relocating to Alaska (Anchorage, Petersburg, Haines: living in, to move, things to do)

[serenity07]

I will probably sound stupid, but here goes. I have many questions to ask about Alaska. I have always dreamed of living in Alaska and hope to move there sometime this year. My kids and I currently live in Kentucky. I do not like raising my kids here. I am in the process of starting a business from home.Is there anyone who can tell me about running a homebased business in Alaska? Also what are the best areas to raise kids in Alaska? I am looking for a friendly area where we can make friends. All advice and info will be greatly appreciated.

[Alaskagrl]

There are other folks with more knowledge that will undoubtedly reply to you, but here's my take: I feel as if rural/semi rural Alaska is a great place to raise kids, but if they are older, they may rebel; kids here do have to be imaginative and creative to find things to do...unless they have numerous electronic devices to play with at home! True, there are problems with drugs and drinking here among youth, but I also see youth creating their own healthy entertainment much more here; and doing more outdoor things as a rule. I don't believe in "there's nothing to do" as an excuse for drug use...wasn't used this way as much in the "old" days. (The healthy, creative youth here usually have involved and loving parents, too) A bit of my opinion on the kids issue...now for the homebased business: it might be a little more difficult to do that here, but if you are well-equipped it could work. It would probably help to have some kind of customer base already established (depends a lot on the type of business, I'm sure). You would probably want to live in or near a more urban area for this; rural AK does not have great internet/phone service; in fact, many areas have none!
As far as specific areas: probably you'd want to look at cities like Juneau, Anchorage...or smaller but progressive communities like Petersburg or Haines. As I said, the pros will probably answer some of these questions with expert advice; I have only been living in Southeast AK for 4 years and I do not have children, so these are my humble perspectives; I do work with area youth and families.