees, that sounds really nice.

Thanks MzLinda! 

Hi,

I grew up in Klamath Falls.  I would have to say at the time I grew up there it was a great place to live.  However a lot has happened with the loss of many major jobs going away.  The mills have closed down, the railroad no longer is supplying jobs.  There is not a lot of shopping unless you like Wal-Mart.

I would have to say if you are retired and don't need a job and love to hunt and fish then it would be OK. Oh yes you would need to like snow and cold too, the winters are long there.  I would NEVER suggest that anyone move there. 

I am in agreement with the other person; there lot of other nicer places to move to like Eugene.  I moved from Klamath Falls to Eugene and love living here--that was 36 years ago.  A lot more to do, and more jobs here too. Medford, OR is a nice place too.

Hope that helps,

 Hi - can you read my post above and tell me a bit more about Eugene?  neighborhoods where renting is not too expensive but not scary with crime? some sun, at least in the summer?  

whatever you have, I'd appreciate. I've been reading the forums over on city-data.com.

does the University have a good reputation there?