Post about regrets or not? Why so many? Here is my thoughts (Anchorage: travel)

[travelmate38]

If you can come to Alaska and actually live like a real Alaskan, then there is no place like it. If you plan to live here, plan to buy a home with some actual land with it. Something with a view and a place you can take pride in. It does not have to be a golden palace, but something you look forward to coming home to.

So many folks move here with all these "pie in the sky" thoughts and they just do not pan out. They end up living in a trailer, or 4 plex while grinding out 40-60 hour work weeks. This is not living in Alaska. Forget the frigghen romantic notion some will tell you about in regards to winter. Winter here is ugly, dark, cold, gloomy and longer then the bearing straight! If you live in the valley, it is windy and cold all the time during the winter. When it's -20 degrees and the wind blows daily at 60 mph for a month straight....... if you do not go insane, you will have qualified for a trip to the space station. It gets that bad.

The summers are another story. It is paradise here in the summer. It does drizzle and we do have overcast most of the summer, but it is still nice. A lot of these blokes here will tell you about the 24 hours of sunlight and green landscape and while it is true, they won't tell you about the 3-5 weeks of daily non stop rain followed by the 3-5 weeks of daily overcast clouds we ALWAYS get in the summer!

The people here are different. In Anchorage they are mostly mix matched lower 48 folks with various degrees in their attitudes. Out in the valley, it is more laid back. If you plan to own a business, I hope you can run it yourself, because nobody in the Mat-Su knows how or wishes to know how to work. Putting it bluntly, lots of lazy, unreliable, people live there. That being said, folks here are generally nice.

Another observation I've known over the years in the Mat-SU, lots of mentally ill, outright crazy people move here. Lots of opportunities for your kids to become depressed and find drugs in their quest for an answer. Lots of Joe six-packers, growing pot, drinking and driving. Lots of good ole boy stuff in the valley. Lots of very shady, scary, miserable people who believe in isolation and will greet you at their front porch with a bottle of jack in one hand and a shotgun in the other. I've literally turned down a wrong street before and had some freak come out on their porch with a gun staring me down because I turned don his street and he did not know who I was.

It is a mix match of folks out here. You get all types, some good, some bad some very scary, hard headed people live here.

There are limited opportunities for young people here. Limited in education and employment. If you come here, start a family or bring one with you, chances are about 90% they will all move away. 10 years ago, I had 22 family members living here. Today it is just my wife and I. All my friends move away forcing you to find new friendships all the time. This is the sad truth. Your kids will never likely feel that good old fashioned “Going back to my home town” once they grow up. For me it’s been a mix of some good, mostly bad. I want out and am doing so in about a year. I’ve had enough. Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble. Some love it here, many do not. Come stay for a winter and if you were thrilled beyond belief with WINTER, not summer, then maybe it is for you. If you even found that winter to be a little tough, don’t stay because it will wear on you as the years go by.

[cobolt]

I think you'll find crime-ridden areas and strange or shady characters wherever you go, be it Alaska or not. Friends come and go, move away and pursue other opportunities or react to life circumstances. We live in an increasingly mobile society. Life isn't static. I don't know that "coming home" holds nostalgia for many people these days. Most of their childhood stomping grounds have changed or morphed beyond their recognition. Cities and towns grow or dry up.

I think most of the points you made about AK and the Mat-Su in particular can be said for anywhere, any city USA, with the exception of the winter/light issues and cost of living. The first, being unique to the northern latitudes.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Each person's experience will differ as well, based on his or her circumstance, upbringing, mentality, etc. Alaska isn't for everybody. Neither is Chicago or small town USA.

All any of us can do is be well informed and make decisions based on that. Experience is a brutal teacher. Her lessons are hard.

Best wishes and fair winds to you, Travelermate38. May you find your settling place.

[DannyL]

you think you have some strange ducks there, come spend some time here.

[cobolt]

Yeah, Danny....there's enough quacking to go around, isn't there?

[DannyL]

more than enough. you know, if i wanted to be negative I could make a full time job of it here. We get enough strange cases here to keep Dr. Phil entertained for 5 lifetimes.
But I don't live here for them, I live here for me. And that is probably the only "me" thing you will ever hear me say.
But Alaska does seem to have some sort of weird magnatism for the strange, the weird, the "this place will fix me" types. And all they do is bring their BS life with them, with their BS habits, and Alaska will just magnify them.
Alaska will not "fix" anything, but it will make you face yourself with reality. And a whole bunch usually don't like what they find.

[Barkingowl]

I could've bought a pretty nice place last year in the valley & didn't. I think that's what I regret the most right now. On the other hand paying taxes for a place that I'm not living in would've not been a good thing.

[cobolt]

Agreed, agreed. Places don't fix people. People fix people.

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by cobolt

Agreed, agreed. Places don't fix people. People fix people.

Very true. I just heard that my "home" has grown to 2 million including the surrounding areas. Ugh...

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by travelmate38

If you can come to Alaska and actually live like a real Alaskan, then there is no place like it. If you plan to live here, plan to buy a home with some actual land with it. Something with a view and a place you can take pride in. It does not have to be a golden palace, but something you look forward to coming home to.

So many folks move here with all these "pie in the sky" thoughts and they just do not pan out. They end up living in a trailer, or 4 plex while grinding out 40-60 hour work weeks. This is not living in Alaska. Forget the frigghen romantic notion some will tell you about in regards to winter. Winter here is ugly, dark, cold, gloomy and longer then the bearing straight! If you live in the valley, it is windy and cold all the time during the winter. When it's -20 degrees and the wind blows daily at 60 mph for a month straight....... if you do not go insane, you will have qualified for a trip to the space station. It gets that bad.

The summers are another story. It is paradise here in the summer. It does drizzle and we do have overcast most of the summer, but it is still nice. A lot of these blokes here will tell you about the 24 hours of sunlight and green landscape and while it is true, they won't tell you about the 3-5 weeks of daily non stop rain followed by the 3-5 weeks of daily overcast clouds we ALWAYS get in the summer!

The people here are different. In Anchorage they are mostly mix matched lower 48 folks with various degrees in their attitudes. Out in the valley, it is more laid back. If you plan to own a business, I hope you can run it yourself, because nobody in the Mat-Su knows how or wishes to know how to work. Putting it bluntly, lots of lazy, unreliable, people live there. That being said, folks here are generally nice.

Another observation I've known over the years in the Mat-SU, lots of mentally ill, outright crazy people move here. Lots of opportunities for your kids to become depressed and find drugs in their quest for an answer. Lots of Joe six-packers, growing pot, drinking and driving. Lots of good ole boy stuff in the valley. Lots of very shady, scary, miserable people who believe in isolation and will greet you at their front porch with a bottle of jack in one hand and a shotgun in the other. I've literally turned down a wrong street before and had some freak come out on their porch with a gun staring me down because I turned don his street and he did not know who I was.

It is a mix match of folks out here. You get all types, some good, some bad some very scary, hard headed people live here.

There are limited opportunities for young people here. Limited in education and employment. If you come here, start a family or bring one with you, chances are about 90% they will all move away. 10 years ago, I had 22 family members living here. Today it is just my wife and I. All my friends move away forcing you to find new friendships all the time. This is the sad truth. Your kids will never likely feel that good old fashioned “Going back to my home town” once they grow up. For me it’s been a mix of some good, mostly bad. I want out and am doing so in about a year. I’ve had enough. Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble. Some love it here, many do not. Come stay for a winter and if you were thrilled beyond belief with WINTER, not summer, then maybe it is for you. If you even found that winter to be a little tough, don’t stay because it will wear on you as the years go by.

You posted that Valley folks are lazy, don't know how to do anything?? Well as a born and bred Alaskan I am here to tell you that I don't know where you get your info, but take a look at the Parks and Glenn at the commuters going to WORK in Anchorage. Matter of fact, so many have moved to the Valley, which is the fastest growing in Alaska, that it is getting too crowded and too many people who don't know how to drive. Don't categorize everyone into one lump because of where they live. I don't know where you live in Alaska or where you're from, but you are very sadly mistaken and wrong about your Valley comment.

[cobolt]

It's probably a person with a bad experience who has decided to stereotype the area and its people based on that. Rarely in life are things so simple or black and white as to put all the onus on one place, person or thing, as if.....