is there any reason to live in Fairbanks? (Anchorage, Kenai: crime, house)

[IndianaMatt]

I've never been, but everything I've read tells me its flat and the weather is extreme. No mountains or water near by. Can someone tell me a bit more about Fairbanks? What are the pros and cons?

PS I'm in Anchorage.

[AKStafford]

You are just a six hour drive away... Go take a look at if for yourself.

Most people that are there are there for their job. But it can be a beautiful area. And there's plenty of lakes in the area.

[heathen]

That's the general feeling in Anchorage towards Fairbanks, and we do all we can to keep it that way. We're all social reject hillbillies, with two digit IQs, who live in a swamp that's either mosquito infested or frozen. I wouldn't bother visiting

[Moose Whisperer]

Originally Posted by IndianaMatt

I've never been, but everything I've read tells me its flat and the weather is extreme. No mountains or water near by.

Yup, that pretty much sums it up! (except for the water part, there's a big river that meanders right thru town)

On a serious note, I'm usually up there at least once or twice a month, spending two or three days at a time (in fact just got back from the airport a few hours ago) so Fairbanks feels like my second home (Valdez is #3). I actually really like Fairbanks, but I wouldn't choose to live there. Yes, the climate is more extreme temp wise (though ANC has more extreme storms). But often when I spend time there in winter I don't really notice the cold all that much until I come back to Anchorage where even though it's much warmer, the humidity chills me to the bone. Yet I prefer the Mountain and Inlet scenery of Anchorage over the mainly flat landscape of Fairbanks.

However, my main objections to Fairbanks are ironically in the Summer. It's hot, dusty, often smokey, has more bugs, and the tourists are much more noticeable and annoying there because of the smaller local population. Faibanks is actually nice in the winter because it almost feels like you have the whole town to yourself!

It comes down to personal preference. Anchorage has more variety of things to do and scenery (IMO), while some like more of a small town feel. Just go check it out!

[IndianaMatt]

Originally Posted by Moose Whisperer

Yup, that pretty much sums it up! (except for the water part, there's a big river that meanders right thru town)

On a serious note, I'm usually up there at least once or twice a month, spending two or three days at a time (in fact just got back from the airport a few hours ago) so Fairbanks feels like my second home (Valdez is #3). I actually really like Fairbanks, but I wouldn't choose to live there. Yes, the climate is more extreme temp wise (though ANC has more extreme storms). But often when I spend time there in winter I don't really notice the cold all that much until I come back to Anchorage where even though it's much warmer, the humidity chills me to the bone. Yet I prefer the Mountain and Inlet scenery of Anchorage over the mainly flat landscape of Fairbanks.

However, my main objections to Fairbanks are ironically in the Summer. It's hot, dusty, often smokey, has more bugs, and the tourists are much more noticeable and annoying there because of the smaller local population. Faibanks is actually nice in the winter because it almost feels like you have the whole town to yourself!

It comes down to personal preference. Anchorage has more variety of things to do and scenery (IMO), while some like more of a small town feel. Just go check it out!

Great answer! Thanks so much!

[akpls]

Yeah....80 is just sooooooo hot! At least Fairbanks has a summer.

[heathen]

Most people live in Fairbanks because they want to live in Alaska, but don't want to live in Anchorage. In fact, most interior residents really despise Anchorage. Though it's in a beautiful area, as a town, Anchorage is really just a boring mid-size American city. In Fairbanks you can live a simple, backwoods lifestyle, but also have city amenities, a decent job market, a university, and what I consider a more interesting community. I saw a post of yours in another thread where you described Alaskans as independent, free thinkers and whatnot. Traits like that are amplified in Fairbanks.

I think most of us get a kick out of the weather and light extremes, though I won't go so far as to say it's always "fun." In a place with an average annual temperature below freezing, nobody in their right mind complains that it's ever "too hot..." Personally, consistent low overcast weather gets me down. It's cloudy plenty here too, but the noticeably higher number of sunny and partly sunny days is a big bonus for me.

As far as the landscape goes, it's only "flat" in comparison to the very mountainous southcentral AK. The hills immediately behind Fairbanks are about the scale of much of the Appalachian mountains, with the tops just barely poking up above treeline. The more laid back topography means there are more convenient spots to get up on highpoints and appreciate the immensity and emptiness of the landscape. I find that hard to appreciate in southcentral, where relatively heavily populated areas are hemmed in by high mountains. Besides, I live in Delta, where the 10,000 foot peaks of the eastern Alaska Range are only a 40 minutes drive away. In Fairbanks, mountain-minded folks do drive a lot further on a regular basis to get into the Alaska Range, 2 hours down the Parks Highway, or 2.5 down the Richardson. No ocean here, but lots of lakes and especially beautiful rivers, which provide plenty of recreation. Besides, Anchorage-ites have to go all the way to Homer (or maybe Kenai) to get to a real beach anyway...

If I were only visiting Alaska, I'd absolutely focus on Anchorage and southcentral (or on southeast), where attractions are more densely concentrated, and probably ignore Fairbanks. As a place to live though, it's absolutely a better fit for me. I guess it helps that I have a flexible work schedule and make a hobby of getting around the state a lot. I'm pretty sure I hit every single nice weekend you guys had down there this summer (so about three, haha ).

Downsides that I can't gloss over though are mainly air quality issues: ice fog during cold snaps, and forest fire smoke during warm spells. We get less of both in Delta, but the tradeoff is way more windy days.

[redroofs]

Fairbanks: sunny and warm in the summer. By warm--maybe a week at 80 F and most of the rest of the time between 65 and 75 during the day. So, pretty nice summers. Mosquitos--they can be very bad, but it depends on your scenery. Almost no mosquitos during broad daylight or with light breezes or more. During dusk hours or cloudy days they are pretty brutal, and forget it in boggy areas or around water--wear bug dope and don't wear short shorts, honey.



Anchorage: As a resident of Fairbanks my entire life, I can say that as time goes on there are fewer and fewer reasons to visit anchorage. I used to go for the weekend probably once every two months--just for the hell of it. Now, I have no real reason to go. The entertainment isn't any better unless maybe you want to go to Chilcoot Charlie's ('Coots). Nowadays, we have all the good big retailers we want in Fairbanks, but still have a nice small population and only a short commute to your house from work, which can have actual land..whereas anchorage rush hour is like shooting yourself in the head, only to realize you didn't succeed and you are lying there in misery until someone notices and, one hopes, puts you out of it :-).

I do love the scenery on every side of Anchorage, and the fact you can drive to Kenai and Seward, which both feel like a chilly Maine fishing town out of Murder She Wrote...

I don't love the population and the crime and the incessant grime. And because it is warmer in the winter in Ancho, they have way more chronic inebriates and the like on the street. Only the toughest, bad*** drunks and druggies can cut the homeless life in Fairbanks, where the winter lows can hit -70 F in the valleys, no windchill.

Also--Fairbanks is the cross-country skiiing mecca. Anchorage is awesome for downhill.

[tidelines]

Why would you ask if you live so close but haven't taken it upon yourself to drive up, read a newspaper, check out the online resources, or otherwise visited to learn more? That's what religion and politics are for - to spoonfeed you all the information you won't investigate for yourself...

[NOTAM]

if those are not good arguments for choosing Fairbanks over Anchorage, I dont know what is......

Originally Posted by redroofs

Fairbanks: sunny and warm in the summer. By warm--maybe a week at 80 F and most of the rest of the time between 65 and 75 during the day. So, pretty nice summers. Mosquitos--they can be very bad, but it depends on your scenery. Almost no mosquitos during broad daylight or with light breezes or more. During dusk hours or cloudy days they are pretty brutal, and forget it in boggy areas or around water--wear bug dope and don't wear short shorts, honey.



Anchorage: As a resident of Fairbanks my entire life, I can say that as time goes on there are fewer and fewer reasons to visit anchorage. I used to go for the weekend probably once every two months--just for the hell of it. Now, I have no real reason to go. The entertainment isn't any better unless maybe you want to go to Chilcoot Charlie's ('Coots). Nowadays, we have all the good big retailers we want in Fairbanks, but still have a nice small population and only a short commute to your house from work, which can have actual land..whereas anchorage rush hour is like shooting yourself in the head, only to realize you didn't succeed and you are lying there in misery until someone notices and, one hopes, puts you out of it :-).

I do love the scenery on every side of Anchorage, and the fact you can drive to Kenai and Seward, which both feel like a chilly Maine fishing town out of Murder She Wrote...

I don't love the population and the crime and the incessant grime. And because it is warmer in the winter in Ancho, they have way more chronic inebriates and the like on the street. Only the toughest, bad*** drunks and druggies can cut the homeless life in Fairbanks, where the winter lows can hit -70 F in the valleys, no windchill.

Also--Fairbanks is the cross-country skiiing mecca. Anchorage is awesome for downhill.