Eagle River (Anchorage, Wasilla, Palmer: sales, houses, pros and cons)

[pgvicar]

.... Can anybody compare Wasilla, Palmer, and Eagle River as places to live, pros and cons ? ... Wouldn' have to commute to Anchorage ... Thnks, PG

[Glitch]

If given a choice between those three locations, I would (and did) choose Wasilla. Although it was a tough choice between Palmer and Wasilla, but ultimately Wasilla won out mainly because of the winds Palmer gets coming down the Matanuska Valley. Technically, I didn't move to Wasilla either. I live about 8 miles west of Wasilla's city limits near Knik and Settler's Bay. Wasilla just happens to be the closest city.

Eagle River had a couple strikes against it, from my point of view. First, it is on the north side of the Chugach Moutain Range, which means it will be in the "shadow" of the mountains during the winter, and southern exposure was very important to me. Second, Eagle River has a slightly higher cost of living than Wasilla or Palmer. The goods in Eagle River are generally cheaper, but the homes and properties were considerably more expensive. Third, I didn't care for the influence Anchorage held over Eagle River. More often than not Anchorage would bully Eagle River into doing what was in the best interest of Anchorage, not Eagle River. Anchorage treats Eagle River like it is just another sub-division of Anchorage, instead of a separate incorporated city. Eagle River's biggest plus, and curse, was that it is only 15 minutes from downtown Anchorage.

[Marty Van Diest]

In my opinion, the very best place to live in those three areas is one little patch just south east of Palmer. It has to be between Smith and Maud Roads. To far North and you are in the Matanuska wind, too far south and you are in the Butte with the Knik wind and it's dust.

That little section is a wind shadow. It is protected by Lazy Mountain and Matanuska Peak. It still gets lots of sunlight, backs right up to public land with great recreational trails, lakes, fishing etc. It can be gusting 70mph in Palmer and flat calm there.

Other than that, you need to get out where Glitch is to escape the Matanuska wind. I live right in the middle of the wind tunnel, and I don't mind it. I've been here for a LONG time. We haven't had a good wind yet this year, but we are due. We usually get several good wind storms every year with gusts as high as 80-90. A few years ago we had one storm where they were over 100mph with temps at about 10 degrees F. That was fun.

Eagle River is close to Anchorage, but not my cup of tea. You really need to take a trip and explore it.

[Glitch]

I get introduced to those winds every day I drive through Palmer Flats. Just the other day traffic was getting buffeted around in 50mph winds. Just a "small blow" to Marty no doubt. But it still had me gripping the wheel tightly with both hands.

Even near Settler's Bay we feel the winds that come down the Matanuska Valley, but they are less than half the strength you'll experience in Palmer.

[Dusty Rhodes]

OK, well.... here in N.C. we only get those types of wind during leap years, ya know.... the times when the politicians are the most active, all those politicos tryin' to out lie each other, tis enough to take the shingles off of some of the more shoddily built houses.

[niclh]

Picture attached is drive to the Valley just last week....

Absolutely stunning.....


I'll add one of Eagle River, we stayed at my buddies house in Eagle River and we really liked it... We didn't spend to much time in the Valley, but the Eagle River commute is much easier and its a pretty nice little spot to live

[niclh]

Picture of the eagle river!

[tazook]

Originally Posted by Marty Van Diest

In my opinion, the very best place to live in those three areas is one little patch just south east of Palmer. It has to be between Smith and Maud Roads. To far North and you are in the Matanuska wind, too far south and you are in the Butte with the Knik wind and it's dust.

That little section is a wind shadow. It is protected by Lazy Mountain and Matanuska Peak. It still gets lots of sunlight, backs right up to public land with great recreational trails, lakes, fishing etc. It can be gusting 70mph in Palmer and flat calm there.

Other than that, you need to get out where Glitch is to escape the Matanuska wind. I live right in the middle of the wind tunnel, and I don't mind it. I've been here for a LONG time. We haven't had a good wind yet this year, but we are due. We usually get several good wind storms every year with gusts as high as 80-90. A few years ago we had one storm where they were over 100mph with temps at about 10 degrees F. That was fun.

Eagle River is close to Anchorage, but not my cup of tea. You really need to take a trip and explore it.

This area seems great. Thanks for posting this useful information.

[AKNana]

My choices would be Eagle River, then Palmer, and a distant third Wasilla. Eagle River and Palmer both have nice little town center areas, while Wasilla is an ugly stream of strip malls along the highway. And the wind! One day we sat in one of the omnipresent fast food joints, and watched unattended cars and dumpsters literally slide across the parking lot. Have to disagree with E.R. being in shadow. This may be true for the Hiland Road side of the river, but the bulk of development is on the north side of the river, facing the south and the sun. Yes, Eagle River is more expensive, but it is a heck of a lot nicer place to live, even not taking into account the much easier commute to Anchorage.

[Marty Van Diest]

Originally Posted by pgvicar

.... Can anybody compare Wasilla, Palmer, and Eagle River as places to live, pros and cons ? ... Wouldn' have to commute to Anchorage ... Thnks, PG

I know this is an old thread but...

I have been doing some research on this exact subject lately. I'm going to write about it soon in my blog. One of the big reasons people move to the valley is the huge difference in housing costs.

Last year 497 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage single family homes, (we just say 3,2 and 2), sold in Anchorage for a median price of $392,000. In the Wasilla/Palmer areas there were 458 sales for an median price of $249,000. That's almost a $150,000 difference. Also, the houses in Wasilla/Palmer tended to be newer and have more land.

If you are going to commute to Anchorage every day you will need to keep that in mind. Many people in the valley have different types of jobs that do not require a daily commute.