So, what's the day in the life of someone who lives in Fairbanks, Alaska? (Anchorage: apartments, landscaping)

[warptman]

Autostart: send your kid out to start it...

[ShipOfFools42]

^ Yeah, I really don't feel the need to have autostart living in the lower 48. Even when I lived in Massachusetts, you could just throw on a coat and your good slippers and walk out and start the car real quick and then come right back inside and get ready to go. By the time you get out to the car, it's all warm and ready to go. Now, if I were in the interior of AK, I could see autostart being a good investment. If it's -40 outside with the wind blowing, the last thing I'm going to want to do is walk outside right after I wake up to start my car.

Here in Asheville, the temperature in the mornings is usually no colder than the high single digits (that's including wind chill, we have wicked bad wind in the mountains here). If you can't tough it out for 45 seconds to go start the car and warm it up, well, maybe consider a different location.

I still would like to know though: do all the buildings in Fairbanks have plug-ins? Do people leave their cars running in the grocery store parking lot? Basically, I have read a lot of Barrow threads, and I'm wondering if Fairbanks is as consistently hard on vehicles as Barrow is.

[roadfamily6now]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

Another very important question: what is the internet situation? Is broadband available? I know it's Alaska, and I should be outside enjoying the wilderness, not on my computer, all that stuff, but when it's -45, I'm not going to be tromping around in the woods. I'd like to have access to high-speed internet if possible. I mean, you folks posting on here have got to have internet somehow. Some people even post from Barrow. Now that is wild. I guess you would need a satellite?

When we lived in Fairbanks we had decent internet. Not sure the speed but it was fast enough and not dial up! LOL. It has been 3 years so I'm sure their services have gotten better.

[1stimestar]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

I still would like to know though: do all the buildings in Fairbanks have plug-ins? Do people leave their cars running in the grocery store parking lot? Basically, I have read a lot of Barrow threads, and I'm wondering if Fairbanks is as consistently hard on vehicles as Barrow is.

Places where people work have plug in for their employees. Some places also have plug ins for customers. Grocery stores and bars do not. You leave your car running.

[Teak]

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

I saw the new Sam's! Looking good but the last time I ate at the Bakery was the LAST time I will ever eat there. Do they have new management/owners since 2007?

No, I think that they are under the new management that began around 2005 or 2006. I ate there recently and although it may have gone downhill a little bit, the waitresses were still their normal selves. Still have a great menu, but Sourdough Sam's passed them a long time ago in terms of food and service.

[Teak]

Originally Posted by 1stimestar

Places where people work have plug in for their employees. Some places also have plug ins for customers. Grocery stores and bars do not. You leave your car running.

And be sure to carry two sets of car keys, otherwise....

[melbern]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

Fairbanks is not a city like one would find in the lower 48. For example, downtown Fairbanks has a very few buildings higher than six floors, and these are spread-out, with small buildings and homes in between. Since it gets quite cold during the winter, crushed gravel is used on the streets for traction, which in turn looks quite messy (dirt/brown color) when not covered by snow, as well as during the Spring when the snow melts. More than likely the stuff will stay on the streets long through summer. The town is much like a spread-out neighborhood with city and other government buildings, businesses and so forth in between. It's not a pretty sight, so keep that in mind.

So does Fairbanks have a proper "downtown" area? It does seem to be spread far and wide. I've also read some thing about revitalization of neighborhoods in FB, is this true?

For those of you that live in FB, do you live "in town" or out a bit? How far out do you need to go to feel like you are not in an urban area? My feeling is not too far...!

Great thread in general by the way, I've gotten more sense of FB in here than from most of the other postings about FB over the last couple of years. One thing for sure, people who live there seem to *love* it up there. Good sign.

[melbern]

Originally Posted by gobrien

We get sunlight in winter in Fairbanks, I don't do anything at all to deal with it, it's kind of comforting to be dark so much.....just like in summer it is invigorating to have all the daylight. Here is a chart showing the hours of daylight per month. Some people use SAD lights in winter, and take extra vitamin D.
Average Hours of Daylight per Month in Alaska | Alternative & Renewable Energy - ABS Alaskan, Inc.

When you look at it on the chart, it seems there are only two (maybe three) months out of the year where winter daylight is "abnormal" compared to most places further south. And then you sure make up for it later! Given that many people spend their days cooped up in an office anyway, I can't imagine it would make a huge difference. When I was in Anchorage this past January, I didn't really feel like the daylight was an issue. I actually liked the mellow, calm light. As others have already mentioned, what is cozier than sitting in front of a fire with a cup of tea and a good book on a dark day?

[roadfamily6now]

If I recall right Fairbanks does have a small "downtown" area but Ray is right that it is different then most US cities. I grew up in Montana and have spent most of my 37 years in in the West, so seeing towns well spread out seems normal to me.
I had friends come up to visit recently that spent time in Boston and Nashville and commented that Anchorage was nothing like lower 48 cities! Which I thought was odd since we have just about everything any other city has, but we certainly are a LOT more spread out!

When we lived in Fairbanks we lived in 2 places, GoldStream Valley, which was about 5 miles past UAF. Then we moved on to Chena Pump Road, again about 5 miles from the gas station and 4 miles from the elementary school. Most people live "out of town" rather than right in town. I actually really preferred this because you have less restrictions on what you can do on your own land the farther out you live.
When we were on Chena Pump Road, we had pigs and chickens! Definitely something most people that live in a town cannot do!

[warptman]

Other great places to dine are:

Big Daddy's in Fairbanks.

Silver Gulch in Fox

Pagoda's in North Pole

Elf's Den in North Pole

Country Cafe in North Pole.

As everyone mentioned, Sourdough's is a great place for breakfast, if you can find a seat.