can't decide where to settle down... (Anchorage, Fairbanks: rent, home, university)

[Wander13]

My husband and I are planning to move to Alaska in about 5 years. We're taking the 5 years to really research and look in to where we want to go. About 3 years ago we uprooted our lives and moved from New York to Washington state. While it's been a great adventure, we want to move further north. We're both very into the outdoors and currently have some livestock and garden. He is a hunter and we both fish. I know that everything is very different up in Alaska and we will have to re-learn many skills. He is a chef and I am a business manager so we can go pretty much anywhere with our careers. We are just not sure where to even begin deciding what area we want to look at. We know we don't want to live in a major city. Any suggestions on how to narrow down our options?

[starlite9]

Best advice before you pull anchor and head North, is to come up and visit the place, Winter and summer so you can see what you"re getting into. Rent a car and drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks. That way "If" you aren't impressed, you can still go back home instead of being stuck somewhere you don't like. If you like it, then you can figure out what part of the State you want to move to, because there is completely different weather in different areas.

[AADAD]

Despite it's reputation Anchorage and Fairbanks have some pretty nice restaurants so if your hubby can really cook, he should meet up with some people. In Anchorage Jens, Captain Cook and others come to mind. Surprisingly the Marriott in Fairbanks has a very good rating and north the Silver Gulch out in the middle of bum f nowhere has a star rating. Down the Kenai there are lots of seasonal lodges that need good food preparation. Organic and fresh especially with local fish is what he should study up on in that area. Business manager….gee I would work hard to find one which you can telecommute seriously. The University of Alaska is a big hiring location as well as the local doctors offices.

I agree with Starlight as Alaska is really vast and the weather, fishing and outdoors are like night and day from Fairbanks to Ketchikan. Take a month and really look around.

Finally smaller towns, Girdwood, Talkeetna also need qualified chefs. These are pristine small resort towns with lots of beauty and activities within striking distance.

[Dakster]

And when we visited, lots of restaurants we went to could have been a whole lot better if they had a great cook.... We had some really good and some mediocre food. Surprisingly, the mediocre food was mainly fish - they overcooked it and dried it out.

Now every place we went to, the people were very nice and very supportive/understanding of my son's food allergies. Most of the time the chef walked out to talk to us and brought his marinades and sauces with them so we could look them over.

We toured a large part of the road system. From Chicken - thru Fairbanks, Anchorage, and into the Kenai. (and points between - when there was something) Really gotta see it, to be able to pick where you want to live - or in our case rule out areas you wouldn't want to live.

[AKStafford]

Come visit first. Even better, come visit a couple of times. Winter and summer.

[tigre79]

Come to Valdez and open a good restaurant!

[takuriver]

Take a long trip. Start in the interior, work your way down to the Kenai, then over to Southeast. When you feel at home, you've found your location.

Towns are so different in AK. I've lived in Anchorage and the Valley, but made my way back to S.E. You'll know home when you see (and feel) it.

[tigre79]

I think if you do some basic research on different regions and towns (there really aren't a ridiculous number of towns to choose from, after all) and think about your priorities in choosing a place to live (work, climate, local culture/vibe, recreation...) you'll start narrowing it down a bit. Look on city/town websites, read local newspapers online, get tourism publications, read some Wikipedia, and so on for information. Then before you get at all serious about one place or another, come up to visit. Maybe in the summer first because travel is easier (though not cheaper), but hopefully again in the winter once you've narrowed the list from the first trip. It's pretty different here compared with most of America. It's hard to get a feel for just how it's different without having been here. Try to meet some locals while you're here. Do a bit of recon, but have fun too.

Also seriously, come to Valdez and open a good restaurant. Or a good bar. A bar/restaurant. Do you like snow?

[NomadicBear]

Where in WA are you? Just curious.

[Wander13]

I agree that we definitely have to visit during both winter and summer. We are trying to narrow down our options prior to dine Alaska is so big is rather daunting.
Tigre79 - we love snow! We really miss it actually, we don't get much where we live in Washington. We go up to the mountains every winter with our husky just so she can play! I've been researching Valdez. There was a big earthquake there a few years ago. Do you get many earthquakes? I know Alaska does get a good amount in general. We've been looking into Homer as well. I've always wanted to visit Juneau but my husband wants to be further north and pretty secluded.
Nomadic Bear- we live on the Kitsap peninsula.