Safest places to live in (crime, high school, quality of life)

[AADAD]

Moose Orange County feel in Eagle River? I had better look around !

Honestly Eagle River has very very little crime, it is close to Anchorage and with the city limits so the Anchorage Police are the agency out here. I specifically chose it because of its very low crime rate. anchoragecrimemap.com will show you what I mean.

Many military families raise their kids as well as others. Schools are close and supervised with the crosswalks being monitored and people actually go 20 MPH when the lights are blinking, stop for school buses and wave to the driver. I like it. My kids are grown now but this is a great spot IF you can deal with Winter. ****.com is another source of information and you can plug in low crime as a desired item.

A friend of mine was hit hard down in San Francisco her car was totaled and people were actually honking at her to get out of the way. Nobody stopped. Here, people will stop and help. Your neighbor is your friend. Good luck in your search and definitely visit this area.

[AADAD]

find your spot dot com for some reason the programmers don't like other websites.

[notreesininceland]

Originally Posted by Sarah03

Hello everyone!

I currently live in CA, big city, a lot of people, and really sick of it. I don't mind there being a mall or two, but seriously, all these people!! I've been thinking a lot lately of moving, moving to a place where I believe it would be better. I know it will be a culture shock in AK vs. being in CA.

CA is too big and diverse a state to be characterized with a wide brush. Where I am - Mountain View, right in the centre of Silicon Valley - it is very different from many other parts of CA. The quality of life, objectively measured considering a variety of factors here (meaning, Silicon Valley) is second to none, probably the finest in the world. But there are always trade-offs, no matter where you make your home. The important thing is whether the trade-offs sync with your temperament, your tastes, and your goals in life.

Finally, remember, the grass always looks greener on the other side.

[Jonotastic]

You should visit first. I don't think Alaska is what you are looking for.

[tigre79]

Originally Posted by notreesininceland

The quality of life, objectively measured considering a variety of factors here (meaning, Silicon Valley) is second to none, probably the finest in the world.

The problem with "quality of life" is that it really can't be measured objectively if it's to have any meaning to any particular individual. What you consider the "finest in the world" is likely something close to hell for others. What you call trade-offs are the most important issues to some people. That's why, especially if you're moving to a very different place than you're used to, you need to visit yourself and not take anyone else's word for it. There are lots of nice, safe places to raise a family, all across the country. Even right there in California there are plenty of rural towns and quiet suburbs that would probably fit the bill for the OP. Moving all the way to AK for safe suburbs and Native men seems pretty odd to me, especially when it's clear that you're not comfortable with the wildlife. Maybe you should keep looking in the Southwest?

[notreesininceland]

Originally Posted by tigre79

The problem with "quality of life" is that it really can't be measured objectively if it's to have any meaning to any particular individual. What you consider the "finest in the world" is likely something close to hell for others.

I was very clear about this: where you make your home is a personal decision based on matters that are important to one's goals, tastes, temperament, cultural preferences, political preferences etc etc. The value and priority you assign to those factors finally go into your determination.

But "quality of life" is not as nebulous as you suggest it to be. There are measurable conventional parameters: quality of schools, composition of the population in terms of literacy and education levels, quality of breathable air, cultural offerings, diversity of population, physical characteristics of the area, weather, crime, traffic, and so on. Now there may be someone who loves -50 degrees weather, but we are not talking about outliers here - we are talking about the vast middle.

[tigre79]

Originally Posted by notreesininceland

I was very clear about this: where you make your home is a personal decision based on matters that are important to one's goals, tastes, temperament, cultural preferences, political preferences etc etc. The value and priority you assign to those factors finally go into your determination.

But you talked about those things as "trade-offs," as if they were secondary, and they're really the central issues. You can't talk about quality of life without them, at least not in a way that's meaningful to anyone in particular, which is what this thread is about.

But "quality of life" is not as nebulous as you suggest it to be. There are measurable conventional parameters: quality of schools, composition of the population in terms of literacy and education levels, quality of breathable air, cultural offerings, diversity of population, physical characteristics of the area, weather, crime, traffic, and so on. Now there may be someone who loves -50 degrees weather, but we are not talking about outliers here - we are talking about the vast middle.

Who cares about the vast middle if we're talking about where one particular person might want to live, or their opinion of where they currently live? What matters to them may not matter to hardly anyone else. Your idea of reasonable weather, traffic, education, culture, topography, and so on are probably miles away from mine, and possibly the OP's as well. You take an extreme example (-50F weather) to try to make your point, but it doesn't wash. You don't have to be an outlier to have personal preferences that make even the most highly-rated metropolis practically unlivable for you. The OP obviously doesn't share your idea of a high "quality of life," regardless of the statistics produced by the census-takers.

[roadfamily6now]

what's wrong with -50?

[warptman]

Safest place to move? As far away as possible to wherever onthamove moves to with his 30/30!

[Marty Van Diest]

Heh...I talked to a family yesterday. As they were moving into their house on 5 acres in the Butte...they could hear gunshots off in the distance. One of their friends asked them if they were really ready to move to the valley. They said...are you kidding? Then this family from kentucky had all their teenage sons unload their guns and ammo. He still had a gleam in his eye telling me about it.

I thought it was pretty funny.