Validate/Invalidate the myths (Anchorage, Kenai: buying, living in, safe)

[IDVague]

Alaskans, please give me the truth about Alaska. Most people in the lower 48 think Alaska is frozen solid 365 days a year, the sun never sets or it never rises, life is an existence in solitude....Let's hear some more accurate descriptions.

[Alaska Deb]

I am not an Alaskan (yet) but last week I saw 12 pound cabbages and came back with a wicked sunburn. For me, it was a little too warm...t-shirt and shorts day and night. It was beautiful...and I imagine after the winter the heat is welcome.

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by IDVague

Alaskans, please give me the truth about Alaska. Most people in the lower 48 think Alaska is frozen solid 365 days a year, the sun never sets or it never rises, life is an existence in solitude....Let's hear some more accurate descriptions.

Well, it will be good to have someone living on the interior take a crack at these, but I'll give it a try.
Obviously, what you said is, for the most part, untrue. Up in Barrow the permafrost is quite close to the surface, and the sun doesn't rise in the winter/doesn't set in the summer, but other than that you're looking at primarily a boreal climate. Warm, often hot summers, and long, usually quite cold winters.
In SE, the climate is roughly comparable to a slightly cooler Seattle. Lots of rain, some snow in the winter, and... yeah lots of rain.
As far as the social scene, a life in solitude is actually more likely in a larger town. In smaller ones, everyone knows each other's business... you know how it goes. The truth is, most communities are quite tight knit, even the larger ones.

Hope this helps...

[Rance]

Most people in the lower 48 think Alaska is frozen solid 365 days a year

False!

the sun never sets or it never rises

True! North of the Brooks Range. And only for a couple months at a time. Otherwise it goes up and down just like anywhere else on the planet.

life is an existence in solitude

Only if you want it that way. You have many options. City life, country/rural life, or remote/isolated life. It's all up to you!

[IDVague]

I appreciate the response and information. My own research has proven to be informative as well, and I look forward to a visit someday soon.

[ltdontcare]

When people find out that we are moving to Homer in a couple of years, you can see the igloos and such dancing in their eyes.

The one thing I feel safe telling anybody from the lower 48 is no matter what you think it's like, it's not like that.

[scottishbloom]

I had the same response from people when I told them that my goal is to be living in Alaska by 2009 ......but hey if it keeps 'whimps and non-adventurous' people out - let them think that way!

[DannyL]

There are a ton of myths and legends about living up here, and most are just that, myths and legends mostly invented by peopel who have either never been here or have read too many magazines.
But I will tell you one fact....Alaska is still no place for a momma's boy or "valley girl". You need a fierce streak of independence in you to hang with the tough times, mostly involving weather.
During a white-out, or just a simple winter storm you are truly cut off from the rest of the world, in more ways than one.

[scottishbloom]

After living in ND and then MT I have been thru quite a few whiteouts - found them thrilling! So the thought of snow doesn't scare me. I am looking at buying land (2-4 acres and bnuilding home) in the Kenai/Soldotna area - can anyone tell me if they have a lot of flooding there. Snow I can handle - flooding doesn't thrill me!

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by IDVague

Most people in the lower 48 think Alaska is frozen solid 365 days a year

Not true, just 364 days of the year.

Originally Posted by IDVague

the sun never sets or it never rises

If you are above 67°N latitude, then for 3 months in the summer the sun never sets, and for 3 months in the winter the sun never rises.

Originally Posted by IDVague

life is an existence in solitude

Only if you want it to be. I'm pretty sure the 250,000+ living in Anchorage don't consider themselves isolated. If they do, it is only isolation from the lower-48.