The Pros of Living in Alaska (Anchorage, Kenai: relocate, military, work)

[stvincent]

I am from Atlanta, Georgia and contrary to popular belief its a very large, congested city and not a sleepy southern town. I know that when people come here they are suprised to find that what they have heard about our city to be largely false. I envision living in Alaska to be miserable at best because of the cold weather and the isolation away from the rest of the U.S. I am very "trendy" in that I love to go shopping at nice stores, I like eating at nice restaurants, and going to fun cultural events. Are there alot of people like that in Anchorage. Is it a progressive or consevative city. I am just wanting to debunk many of the steryotypes I have heard about the city and the state. Any feedback would be gretly appreciated.

[snowghost]

Do you want to know about Anchorage, or about Alaska in general? I considered moving to Alaska years ago, and spent some time looking around Anchorage and down through the Kenai. I loved the Kenai, but Anchorage? Not so much. Strip malls once out of the downtown, plus a rather dull downtown. This was 6 years ago, so things may have changed since then as it appears every Tom, **** and Harry is moving to Alaska. I went to one 'bar' when I was there, which was a meatmarket like every town has one. Chinooks, maybe? Can't recall name. At any rate, if you love shopping and trendy things, why don't you try Seattle instead? Then, you can have cold, damp, and wind...plus more shopping. Or, if you want smaller, try Portland. That said, if you like the wilderness and incredibly large open spaces, Alaska is the tops. I backpacked for a couple of weeks and thought it was the most beautiful place I had ever been- so many colors reflected in the mountain sides...and views to die for.

I've never thought anything nice about Atlanta. Spent a week there once. Hot, humid, smells like pollution, sprawl.

Good luck!

[niceplacetovisit]

Originally Posted by stvincent

II am very "trendy" in that I love to go shopping at nice stores, I like eating at nice restaurants, and going to fun cultural events. Are there alot of people like that in Anchorage. .

I am not sure there are many people in many cities that call themselves "trendy".

Originally Posted by stvincent

I am from Atlanta, Georgia and contrary to popular belief its a very large, congested city and not a sleepy southern town.

When were these beliefs popular? the 50s? Ya mean yous dont pass Forrest Gump on da bus bench in da mornin'?

Originally Posted by stvincent

I am just wanting to debunk many of the steryotypes I have heard about the city and the state. Any feedback would be gretly appreciated.

What are the stereotypes? Perhaps we can start with those.

[Rance]

Your right. This place is horrible. Please tell everyone you know and meet...to not even consider this cold, desolate, backwoods place for a place to live. What person in their right mind would want to wear Carhart's and eat fresh meat? Rumor has it...Maine is the place to go!

[MAINEr]

Rance,

Your going to have eveyone moving to Maine before
I can get out

[Rance]

Yeah...but that should keep a space open for ya! :-)

[stvincent]

[/quote] were these beliefs popular? the 50s? Ya mean yous dont pass Forrest Gump on da bus bench in da mornin'?

What are the stereotypes? Perhaps we can start with those.[/quote]

You would not believe how many visitors come to this city and find that it is as spread out as most U.S. citites and faces many of the same problems as every other major American city does. In places like New York and Chicago among other Northern cities, they have gotten it in their minds that we are slow, that we don't have diverse shopping and dining options, and that we are somehow behind in being able to attract cultural events to our city.

I should not have used the word "trendy" to descirbe myself. I just meant to imply that I like shopping, dining, and cultural events. I know that alot of people view ATlanta in the wrong light, how in this day and age I do not know...and I was wondering if someone could inform me of upscale places to live, shop, and dine in Anchorage. I did not mean to make it seem as if I was interested in the entire state of Alaska. I can tolerate cold weather and I love snow so thats no problem. But, I do not like to partake in outdoors-type activities and I wondered if I would be in the minority there because of that.

I know thats alot!

[tkx7]

Alaska stereotypes: I envision people helping their neighbors shoveling walkways and using cross country skiis or a doglsed to go to school. Moose roam freely up and down the Anchorage streets, being more of a concern than gangs or crime. The citizens kill seals for blubber and hold ceremonies when the days start to get longer again. All males have beards and wear flannel shirts. From time to time, everyone sits around watching eskimos build fires, learning ways to live off the harsh land. People play hockey or go fishing for fun and enjoy making stabs at 'the lower 48.' Are these streotypes accurate????

[MidniteBreeze]

snowghost...maybe you're thinking of Chilkoot Charlie's? That was the cool place to go when I was there (I was college-aged then.)

stvincent:

This is my experience from 10 years ago, but my impression of Anchorage is it's pretty much like any other "lower 48" city of similar size. The major exceptions are the cost of goods (costs more to ship stuff up there), the climate/sunlight thing and the proximity to the wilderness. Alaskans have a saying "Anchorage is great, it's only 20 minutes from Alaska."

Like other U.S. cities, there are nice areas of town and there are scummy areas. Shopping ranges from wal-mart to upscale botiques, dining ranges from McDonald's to fancy seafood places. There's actually a surprisingly nice array of ethnic spots (anything from Mexican to Thai to Mongolian BBQ) due to the ethnic diversity of the city.

While Alaska naturally tends to attract "outsiders" who are into outdoors stuff (much like NYC tends to attract people who are into "urban" stuff), there are people there who aren't necessarily so inclined; i.e., military families, people who relocated for work, younger people who were born there and happen to have other interests, etc.

As far as Anchorage being "conservative" or "progressive", I'd say it's somewhere in between. Many "native" Alaskans (meaning people who were born there, especially 2nd generation or more) tend to be conservative in the sense that they don't want Alaska to become another California, or Seattle or whatever. But the influx of so many different kinds of people inevitably changes the cultural, social, political, and physical landscape...for better or for worse.

Not sure if that answers your question (and hopefully someone who actually lives there now can give you better insight) but that's my take on it.

[superstition]

As someone who has grown up and spent most of her life in Anchorage...

From tkx7:
I envision people helping their neighbors shoveling walkways and using cross country skiis or a doglsed to go to school. - No on all counts.

Moose roam freely up and down the Anchorage streets, being more of a concern than gangs or crime. - Yes on the first bit, to an extent. But no one is concerned, and with 19 homicides to date for this year, crime is quite a bit more attention-grabbing.

The citizens kill seals for blubber and hold ceremonies when the days start to get longer again. - These might be true in remote villages. I have no idea. It's definitely not a city thing.

All males have beards and wear flannel shirts. - On the beards, it is sad how accurate that is. Carhartts are more popular than flannel.

From time to time, everyone sits around watching eskimos build fires, learning ways to live off the harsh land. - Maybe tourists?

People play hockey or go fishing for fun and enjoy making stabs at 'the lower 48.' - Hockey isn't as popular as it may seem, except for the local Aces. The last part is absolutely true.

On things MidniteBreeze mentioned, to be more vague: Alaska is ridiculously conservative, the shopping is a joke compared to any other city its size, and the dining options are pretty limited once you weed out the places that sound good but aren't.

The bottom line is that anyone moving to Alaska had better be doing so because of the nature it has to offer, and not because the city of Anchorage sounds interesting. It isn't, and it is definitely not on par with other cities its size in the states. And unless you spend a good chunk of your time doing things outdoors, or have family or some other reason to stay, you'll quite likely be wanting to move within two years.