A Few Questions about Anchorage

[warptman]

It's worth the drive up!

How to Drive to Alaska in the Summer - ExploreNorth

[melohhdee]

1) it took my husband awhile to get used to the idea of not seeing the sun often
2) my husband got used to the snow his first winter
3) ahhhh!!! mooses tooth for pizza, perfect cup for simple and fast tasty food hit up perfect up and for some good vietnamese pho check out pho vietnam
4) i just moved to virginia a month ago and i can honestly say, i miss the hospitality from fellow alaskan. when they see someone stuck in snow, people stop and help push them or even tow them out. they stop when someones battery died to see if they need a jump start. oh course u got different people who are a holes but i as born and raised in alaska and 99.9% out of the time people are just darn friendly
5) i dont think so, my dad still says y'all and i can still here his southern accent but its not so deep u know?

dont forget to go fishing =)

[LittleJazzyP]

I'm another recent transplant, so here are a few more thoughts from someone who is still adjusting.

Hardest things:

Short days in the winter, and the sun, when it shines, is a mixed blessing, because it also means it will be colder than when it's cloudy. The people who speak of it being warm enough to snow aren't kidding.

Prices. Everything costs more. You have already found an apartment, so you've dealt with the worst of it. You will probably find yourself paying more attention to what's on sale this week at the grocer's. I certainly do.

Some people are friendly, some aren't. I wouldn't base my estimation on how tourists are treated, here or anywhere else. People who deal with tourists have to be friendly, it's part of their job. Anchorage is less stereotypically welcoming than, say, Charleston, but people are also more likely to mind their own business here. It's a trade-off, ya know? I have found it, so far, to be a very live-and-let-live kind of place.

Get good snow tires. I was afraid I would slide right off the road the first time it snowed (Miata here), but the fact is, we had ice storms in Missouri that make driving in Anchorage seem easy. Keep the Mustang. If you want to go somewhere it can't, you have a truck, and the Mustang should be fine for everyday driving around town (again, get good snow tires, and proceed with caution.)

What's good: The scenery. The job market (at least I have found it so.) The coffee, beer, and profusion of Thai restaurants and sushi bars. And yeah, another vote for Moose's Tooth pizza!

I haven't really experienced Alaska outside the confines of Anchorage, and to be honest, I've tasted precious little of that, due to a horrible work schedule. New job now, with normal hours, and I am looking forward to trying some of the things that draw people here in the first place!

[AADAD]

Get that Mazda ready for a trip to Denali Jazzy....=)

[LittleJazzyP]

LOL, I think I better get something else for that, don't you? I would love to get a second vehicle for outdoorsy fun, but parking is an issue where I live. If and when I part with the Miata, it will be to get something with a bit of hauling capacity.

[noimagination]

1) For those of you not born and raised in Alaska: What takes the longest to get used to; the cold, long days/nights, or something else?

It got cold in Colorado too and Anchorage really isn't that bad. And I found the winter dark fairly easy to adapt to. However, the unending days around midsummer can mess with your sleep schedule even after years of living here.

3) What are some of the best restaurants in Anchorage?

We have many good Thai restaurants. The Indian/Nepalese place off Tudor/Lk Otis is good. Glacier Brewhouse downtown is always worth a stop. Moose's Tooth pizza is very popular.

4) Are Alaskans as friendly to each other as they are tourists?

Many of the people you might meet as a tourist work in the tourism sector. They are quite literally paid to be friendly to you. So you won't find that kind of behavior quite as much when you aren't a source of income. However, I guess I've found Alaska fairly friendly overall. As are most places, really.

5) last one: Will we most likely need to stop using our southern expressions such as y'all?

Nope.

[Gottageta Moveon]

Bring mosquito spray! The Al-can is a beautiful drive. I lived in Anchorage for years, and tended towards cabin fever because of the darkness. Always liked the breakfasts at Gwennie's. The town does not shut down when it snows, like lots of other places.
Because many of the locals relatives live "outside" of the state, there is a real sense of community ( and it could be YOU next to need help out of the snowbank, neighbor
" Anchorage is close to Alaska", I've heard said.Tis true.

[TL551]

Just remember that even in the middle of the winter, there are lots of outdoor activities to help keep your mind off the dark and cold. I am part of a hiking group and we would just dress warmer and use head lights! When you pass the time away, it doesn't seem so bad! I was used to shift work anyway from my previous jobs, so it wasn't bad!

[highlife2]

Originally Posted by mattn714

My wife and I are moving to Alaska. We were both born and raised in the suburbs of Houston and were childhood friends before we started actually dating in high school. Anyway, Both us of have been to Alaska on different occasions and loved it. I have been twice, once on an cruise then into Denali and Fairbanks, the other was just a week long trip to Anchorage. My wife's been once and we both just thought we belonged there. We both love the cold and hate the heat of Texas' summer.
I'm not going lie, we are a little nervous about this, both of our entire families our here in Texas, but we really want to do this. We have already found an apartment, jobs, and are moving after our current lease is up in May. Right now we are going through our stuff and trying to figure out what's worth shipping compared to just buying new up there.
Here are the actual questions:
1) For those of you not born and raised in Alaska: What takes the longest to get used to; the cold, long days/nights, or something else?
2) How difficult is it to drive on snow for someone who has driven in snow but never actually on snow?
3) What are some of the best restaurants in Anchorage?
4) Are Alaskans as friendly to each other as they are tourists?
5) last one: Will we most likely need to stop using our southern expressions such as y'all?

1. The outragoius cost of rent or your mortgage.
2. Not hard, you just need a 4 wheel drive with all weathers, change out season for studded tires looks like a night mare to me, both costco's look like ant farms at tire change over, the spring change over is worse than the fall because of the hard may 15th dead line.
3. Pizza man in eagle river, cattle company, panda chineese, panda is probably the only chineese restaraunt in anchorage that does not have poor marks with the health inspector.
4. They used to be but I do have to say anchorage has gotten alot ruder and less personal than say 15 years ago. The rude driving has gone up exponentially and APD is not really cracking down that hard on wreckless driving (ie totally unmarked cars that specificly look for people weaving in and out of traffic and cutting people off and stopping short during rush hour periods, no one is going to cut off a marked car or a car with plates that say XX on them or a uniformed officer.

Once you swallow the high rent pill and get used to the crappy rush hour conidtions anchorage is not to bad. Im sure driving is alot worse in texas but the problem is compound with the bad weather and wreckless driving is exasperbated and claims alot more lives than it should because people cant seem to slow down due to lack of specific enforcement, also rapid acceleration is another problem up here.

[vauss]

1) For those of you not born and raised in Alaska: What takes the longest to get used to; the cold, long days/nights, or something else?

For many people it is the extensive winter compared to other states. If you have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) the darkness can get brutal.

2) How difficult is it to drive on snow for someone who has driven in snow but never actually on snow?

In Anchorage, driving is pretty good on the main streets except when there is really extensive snowfall. Ice will be very hazardous and the most important thing is to slow down. On New Seward (a main north-south freeway) there are frequent roll-overs in the winter due to inattention, people driving too fast without snow tires, getting stuck in ruts and then losing control, etc. One thing you will notice driving in Anchorage is that a lot of the main freeways often have deep continuous ruts for quite a distance. The reason for this is that due to snow and ice, cars stick to one path in a lane and the traffic wears a rut, sometimes quite deep, into the road.

3) What are some of the best restaurants in Anchorage?

We like: 1) Sorrento's on Fireweed for Italian. Great meat calzone.
2) City Diner at the corner of Benson and Minnesota. Good diner food and great milkshakes and malts. 3) Sack's Cafe and Cafe Amsterdam for breakfast. Excellent eggs Benedict.

4) Are Alaskans as friendly to each other as they are tourists?

I would say so. Example: We moved to Anchorage a year ago after 20 years in Valdez. I had an accident (hit a sign) near New Sagaya on Old Seward. At least 6 people stopped to see if I needed help before the cops and the tow truck arrived. And this was in February when it was pretty dark and fairly cold. I was impressed.
5) last one: Will we most likely need to stop using our southern expressions such as y'all?

No need to change your pattern of speech. Lots of different people from all over in Anchorage. We are very happy to be living here after Valdez. You can actually get someone to fix your furnace or plumbing the same day you have a problem! You can go to Lowe's or Fred Meyer and find stuff for your house in minutes, and they install it for you!

One thing about Anchorage compared to a lot of cities is that it seems pretty spread out for the population and traffic is not as bad as in many metropolitan areas because you don't have a lot of outlying population centers feeding the traffic system. True, New Seward and the Glenn Highway can get backed up at rush hour, but I've traveled around rush hour quite a bit this past year and I can get from the University area to my home in South Anchorage in 15 minutes or so. Winter driving can up that a bit, but it is really not that stressful.

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