Looking for advice: Potential move to Unalaska (Anchorage, Hope: for sale, homes)

[UnalaskaMover]

Hi there,

I am looking at potentially moving for a skilled job in Unalaska. I come from Ohio, but have spent time in Toronto, where I experienced cold and wind. I have two dogs, a ten pound Miniture Poodle Yorkie, and a fifty pound mixed dog.

My partner would be willing to stay home and take care of the dogs and bake bread and kind of homestead. (The job pays around 50,000 a year). Is it possible to have chickens, plant a few vegetables, or some other homesteading?

Is this job enough to support us, as the area is expensive? Is the area LGBTQ friendly? I read that Dutch Harbor is pretty LGTBQ friendly, with many LGBTQ fishermen.

What is it really like living here? Is there any housing even available? I have tried multiple websites and only found one lot for sale.

Thanks for all potential help!

[Sockeye66]

Skilled job at $50,000/yr is very low for the area. It is expensive, especially if flying in and out, be prepared to budget for that.

I've spent some time in various villages along the Alaska Peninsula but am not an expert when it comes to planting vegetables or tending chickens, I can say I've never seen it.

LGTBQ friendly? Alaskans traditoinally are an independent bunch, live and let live. I doubt of much LGTBQ events or culture.

[Northrick]

I don't think anyone can truly understand living with wind unless you spend some time on the chain. Vegetables will do best in a greenhouse. I suppose something would survive outside (root crops maybe?) Chickens will likely need to be kept penned as I suspect bald eagles would find them irresistible if running around out in the open.


I agree with Sockeye, $50K is low for living out there.

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by Sockeye66

Skilled job at $50,000/yr is very low for the area. It is expensive, especially if flying in and out, be prepared to budget for that.

I've spent some time in various villages along the Alaska Peninsula but am not an expert when it comes to planting vegetables or tending chickens, I can say I've never seen it.

LGTBQ friendly? Alaskans traditoinally are an independent bunch, live and let live. I doubt of much LGTBQ events or culture.

Agree. That wage is going to mean a very very tight living budget. You are going to pay through the nose for just about everything you need: groceries, utilities (you won't have a choice who to buy your power from, probably your fuels from), every household article as it all has to be airfreighted in. Won't be much brand choice...you buy what someone chooses to stock or you mail order it. Everything you order off the web (and that will be the only place to get it) will come with a freight surcharge. Granted, there won't be many temptations to spend any extra money on...but it will get eaten up by basic living anyway. Don't know what sort of medical care is available but you'll probably be flying to Anchorage for much out of the routine. Count on those flights being delayed by bad weather a LOT which means unexpected lodging expenses in town waiting! Hope you've got a strong stomach! Of course there is the ferry but it doesn't run out as far as Unalaska all that frequently, it isn't a quick way to get anywhere, and the state is busy gutting its budget.

I haven't spent time in Unalaska but I have worked and lived in other small coastal bush towns accessible only by ferry and air. Unalaska is just farther out and the weather simply can't be ignored.

Don't know what you mean by "homesteading". You're not going to subsist off your land...what you need is going to be brought in at a cost. Even lumber, maybe even firewood. Fish may be plentiful offshore, but it will take a lot of effort and a big vessel to get to them. I can't imagine much of anything will grow outside a greenhouse except the root veggies (potatoes, turnips, carrots, etc) and things will grow slowly...chilly, very windy, and cloudy most of the time. Soils will be poor and thin; the chance that you find a place where anyone has built up the soil is very low. Chickens will be indoors and eating feed you have shipped in the majority of the time.

As for property, there may only be one or two places on the market depending on the season. Very expensive to build anything so available housing is probably full. Finding a place could be more by word of mouth. Don't expect amenities in housing. I'd ask your potential employer for help finding a place. In fact, ask the employer about living costs and the other logistics.

I'm not intentionally trying to badmouth the place at all. It simply is what it is...a long way from everything else. Hard to describe how different the style of living is in such places. You have to be patient, flexible, be good at managing your expectations, self contained, with a very good sense of humor.

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by Northrick

I don't think anyone can truly understand living with wind unless you spend some time on the chain. Vegetables will do best in a greenhouse. I suppose something would survive outside (root crops maybe?) Chickens will likely need to be kept penned as I suspect bald eagles would find them irresistible if running around out in the open.


I agree with Sockeye, $50K is low for living out there.

There are also foxes on Unalaska. They'll go to some effort to get a nice fat domestic chicken! Maybe mink too.

[Metlakatla]

The soils there wouldn't sustain a vegetable garden.

I brought in soil for my place in SE and paid hundreds of dollars just to have a small plot.

[UnalaskaMover]

Thank you all for your answers!

[sattajodi]

Welcome you bro see you