Moving to Alaska, need a location, help (Anchorage, Juneau and: relocating, homes)

[oneluckymug]

I am coming into enough money that I will no longer need to work. I am still in my 20's and my wife and I are ready to start having kids. I have ALWAYS wanted to move to Alaska and now I can. Here are some things I am looking for. Safe, clean, great schools....relatively rural (no city life, am looking to have minimum 10 to 15 acres and buidling from scratch). i would like somewhere coastal and more south and west or the peninsula. Through my starting research I have found Sitka but don't have info on schools there yet. The research is getting to be less and less fun so am asking for help. Am looking for a few more ideas before I make a trip to check them all out. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance!!!!

[Rance]

Sterling is like that but it is not "on" the coast. About 20 miles from it. If you want that kind of acreage...you might consider Funny River, Kasilof, Ninilchik, Anchor Point, Homer. All but Funny River are pretty much along the coast. Funny River has alot of old homestead land that has been cleared for pasture or hay fields. Some nice country with larger lot's of land for sale.

[Aquila chrysaetos]

I lived in Sitka, Alaska for four years. I'm in my 20's also, and can tell you it is a GREAT place to raise a kid. The schools are very good. It is relatively rural, but has a nice little center of town (lincoln street). The climate is very miled compared to the more northerly/interior parts of Alaska. The people are friendly, and you can find really any niche you would like there. LOTS to do, arts, outdoors, fishing, etc. It even has a movie theatre! I would highly recommend Sitka, but with a few cautions. 1) You will NOT find 10-15 acres there. Sitka is located between the shores of Sitka Sound and the mountains; it's a pretty small area and land is precious. 2) You cannot get off the island unless it is by plane or boat, which can be a hassle and expensive. 3) The cost of living is high, but what do you expect? You'll be living in Alaska on an Island.

Have you checked out Juneau? It's a bigger city (pop ~32000), but is very spread out and you might find the land you are looking for. It's much easier to travel to and from, but is still in SE Alaska. Also check out Petersburg and Wrangell, if you are looking for something really small. I don't know about the land availability in those towns.

I hope this helps!

[MCLMM]

+1 on Sitka. That place is awesome. Even though it's on an island I never felt isolated when I was there. Sitka leans a little to the left in terms of politics and culture. I loved it and can't wait to go back. The Alaska Public Safety Academy is there. The best training for law enforcement officers in Alaska!

[geoffinak85]

If your looking for coastal living and since your comfortable money wise. I would move to Homer or Juneau and start my search there. You can then fly or take the Ferries from and check out each of these coastal communities.
Sitka is very nice. I also liked Cordova. But do not stop your research. The weather is very wet, it's a Northern Tropical Rainforest. Ketchikan gets 100 inches of rain a year, other places, 50 60 inches of rain. The towns all have there different flavor of life and mixture of people. I would definetly find
find the village that suits me the best because there is not a lot of traveling by car and that is great. You just can not explain Alaska untill you walked it and lived it. You will find your place.
Geoff

[archytype]

Not sure why you'd want that much land when the amount of public lands is endless. Just a thought. I live in Alaska and don't understand why anyone would want that much space unless you have livestock or want to build an ATV racetrack or something? Sitka is amazing, Juneau is very nice, Seward is beautiful and I have heard Haines is pretty nice. Seward and Haines are also on the road system. geoffinak85 is right on as to where to look for the amount of land you are seeking.

[archytype]

sorry, it's rance that mentions the places for larger tracts of land...

[BudinAk]

I live in Seward and can tell you the views here are knock-down dead gorgeous, mountains right up to your back door, and ocean on the front door. Seward is also the home of Kenai Fjords National Park...a system of marine life you won't believe...very popular tourist destination. Tour boats run all summer and into the fall. The Seward Highway all the way from Anchorage is a National Scenic Highway....beautiful. Fishing is good to great. On the negative side, it rains a lot here in the fall: Sept and Oct., and winters are long (but they are long EVERYWHERE in Ak) The whole Kenai Peninsula area is a photographers dream...
Anyway, bottem line: put Seward on your list of places to visit...check it out...you won't regret it!

[kpb1nv]

I second Ninilchik, I would move there if I could live there and not work

[Magoon]

Originally Posted by archytype

Not sure why you'd want that much land when the amount of public lands is endless. Just a thought. I live in Alaska and don't understand why anyone would want that much space unless you have livestock or want to build an ATV racetrack or something? Sitka is amazing, Juneau is very nice, Seward is beautiful and I have heard Haines is pretty nice. Seward and Haines are also on the road system. geoffinak85 is right on as to where to look for the amount of land you are seeking.

Hi, I'll be relocating, and I had finally (well...95%) decided on Fairbanks. I have been looking for a place on the outskirts...with land. To me, the dwelling was far less important than the land.

I had wanted land to use for wood (stove, and perhaps logs) and for hunting/fishing. In Vermont, you hunt on your own land, or know someone who will give you permission.

Just when I think I've done so much research...so much reading...I realize I know nothing. http://www.city-data.com:3000/forum/...s/confused.gif


These public lands...people can hunt (with permit) and fish on them? How about cutting wood?

This might get me away from automatically discarding a place because of having only an acre.

Any and all info would be very much appreciated. Thanks