Where not to buy a house. I do not want to live on silt. (Anchorage: condos, crime)

[Mia777]

Hi,

We will be moving to Anchorage late this summer. I have read some posts about gravel pits, silt, and old graveyards(joke). We are military. A few people we know live in Eagle River. I do not want to slide off a mountain during an earthquake. Is there a way to look this up?

[Melissa78703]

Hmm, in the year I lived in Anchorage, I never heard of such difficulties with houses. The neighborhoods that used to exist along the major fault lines were not rebuilt after the big quake - you can still see them in Earthquake Park. Creepy!

But I digress. There's a neighborhood where most of the military live, and be darned if I can remember the name of it. When I lived there, military families seemed to live in this one neighborhood, and it also seemed as though they kept to themselves for the most part. I want to say Fairview or Mountain View?

[Arcticthaw]

I wouldn't live in Mountain View, or Fairview. I understand there are crime issues.

The municipality of Anchorage should have land use and soils information. Sometimes you can find it on the GIS masps.

Try looking in these pages. I am not familiar with Anchorage. Good luck.

http://www.muni.org/planning/index.cfm

[jstar08]

I lived their for 5 years and my dad has lived their for around 30 I have never heard of such problems. I would stay as far away for the North East side of Anchorage (Mountain View and Fairview) as possible, its old and full of lots of gangs and crime. I would move as far south as possible that is where most of the regular folks live. The perminant fund has ruined Alaska as far as I'm concerned it has attracted all the losers from all over the world. You couldn't pay me enough to live there now, at least not in Anchorage or anywhere near it.

[Mia777]

Thanks,

Move south and avoid anywhere with view in the name. Our friends live in Eagle River.

Mia

[articmommy]

Mia - get a realtor you trust!!!
I'm a civil engr in Anchorage with some experience in local development. Yes, current development in Anchorage/Eagle River is moving into once-marginal lands. Add peat, groundwater, and site condos (the ghettos of tomorrow - built today) to your list of concerns.
What's your budget? Kids? Provide some rough details and we can suggest specific subdivisions or builders for you.

[tomcat6369]

Hey what are the job prospects for civil engr's there in anchorage?
I work for a state agency in the lower 48
but have been looking at adot&pf among others.

[Peabody]

Thought I'd jump in on this thread. I'm also going to be moving to Anchorage soon, June or July, and I've been wondering where I'm going to live. But I'm not going to be looking to buy, just rent. And I'd prefer to live at a managed property, not a private landlord. I'm going to be clerking with the court there so if anyone knows about that, you'll know my budget is.....well, limited. Without crunching numbers I'm guessing I'll be needing to live somewhere between $700 - $1,000 a month. I'll have my fiance with me and she'll be attending UAA there hopefully. Whew, that was a mouthful. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Arcticthaw]

Originally Posted by Peabody

Thought I'd jump in on this thread. I'm also going to be moving to Anchorage soon, June or July, and I've been wondering where I'm going to live. But I'm not going to be looking to buy, just rent. And I'd prefer to live at a managed property, not a private landlord. I'm going to be clerking with the court there so if anyone knows about that, you'll know my budget is.....well, limited. Without crunching numbers I'm guessing I'll be needing to live somewhere between $700 - $1,000 a month. I'll have my fiance with me and she'll be attending UAA there hopefully. Whew, that was a mouthful. Anyone have any suggestions?

Best to start your own thread. You will get better responses.

[articmommy]

Originally Posted by tomcat6369

Hey what are the job prospects for civil engr's there in anchorage?
I work for a state agency in the lower 48
but have been looking at adot&pf among others.

Depends on what you're used to. If you can tolerate government employment (relatively low pay, shrinking benefits, union issues, a sadly disproportionate mix of lazy or incompetent coworkers mingled with some geniune genius, etc) then things are looking pretty good. The regional DOT office is looking at a serious turnover issue in the next decade where a large majority of the experienced staff will be retiring. It's a good time to get in and move up quickly. Of course, even if you move up at DOT you won't be making an equivalent private salary. Municipality of Anchorage pays better outright but I think state has more variety of work. There's also a lot of talk about how shrinking federal contributions will reduce the work load for the local DOT...yada

I currently work for a private firm. Much better pay and fewer daily irritants. Let me know if you want more dish.