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Old 08-26-2015, 12:38 PM
 
1 posts, read 2,646 times
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My husband, 1 year old daughter, and I are planning to move to Alaska from Florida. We don't know when yet or where in Alaska to go. I was wondering if Juneau is a nice place for a small family to move to. Also how is the job situation down there? My husband and I have a hard time finding work here in Florida. We really want to move in the next few years, but obviously preparing is a big step. Please let me know.

Thank you.

Nataly Garza
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Old 08-26-2015, 01:44 PM
 
Location: Wasilla, AK
2,795 posts, read 5,618,673 times
Reputation: 2535
Welcome to the City-Data forum for moving to Alaska. Good job on getting here from the Trip Advisor forum.
So here's the deal... I would NEVER recommend a family with a young child moving to Alaska without having a good job lined up. The cost of living in Juneau is high. It's only reachable by plane or ferry. Juneau is a beautiful spot, but its not cheap.
Job situation: The state of Alaska is HEAVILY dependent on oil revenue. Oil prices are in the toilet and it's having an impact on the economy.
I would also recommend a visit to Alaska before moving here. If you can't afford a visit, you probably can't afford to move here.
Why Alaska? It's a long way from Florida...
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Old 08-26-2015, 02:07 PM
 
1,931 posts, read 2,172,520 times
Reputation: 1629
Quote:
Originally Posted by nataly.garzasiller View Post
My husband, 1 year old daughter, and I are planning to move to Alaska from Florida. We don't know when yet or where in Alaska to go. I was wondering if Juneau is a nice place for a small family to move to. Also how is the job situation down there? My husband and I have a hard time finding work here in Florida. We really want to move in the next few years, but obviously preparing is a big step. Please let me know.

Thank you.

Nataly Garza
AKStafford has given you good advise. Juneau is not cheap to get to. Any remote location is a challenge to get to especially with a family (we live in the bush, though currently in a fairly large community for bush living currently).
What sort of work are you guys looking for? Are you prepared to pay $1800 month for rent? Are you prepared to not visit family for years at a time?
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Old 08-26-2015, 05:52 PM
 
Location: Rust'n in Tustin
3,272 posts, read 3,936,892 times
Reputation: 7069
OP, just so you know, this is how big Alaska is. Asking us where you should move to is not an easy question.

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Old 08-26-2015, 07:30 PM
 
2,676 posts, read 2,629,828 times
Reputation: 5265
I'll second the visit idea. Until you see it for yourself there's no way to know if you'll actually like it.

If you do decide you like it and want to move there, and a move is some time away, you could use the time to see what types of jobs are available where you want to move and acquire the skills you need for them.

The largest population centers are Anchorage (300K people), Fairbanks (30K people), and Juneau (30K people). I've only visited Juneau, but it seemed like a great town to me. Very scenic, lots of friendly people. It is expensive though, do check out the cost of living. Lots of rain, which I think is great but not everyone will agree with that

Best of luck to you, I hope it works out!
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Old 08-26-2015, 07:33 PM
 
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I'm not a fan of the come visit before you move. Unless you have the extra money. A visit in the summer is not cheap.
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Old 08-26-2015, 08:26 PM
 
2,676 posts, read 2,629,828 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Haolejohn View Post
I'm not a fan of the come visit before you move. Unless you have the extra money. A visit in the summer is not cheap.
Visiting is probably cheaper than moving there and discovering it's just not for you
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Old 08-26-2015, 08:44 PM
 
Location: Back and Beyond
2,993 posts, read 4,308,240 times
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I moved to Alaska sight unseen and for probably way cheaper than most peoples vacations. However, my wife had a travel nurse contract lined up with an $1800 a month housing stipend (which we pocketed by living in our 5th wheel). If you have a solid job lined up, moving here without visiting isn't the worst idea. However if your trying to wing it, with no real job skills and just hoping to find something, it would be best to have some reserve funds to go home when it doesn't work out. I wouldn't want to be looking for a living wage job with no real skills right about now.

What does your husband do? It's not impossible to find $20 something an hour jobs in the construction field if you're good and know what you're doing. You'd have to live pretty cheaply to make that stretch though.

Ysrracer's map above is highly inaccurate. Everyone with a decent map knows that Alaska is a very small island southwest of California somewhere, kind of by hawaii.

I also had the misfortune of living in Florida for too many years, that place is hell on earth, so I don't blame you for wanting to escape.

God, I miss that housing stipend....
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Old 08-26-2015, 09:06 PM
 
1,931 posts, read 2,172,520 times
Reputation: 1629
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdhpa View Post
Visiting is probably cheaper than moving there and discovering it's just not for you
Depends on how one does it. We moved sight unseen. Never even visited. Of course we did have jobs. But I never would have visited first. Just didn't have the funds. Of course I've only moved twice with no job lined up. Once in 1999 and once in 2002. Never again will I move without a job.

Not only that, how many people move up here based on a vacation but don't make it? I'd venture to say it's probably the same percentage as those that move here without coming first.
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Old 08-27-2015, 12:01 AM
 
Location: interior Alaska
6,895 posts, read 5,867,667 times
Reputation: 23410
I'm cool with moving sight unseen, but not cool with moving up with no job or housing pre-arranged, especially with a family to support. Even in Alaska's larger job markets there aren't that many living wage positions open at any given time, so in a lot of cases where you can find a decent job determines where you can live. It's not like most of the Lower 48 where, oh, I can't find a job in this town, I'll expand my search radius to include nearby towns. In Alaska things are too spread out for that; most towns are off by themselves.
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