Pro and Cons on Klamath Falls

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by lechon

Thinking of moving to K-Falls at the end of this year. Thanks for all the info posted here.

Keep in my mind that this thread covers 13 years - when it started the area was booming, then came a steep economic downturn and then a partial recovery. Many of the posts dealt with conditions at the time of the post, and things may or may not have changed since then.

[sarahlevey]

Hello all,

It appears the last post on this topic was three years ago. I was wondering if anybody could give some insight on how Klamath Falls is doing nowadays in 2022?

My husband and I are searching for a place to move to in the west. Originally from Alaska and enjoy the outdoors, we moved to Indianapolis in 2015 We long to be back on the west coast and have considered Klamath Falls a few times over the years.

We enjoy hiking, camping, mountains and being out in nature, something we don't have an abundance of here in central Indiana. One thing Indianapolis has that Klamath Falls will fall short on is walkability. But it appears you guys have a nice bike trail along the canal which is appealing. Walkability is important for us. We strive to do a lot of errands on foot and believe if we landed a house close to downtown Klamath Falls we'd be content.

We drove through Klamath Falls in May of 2018 and weren't incredibly impressed but the housing market is more appealing than, say, our other considerations (Grand Junction, CO or St. George, UT).

How is the job market in Klamath Falls? What do the job opportunities look like? I have a background in medical (EMT since 2017) and blood banks. It looks like your Red Cross is permanently closed and you have no plasma centers so I'd have to look at primary care centers or the hospital.

We don't care much about night life but we do love food and trying new restaurants. It would be an adjustment coming from a large city.

Any feedback is much appreciated!

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by sarahlevey

Hello all,

It appears the last post on this topic was three years ago. I was wondering if anybody could give some insight on how Klamath Falls is doing nowadays in 2022?

My husband and I are searching for a place to move to in the west. Originally from Alaska and enjoy the outdoors, we moved to Indianapolis in 2015 We long to be back on the west coast and have considered Klamath Falls a few times over the years.

We enjoy hiking, camping, mountains and being out in nature, something we don't have an abundance of here in central Indiana. One thing Indianapolis has that Klamath Falls will fall short on is walkability. But it appears you guys have a nice bike trail along the canal which is appealing. Walkability is important for us. We strive to do a lot of errands on foot and believe if we landed a house close to downtown Klamath Falls we'd be content.

We drove through Klamath Falls in May of 2018 and weren't incredibly impressed but the housing market is more appealing than, say, our other considerations (Grand Junction, CO or St. George, UT).

How is the job market in Klamath Falls? What do the job opportunities look like? I have a background in medical (EMT since 2017) and blood banks. It looks like your Red Cross is permanently closed and you have no plasma centers so I'd have to look at primary care centers or the hospital.

We don't care much about night life but we do love food and trying new restaurants. It would be an adjustment coming from a large city.

Any feedback is much appreciated!

Honestly, I could think of 20 other cities in the Pacific Northwest that I would rank well ahead of Klamath Falls for someone coming from out of state who just wants a nice place to settle and work. I assume you are looking for cities on the dry side of the Cascades so I'll limit discussion to that side.

Bend might be unaffordable, but there are outlying cities like Redmond, Prineville, and Madras that will be close enough to Bend to hop in for evenings out, dining, shopping, etc. or potentially even commuting.

Hood River and the Dalles along the Columbia River Gorge (Hood River is nicer but more expensive)

Baker City and La Grande are in north Central OR and pretty isolated but decent places and a bit smaller than Klamath Falls.

In Washington, Wenatchee, Walla Walla, Tri Cities, and Spokane area are all much nicer. If Spokane is too big there are various smaller towns within the Spokane orbit that will be close enough for occasional shopping and dining.

If I had to pick a city that was similarly situated and similar size to Klamath Falls, with similar outdoor recreation opportunities, but MUCH nicer as a city, I'd pick Walla Walla, WA. It will check off your walkability criteria much better than Klamath Falls as well: https://youtu.be/qHJsW0dV3Lo

[CCS414]

I'm waking this thread up to see if anyone knows why houses are so much cheaper in Klamath Falls than in Medford/Ashland? I've looked on realtor.com extensively and I'm estimating that on average homes are about $100k cheaper in the Klamath Falls area. Thank you.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by CCS414

I'm waking this thread up to see if anyone knows why houses are so much cheaper in Klamath Falls than in Medford/Ashland? I've looked on realtor.com extensively and I'm estimating that on average homes are about $100k cheaper in the Klamath Falls area. Thank you.

Because it isn't a very attractive place to live for a whole lot of reasons.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by CCS414

I'm waking this thread up to see if anyone knows why houses are so much cheaper in Klamath Falls than in Medford/Ashland? I've looked on realtor.com extensively and I'm estimating that on average homes are about $100k cheaper in the Klamath Falls area. Thank you.

Because the Californians take their house money and move to Medford or Ashland. You won't find many of them in Klamath Falls pushing up the prices.

Klamath Falls is more rural, it's a logging/ farming area. I consider it a good choice if you want a quiet life. There is plenty of shopping and outdoor activities and the weather is better than the weather in Ashland or Medford. It's cooler in the summer, and doesn't have the smog inversions. A bit colder in the winter, but you can always put a coat on.

Housing started out cheaper to begin with. Small inexpensive houses for the loggers and mill workers and those are mostly still there. Not many big fancy houses were built. You can get big and fancy now, but there is still the option oft the little mill shacks.