hey guys it's clay!!!! (Fairbanks: how much, quality of life, living)

[clay576]

hi everyone again! glad to see that my comments generated a few comments. anyway, i apologize if I came off a little strong and assholish at first, lol. I'm still going to move there and then when I do I hope to meet some of you smartasses and we can get a few drinks and hopefully throw a few fists! I don't admonish you alaskans for having pride, that's fine, you've got a great state and I'm betting you feel a bit protective of it. unfortunately for you, it's not YOURS! lol, it's God's and all of ours, so anyone that wants can come up there. I would just think that maybe you guys/gals would want to be a bit more friendly and accepting and....HELPFUL. Then again, I don't hang on forums all day long like you kiddos so I guess I don't know the etiquette. anyway, I like your spirit certainly. I dont 'think' I'm mean naturally but hell maybe I am. anyway, I envy those cloudy skies and green vistas.....you guys probably take it for granted. it's still 98 here today.

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by clay576

hi everyone again! glad to see that my comments generated a few comments. anyway, i apologize if I came off a little strong and assholish at first, lol. I'm still going to move there and then when I do I hope to meet some of you smartasses and we can get a few drinks and hopefully throw a few fists! I don't admonish you alaskans for having pride, that's fine, you've got a great state and I'm betting you feel a bit protective of it. unfortunately for you, it's not YOURS! lol, it's God's and all of ours, so anyone that wants can come up there. I would just think that maybe you guys/gals would want to be a bit more friendly and accepting and....HELPFUL. Then again, I don't hang on forums all day long like you kiddos so I guess I don't know the etiquette. anyway, I like your spirit certainly. I dont 'think' I'm mean naturally but hell maybe I am. anyway, I envy those cloudy skies and green vistas.....you guys probably take it for granted. it's still 98 here today.

No, we take nothing for granted up here. The beauty surrounds us and it never gets old. And no, Clay, we don't think we own Alaska....we just don't like it when people assume things about us and come here and try to make it like the same place they left; or think they can do exactly as they want because it is Alaska.

[clay576]

finally a reasonable response......and thank you for that.

[Metlakatla]

Sure you can come up here. The state used to have a program where they would pay the transportation costs back to the lower 48 for those who came up and couldn't find work or whatever and got stuck. I don't think they still have that so get a round trip ticket just in case things don't work out.

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by clay576

finally a reasonable response......and thank you for that.

You're welcome.

[starlite9]

Alaska itself runs more folks off because they can't take a varity of reasons like bugs, short days, long winters, extreme cold, deep snow, lonely places, cost of living, no jobs and the list goes on. There is also a host of reasons people stay... But like Met said, have a backup plan for getting back down south if the reasons to go out number the the reasons to stay.

Nobody here has to poke at your wanting to be here, it is more of what you can take and give back. Less than about 25% of the people here were born here, that doesn't count those that came and left.

[Marty Van Diest]

Days like today are what keep people here. Went up to Hatcher Pass this evening. It was gorgeous. Saw a double rainbow over the mountains, rock ptarmigan up by Summit Lake and lot of fall colors.

Now wait until December when it's 10 below with 60 knot winds...then say you love it here...

[kittymama]

Hi Clay. Before moving from Texas to Alaska, make sure and read all my posts. :-) As someone who suffers from severe SAD, I cannot tell you how much better I've felt this past month since relocating to south Austin, Texas. I'm just so glad when I wake up every morning and realize that winter isn't coming and I get to see the sun every single day!!!! I never knew how beautiful Texas could be until I suffered through 6 Alaskan winters. But yes, Alaska taught me never to take a sunrise for granted and to stop complaining about the weather, because until you see an Alaskan winter, you just don't know how awful it is possible for weather TO get. I see you're married, so make sure that you wife is behind the move too.

[Alaskapat528]

Originally Posted by kittymama

Hi Clay. Before moving from Texas to Alaska, make sure and read all my posts. :-) As someone who suffers from severe SAD, I cannot tell you how much better I've felt this past month since relocating to south Austin, Texas. I'm just so glad when I wake up every morning and realize that winter isn't coming and I get to see the sun every single day!!!! I never knew how beautiful Texas could be until I suffered through 6 Alaskan winters. But yes, Alaska taught me never to take a sunrise for granted and to stop complaining about the weather, because until you see an Alaskan winter, you just don't know how awful it is possible for weather TO get. I see you're married, so make sure that you wife is behind the move too.

Good advice. It sounds like you are already settled in. Does the heat bother you much?

[kittymama]

I've noticed the heat. And yes, if I could write the weather, every day would have a high in the lower 80's and a low in the upper 60's and be mostly sunny. Having not been here all summer, it hasn't really gotten to me. First of all, the mornings aren't that hot, even on days when it gets to a hundred, so I've managed to spend at least an hour outside most days. But second of all, every time, it feels a hot outside, I remember putting a parka and warming up my car and the snow boots and the ice fog and how miserable the cold felt and shrug it off as only "mildly annoying." :-) A couple of thoughts - it only takes the car a couple of minutes to cool down with air conditioning. I actually NOTICED that because it took 15 minutes or MORE to get my car warm enough not to swear when getting into it (and I was wearing a parka and boots).

But yeah, other posters are right. The weather and climate are what drive people away from Alaska, not the people. Also, the climate and weather affect the quality of life in Alaska to the extent that the economy is always going to heavily influenced by it. The people in Alaska are pretty friendly. Some of them will tell you that people in the lower 48 aren't as friendly, though I've noticed Austinites being at least as friendly as Alaskans since my arrival here.

I guess, I will sum up what I see as being a big difference in the way Alaskans and Texans view the world. When the economy starts booming down here and they construct new strip malls, residents may not be happy about the new traffic, pollution, etc... However, most people in the lower 48 will grumble and put up with the new strip mall/box store, etc... Alaskans are the sort that hate strip malls and box stores so much, they would rather go to work in the dark and put up with temperatures cold enough to be another planet than have a new strip mall come to town. And no one is going to shop there anyway because when it's that cold out, you don't really feel inspired to shop. So the sort of economy that develops in Alaska is one that revolves around the natural resources it produces and the number of strip malls that pop up is minimal. Because the population won't double or triple overnight and the big computer manufacturer is not coming to town to build a new plant.

I also notice that you have a BA in English and work in data entry. Some people might flame me for saying this, but my Fairbanks friends and I noticed that all the customer service type jobs and lower level white collar work in town is done by women. And even when our husbands wanted to get that kind of work, there seemed to be an unconscious sexism. The women did the office work, the men did the blue collar work.