Size of Anchorage (Wasilla, Palmer, Valdez: houses, job market, income)

[mtnengr]

I know that you guys get these questions all the time, but thanks for answering mine.

I'm 28 years old and I'm moving to Alaska within the next year. I have grown up in Wyoming and have lived my entire life here. Ideally, I would like to move to a smaller town (like Valdez, Homer, Soldotna, etc.). Unfortunately, there aren't many jobs in my career field in the smaller towns (I'm a civil engineer).

Anchorage would be much bigger than any town that I have ever lived in. I think that it's a good fit for me regarding my hobbies (skiing, fly fishing, sports). However, the size kind of scares me as I tend to not like places that have lots of people everywhere.

So my question has to deal with the size of Anchorage. I live close to Denver and I go there all the time, but I really hate Denver because of all the traffic and people. How is Anchorage in that regard? The other reason that I hate Denver is that there are a ton of people when you go into the surrounding mountains--you can never be by yourself. Is it the same way in Anchorage?

Any enlightenment would be much appreciated.

[HighlandLady]

Originally Posted by mtnengr

I know that you guys get these questions all the time, but thanks for answering mine.

I'm 28 years old and I'm moving to Alaska within the next year. I have grown up in Wyoming and have lived my entire life here. Ideally, I would like to move to a smaller town (like Valdez, Homer, Soldotna, etc.). Unfortunately, there aren't many jobs in my career field in the smaller towns (I'm a civil engineer).

Anchorage would be much bigger than any town that I have ever lived in. I think that it's a good fit for me regarding my hobbies (skiing, fly fishing, sports). However, the size kind of scares me as I tend to not like places that have lots of people everywhere.

So my question has to deal with the size of Anchorage. I live close to Denver and I go there all the time, but I really hate Denver because of all the traffic and people. How is Anchorage in that regard? The other reason that I hate Denver is that there are a ton of people when you go into the surrounding mountains--you can never be by yourself. Is it the same way in Anchorage?

Any enlightenment would be much appreciated.

We recently relocated from Wyoming to Alaska and though we don't live in Anchorage, we commute there twice a month...
I have been through Denver several times and hated each trip..the traffic was insane and the crowd of people was horrid for me. Anchorage is much, much easier to navigate around, imo...when you learn the major streets, it is easy to get from point A to point B. The size of the town is somewhat misleading - it doesn't have the 'feel' of a large city (trust me, I know where you are coming from...the largest town in Wyoming is 50k.)
Traffic here can be absurd as well...tail-gaters, ditch-divers, what have you...but with care, you'll be fine.
There are communities you could reside in that are close to Anchorage, Eagle River and Girdwood come to mind. Many commute from the valley as well (Palmer, Wasilla, etc).

[Jonotastic]

Anchorage is TINY compared to Denver.

[Bob Blockus]

Juneau could be city for you. nice small wilderness settings of population forty thousand. be good turn over in job market for talented individuals with degrees. think many years ago the baby boom was over in Juneau. more of its population is moving out for some reason. more young people making Juneau home because of tiny isolation first class city. lots of room for moving up in income jobs if work finding network is done right. remember plan on making three times amount of income to become survivor of harsh winters and year round Alaska living. yes indeed.

[Where-to-live??]

I am NOT a big city girl at all and I was very happy in Anchorage. We drove through Denver on the drive up from the lower 48 and I would not put Anchorage in the same category as Denver at all...

[Glitch]

Anchorage is small, in comparison to Denver. Except during rush hour, there isn't any place in Anchorage you can't get to in 15 minutes or less. There are also more greenbelts running throughout Anchorage than in most cities its size, littered with bike paths/ski trails plus the occasional moose and bear.

There are also smaller communities just outside of Anchorage, such as Eagle River, Chugiak, Birchwood, and Peters Creek. Eagle River is only 15 minutes away from downtown Anchorage. Peters Creek is about a 30 minute drive from downtown Anchorage.

Communities even further away from Anchorage include Palmer, Wasilla, Houston, Sutton, and Willow. Each of these towns have a population smaller than 10,000, Wasilla and Palmer being the largest. The commute time to Anchorage for these communities will vary from 60 to 90 minutes.

If you do find yourself moving to Anchorage, you may be happier in south Anchorage because the properties are larger than your typical quarter acre lot, therefore there are fewer houses packed together.

If you begin to feel claustrophobic living in "Los Anchorage", just remember that REAL Alaska is only 20 minutes away.