Pulling up roots and setting sights for POW Island (Anchorage: home, buy)

[LittleJazzyP]

Originally Posted by terracore

You think its bad here, check out the Hawaii forum!

But really, 14 years ago I sold or gave away everything I owned and drove to Alaska. Had never been here before. Never looked back. Best decision I've made to date. The people who say things like, "you think the winds are bad where you are, they are way worse here!" aren't trying to discourage- just educate you. Many of us have come here from somewhere else- and experienced the winds (commentary: wind here is a metaphor) you are talking about. And they usually ARE worse here. So many of us have seen people come and go, we would try to share the experience with others, so that less go. Don't grab your marbles and stomp your feet walking away from this forum without first considering that most of these people have your best interest at heart, and give their recommendations at least the minimum of a grain of salt. Did you ever research Gustavus?

I've looked at the Hawaii forum. I don't have any desire to move there, but I would like to visit, so I thought I would check it out.

Mostly, I was saddened by the number of people who seem to be stuck there with inadequate income and no way out. I wouldn't call them unfriendly, exactly, but they are a lot more jaded than the folks here. Honest.

[gobrien]

Originally Posted by LittleJazzyP

I've looked at the Hawaii forum. I don't have any desire to move there, but I would like to visit, so I thought I would check it out.

Mostly, I was saddened by the number of people who seem to be stuck there with inadequate income and no way out. I wouldn't call them unfriendly, exactly, but they are a lot more jaded than the folks here. Honest.

I've read the Hawaii forum too, it sounds very hard to make a living there, only offset by the cheap farmer's markets.

How do you protect goats and pigs from bears? Seems like bears are pretty talented at getting through barriers.

[Rance]

Build a compound wrapped in electric fencing.

[Frostnip]

Scarebears, I told you guys.

[LittleJazzyP]

Oh, go away. This thread is not about politics.

[Metlakatla]

I think that the OP may do fine. POW isn't that difficult a place to live, especially by Alaska standards.

However, the OP only focused in her last post here on the perceived "negative" comments and didn't acknowledge much of anything else, and that won't work in her favor if she moves to POW or any other sparsely populated rural area.

OP: as soon as you hit POW and start meeting people in real life and start talking about your plans, they are going to offer you advice. Some of the advice won't be worth taking, but much of it will be.

If you act with the same disdain for advice that isn't what you want to hear (and you did come here asking for advice) in real life that you've shown on this forum, things on POW may not work out so well for you. You come across as knowing-it-all, but by the same token, you seem to have done a fair amount of research. Maybe you'll be able to pull off having a greenhouse on top of your home, but I hope that you've got money to burn if that's something that you're set on. My point is is that...a lot of what's going to determine whether you get work or if your husband gets work is going to be your attitude and how well you interact with the community. I'm not saying that you have to take every bit of advice offered, but if you thumb your nose at people on POW in real life the way that you have here any time they say something that doesn't fit in with how you want things to be, your husband won't have much work. I've seen a lot of people come and go who were good at what they do but were nonetheless not being able to make a go of it

You asked for advice from people who know the island well; I happen to be one of them. What's going to work against you won't be the fact that some of your ideas simply don't fit in with the type of environment that you'll be living in --you can figure that out, and modify your plans once you actually move -- what's going to work against you is your attitude should it be the same as what has been portrayed here.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by LittleJazzyP

I've looked at the Hawaii forum. I don't have any desire to move there, but I would like to visit, so I thought I would check it out.

Mostly, I was saddened by the number of people who seem to be stuck there with inadequate income and no way out. I wouldn't call them unfriendly, exactly, but they are a lot more jaded than the folks here. Honest.

Yes, one of my sons lived in Hawaii for about a year, and it was extremely difficult to find work for him. He returned to Alaska and is working two part-time jobs, but he pretty much survives from paycheck to paycheck like a lot of people in here.

It's not that easy living in Alaska because the cost of living is so high, and also because most jobs aren't full time. There is a lot of seasonal work during the summer, however. People on fixed incomes, or retired and such, are having a difficult time surviving in the interior. Just for heating a 1,700 square-foot house and water costs from $6,000 to $8,000 a year on heating fuel.

I know that most people contemplating moving to Alaska don't want to hear such things above, but it's the truth. Keep in mind that I have referred to the interior of Alaska, not POW. For that area Met has great advise, and if I were the OP I would pay close attention.

[NomadicBear]

From an energy standpoint, living in Alaska makes less and less sense as prices for fuel, etc., get higher and higher. Wouldn't be surprised to see a mass exodus at some point.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by NomadicBear

From an energy standpoint, living in Alaska makes less and less sense as prices for fuel, etc., get higher and higher. Wouldn't be surprised to see a mass exodus at some point.

If you listen to KAFR (960AM) around 3:00 PM, you will hear callers explaining why they are living Fairbanks and vicinity. It' not a place to retire unless the person has a very large pension, but those who have good jobs and are in relatively good health, can make a living. Perhaps the higher expenses in relation to the cost of living are heating fuel, gasoline (or diesel fuel), and electricity. A good thing is that Spring nears, and it's not below zero

[Kashta]

All right I'm back...my apologies for not having posted in so long. Even though I'd said I wasn't going to post much anymore, and was obviously a bit peeved, that's not my style. A power outage that messed up my computer (because someone had, for some reason, unplugged it from the surge protector and decided that the wall outlet was a better place to plug it in) kept me from responding at first, and then a bit of a personal crisis where forum posts were the last thing on my mind.

But please let me point out, that even in my peeviness (yeah I just made that word up), I was polite, I didn't call anyone any names, I presented my viewpoint without getting into hysterics, and I did this all after several screwdrivers. I didn't even misspell any words while a few sheets to the wind, lol, so I'm pretty proud of myself.

Now getting into the meat of the matter. We have taken your guys' advice into consideration. I don't like being told 'no', but I do like being given reasoning behind cautionary advice and trying to overcome difficulties. The greenhouse...well. Okay so here's our NEW plan.

We'll have it inside our house, with supplemental lighting (most likely LED, expensive to start but they take very little in the way of power, they last for decades, and they aren't as harmful if they break as CFLs are). Windows on the south side, which yes, means more energy expenditures, but at least we're protected from wind, animals, etc. We've looked into the situation with aquaponics, and have found that we CAN set up a system in Alaska (as long as we don't sell the fish for human consumption without a permit and don't have the fish where they can be introduced into the wild, and don't pollute anything with the effluent [fish poop]). So, bring in a few aquariums, set up some grow beds and plumbing and all the other sorts of things associated with aquaponics, and the soil problem is solved as well. Not to sound like a know-it-all. I have done extensive research on it, though, and while this wouldn't be as large of a setup as we were planning here in AZ, it should suit our personal needs fairly well, and provide a dependable source of vegetables and protein, to supplement the small deer and hit-or-miss fishing. This was our plan for here, too, only we were going to grow enough to sell some if we stayed, while we won't be able to have a large enough system to do that if we move to POW Island.

Bears...we had actually figured on setting up an area with an electrified fence. I'd like to set that fence around the perimeter of the land if possible (also depends on the pricing), perhaps clearing out the trees just around the fenceline (if necessary...I could see some enterprising bear using a tree to bypass a fence), and leaving the main tree area inside the property alone, with adequate fencing for my goats & pigs so I don't have to search acreage for them in the rain, and so that I can rotate the areas they are in so that they don't wind up stripping the vegetation in any one area.

My cow...depends on if we can do a fodder system. Still looking into that, but that might be a case of just not worth it.

Energy...we're looking into getting a gasifier. It's no more costly than a solar setup, not dependent upon the sun in a place that rains a lot, and once we've lived there long enough then wood seems like it wouldn't be a problem, as long as we are willing to go chop it ourselves. Could also use our animals' manure, though that seems like it would be better saved for compost, since there are some vegetables I would want that wouldn't grow well in an aquaponic setup (like potatoes). I'm also looking to build (with hubby's help) a masonry stove for heat, so that we can save the electricity produced by the gasifier for important things, like the washer & dryer, lighting, perhaps power tools, and (of course) the computer. Oh, and the freezer/fridge, too, though I'm also looking into having a cold room for refrigeration, not too sure about that yet. We have several ideas we're exploring in that regard.

We're most likely going to go with a shipping container home. With LOTS of insulation. We have a basic layout that includes the greenhouse (lol), and while we are kind of sweating over the pricing of all this, we think that this whole plan is do-able in regards to being self-sufficient, NOT having to worry as much about basic necessities (other than clothing, medical supplies & toiletries, which we would stock up on before coming), and hopefully being able to weather any lack of employment without losing our lives or home. Or going on gov't assistance.

Does that sound better? I do appreciate the advice. I am very much an idea person, and I realize that some of my ideas are pretty out-there, but I can't stop thinking of ways to get past certain problems. Even if those ways don't wind up being feasible, often they point the way to other solutions that are.