Moving to Anchorage, costs, etc (Wasilla, Palmer: hotels, homes, look for a job)

[ericsvibe]

I have been watching a senior management job in Anchorage. I am a federal employee, so if my family and I move, it will be to take that job. As you can imagine, this job has been very hard to fill. The last person they hired only lasted 13 months before she took another job in the lower 48. In fact, over the last 5 years, this job has been a revolving door of candidates. 2 years ago I landed a first line manager position, and I have been busting my butt trying to move up the ladder. Well my work has paid off, and I just got approved for a paid 90 day detail as a middle manager, in an office that no-one wants to work at because of a toxic working environment. That position can be made permanent if I do a great job pulling this team together and get some results. In case you don't know, federal jobs have time in grade requirements. I have to be a middle manager for 12 months, before I "qualify" for the senior manager job. This gives me an 18 month window to get as much information as I can about Anchorage. We currently live in Montana, but I have to go back to Florida to get the next promotion, so that I can get to Anchorage. (No way am I going to live permanently in Florida again).


We are a large family with 4 kids, from elementary school to high school. We will have a household income of about 200k a year. Are there any small towns around Anchorage that have good school systems. I am willing to commute an hour to get to work if that helps. We would like a home with some land, maybe 5 acres, I like to homestead as a hobby, so I need the ability to have livestock. How do you get your firearms to Alaska? I have a large collection that I would need to take with me. How do you bring household effects, or do you just sell everything and start over? Do school buses run in the winter? Any information would be helpful.


I am trying to learn all I can about any potential pitfalls associated with this move. We know about the weather, it gets way cold in Montana too. I know that stuff is more expensive, however, without a state income tax I think we come ahead. We paid over $3,000.00 in state taxes last year. Our family loves the outdoors, so in that aspect, Alaska is perfect.


Are law enforcement jobs hard to get in Alaska, my 13 year old son wants to be an Alaskan State Trooper. I advised him that he will need to get experience in a smaller agency first. Are the sheriffs departments/local police hard to get into.


Thanks for any info you can give me.

[Alaskan Mutt]

Can't help you too much regarding schools. Anchorage has several public high schools along with some private and charter schools.

To get the property you are looking for you will probably have to head out past Eagle River. You might find something around Birchwood. Otherwise you are looking out in the valley around Wasilla and Palmer.. One of the headaches living outside of Anchorage is the fact there is only one road out to the valley. When that road gets blocked, and that happens often during the winter, you may have to wait several hours for it to re-open.

You have several options on getting your firearms to Alaska. If you are taking the ferry from Bellingham, WA to Whittier, AK you can keep them stashed in your vehicle. If taking the ferry includes driving thru Canada then this is not an option. You can ship them gun dealer to gun dealer. I think you can ship them yourself via Fed-X or UPS. Not sure of their requirements. You might be able to ship them with your household goods. That might require that the shipping company is barging them from WA to AK. Once again, if Canada is involved then it could be a problem. If flying up you can check them as baggage. All of the options have the risk of theft. In my opinion the ferry option probably has the lowest risk of theft. However it is the most expensive option and the cross gulf ferry may not survive budget cuts.

[AKStafford]

Originally Posted by ericsvibe

Are there any small towns around Anchorage that have good school systems. I am willing to commute an hour to get to work if that helps. We would like a home with some land, maybe 5 acres, I like to homestead as a hobby, so I need the ability to have livestock.

You are probably going to be looking at the MatSu Valley... Palmer or Wasilla or the outlying areas. Maybe you could find something in Chugiak/Peters Creek...



Do school buses run in the winter? Any information would be helpful.

Yep. We don't let winter stop us.



We paid over $3,000.00 in state taxes last year.
State income taxes are coming to Alaska whether we need them or not.



Are law enforcement jobs hard to get in Alaska, my 13 year old son wants to be an Alaskan State Trooper. I advised him that he will need to get experience in a smaller agency first. Are the sheriffs departments/local police hard to get into.
https://dps.alaska.gov/AST/Recruit/Home
Join APD
https://dps.alaska.gov/Comm/Academy/Home

https://www.ctc.uaf.edu/programs/law-enforcement/

Some answers above. I think the most beneficial thing you can do is come up for a week or two and look things over. Even better would two trips: once in the summer, once in the winter.

[EllieKay56]

My daughter and her family moved to Alaska two years ago. They have 4 kids. They own land by Soldotna and they are building a cabin there.
Currently they live in Eagle River. They like it and like the schools. Her kids range from 4-15 yrs old.
They lucked out because her new employer paid for them to move. Her husband loaded up a huge trailer and drove with their oldest boy and also his mom. From Wisconsin to Eagle River it took about a week. They did sell the trailer for a profit. Her job paid for the gas and hotels. They also paid her to fly up with the two younger kids and to ship their van. She is a nurse and her husband stays home with the youngest. He does have a side job, he makes and sells furniture. They make a lot less then $200,000 and are doing fine.
We have been up twice to visit and they will be home this summer for the 1st time. They love living there and have no regrets. Most the of the time the winter temps are warmer then ours and they get less snow. She laughs at us and people who assume they are freezing and snow bound.
They would have liked to move to Palmer but the commute to Anchorage was a killer. Although now that she has been at her job 2 years her contract is up and she might look for a job in Palmer because there is more then 1 road from there to Eagle River.
Good luck and I look forward to hearing more over the next months.

[Music_Man]

" Although now that she has been at her job 2 years her contract is up and she might look for a job in Palmer because there is more then 1 road from there to Eagle River."


Wrong! only one unless you count the railroad.

[EllieKay56]

Originally Posted by Music_Man

" Although now that she has been at her job 2 years her contract is up and she might look for a job in Palmer because there is more then 1 road from there to Eagle River."


Wrong! only one unless you count the railroad.

Really I thought we took the Old Glenn Highway once to Palmer instead of the Glenn Highway. Maybe I was mistaken. It went through the country and it was a really pretty ride.

[EllieKay56]

I knew I didn't imagine taking a back road.

"To explore the road less traveled, take the Old Glenn Highway to Palmer, a back road that feels like old Alaska. This 19-mile country road cuts through the heart of Alaska’s farmland and is a scenic, quiet alternative between Anchorage and Palmer. The road accesses state parks and recreation areas, petting zoos, and hiking trails and passes through picturesque terrain: pastoral countryside beneath the Chugach Mountains and Pioneer Peak. The area was populated during the Great Depression, when the federal government moved 203 farming families here from the Midwest. Some of those Matanuska Colony Farms are still around today, especially off of Bodenburg Loop Road. You can spend a few hours driving this country road, or make a day of it, with a picnic, hike and farm visit."

[Music_Man]

The old Glenn takes off just before the Knik river which is after Eklutna. It is quite a ways from Eagle river or Peters creek to Eklutna.
Look at a Milepost or map and you will see. Only 19 miles It is 12 miles from Eagle river to Eklutna and 4.4 more before you get to the old Glenn.

[EllieKay56]

Originally Posted by Music_Man

The old Glenn takes off just before the Knik river which is after Eklutna. It is quite a ways from Eagle river or Peters creek to Eklutna.
Look at a Milepost or map and you will see. Only 19 miles It is 12 miles from Eagle river to Eklutna and 4.4 more before you get to the old Glenn.

Yes it was a nice alternative way to go. We enjoyed Mirror Lake too.

[Music_Man]

There are bits and pieces of the old Glenn left in some of the community's, but it is not intact all the way to Palmer. Before the new Glenn was built it was a long drive at 35mph to get to Palmer.