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I would think in the Bush it would be foolish to simply expect Housing to be available.
Several of my friends are Traveling Nurses and a couple have accepted assignments in Alaska and all came with housing... even if it was a remote village clinic.
The nursing jobs would be in a hub. Our hospital here has a compound that staff can rent, but it's just as expensive. Not always available.
You'd be surprised at how many people don't realize how challenging it is though. We are teachers and generally speaking, housing would be available through the district, except in hubs.
Travel packages for medical professionals come with housing in many parts of Alaska -- and it's more likely to be included if the job's in a remote village.
Not so for teachers, as the OP stated. He's offering some good advice -- advice that he's learned from first-hand experience.
Yep. We knew housing would be a challenge and when we moved here, we informed the district that if we couldn't find housing, we wouldn't accept a contract.
The other 4 new teachers that year came with nothing. They weren't informed how challenging it would be.
I helped an OCS employee find a place. They weren't informed at the challenges. Many people
Don't think to ask, because the bush is hard to understand, until you've actually lived or visited.
The same could be said for other areas like the SF Bay Area... people come here with no idea just how hard it is to secure housing and this applies to availability and cost.
My Alaska friends either built of bought homes... found renting to be the least desirable for many reasons.
We have found- in our short time here- that we would have paid less for a monthly mortgage than we are paying monthly for rent. And we could have more space too. And of course, there's something to be said for building your own equity rather than a landlord's...
All that being said, I don't regret renting this past year- we'd never been here before, and I would have hated to have purchased a house without having a better feel for the area- and then immediately wishing I'd have bought somewhere else. At least with renting you have time to find what you are really looking for...
My wife was offered travel nurse contracts in a few different hubs. Both provided housing, BUT only for one person, not the family. Understandable, but it's the main reason she didn't take the job. And probably the main reason that they have to hire so many travel nurses in the first place. That and You can't buy a house on a nurses salary there, so why try to live there? The pay isn't any better than it is on the road system and the housing is 5x as much, if you're lucky enough to even find it.
It's really a shame. I don't understand. None of these hubs are locked in geographically wise. Plenty of room to expand on the outskirts. It's a shame they impoverish their own people with ridiculous housing costs that no one can afford. Literal s*** box moldy rotting manufactured homes are $200k+ in these hubs. Why? It would be so easy to open up some more land and build more houses for cheaper than the moldy rotten ones. I don't buy the construction costs are so high in the bush argument. Yes stuff needs to be shipped in, but shipments arrive all the time. You could fit an entire house worth of building supplies in a single shipping container. That costs what $2k-$3k? Even at $20k in shipping costs, it would still be much cheaper.
I think the main native bush hub priority should be to get whatever land annexed/zoned/bought/transferred/etc to be able to open up and build more housing. And do it yesterday. Of course that won't happen as it would take compassion/foresight and planning all of which seems to be lacking. Much better to just bleed everyone dry with artificially high pricing due to lack of supply. They are impoverishing their own people for no reason when they could just open up more land. How does anyone out there afford these costs on top of everything else without going under?
They should be d*** near giving away lots in the bush. Not charging $50k for an acre.
This is coming from someone with no bush experience, so maybe it's way off, but just my far away observation. I really do think this problem could be solved easily with just a little effort.
Possibly. Land has buildable issues. But you nailed the house issue. Old. Moldy. Over priced. Just thrown together. Not thought or reason. It costs about $3k to harge in. Flying in is almost $1/lb.
I'd love to see a more affordable option. We decided that if we end up staying here, we will build our own. Even if it does cost the same, at least we know it'll be done correct.
Great post, Haolejohn! Availability of teacher housing was a huge factor in my husband and I's decision of where to teach. There are many hubs that I think sound great, but the bottom line is that we needed housing.
I remember once several years ago when they found out that a teacher was living in her classroom in Craig.
I've known a few teachers that did that. Housing was so bad, they moved into their classrooms. Reason was they were there 16 hours a day anyways, might as well make it 24. Lol.
But in reality, housing is a major let down for many coming to the bush. Choices are extremely limited and frustrating.
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