reflections on downtown Anchorage (Wasilla, Palmer: live, shop, homeless)

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

There are plenty of harsh environments with pleasing aesthetics in Canada and various parts of Europe. You can see it in this exact thread, people want nothing to do with Downtown and even having a downtown is bothersome to some.

And none of those places were leveled in an earthquake at any point during the past century, which explains the lack of "heritage architecture" that the OP is complaining about.

As I've already pointed out, people move to Alaska for reasons other than sophisticated cityscapes, and they're not going to flock downtown no matter the amenities. They don't WANT to go downtown and mingle with the tourists, and you'll find that all over the state. If you grew up in Alaska, you should be quite familiar with that mindset.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

And none of those places were leveled in an earthquake at any point during the past century, which explains the lack of "heritage architecture" that the OP is complaining about.

As I've already pointed out, people move to Alaska for reasons other than sophisticated cityscapes, and they're not going to flock downtown no matter the amenities. They don't WANT to go downtown and mingle with the tourists, and you'll find that all over the state. If you grew up in Alaska, you should be quite familiar with that mindset.

You might need a refresher course in English, if it's not your first language I apologize... read my original post again...

"""OP, I think you get the general picture, Alaskans in general do not care about aesthetics, it's why you see so many lots full of junk and just the cities in general look like storage lots with rundown patched up buildings that look like they were built by non-professionals one summer at a time. There is no need to try and change a culture, you move to a city or state because you like the local culture, not because you want to change it. It's one of the reasons I moved out of Alaska. I was born there and spent a decent chunk of my childhood growing up, but as I go older and traveled, my interests drifted from wanting to build makeshift structures on my property to wanting more visual pleasing surroundings with more vibrancy of people and things to do. I ended up going back there after college for one year and couldn't take it and moved out. 5th Avenue Mall, Dimond Mall, the cities in general all look the same if not more run down from when I was growing up there and we are talking over a decade of time in between. Nothing changed or if anything, things just got worse in that aspect anyways.

I actually agree with a decent amount of your points, but trust me, most Alaskans will not, so it's better to just move to a place that matches your tastes lol."""

So how exactly did you think I believe Alaskans want sophisticated cityscapes and want to mingle in downtown... I specifically said Alaskans DO NOT want this, which is why you SHOULD NOT try to change the culture in Alaska and you are better off moving to a place that already matches your ideal vision of a city. I also said I actually agree with a DECENT amount of your points, NOT all of your points.

[CaliRestoration]

I love all these high ideas of light rail, new hotels, etc. How about getting rid of the pee smell on every street within 3 blocks of the mall?

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by CaliRestoration

I love all these high ideas of light rail, new hotels, etc. How about getting rid of the pee smell on every street within 3 blocks of the mall?

Don't go down there and you won't have to smell it. Still don't understand why outside interlopers are so fascinated with downtown Anchorage. Do you people have no life?

[riceme]

Doesn't every big city smell like pee? What do you expect?? If you want to smell something good, get out of the city. That seems like such a no-brainer to me, I feel stupid just typing the words.

[riceme]

Good article in the paper this morning regarding the earthquake, since we're on the subject:

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/scie...entific-world/

[bmw335xi]

I just think Anchorage doesnt have the population to support a light rail system, not even considering risk of earthquakes. That kind of transit system works for large cities with dense populations. Anchorage is quite spread out and the downtown area is quite small, the need for a system in just the downtown isnt necessary and the need for it city wide just doesn't make sense due to lack of population density and simply overall population.

[Haolejohn]

And in the winter the cars would get stuck/frozen to the rails.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Haolejohn

And in the winter the cars would get stuck/frozen to the rails.

This isnt true, there are plenty of cities around the world with similar winters that have light rail, but as I said, building a billion dollar plus system would be a boondoggle given the population and density of Anchorage.

[stiffnecked]

Anchorage already tried that rail stuff. It was over before it really even started. Maybe it's still there.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/arti...ce/2010/03/03/