Relocating to Alaska next year (Anchorage, College: condos, credit, hotel)

[Crecinella]

Hello all! last summer I worked in the Southeast and basically fell in love with Alaska. I am planning on relocating permanently. I have been doing a lot of research on Anchorage and it seems like a good place to start out. I was wondering if anyone could provide some information about quality of life, ease of relocating, job availability, etc. I am active in the arts and theater as well and I am looking for some information about opportunities in the city.

Any information is appreciated! Thanks for your time!

[AKStafford]

I guess for me, the biggest thing would be having a job lined up before the move. Or having at least 3 months worth of cash saved up.
If you loved Southeast, Anchorage is going to be very different...

[Frostnip]

Anchorage is Alaska's "easy mode" but it's also a pretty generic medium-sized city. If you fell in love with the SE maybe you should keep your eye open for opportunities in one of the still accessible, but smaller and more colorful, road system communities, like Homer or Seward. Homer in particular has an active arts community.

[Arktikos]

Like Stafford said, Anchorage will be very different than SE. What kind of work will you be looking for?
Juneau has two theater companies, perhaps you could find a job with one of them.
Perseverance theatre: Main Home Page - Perseverance Theatre
Theatre in the Rough: Theatre in the Rough

[jabogitlu]

I agree with Frostnip. Homer could be a good medium between the Southeast and Anchorage. Especially across Kachemak Bay (Seldovia etc.) really feels more Southeast than the rest of the Kenai Peninsula. It's a 4-ish hour drive into Anchorage, so not completely undoable for those seasonal shopping trips / vacation into 'regular America.'

[Metlakatla]

I agree with that ^^^ Also, keep in mind that last summer was exceptionally nice in SE weatherwise, and what you experienced isn't the norm for the panhandle unless you were up around Haines/Skagway.

[Crecinella]

Thanks everyone! I was up in Skagway last year. I'll do some digging and check out Homer!

[MillerThyme]

Homer is a great place to live, rent, food, and gas is decent. I met my wife in Homer about 8 years ago this coming summer.

Some job potential for year round employment:

Lands Resort and hotel - spa, restaurant, hotel and condos. They offered me a full time job middle of January for $10 an hour 8 years ago.

Napa

Carquest

Oriely's auto part (new).

Napa

Subway

McDonalds

Safeway

Ulmers

Gear Shed

Starvin' Marvin's pizza

Boss Hogz

Petro gas station

Home Run Oil (pays well)

Shell gas station on the way out of town.

Bear Creek Winery

Just to name a few. Plus, the Homer Spit opens up for summer and there are TONS of jobs available and most actually pay really well.

Like others have said very artsy down there, but everyone is down to earth and gets along really well. Good mix and match group of people. The Church's in the area are also active and have lots going on throughout the winter to keep people busy.

There is also KBC that is tied in with UAA and KPC (Kenai Peninsula College), and an excellent unaccredited free bible college (Alaska bible institute), only requires you to pay room and board if you live on campus.

If you have any more questions or need help, let me know. I regularly visit Homer and have many good friends still living down there.

[Music_Man]

And don't forget the SaltyDog!

[MillerThyme]

Originally Posted by Music_Man

And don't forget the SaltyDog!

I always walk out of there feeling like I need a shot before returning to work on Monday.