thinking of moving to alaska, can anyone answer some questions? (Anchorage: housing, rent)

[saul harvey]

Well as to craig the locals don't refer to POW as prisoners of weather island for nothing. On a sunny summer day it can be one of the most glorious, great looking places on earth for both days. but one thing to remember the reason for all the huge trees is the almost constant rain. over 100 inches a year. So think about it raining .3" of rain every day of the year.

Actually some days it wont rain at all but i lived on POW for 5 years and many areas get their water from rainwater running off their roof into tanks. If it dosn't rain for 2 weeks it quickly becomes a drought emergency. While southeast alaska never gets cold it also never gets very warm either at least compared to say Fairbanks.

Craig and POW tends to only have two types of jobs logging and fishing. Fishing is basicly a summer only activity and also tends to very a lot from year to year so one year you will make a pile and then the next couple of years you may not make a penny.

Logging tends to very almost as much as fishing. Logging companies try to hire crews from down south for the cheapest possible wages and then randomly fire them to replace them with someone cheaper. Almost all of the trees goes to japan for pulp. If Russia decides to sell trees cheaper well they are closer and the wages there are a fraction of Alaska's so that year they will get their wood from there. The government decides to try to kiss up to the greenies? well kiss off any Alaska logging jobs until rationality returns.

The secret to survival in Alaska is different than elsewhere. Outside it is often getting a union job with a large employer. In Alaska it is having several occupations that you can fall back on. be well trained at all of them and don't be afraid to switch at the drop of a hat. Fishing,logging,construction, oil drilling and if your moral standards are low enough you might get a government job.

[kanoki]

I missed Anchorage, Alaska. I used to live there for 16 years. Can anybody suggest any traveling nurse assignments in Anchorage, so I can go back, please?

[Arcticthaw]

Originally Posted by kanoki

I missed Anchorage, Alaska. I used to live there for 16 years. Can anybody suggest any traveling nurse assignments in Anchorage, so I can go back, please?

You might try contacting Providence Hospital in Anchorage to see who they use for traveling nurses.

[elgusano]

If you're looking for low cost of living, you're looking in the wrong place. I live in Homer, and don't really want to live anywhere but Alaska (I'm from Tennessee originally), but it's a different lifestyle, even in cities as large as Homer. (About 5,000 people here.)

As for bus drivers, it's one of the jobs I do, and we are terribly short-handed. The law, which was instituted by the CEO of Laidlaw, requires double minimum wage, plus 50¢, or so. Minimum wage for a bus driver is close to $15.00 per hour. I make something over that. But, we don't do snow days. Our last snow day was 12 years ago, and I've been stuck in snow drifts up to my windshield, in the middle of the road.

School bus drivers in Bethel get $26 per hour, but it's no place to raise a kid. Even the cops, who were born and raised there, are going to Fairbanks and other places to get away from Bethel. They're down to 3 cops total, and it's a good sized city with about 5,500 people there.

The vast majority of people that I see who move here, for whatever reason (usually to get rich) leave, as soon as break-up occurs in the spring. It's how we shop. Most of these people bring up truck-loads of stuff, can't stand the place, so sell everything to get out of here. (Teachers usually wait until summer because of their contracts and the expense of breaking them.)

However, one thing you'll find is that there are very few people who live here for a year or more, who want to leave. Even my wife likes it here, and when my son goes to visit family, can't wait to return home.

It's not for everyone.

Come up for an extended stay, get to know a few people, then make a decision.

[Rance]

I can't imagine anyone "not" wanting to live in Homer. I lived in the boat harbor for a year and loved it. Lived in an apartment for another year and loved that.

[Wandering Mind]

i must be one of the only "lower 48ers" who wanted to live in alaska before knowing about the PFD

elgusano, im similar, im from TN as well wanting to move to AK, and was looking on the other side of anchorage, around wasilla/palmer? what would you say to there compared to homer/seward and the rest of that area, if youve been up there before?

and im single/20 but im still research research. have plenty of time since plannin to finish college here first

[Outdoorguy444]

I would fly up a drive around a bit before making any decisions. I did not read any responses to your post so most your answers may already be answered, but I'll throw my two cents in.

Yes all residents recieve a dividend check for living here. Even children under 10. The only requirement is that you are a resident that resides here and have been one for a year. The amount varies every year. I remember one year was like $500 and another maybe $1900? The last few years have been around $1200. I certainly would not consider moving here for that though, the cost of living here is high. I went to the store last night and spent $12 for a half dozen pears and apples. Milk is about $5 a gallon and a loaf of bread is a couple of bucks.

Interior Alaska is very cold. 50 below is not uncommon in the winter. I live outside Anchorage in Wasilla and 20 below here is not uncommon.

Winters here can be long, hard and harsh. Fairbanks and Anchorage (Alaska's Two largest cities) are the only two I know of with any public transport system and walking in any city here in Alaska during the winter is not going to be really feasible. At 20 below the walk to your frozen car seems like a journey in itself.

The sumers on the other hand are like no other anywhere! Alaska's true beaty comes alive and there is no where else I would rather be. I have lived here for 37 years, my entire life and my family and I are talking about moving to Colorado.

I never thought 37 was old but the winters here are just to cold and dark for my wife and I who has also lived here her entire life. We are hoping to find some Alaska's beauty in Colorado without the long winters. 6 months of winter is just to long to trade for 2 months of spring, 2 months of summer and 2 months of fall anymore. It didn't bother us when we were younger as much and my children don't even notice it, but then niether did we when we were 7.

I definately suggest a visit before making a decision to move. Many move here with ideas in thier head that don't come to close to the real Alaska. It is not for everyone, it is actually only right for very few. If you are one of those few you will find a northern paradise for your family and you, if not you will believe this place is hell on earth. It is amazing how many move here and are packing to leave by spring.

I know I love it and am torn about leaving. It is my home and if I leave I will certainly miss it greatly. I have enjoyed living in the land of the midnight sun.

[karibear]

How times change. I lived in Alaska for 30+ years and I'd still be there, except for health reasons. I spent one winter in Anchorage, and while I sort of liked it, I couldn't get a job. I was either 'overqualified' or 'we'd rather have someone more civilized than someone from Kodiak.' Civilized? This came from a used car salesman with a New Joisey accent and a gold chain that was turning his neck green! Went back home. Unfortunately, now that I'm here and not there, I can't afford either to move or the cost of living, not on social security.

But when I first got there, I went to cook on a seiner and the skipper fronted the plane ticket for me. I arrived with 25 cents in my pocket, and survived quite nicely.

And I remember that first PFD check, too. The reason it was so big was because it made up for the 3 years' worth of litigating while no one got anything. After that, it was just part of the food budget.

[Jtaff]

I grew up on a little island across the channel from Kodiak called Woody Island. I was an FAA brat, and after 7 years in a one room schoolhouse with all 8 grades, we started going to school in Kodiak, when I was in eighth grade. That was '64, and that was a rather exciting year, as all Alaskans know. I still have pictures of the earthquake and tsunami damage, and remember a wonderful childhood with such freedom on my little island.
Being there in high school became rather prison-like; we couldn't join any school activities because we had to catch that 4:00 boat. Going to a basketball game and dance meant spending the weekend in town with someone, and that was fun, but we led a very sheltered life compared to townies.
Can anyone tell me what Kodiak is like now? I left there in '73, just pre-pipeline at age 23 and pregnant with my now 34 year old son. I had lived in Anchorage for a year while my ex, a local, was stationed at Ft. Rich, but the rest of the time was on my island for sixteen years, and then in Kodiak as a young adult. Our little high school was rated tenth in the nation in '68, and academia was stressed, not sports as much as there is now. That was really a free-wheeling place, but our school system was good then.
I've been missing the peace and freedom of that little island, so anything you can share would be appreciated. I don't want sugar-coating either; I was an Alaskan for twenty years, so I know what the lifestyle is. Of course back then we mainly had to deal with drunkenness, not meth, but that stuff is everywhere. I'm from Hawaii originally, and ice is rampant there, and meth labs were out of control in rural Oklahoma till the sudafed ban. Now the stuff is coming in from Mexico, but at least you don't have to worry about some crankhead blowing up your block anymore. Thanks for your time and any information you care to share.

[Rance]

I have not been there in years myself.

Kodiak Island, Alaska - Official Visitors Guide