Now that you've scared me with Earthquakes and Fires.......!!! (Anchorage: real estate, apartment)

[undercovermom]

My husband is being offered a job in Anchorage and before we move, I've been reading your posts to get a feel for the place. I'm not worried about the weather - we live in Northern Ontario and have already compared averages (much colder and more snow here!)....but I do have a couple of questions I'd really appreciate someone answering!

1) Are the mosquitoes bad everywhere or only out of the city - and about how long is mosquito season? Do you have blackflies as well?

2) Is house insurance expensive and can you get coverage for fire and earthquakes? Tsunamis? god forbid!

3) Exactly how much IS a box of Kraft Dinner......just for a reference point!!)

4) Do you have a tsunami warning system and is there really anywhere to go if one is coming? ie "run to the hills!"

5) Have you heard of anyone or place teaching languages (i.e. French)
- I know you don't have French Immersion so I'm looking for alternatives

Thanks for your help. Alaska looks beautiful and we're looking forward to enjoying as much of it as possible........but I have to admit I'm a little chicken - I grew up in Vancouver so I get the threat of earthquakes but I worry about who will help us in a disaster, being so far from the rest of the U.S.A

[losercore]

Hey Undercovermon

Ok no order here.

The mosquitoes can be very bad outside of the the city. The city is usually fine and not that big of a deal

Yes you can get earthquake insurance on top of your regular home insurance. Not terribly expensive but also covers very little. Read up on that one.

Tsunami's are really no concern in Anchorage. As for insurance I doubt they offer it in Anchorage.

As for cost of living. it is not insane. Somethings cost more like cars, RV's things like that. When you take into consideration that you pay no taxes (income or sales) it really might come out less expensive. Your money goes further than you may think.

Alaskans Like to take care of them selves. They like the fact that they are so far away. Really Anchorage does have the threat of earthquakes but really that is about it. In six years I was there I only felt one earthquake.

I grew up in California. There are far more earthquakes in California.


Hope this helps. Anchorage is a great town.

[Alaskan_Adventurer]

Hello. Let me see if I can answer your questions

1. Mosquitos can be bad if you live in a woodsy area of Anchorage. My father lives up off of Rabbit Creek road and they can get real bad in the shade or in the evenings. Outside of town, especially around swamp and lakes they can be horrible.

2. I am only a renter, so I can't help you with insurance. I don't think you can get, or even need Tsunami insurance. Fire, yes. Earthquake, I am not sure.

3. No idea on a box of kraft dinner. A gallon of milk runs $4-5.00 though. Since Carrs(pur main grocery store) bought out the safeway chain of grocery stores, they don't have much for competition. Maybe Fred Meyers. People noticed the slight price increase when they merged. You have to keep in mind that everything pretty much has to be shipped up here, so things will be a little more expensive due to shipping.
Buying a house in Anchorage is the biggie. Real estate is pretty crazy expensive. Land is very limited here, due the location of Anchorage. Mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, so no room to build.

4. From what I have heard, yes. I don't know much information about the system though. Maybe someone else knows more about it.

5. You can take many of the popular foreign language lessons at UAA, which is our University here in town. I would guess there are other sources as well, but I am not sure.

Anchorage is a beautiful city and I am sure you will love it.

Cheers!

[rotorhead]

Where we lived we hardly had any problem with mosquitos, but the yellowjackets were bothersome in mid to late summer.

As you probably know, the coast of Alaska is on the "ring of fire", the joint where the pacific tectonic plate meets and is slowly shoved underneath the north american plate. This means that it is subject to frequent earthquakes, more so than even California. What this does NOT mean is that you are going to feel all of them, most are too small and too far away. We lived in Eagle River (about 15-20 minutes N. of ANC) for three winters and two summers, and I'd say we felt a small quake about every two to three months. We were there for the 7.9 magnitude Denali quake in 2002 which was definately noticable but like most everyone in ANC there was no damage to our house. Despite it being the second largest N. Americal earthquake in the last 150 years there were no deaths and only one injury in the state. In fact, I was riding in a car at the time and missed the whole thing, didn't even notice. My wife was shopping at the time and the light fixtures in the store swayed quite a bit and some items fell off shelves. The 1964 earthquake was far more serious, it was a 9.2 magnitude and caused both extensive damage and numerous tsunamis which further damaged coastal towns. The extent of damage in the '64 quake was largely dependent on the type of soil underlying the areas, loose sandy or clay soils suffered by far the most damage. There are maps of the entire Anchorage area and what types of soil are represented available online. There are also numerous accounts of people who lived in Anchorage at the time on various websites, just put "1964 alaskan earthquake" in any search engine. The University of Fairbanks maintains the official earthquake information site, try this link UAF Seismology Laboratory Home Page

Earthquake insurance is available from numerous insurance companies and is a good idea since damage from earthquakes is typically not covered under the standard homeowner policies. We found that it cost about as much as our homeowners policy did, in the range of $800/year (for each). The cost of earthquake insurance will vary depending on how your home is built. In general, masonary structures (brick, block) cost more to insure than houses with wood frame construction.

Tsunamis would probably be covered by flood insurance, which is also separate from your regular homeowners policy. Flood insurance in the US is a govt. run program, and it has restrictions and provisions that are different from what you are used to seeing. Insurance agents from any company can sell flood insurance, but the policy itself is issued by a govt. agency. It's a pain to deal with, and compared to commercial policies their service is slow and difficult. Unless you live very close to the ocean, its probably overkill.

[Blueberry]

Actually, from what I understand, most insurance companies are dropping earthquake coverage. You might want to check that out ahead of time if that is a concern.

There used to be areas on the Anchorage Hillside where it was difficult to get fire insurance, and I believe in a couple of other remote areas of the borough. Again, it is best to check this out ahead of time, definitely before purchasing a home.

Since you mentioned French immersion, are you talking about elementary schools? If so, I believe there are several immersion programs in the Anchorage School District. I know there used to be a Japanese immersion program, but I don't know if it still exists. I'd suggest checking school websites.

[undercovermom]

Thanks for all the information so far. Yes, it was French Immersion for my elementary school children I was wondering about - I've already checked the school system and only Spanish, Japanese and Russian are offered, which is why I was asking about alternatives.....my kids are doing really well and I'd rather not confuse them with another language.

Do people barbecue in Alaska? We've got a beautiful gas range but there's no point hauling it all the way to Alaska if we're not going to use it - I thought maybe the smell would be a problem with bears, etc.

Thanks again to all who've answered me.

[Tressa]

Hello Undercovermom, I live in Anchorage and have for the past 30 years. I will try to answer some of your questions here with some experience.

Mosquitos can be bad in the brush and treed area's around your home especially in the lower areas.
Through all the years living here I have yet to experience any personal/property damage caused by an earthquake and floods caused by a tsunami are not an issue for the Anchorage area. Some areas are lower than others and floods can be caused by massive rain fall only seen than 3 times with zero injury's and minor damage to homes. The biggest issue with floods is when we gt into sub zero temps and the city water lines break and that happens in different area's of town and not often.
A box of kraft dinner can run you about .89 cents if you purchase them in the 6 packs. A gallon of milk at Carrs which is owned by Safeway is everyday price of 2 for $6.00. Your main challenge at the grocery store will be in the produce department, we have some good fruits and veggies but they go bad faster than they do in the states as they are older.

When looking for housing in Anchorage stay away from Mountain View and Fair View unless you like to live around the rough end of town and enjoy gang activity. North-East Anchorage is a bit cheaper than South Anchorage but there's more folks in East Anchorage.

Housing is in deed expensive, a 3 bedroom 2 bath home with a small lot will cost you around $369,000. Our proterty tax is about 1% of the value of the home. Unlead is anywher from $2.70 - 3.01.

I hope this helps and is based on current experience of Anchorage

[Tressa]

And yes we barbeque all the time even in the winter months, however there is a code that you need to look into if you plan on living in an apartment or condo environment.