comparison of Homer vs. Kenai (Soldotna, Seward: how much, houses, living)

[Deb]

Can anyone describe the differences between Kenai/Soldotna vs. Homer? Is it flat in Kenai/Soldotna and hilly in Homer? How about the weather? Does Kenai/Soldotna get a lot more sun and less rain? How much rain does Homer get? Is it cloudy a lot? Is one place more expensive to live?

[AkDragonfly]

Hi Deb,

I live in Seward which is on the other side of the peninsula from Kenai and Homer but I can answer a few of your questions.

Kenai and Soldotna are about 10 miles apart, Kenai being west of Soldotna and on the Cook Inlet. Soldotna is more inland and on the Kenai River. Soldotna is sorta hilly, then as you travel toward Kenai it gets pretty flat but still has lots of trees and is a pretty area.

Homer is the end of the road for the west side of the peninsula, just as Seward is the end of the road for the east side. Homer is sort of hilly, but surrounded by some beautiful mountains and is on Cook Inlet.

Yes, it is dryer in Kenai/Soldotna. As for sun... that depends on the time of year and what kind of summer/winter we're having. This year June has been pretty cloudy all month, that holds true in Homer too. When the weather is clear and sunny in the summer it's nice and Kenai/Soldotna is a bit warmer. I think Homer has more wind than Kenai also, and I do bellieve they get more rain in Homer too. Go to one of the weather sites and look for the average rain fall for the areas your are interested in, you'll get a lot more info there than what anyone could tell you.

As for cost of living... Homer is more expensive, it also attracts more tourists, they are everywhere in the summer. Homer is also more of an artist town. It's beautiful in Homer, but Kenai is also beautiful, just sort of a different kind.

The west side of the peninsula has more of a Russian influance which is interesting IMO. There are also a lot of small towns in between the two places, do a search for places like Anchor Point, Funny River, Kasilof, Clam Gulch and see what you find. One good place to see what things are like is searching for house on one of the realestate sites. Then you get a feel for the area and the types of houses and costs.

One thing you didn't mention is snow. Both areas get snow and I think it gets colder in the Kenai area than in Homer. Homer is more like Seward, where I live, in climate I think. Often times it's warmer here than in Colorado where I'm from. We can have some pretty mild winters here and over the past 10 years or so it's gotten more and more mild in the winter.

I hope this helped

Nancy