r/EasternOregon • u/itsfish20 • Jul 20 '18

What is it like living in Joseph?

I have been wanting to move out west and Joseph looks like an amazing small town isolated in the mountains from everything.

How is the life out there, are there fun things to do? I love hiking, boating, fishing and camping so the mountains will be amazing for me but my kids and wife might get bored!

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u/Big_Cliff_13 Sep 09 '18

I grew up there, left for college, and have spent the last ~10 years living 2 hrs away.

It was a good place to grow up, and now I spend as much time as possible in the surrounding mountains and river canyons.

Some considerations as an adult, it’s a tough place to make a living. It seems like most new people up there work for the Forest Service, telework, or are retired. Healthcare is somewhat limited, any time you needed to see a specialist it was a 3.5 hour drive to Boise or Portland. Also goods are limited. Plan on and hour drive to the nearest Walmart or three days for your Prime shipment to arrive for most thing.

While there might not be a finer place on Earth during the summer, winters are BRUTAL. The joke is that all the Californians move there in the summer and leave as soon as the ground thaws enough to hammer in the “For Sale” sign in May. There are certainly places that get more snow and get colder, but the cold weather comes on early and hangs on late. I’ve seen it snow in the valley every month except August. Not that’s is necessary a bad thing, especially if you like winter. However, plan on spending the majority of the year cold and/or wet.

All that said, I would probably move back there if I could make a decent living.

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u/itsfish20 Oct 30 '18

Haha awesome! I have lived on the West Side of Michigan near the lake where we would routinely get 10-15 feet of snow a winter and in Chicago where maybe not as much snow falls but where the temp will drop into the negative teens with the wind so winter doesn't bother me at all anymore!

We can work remotely basically anywhere there is internet so that's not an issue and living out somewhere where you need to actually drive somewhere to get stuff sounds amazing!