Moving to Forks, Washington--need some help. (Port Angeles, Port Townsend: apartment, rent, houses)

[psprague]

Originally Posted by Dendrite

Also it's hard to get the full impact of vast stretches of clear cut forest from his pics.

As allforcats is trying to honestly suggest regarding Forks: caveat emptor

I fly over the western peninsula all the time. The devastation is bigger than you can ever imagine from the ground. You can actually see the park boundary from the air in certain places.

Saying somewhere does not have any employment, housing, social opportunities, et al should be said, especially these days when its about Forks. Actually I am curious about how many people show up out there considering the number that come here and ask about it. Saying somewhere is ugly is just your personal opinion.

[kanhawk]

Originally Posted by Dendrite

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IMO, I thought kanhawks pictures showed Forks at it's best. There are more run down areas in and around town that were not "featured" by him. I mean he showed nicer mobile homes, not the ones spray painted fluorescent orange and bright purple on the west side of town! Also it's hard to get the full impact of vast stretches of clear cut forest from his pics.

I know what mobile home park you're talking about and I actually thought of taking a picture of that place and for some reason decided not to. Maybe it was a little too depressing, plus it's on the outskirts of town and I tried to take photos close to downtown. One of the benefits of tornadoes in the midwest is they take out crapholes like that every once in a while. OK, that was mean .
I do agree aerial photos could better show the true sad devastation of that area and maybe someone can add some of those. I think people can get an idea that this town is not like the movie and people will stop romanticizing it.

BTW, here is the High School, another place that is nothing like the hip, cool looking building in the movie.

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by psprague

I fly over the western peninsula all the time. The devastation is bigger than you can ever imagine from the ground.

It shows up pretty well in these satellite photos.

These pictures are not recent, so even more forests have been fallen victim to the ravages of Greed and Stupidity.

[Idunn]

A good way to assess the condition of the Olympic peninsula is with the program Google Earth. An even simpler way is to type, 'Forks, WA' into Google and on the page returned choose 'Map.' Forks, in all its glory, pops up, and if you choose the 'satellite' view you will see what it actually looks like from the air.

Clearly visible are the traditional patchwork of agricultural fields, only this is (or was) dense forest. Step back your view several notches and you will notice that Olympic National Park remains very much as an unspoiled island in a land to a large extent despoiled. It is more or less possible to discern the Park's borders from such a vantage, with clear cuts up to the very edge in many places.

One area that displays this quite well lies to the southeast of Forks. You will notice a swath of green reaches nearly to Forks, but this only because an arm of Olympic NP reaches out along the Bogachiel river. If you follow the road branching off US 101, heading to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center, you can easily see the Park's borders delineated to the east and north.

One might bare in mind that this devastation, being all the more stark and troubling on the ground, the direct result and responsibility of the US Forest Service, your elected representatives, and the loggers they let loose. Despite any claim or PR to the contrary, the US Forest Service is no friend of any true forest. Very far from it. Many, many years would be required for this land to ever be a true forest and ecosystem again, if it were left alone, and it is not. Having raped the land, now they plant tree farms on it, being only slightly less the abomination.

Spend any time on the Olympic peninsula, particularly Forks or the west side, then in contrast within Olympic NP. The difference is readily apparent. Anyone loving nature likely with a clear preference.

[grachya angelia]

hello i'm grachya from Indonesia, I'm very interested with forks, I think it was a beautiful little town and balanced!! there are have a beaches and mountains! I wanted to move there, but I need some information for the preparation there so as not to feel dizzy.

1. are there is have apartment for rent?
2. how much the average price of apartments for 2 people (1bedroom)?
3. are there will be difficult to find a job?
4. how much the average salary can I get?
5. are the cost of living there is hight?
6. are there's is have a natural tragedies like, floods, tsunami, or tornado?
7. are you have information abaut house for sell?

well .. maybe that's enough!! I really love the climate in the forks .. just like my hometown climate in bandung west java, Indonesia! I hope someone can give me information, and maybe the goods time to move there, I can get a friend to tell abaut every place in the forks!! thanks

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by grachya angelia

hello i'm grachya from Indonesia, I'm very interested with forks, I think it was a beautiful little town and balanced!! there are have a beaches and mountains! I wanted to move there, but I need some information for the preparation there so as not to feel dizzy.

1. are there is have apartment for rent?
2. how much the average price of apartments for 2 people (1bedroom)?
3. are there will be difficult to find a job?
4. how much the average salary can I get?
5. are the cost of living there is hight?
6. are there's is have a natural tragedies like, floods, tsunami, or tornado?
7. are you have information abaut house for sell?

well .. maybe that's enough!! I really love the climate in the forks .. just like my hometown climate in bandung west java, Indonesia! I hope someone can give me information, and maybe the goods time to move there, I can get a friend to tell abaut every place in the forks!! thanks

Are you serious? Have you even been to Forks?

ETA:

I just looked up the climate thing... I don't really see how the two are even similar. Bandung has a average high of 74.5 F (23.6 C) whereas Forks has a average high of 57.4 F (14.1 C). I think you're in for a surprise.

Economy in Forks is lousy, there's really nothing going on there. Not much job opportunities.

If you want Beaches and Mountains, you can get that around Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia. You might be luckier there.

[Dendrite]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

Are you serious? Have you even been to Forks

I know but considering he/she is from Indonesia and it's their first post on City-Data, I suspect the answer is no...

This being the case, I'll walk grachya through it. Grachya, if your interest in Forks was garnered from the Twilight books or movies realize that these books are of course fiction and have no basis in the "real" Forks. For example, the movies weren't even filmed in Forks. The first movie was largely filmed outside of Portland, Oregon and the second in British Columbia, Canada. Forks itself was simply too small and too remote for a movie crew. In other words, nothing that you saw in the movies actually exists in Forks, not the high school, not the homes, nothing.

Now obviously if you have a cousin that lives in LaPush and you have visited him and have seen Forks for yourself, then you already know this. If not, I'll go on to your questions.

First a little background on the history of the town. It's sole purpose in life decades ago was to cut down old growth cedar trees and turn those trees in to small, rectangular cedar shakes in lumber mills. Eventually all those majestic trees were cut down and the economy of the town basically died and Forks has struggled ever since. Fortunately Twilight has put it on the map recently and now tourism seems to be breathing some life back in to Forks (as people from all over come to the town seeking something from the Twilight series that in reality doesn't exist if Forks...)

Nonetheless, it's still a small (population about 3000), struggling, very remote town. There aren't many, if any, employment opportunities so yes finding a job would be very difficult- particularly for an outsider (e.g. someone not from Forks or related to someone there, let alone someone from Indonesia). If you can't find a job, salary would of course be nothing. Cost of living is no higher than any other small town WA but... given the remote location of Forks, you'll have to factor in driving (2-4 hours) for most major shopping, services etc. Apartments? The only ones that come to mind are the Oxbow Apartments on Division St. I'm not sure what the rents are or if any units are even available. Tragedies? Yeah, 120+ inches of rainfall annually and pretty much non-stop gray weather during the winter months! Tsunami's are possible anywhere along the WA coast.

Honestly Grachya, take Inpoe's advice and come visit, see for yourself. Once you do I think the above points will be self evident.

Hope this helps!

[grachya angelia]

oh..thanks for youre information!!! its verry importan for me.., by the way.. i know abaut forks not because i like twilight! but i really like the small city like forks, amd misterius city!! and if you know about another place , or small city like forks please let me know okey!! can i asking abaut forks again...?? ehhhmm...what a most of people do it theres, and what kind of work you usually do there to make money??? if theres so hard to find a job espesially!! maybe you can add me in my facebook :< angeliagrachya@yahoo.com..

[Dendrite]

Originally Posted by grachya angelia

okey!! can i asking abaut forks again...?? ehhhmm...what a most of people do it theres, and what kind of work you usually do there to make money??? if theres so hard to find a job espesially!!

Traditionally, this kind of work:






Other options would include hunting and fishing guides as well as a smattering of odd jobs such as working at the Thrifty Mart or True Value Hardware store there. The mill jobs are pretty much all spoken for. Tourism, as mentioned, has recently brought Forks back from teetering on the brink of economic bleakness-

I like Forks. It's a great place to stop and buy gas or beer/franks on our way over to the coastal beaches. Honestly, I can't understand why anyone would choose to move there without a compelling reason. The winter weather is abysmal with torrential rainfall and persistent dark gray cloud cover. Furthermore, there's just not a lot of anything over there: jobs, opportunity, housing, shopping, services etc. All served up from a town that's about as remote as you can possibly get within the continental United States. OTOH in fairness to the folks and friends of mine who do live in Forks, they like it that way-

Grachya, I've never been to Indonesia, so I suppose my description of Forks could sound like an improvement to you. Buy an airline ticket to Seattle, rent a car and drive the 4 hours out to Forks. See it for yourself and make your own assessment of it. Nothing like seeing a place for yourself!

Good Luck!

[moonlitwishes]

I posted here a while back asking about areas in Wasington, I got some good responses and have done a little research, although I have never really considered Forks it is now a "visiting only" for now category. I am a Registered Nurse, from some suggestions I recieved in the earlier post I have been researching Port Angeles and Port Townsend, as a small recap I will say i absolutely love wooded-green areas, love the rain, I want an area close to hiking trails with beautiful views, so anything you guys could add about the cities I have mentioned or any other areas that fit the description that would be great. P.S. I have been reviewing the pic thread on this forum and thank you to all who have posted pics they are beautiful!