I miss Anchorage and have nothing but love for the place!! (Palmer: real estate, lease)

[pittsflyer]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

California has the 6th biggest economy on Earth, and Alaska is broke as a joke. Washington State's economy isn't doing so badly either. Who's a failure?

Alaska will have taxes soon enough because it's going to have to try to support itself for once.

I think it used to be a lot easier to move up on spec. and actually survive as it is now.

Cali is still a failure because the only way they can bolster those numbers is through excessive taxes, I have friends who left cali because they were paying 50% of their income in taxes between federal and all the nickel and diming that cali was doing to them.


People stay because the weather is phenominal but once the financial burden gets bad enough people will leave. the issue with Cali is you really have to pay attention because the taxes are hidden in a lot of cases.


The state is not really a success they simply bleed their people dry because they happen to have extremely favorable climate. there is a lot of talk of chunking up cali into multiple states so that people can get away from the extreme taxes without having to leave the weather they love.


Alaska can tax but it will be a pittance compared to the short fall, we don't have the population nor the diversity of business to prop up spending like cali does.

[pittsflyer]

Originally Posted by Haolejohn

One thing I do like about anchorage. Costco. Lol. Jokes.

All the parks. I've never been in a city with so many parks. I think the city planners have tried to integrate as much of the wildness of Alaska into the city as they can.

I am surprised the green spaces did not get chewed up by the slum lord lobby or the other various business partnerships and crony justice system.

[Anonymouse55]

how do you create a forum?

[Metlakatla]

States like Alaska would be in even worse shape if it weren't for the taxes California pays. There's way more to California's prosperity than a large, taxable population, though.

[pittsflyer]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

States like Alaska would be in even worse shape if it weren't for the taxes California pays. There's way more to California's prosperity than a large, taxable population, though.

Of course, the large taxable population has to be generating wealth. The state of Cali is just as if not more inept than the AK state govt only they have alot more prosperity to skim off of the backs of the people actually doing something.


Its not like the cali state govt is doing anything profound, they cant even maintain their existing infrastructure or keep crime under control with all that tax payer money let alone expand places like cal tech or partner with the feds in places like lawarance livermore labs etc. They refuse to defend their southern boarder and let the people suffer.


BUT they have nice weather so people stay, but there are alot of people leaving anyways. Fed taxes are out of hand enough then pile on 15% cali taxes between income and misc sales taxes.


AK is in bad shape because of pandering to special interests. Make no mistake the fed/state govt is subsidizing rural AK and not anchorage/valley/south east hubs.

[kodiakbearcountry]

California was broke as hell back in the early 2000s. Things change. I actually liked living in California for our short time stationed there. But it was the Lancaster/Mojave area which was thankfully not LA. We were stationed on Edwards which was its own thing.

I love Alaska and never wanted to leave but I grew up and life happens; after my husband and I married, we always wanted to move back. We had to wait till retirement and kids growing up but we're finally there. I am sad to hear about the condition with crime and gangs and just general decline but it's relative. Where we are right now has been pretty poor so for us it'll be amazing. If I had never left home I might feel differently about the decline. But we have lived in some ghetto places during our military years and nothing I've seen of Anchorage on all our trips home has shown it to have been worse than those.

It'll be amazing to have access to culture, shopping, dining again. As it is if you want any of that you have to drive an hour and a half from our current home. Anchorage will seem like heaven when we get there! And the familiar landscape always makes me smile.

I do hope that this recent economic crisis will be a catalyst for improvement but regardless, we will be in Anchorage for a while as that is where our jobs are.

[rhiannon67]

Originally Posted by Haolejohn

One thing I do like about anchorage. Costco. Lol. Jokes.

All the parks. I've never been in a city with so many parks. I think the city planners have tried to integrate as much of the wildness of Alaska into the city as they can.

I miss living in Anchorage for the bike trails. It was such a bike friendly city, I could ride my bike right out our front door and easily go places.

Where we live in Palmer now is less bike friendly, unless you're a hard core cyclist and love huffing and puffing uphill all the time.

Loved all the Parks as well.

Why I most miss Anchorage though is for some of its Asian/Hawaiian Restaurants. Choices out in the Valley are subpar.

Other than those things and the fact Anchorage is where you have to go for shopping on occasion, I am happy to live in the Valley.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by pittsflyer

Of course, the large taxable population has to be generating wealth. The state of Cali is just as if not more inept than the AK state govt only they have alot more prosperity to skim off of the backs of the people actually doing something.

Yeah, even if they do manage to return the personal income tax to Alaska, it'll be a drop in bucket compared to the state deficit. I always sort of laugh when people in places like this ***** and cry about tax hells like California, because those place are what picks up most of Alaska's tab (like the annual million dollar losses incurred by the USPS due to the Alaska Bypass program). But California's wealth has more to do with mega-industries like tech and entertainment than with collecting taxes from a large population.

As far as people actually doing something, I read in Business Insider that Alaska now has the least educated workforce in the country, which comes as no surprise to me.

[Haolejohn]

Originally Posted by rhiannon67

I miss living in Anchorage for the bike trails. It was such a bike friendly city, I could ride my bike right out our front door and easily go places.

Where we live in Palmer now is less bike friendly, unless you're a hard core cyclist and love huffing and puffing uphill all the time.

Loved all the Parks as well.

Why I most miss Anchorage though is for some of its Asian/Hawaiian Restaurants. Choices out in the Valley are subpar.

Other than those things and the fact Anchorage is where you have to go for shopping on occasion, I am happy to live in the Valley.

Wait. The. Best. Hawaiian. Food. Is in wasilla.

[rhiannon67]

Originally Posted by Haolejohn

Wait. The. Best. Hawaiian. Food. Is in wasilla.

We've been to that Hula Hands a few times They're hit or miss. Sometimes they can be spectacular, and others...not so much.