Need Moving/City Advice! (Ketchikan, Kenai: to rent, home, buy)

[SibeMamma]

Hi! I'm new. Here's the big picture: need to know opinions, facts, etc.

Here's our situation: we live in central california, now.
we are looking to move to Alaska
it's me (19), my mom, my niece(7), and possibly my nephew(4), and possibly my grandma (79)
we have 4 cats(outside), two small dogs, 2 siberian huskies
we are on a fixed income because of my mom, myself, and my grandma being disabled/retired.
we would have to rent a house, have elementary/junior high school close by, and, obviously, have the safest city/borough to raise the kids.
hopefully a college withing 15 or so miles, as i' d like to stay close.


Now, does anybody have any suggestions on the safest cities, kindest people, best schools, cheaper living/housing?! I've been scouring the net, but I'd like some actual info from people the know what they're talking about. we're from boston and R.I. originally, so we can handle the weather. We'd also prefer a small town with a nice, welcoming community. We were thinking Ketchikan/Kodiak-ish, lol. Thanks for any help you can offer! Oh! And any travel/moving suggestions, too!

[Marty Van Diest]

I don't know much about Kodiak and Ketchikan, but for affordability it's hard to beat the Kenai/Soldotna area and then the Palmer/Wasilla area.

Both have small colleges nearby, branches of the University of Alaska. I think they are all about as safe as the other. I would think Ketchikan is likely the safest...but the wettest. You need to like rain to live there.

[Rance]

City of Soldotna Online

Kenai Alaska City Government Home Page

Homer Chamber of Commerce

Welcome to the City of Homer Home Page

[Xa'at]

Auke Bay is very nice down here in Juneau. It's a fishing village so it kind of has the same air as Ketchikan, but you're like a five minute drive from the valley, which has all sorts of shopping and grocery stores. The University of Alaska Southeast (I'm a student here, writing this as I'm sitting down for breakfast in the café ) is about a five minute walk from downtown Auke Bay, as is the elementary school. UAS is small, but it's going to be bigger than the branches of UAA that you would have in Soldotna or Palmer.
Auke Bay isn't as haute-toity as some of the places in the valley and downtown come off. As far as income it's a little bit lower class, but the people are all very friendly and it's certainly safe.
I have tons of pictures at my flickr account Flickr: Photos & Video from Xa'at (http://www.flickr.com/photos/laquatique - broken link)
And here's one of the UAS campus this January...

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by Xa'at

Auke Bay is very nice down here in Juneau. It's a fishing village so it kind of has the same air as Ketchikan, but you're like a five minute drive from the valley, which has all sorts of shopping and grocery stores. The University of Alaska Southeast (I'm a student here, writing this as I'm sitting down for breakfast in the café ) is about a five minute walk from downtown Auke Bay, as is the elementary school. UAS is small, but it's going to be bigger than the branches of UAA that you would have in Soldotna or Palmer.
Auke Bay isn't as haute-toity as some of the places in the valley and downtown come off. As far as income it's a little bit lower class, but the people are all very friendly and it's certainly safe.
I have tons of pictures at my flickr account Flickr: Photos & Video from Xa'at (http://www.flickr.com/photos/laquatique - broken link)
And here's one of the UAS campus this January...

X,

Are you eating bacon waffles again? Just kidding

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by cobolt

X,

Are you eating bacon waffles again? Just kidding

Oh, you got me! I just can't resist their light crispy outside and warm fluffy meaty inside...

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by Xa'at

Oh, you got me! I just can't resist their light crispy outside and warm fluffy meaty inside...

Yeah....m'kay. Doesn't sound good. But a nice bagel from Silverbow sounds pretty nifty. So does something from Rainbow foods!

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by cobolt

Yeah....m'kay. Doesn't sound good. But a nice bagel from Silverbow sounds pretty nifty. So does something from Rainbow foods!

I haven't been to silverbow in a few weeks. I'm thinking about getting a place downtown this summer, so hopefully I'll be able to go more. I think I'm going to get a job at the fudge co... I'll probably gain so much weight!!

[cobolt]

Originally Posted by Xa'at

I haven't been to silverbow in a few weeks. I'm thinking about getting a place downtown this summer, so hopefully I'll be able to go more. I think I'm going to get a job at the fudge co... I'll probably gain so much weight!!

There are neat places to rent downtown if you want to share. You let me know where you're working so I can play like a touron and ask you a bunch of stupid questions. You'll be looking at every touron all season thinking "Is THAT cobolt?" Ha Ha....I'll even buy some new white shoes for the occassion.

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by cobolt

There are neat places to rent downtown if you want to share. You let me know where you're working so I can play like a touron and ask you a bunch of stupid questions. You'll be looking at every touron all season thinking "Is THAT cobolt?" Ha Ha....I'll even buy some new white shoes for the occassion.

Well, I have apps for the fudge co, Annie Kail's, heritage, once in A blue moose (what used to be galli), hearthside, four seasons marine, and dipac. So far the best offer has come from 4 seasons, unfortunately I'm applying too late to get a job as a naturalist on the boat, which is what I wanted. The only job they have available dock rep. Not sure I want to do the whole, "hi, welcome to Juneau, watch your step" thing day in and day out.
There's still quite a few opportunities, but I refuse to work for non-locally owned businesses. Of course this generally means the pay is a little lower, but it's a question of ethics, you know?