Another help..where should I live thread (Anchorage, Fairbanks: rentals, home)

[Lunabell]

Since I dream of moving to Alaska, I really need your help. I would like to find a home that is both sunny and warm and at elevation. This could be a small town or in the bush (as long as I can drive to it). I am terrified of bears and moose. Are there a lot of these in Alaska? I also want to live where I can dipnet. Can I do that the day after I move, along with getting paid to be Alaskan? Please help me with me search.

OK...just kidding. I am leaving Minnesota(again) in a couple of weeks to live near Anchorage. At least I can see my husband and my kids more often this way(school breaks and such), as we are all desperately missing each other. I would have made a horrid military wife, if I can't even last a couple of weeks. I very much respect the military families that handle long separations.

I am not even sure how to approach it. It looks like it might be hard to rent with my 2 dogs. Have people had more success with staying at an extended-stay place while they looked for housing than trying to arrange it long distance?

I don't need to be in Anchorage, as long as I have proximity for doctors appointments and such for my daughter. Nor am I scared of city living. I used to live in DC. I just don't really love it, so I suspect that I would be looking more Eagle River, Chugiak, or Palmer. What about Girdwood? How is that?

Thanks!

[freezengirl]

If it were me I would avoid Girdwood, not because it isn't a nice community but because of driving conditions in the winter having to go back and forth to Anchorage so often for you. The thought of Turnagain Arm in the winter is spooky enough that I wouldn't voluntarily do it if I didn't have to. Hopefully someone else will chime in about the other communities that have experience living there. I thought Palmer was really a lovely little community. It is gorgeous, not to big but close enough to Anchorage for your needs.

[akravenlady]

When I first moved to Alaska we rented and it seemd like there were a lot more rentals that were pet friendly than here in the mid-west. Rent isn't cheap though, gonna cost more than what you would see around the mid-west.

I lived in Wasilla for 2 years then out at Point MacKenzie. Wasilla was/is ok. Palmer is nice, scenic like Faith already mentioned but sometimes the wind blows down off the glacier and the air is awful so if you or your family have issues with air quality you might take that into considertation.

I agree with Faith, that Girdwood isn't where I'd look if I was you. Eagle River would work nicely for you I would think since it is closer to Anchroage and places your daughter will need.

[AKStafford]

I agree with the opinions about Girdwood. Nice town, but doing the Seward Highway along the Turnagain Arm is to curvy to have to drive everyday. But, there are people who do it.
Eagle River or Palmer would work, or Wasilla.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by Lunabell

Since I dream of moving to Alaska, I really need your help. I would like to find a home that is both sunny and warm and at elevation. This could be a small town or in the bush (as long as I can drive to it).

If you can drive to it, it is not in the bush. There are three kinds of Alaskans:

• Urban (those who live within towns and cities);
• Rural (those who live outside of towns and cities, but on the road system); and
• Bush (those who live outside of towns and cities, with no road access.

Alaskans also do not live "at elevation." Maybe a few thousand feet above sea level (as in or around the Glennallen area), but that is about it. Also, "sunny" and "warm" are contradictory in Alaska. It is much warmer during the winter in SE Alaska, but it is definitely not sunny. If you want more sunny days than cloudy days, you need to move to the Interior. As in Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Tok, Circle, etc., etc. Even the Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Valley has quite a few cloudy days. However, if you move to the Interior for the sunshine, be prepared for extremely cold winters. Much colder than you are use to in Minnesota.

Originally Posted by Lunabell

I am terrified of bears and moose. Are there a lot of these in Alaska? I also want to live where I can dipnet. Can I do that the day after I move, along with getting paid to be Alaskan? Please help me with me search.

OK...just kidding. I am leaving Minnesota(again) in a couple of weeks to live near Anchorage. At least I can see my husband and my kids more often this way(school breaks and such), as we are all desperately missing each other. I would have made a horrid military wife, if I can't even last a couple of weeks. I very much respect the military families that handle long separations.

I am not even sure how to approach it. It looks like it might be hard to rent with my 2 dogs. Have people had more success with staying at an extended-stay place while they looked for housing than trying to arrange it long distance?

I don't need to be in Anchorage, as long as I have proximity for doctors appointments and such for my daughter. Nor am I scared of city living. I used to live in DC. I just don't really love it, so I suspect that I would be looking more Eagle River, Chugiak, or Palmer. What about Girdwood? How is that?

Thanks!

If you have issues with moose and bear, than I would avoid Alaska like the plague. Alaska has lots of moose and bear, and they are everywhere, even in Anchorage.

You will have considerable difficulty finding a place to rent with two dogs, but it is still possible. I rented in Anchorage for 12 years with dogs.

Based upon your criteria, I would think that either Eagle River or Palmer/Wasilla would be the best choices. Eagle River is only about 20 minutes away from Providence Hospital, and Palmer/Wasilla is about 20 minutes from Regional Hospital.

I would heed freezengirl's advice concerning Girdwood. There are a lot of avalanches between Anchorage and Girdwood during the winter, and during the summer driving that road with all the tourists is precarious at best. It never fails, at least one person dies on that stretch of road every summer.

If it were me, I would see if I could rent a small home somewhere between Palmer and Wasilla, near Regional.

[Lunabell]

I definitely don't think I want to drive Turnagain Arm on a regular basis in winter. That would not be fun.

Does Wasilla have a more charming or "downtown" part? We really only saw what was on Parks Hwy as we came through and that was very big box shopping. Good to know about the air in Palmer. I will have to think about that since my youngest does have asthma...though I would put money that it is tied to her Celiac. Since she was diagnosed, the asthma seems to have cleared up.

The good thing about renting is that if I don't quite get it right, as least it isn't permanent!

[Grannysroost]

Is there anyone that can keep the dogs they are comfortable with for you for a few months, until the surgery and recuperation is done, then when favorable fly the dogs up when the family is back together? That would give you way more latitude in where and how you live...just a thought...

[mongazid]

Does Wasilla have a more charming or "downtown" part? We really only saw what was on Parks Hwy as we came through and that was very big box shopping. Good to know about the air in Palmer. I will have to think about that since my youngest does have asthma...though I would put money that it is tied to her Celiac. Since she was diagnosed, the asthma seems to have cleared up.

]

nope, but palmer has a nice downtown

[AKStafford]

No, Wasilla does not have the charming downtown like Palmer does. They've been trying to come up with something, but it just hasn't come together.

[akravenlady]

What you saw of Wasilla along the Parks is about it. It's kind of an "ugly" "town" but if I move back that is where I'll prolly go to as I've friends there. Palmer has a much nicer "town" area.