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My friend wants to move to Alaska really bad but he can't because it's too expensive. He then started looking at New Hampshire and Upper Michigan. Which one feels more like Alaska?
New Hampshire has much more rugged and prominent mountains which would be similar to Alaska. I would guess that UP would be more conservative overall than NH which would align more with Alaska.
I duno some parts of upper Michigan look more like Alaska and Canada. Although really the lack of real mountainous terrain in both places really is a bummer if he wants to live somewhere with that Alaskan feel.
Michigan has no real mountains and honestly the New Hampshire mountains do not feel like Alaska to me. Conifers dominate Alaskan forests.
Personally if you really love the feel of Alaska you would be disappointed in both those states. Three things come to mind in Alaska, and that is the numerous waterways, high rugged mountains that are glaciated, and large conifer dominated forests.
Nothing about New Hampshire feels like Alaska to me.
If he doesn’t like the liberal mindset of the Pacific Northwest he should really look at northern Idaho or western Montana. Both places have Alaska “like traits”…Also many Alaskan transplants live in both states with a strong Native American history with close ties to Alaskan native communities.
There are some spots that are not too terribly expensive, but it’s getting expensive fast.
Honestly if I were him I’d have a serious look at Wyoming as well as parts of it do remind oneself of the Alaskan interior.
Last edited by Thealpinist; 06-14-2021 at 06:21 PM..
I would go with the U.P. Of Michigan (or God’s country as the locals like to call it).
As other posters mentioned, there is no real mountains there,… both otherwise the remoteness, abundant water and lakes, local self reliance culture, and love of the outdoors is very similar to aspects of Alaska. If you can get over the lack of mountains, I can see why someone who likes the Alaskan lifestyle could feel at home in the U.P.
OP, your friend is mostly likely not going to be happy in either place if the focal point is simply "most like Alaska." Nobody is going to mistake either place for Alaska. He'd be better suited by listing out, specifically, what it is he likes most about Alaska. If it's a conservative rural area with big mountains and rugged terrain, there are places in Wyoming or Montana that will do a better AK impression than NH or MI.
If he's set on those two, I'd just say this about NH - look north of the key "touristy" areas. I'd draw an east/west line across the Summit of Mt. Washington and look north of that. It's far more conservative than the remainder of the state (which is very much purple), and it's much more sparsely populated. The White Mountains are rugged by east of the Mississippi standards, but nobody is going to confuse them for anything out west. A better alternative may be Northwestern Maine - from the Rangely area to Baxter State Park (and up into the Allagash Wilderness and North Woods). There's nowhere east of the Mississippi that's as wild as that region of Maine. It's pretty rugged territory, and it's not at all "liberal."
Neither tbh but if I had to choose it would be NH for the mountains although they are nothing like the ones in Alaska. The most similar would be Washington state.
Neither tbh but if I had to choose it would be NH for the mountains although they are nothing like the ones in Alaska. The most similar would be Washington state.
Yes that would be my suggestion, but it is to liberal for the OP.
I’d probably stick to Wyoming/Idaho/Montana. You can find cheap conservative places to live in those locations.
Sounds like OP wants to stay east. I’d still pick Michigan over NH.
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