Info on Alaskan Cities (Kodiak, Palmer: crime rate, living in, professionals)

[neighborly1]

I haved lived in the Arizona desert my entire adult life and will hopefully be moving in a few years. I was looking for information on cities around Alaska.
I wanted to find out about the crime, politcs, and religion in certain area.

What are the politics of the following areas: Prince of Wales Island, Palmer, Kodiak, Haines, and Seward?
Are they more Liberal or Conservative?
Are these are more or less Christain areas?
What is the crime like in these areas? I have read that the crime rate is pretty high in Alaska, any reason why?
Living in the desert all my adult life, I have never had to drive in the snow and ice. How difficult is the driving up there?

Thanks for any help on these questions.

[allforcats]

Hi, neighborly1. You can get a head start on the statistical information you're asking about for Alaska, Montana and Oregon by going up to the top of this page, and clicking on "City-Data.com". On the new page, scroll down to select a state. On the state page, follow the instructions regarding population figures to find the many towns you've specified, most of which have small populations.

Have fun! :-)

[allforcats]

DRIVING IN SNOW AND ON ICE is an activity that can quickly turn deadly for many reasons, not the least of which would be your reaction to huge animals running toward your vehicle. It is a specialized skill, requiring qualified specialized instruction and qualified supervised practice to prevent your death and the deaths of others on the road.

In most areas of Montana and Alaska and some areas of Oregon, you will need a vehicle, tires and spare tires that can handle icy surfaces, deep snow, and sometimes driving wind, and be multi-weatherized to -20 F. In addition, some areas of Alaska will require that a vehicle be multi-weatherized to lower than -40 F, depending on the location.

Some of the places you are asking about in Alaska, Montana and Oregon will require that you learn how to drive in semi-flood conditions and deep mud that can last for weeks, either in the spring or the fall or both, and that you drive a vehicle that can survive in those conditions.

I'll leave it to others on the Alaska forum to explain why all that might be worth doing :-)

[Rance]

Feel free to scroll through the many older threads that identify many of your questions.

[Metlakatla]

Prince of Wales Island is a monarchy.

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Prince of Wales Island is a monarchy.

And Metlakatla is the queen. I am told she a just and fair queen, though, except when her hairdresser becomes a cocaine addict.

[Dusty Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Xa'at

And Metlakatla is the queen. I am told she a just and fair queen, though, except when her hairdresser becomes a cocaine addict.

Quite understandable, Cocaine addicts are enought to make a saint pull his (or her) hair out. Us less saintly types tend to be prone to somewhat less than civilized reactions.

[neighborly1]

"DRIVING IN SNOW AND ON ICE is an activity that can quickly turn deadly for many reasons, not the least of which would be your reaction to huge animals running toward your vehicle. It is a specialized skill, requiring qualified specialized instruction and qualified supervised practice to prevent your death and the deaths of others on the road."

You make it sound as driving in snow and ice needs to be done by only professionals. It would seem to me that nearly half of the population of the United States does it. I'm sure it takes paying more attention than driving in the desert, but it can't be that bad.

How is the Palmer area as far as a small town to live and raise a family? Is it more of a consrevative or liberal area?

[Rance]

Nearly half the population does not have moose on their highways like we do! This is no joke. And in winter they tend to hang out on the roads as the snow get's deeper in the woods and ditches. They stand very tall and the front end of vehicles takes their legs out from under them. So they land perfectly on the hood or in the windshield. At 55 mph they will and do kill people. Not to mention the vehicle damage.

What does conservative and what does liberal mean? Your gonna have to work with me. I'm politicaly challenged. And does it matter? I'm sure all of my neighbors each have their own views on politics. It's none of my concern and I could really care less as long as they are good neighbors.

[Xa'at]

Alaska (with the exception of my proud city) has a tendency to come off as being "conservative", but it's more of a "libertarian" conservative than a "neocon" conservative. (Fine line, I know ) My point is, most people are of the "let me do my thing and you can do yours" political orientation. That's just the way we do it around here.

(servers too busy? Gosh, did someone manage to take a picture of me and post it? )