The price of oil (Anchorage: short sale, 2015, foreclosure)

[riceme]

Originally Posted by pittsflyer

LOL, yes there are some good jobs in the short term and a very small group of people at high wages in operations. But its not like the volume of 6 figure jobs provided is going to save the local economy.


Do you think the operations to serve the anchorage area would be great enough to create a meaningful number of high paid jobs? I highly doubt it. Maybe I am wrong and I would love it if I were, I just don't see a wind farm producing the same number of long term 6 figure jobs as oil and gas.

When did this discussion ever start being about imaginary wind farms near Anchorage or wind pulling Alaska out of the O&G hole we're in? The only person who may have said those things is the guy talking to you in your head, bro.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

Solar energy’s dirty little secret | Grist

Bingo. Thanks, man.

[riceme]

Originally Posted by Frostnip

I know a bunch of Pogo employees down Delta's way, both clerical and miners.

Cool, good to hear it.

[pittsflyer]

Yep, but the common denominator in all of that is having a good job. Why work a medicre job or bad job and take a massive pay cut just to say in a certian area? If the good jobs start drying up things will start looking alot different in anchorage.


Remote property is mostly recreational or if you are full blown retired, thats not my family for a long time. So for us remote property would be purely recreational which I am a long way from being able to do.

Originally Posted by Dakster

You shouldn't live anywhere just to be there... I could have stayed where I was and be miserable or as you said, eat chips and watch TV because that's all I could afford or want to do.

It's expensive to live in most places people would want to live in. Try SoCal, South Florida, NYC to name a few. I do pay a little less for groceries overall in South Florida and only because the fresh stuff is cheaper (and tastes better). Since I have been traveling back and forth I started comparing prices. And what I pay taxes on in Florida vs. so far None in Anchorage.

The problem is that very cheap houses and land areas do not have the jobs. While I like Anchorage and the city, I don't REALLY want to live in the city, but I am stuck there... Why? Because the better schools for my kids and my wife's job is there. Buy your large house and areas of land in one of the more remote areas of the state... But of course that means along commute to work. I guess that is why a lot of people I have met have cabins in the rural areas. So they can escape the city.

[pittsflyer]

Ok so yea it would be cool to add some more wind mills on fire island or a solar farm but we should have been doing that when things were booming. Now the state is broke so the time for that stuff has passed.


The break even on that sort of stuff is in decades not a few years. Its one of those things you do when you are flush with money you start building up other things so that when that source goes away you can smoothly transition over. In fact if a community is really smart they will have all the high speed people transitioned over before the other industry has completely crapped out. But we are not that smart so instead we will have an exodus and all sort of social problems.


Oh and maybe a wind farm that employs 10 people with good jobs and another 30-40 medocre jobs. Its hard to get people interested and excited when everyone is worried about their own bacon.


I am reading between the lines, not the voices .... this time.

Originally Posted by riceme

When did this discussion ever start being about imaginary wind farms near Anchorage or wind pulling Alaska out of the O&G hole we're in? The only person who may have said those things is the guy talking to you in your head, bro.

[Arktikos]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

There's a little more to the timber situation in the Pacific Northwest than a bunch of crazed "enviros" bringing things to a standstill. A little thing like there being no market for the timber that was being produced had a lot more to do with it...

That, and no more high yield old growth trees to harvest. They're all gone, except the now protected ones in upper regions of the Olympic Park.

It's pathetic that our legislative delegation would allow this to happen in SE, if not opposed by environmentalists.

[Metlakatla]

Yeah, except that the environmentalists had a little help from the seafood industry in shutting down most of the logging in the Tongass.

Most of those working in the timber industry on POW were from elsewhere...it was nuts; people were living on the side of the road in campers and trailers, whole families were doing this. I remember being with my grandmother over in Hollis watching Idaho and Washington license plates just pouring off the ferry.

[NomadicBear]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Yeah, except that the environmentalists had a little help from the seafood industry in shutting down most of the logging in the Tongass.

Most of those working in the timber industry on POW were from elsewhere...it was nuts; people were living on the side of the road in campers and trailers, whole families were doing this. I remember being with my grandmother over in Hollis watching Idaho and Washington license plates just pouring off the ferry.

That's not unlike what was going on over in North Dakota during the oil patch boom. People will come from far and wide for a good-paying job, or sometimes any job at all. We have a wage problem in this country which goes unaddressed.

[pittsflyer]

Problem is as people came the rents sky rocketed, not sure why anyone stayed unless they raised the pay to account for the increase in rent.


Would have been best to buy a little piece of land with no mineral rights and put up a modular home (not a trailer) and that way your family could come and you could have some home life while you worked, rather than these dirty man camps with no women around. Just looking at the pictures of that whole situation made me want to put a gun to my head lol. Bunch of pod dudes sitting around with no women there lol.


no thanks.

Originally Posted by NomadicBear

That's not unlike what was going on over in North Dakota during the oil patch boom. People will come from far and wide for a good-paying job, or sometimes any job at all. We have a wage problem in this country which goes unaddressed.

[Dakster]

Pitts - I wish you were just describing Anchorage, but you are not... This is something happening all over.

Economics works everywhere. Supply vs. Demand. I remember reading articles that peoples 2-car garages were going for $2k or more a month in North Dakota because of housing shortages. And even the Wal-Mart parking lot was 'parked' up with overnighters in their cars. Made me wish I owned a company that could quickly get even temp housing quickly setup. Of course it only lasted about 5 years. SO you needed to be able to get your ROI back quick.

Now more than ever, I feel a housing bust is coming to AK. If you can stick thru it you should be able to pick up a good deal on a house. Will it go down 50%? Who knows... But a fall of some sort is on its way. Rentals should crash too. If you hear that the military troop draw down is going to happen on JBER then you know your deal is coming sooner rather than later. And this is from me, the glass is half full person.