First Post (Anchorage, Fairbanks, Ketchikan: crime, house, buy)

[lookingnorth]

Hello everyone. First post.

I have a couple of questions, but first a little about me.

I have been interested in Alaska for some time. I like remote places and have lived in remote places before, some cold, some not.

I'm in IT with about ten years of experience. I'd like to live in Alaska but not in a major metropolitan area. I don't handle traffic well. I don't like to wait in lines.

I would like to know how feasible it is to come up to AK and try to find a decent IT job without living or working in Anchorage or Juneau? Surely there are jobs in IT that are not in the cities. Now having said that, I wouldn't want to live or work somewhere like Kotzebue or Barrow either. Too remote. Somewhere in the valley, the peninsula or the interior.

I have a daughter. Right now she's young (Pre-K). I'm looking for an area where I can both find work and raise my kid safely. I'm a single dad, so I would need to be in an area where I would have little to no problems with schooling, very high cost of living, etc. Based on just the info I've provided, what are good starting points?

[JavaPhil]

Seward, Kenai, Soldotna, Sterling and Homer. Not much else unless you're willing to put up with the extremes of Fairbanks. IT in Fairbanks has good possibilities (Super-Computing Center in Butrovich Bldg on UAF campus and NOAA about 10 miles out of town.

Kenai area is a little light for IT jobs. Check out state job site.

[Rance]

Which is here:
Alaska Job Center Network

[lookingnorth]

JavaPhil & rance,

Thanks for the info. Are these places you mention pretty safe/good schools, etc? I know the question is general, but have you heard anything overly negative about bad high schools, etc. in the towns you mentioned?

I keep hearing about the "extremes" of Fairbanks. I understand it gets pretty cold up there, but is it really that much different from Anchorage in terms of snow levels, etc, or does the coast stay somehat warmer?

Also, what is the difference, if any, between general attitudes from say, the coast, vs. Fairbanks/interior?

Thanks again...

[Rance]

Well...I for one have no trouble getting along with anybody in any town in Alaska. Unless your looking at moving into a very remote village I don't think you'll have trouble in that dept.
Kenai and Soldotna are 2 of the bigger towns on the peninsula. Might be some IT work around but I have no clue. Anch and Fairbanks would be much easier for that. The school thing...I guess depends on who you ask. 2 different people will give 2 different answers. I've been out of school so long I'm not even gonna try. Both my boys survived Soldotna High and Skyview. All the other towns also have highschools. Mal can enlighten you on the Anchorage schools I think.

[Xa'at]

Hey, man, you missed a bunch of good towns! Ketchikan, Sitka, and Skagway all have Juneau-like scenery and mentalities without all the crowds. Sitka is actually my favorite- sleepy little town with a tourist-hating complex and a large native population. Seems like a great place to raise a kid.

[lookingnorth]

Xa'at,

Thanks for the info. I'll check those places out as well, but doesn't it rain a lot in the panhandle? I can tolerate a good deal of rain, but I need to see the sun a couple of times a month.

You said it seems to be a good place to raise a kid. Why do you say that? You live in the area? What I'm looking for is a place where I can move to, find a good job, make some good friends, and maybe buy a house once I get settled in after a couple of years. I'm laid back, enjoy being remote, enjoy being around people and animals, and would love for my daughter to have a couple of dogs once everything settles and we're in a routine.

Tourists are a blight everywhere, despite the good money they bring in. Some places live for tourism, others hate it. I would not want to live someplace that depended on tourism for the bulk of its existence. There is a lot more crime where there are lots of tourists.

Oh, one more thing. I HAVE to have high-speed Internet no matter where I choose to live. Is high-speed pretty prevalent in AK? Are they pushing it further out into the bush, or is something like HughesNet your only choice?

[JavaPhil]

Xa'at, as a visitor in SE, rather than a resident, I KNEW you would be here to boost your places! LOL. For me to make a comment on SE would be akin to my claiming knowledge of brain surgery. I can find the brain, and I could put a scalpel in it, but would do more damage than good (I think!). I can find SE on a map and have visited numerous times, but due to distance and limited exposure, I can't make intelligent comments on the area.

Listen to Xa'at, dannyl or metlakatla on SE, they're experts on that region.

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by lookingnorth

Xa'at,

Thanks for the info. I'll check those places out as well, but doesn't it rain a lot in the panhandle? I can tolerate a good deal of rain, but I need to see the sun a couple of times a month.

You said it seems to be a good place to raise a kid. Why do you say that? You live in the area? What I'm looking for is a place where I can move to, find a good job, make some good friends, and maybe buy a house once I get settled in after a couple of years. I'm laid back, enjoy being remote, enjoy being around people and animals, and would love for my daughter to have a couple of dogs once everything settles and we're in a routine.

Tourists are a blight everywhere, despite the good money they bring in. Some places live for tourism, others hate it. I would not want to live someplace that depended on tourism for the bulk of its existence. There is a lot more crime where there are lots of tourists.

Oh, one more thing. I HAVE to have high-speed Internet no matter where I choose to live. Is high-speed pretty prevalent in AK? Are they pushing it further out into the bush, or is something like HughesNet your only choice?

Hi!
Sorry, I forgot that my location no longer says "Juneau Alaska". I am from Southeast Alaska, and have traveled the area pretty thoroughly. Sitka remains my favorite. (other than Juneau, because Juneau is my hometown and I love it very much) During the time I have spent there it has struck me that the people are friendly and there is a remote atmosphere while still retaining some civilization. There is high speed internet, although I'm sure that goes away when you leave downtown. Until last year it was actually a college town- Sheldon Jackson just closed their doors, claiming they need a year to fix their budget. Most people I have talked to do not believe they will open again. Meanwhile, most of the students have been taken in by my university, University of Alaska Southeast, which is headquartered in Auke Bay (Juneau) but has a small campus in Sitka.
Most of the Southeastern cities have sold out to the cruise ships, Ketchikan perhaps worst of all. While Sitka didn't go the Petersburg route and bar them completely, I believe the compromise they made is wholly appropriate. The ships aren't allowed to dock (Sitka refused to dredge their harbor) and only one is allowed a day. This way, they still get some income (which is a good thing) but have been able to retain their culture and heritage. You WILL NOT find one of those horrible Jewelry stores in Sitka!
As far as amenities, there is a grocery store, maybe two. No Wal-Mart, no Freddies, no A&P (although I suspect that is coming). Most Sitkans hop on the ferry to Juneau for non-food shopping. After the construction of the Fast Ferry, the Fairweather, it is much easier to get back and forth. What used to be something like a ten hour trip is now four hours, but you still have to stay a few days because the ferry only runs every couple of days, even in the summer. There are a couple of nice restaurants, a Subway, a cinema that plays one movie at a time, a huge electronics depot, and a surf shop. Sitka is also the home of Omega One, makers of the best fish food in the world. (I know this because I use it!) There is a small fish hatchery on the Sheldon Jackson campus.
Don't know about the schools, although I imagine they would be pretty good. Alaskan schools have a fair reputation and I would bet that class sizes are small. There is one high school that is probably fairly overcrowded- 8,000 people in the city total is quite a bit for one small high school.
Sitka has an airport (Rocky Guittirez- SIT) serviced by Alaska Airlines with multiple trips to Juneau daily. As far as I know that is the only place they fly.
Sitka is on the ocean, one of the few SE cities that is. Although there is not pounding surf like the Washington and Oregon Coast, it is certainly more of a coastal town than the others. From what I hear the climate is also slightly milder- less rain. But there is still a lot of rain. Tsunamis are a concern, albeit a minor one, and there is a Tsunami siren and escape routes planned throughout the city.
Whoo. That enough information for one sitting? PM if you want some pictures.

[warptman]

Sitka has a McDonalds, too.