Are we crazy? Moving from Colorado... (Anchorage, Kenai: crimes, home, buy)

[pittsflyer]

Originally Posted by Northrick

My sentiments exactly. When I read pitts posts I wonder why the heck he is still in this state. His Alaska differs substantially from my Alaska. That's why I felt the need to chime in here. I think he presents a distorted view of the place to people who haven't been here.

I will take some pictures from my plane this summer and you will see. I don't dream this stuff up. Its all about going in eyes wide open.


Once you have your self established here to where you can recreate without being around mobs of people, AK is great, but getting to that point is both painful and time consuming (own plane, hangar, private recreational property/cabin, maybe a boat and snowmachine, etc) your own house so you are not dealing with dirt bag land lords, etc.


Once you can actually be independent in AK its nice.

[Gerania]

I would have moved there for a few years when I was younger, but I wouldn't have done it with two kids. My father-in-law lived there for a few years when he was a young man--then he went back to PA. You can get lost in the woods and have no phone signal there, too.

[stiffnecked]

Originally Posted by Gerania

I would have moved there for a few years when I was younger, but I wouldn't have done it with two kids. My father-in-law lived there for a few years when he was a young man--then he went back to PA. You can get lost in the woods and have no phone signal there, too.

We did it with two kids. All the way to Barrow. My oldest was four the youngest was two. Young kids adapt quicker then the adults.

[patch62383]

Originally Posted by WandererGirl

My husband and I (and our two daughters aged 5 and 11) are contemplating a move to Alaska from Colorado in summer 2018. We plan to land somewhere between east Wasilla and Eagle River.

We plan to drive as we have vehicles and pets (2 dogs and 1 cat) that we want to bring. We've done a ton of research, know what has to be done to go over the borders, and know it will be a $10K+ move.

The why - we are outdoorsy people. We love to camp, fish, hunt, hike, backpack, and just be in nature. We currently live in a suburb of Denver, getaway to the mountains as much as we can, and have always dreamed of living closer to all those things we love to do. Unfortunately, we can't afford to buy a home in the forest here - not anywhere. Denver (and Colorado) has gotten crazy expensive. The idea of finding a single family home to rent for under $1500 (as I've found several in Wasilla on Trulia) is laughable in Denver. You can get a 2-bedroom apartment for that, if you're lucky, and forget having pets. They'll also ask for deposits and two months rent up front. Crazy competitive rental market.

I also love to travel and experience new cultures. We feel a bit stuck in a rut and are looking for an amazing adventure also. We can also get more bang for our buck in terms of housing (both buying and renting) in the Matsu Valley vs Denver. We also love the ocean and the mountains, and have always dreamed of living in a place with both. We'd originally thought about the pacific northwest, but my husband is a survival man/homesteader fan, has spent lots of time perfecting his skills in these mountains, and wants a chance to take them somewhere really wild. We do appreciate the libertarian outlook that Alaska offers too.

My husband is being laid off in spring and I have several real estate deals in process (I'm an agent here). By the time we finish those deals, get my husband's severance pay, and sell our house, we will have over $50,000 in savings after moving expenses, depending on how my job goes between now and then it could be up to $100K.

We plan on having a rental secured before we leave the state, and will begin applying for jobs as soon as everything is official and we are close (in terms of time), but it's possible we may leave Colorado and not have a job on the other end.

My husband has 15 years experience in retail, warehousing, and manufacturing, including management experience. I have 20+ years experience in office and education administration and management, and also real estate. I also have a fair number of ways I can make money online because of my admin and web skills. We know unemployment is higher in Alaska as a whole, and that oil job losses are causing some problems. That being said, during the height of the 2009 recession when national unemployment was over 10%, we were both looking for jobs in Colorado and only took two months each to find and accept a position.

Schools in east Wasilla and Palmer out-rank all of the schools in our county, including the highly desired charter school our kids are currently enrolled in. At least, as much as you can research these things using school ranking websites.

We know about the crime - we've compared statistics back and forth between Anchorage/Denver and their respective suburbs ad nauseam. Both of us are street smart - my husband grew up in the ghetto of Las Vegas and though I didn't grow up rough, I've spend a lot of time in both Denver and Los Angeles and I've seen my fair share of drug users and homeless people in person, as have my kids. Denver is a huge city and these problems exist all the way into the suburbs and beyond. We get that there are more drugs and more rape than our home town, though my research on the latter suggests it's largely a domestic violence problem, not random people on the street. We also get that there's less gun violence (i.e., school shootings) and auto theft than Denver. So pick your evils I guess? As a real estate agent in Denver, I walk around the city by myself a lot, and take my kids there often. Big cities don't scare me.

Notes on the weather. We have real winter in Colorado. I've experienced -21F and 4ft of snow at once. I learned how to drive in the snow. In fact, we don't see as many cold winters here now as we did when we were kids, and we miss it. The summers here are too hot. Because we live on the west side of Denver, we're in the shadow of the Rockies and sunset here happens at least an hour earlier than other places. It's dark here well before 5pm in winter. If you've spent most of the day at school or work, you will likely have very little sunlight exposure on that day. So, I don't feel like the weather is a huge change (although the summer light will probably be a shocker).

So, are we crazy? What are we missing and haven't thought of? I hear from some people the job market is great, others say it's horrible. Looking on the job websites (in November), I've found dozens I would qualify for and would fit the bill pay-wise. Is it that out-of-towners are overlooked for locals? Because it seems to me there are jobs and plenty of them.

Tell me, locals and experienced movers, what are we missing?

Your not crazy. Denver isn't that great anymore I'm thinking about moving as well but Kansas is on my radar lol good luck

[WildSpark]

Go for it! Happiest day of my life was leaving Denver!

[wilberry]

I will pick Boise . I dont like being wet all the time ..

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by wilberry

I will pick Boise . I dont like being wet all the time ..

Are you confusing Wasilla with Whittier? Wasilla only gets 18 inches of rain a year, while Whittier gets 196.

[convextech]

Originally Posted by Music_Man

Please ignore everything pitts says, everyone else does.

Agreed, it is on my Ignore List for a reason.

[wilberry]

yes I am often confused these days ,,,,uh oh ....ALZ ?

[mizzile]

I guarantee you will move back to Colorado within 5 years, 3 more likely.