Yes, another relocation thread... (Anchorage, Craig: apartments, rentals, homeowners association)

[stormshy7]

Hi everyone!
I've doing alot of reading on here and I want to say thanks to everyone for all your wisdom and advice! I look forward to getting to know you all!

My best friend is originally from AK, born and raised, traveled downward for college and ended in the middle of nowhere Indiana....where we met
She's now in her early thirties, just had her first baby, and is ready to move back home and be around family.

I've lived here in Indiana my whole life. Always thought I would move away, but here I am at 25 and still here.
So now my plan is to occompany her and her family back to AK.

I'm actually pretty excited about it, and it's pretty much all I've been doing is reading and researching these past couple weeks.
Even found a couple houses I hope are still available come spring!!

We won't be moving until the spring/summer.
She is a teacher and will finish out the year here.

She will have a job lined up before the move.
Which is one of my major conserns.
Being a teacher, it's easy for her to get employment before we go...
I on the other hand am worried about a job.
Not that the job sisituation here is great... Elkhart County has the highest unemployment rate in the country, I was laid off for 9 months last year, and am now working a temp position.
I am a newly licensed massage therapist. I have also been working in an office enviroment since I was 18, so while i have no college schooling I have 6+ years of experience doin various office work.

Are there jobs available for someone with my qualifications? I have been reading the Anchorage Daily News daily, and watching the classifieds. I also saw several postings on Craigslist.
I guess my question is, in your knowledge or experience, will I have the possibility of getting a decient job, even with out college degree in anything?

I did notice several Massage places listed in Anchorage/Eagle River (where will be moving too).
Is massage popular up there?
Would the possiblity of a full time massage job, be realisitic to pay the bills of a single woman?
Around here, everyone is RV Factory workers and massge is more of "once in awhile" treat and not a realisitc carrear move.

At first we will be staying with her family, but I am hoping to buy a townhouse/condo or house.
I have two Dogs who will be moving to...one is an English Mastiff, he's a very large boy, so i have a feeling an apartment is out of the question.
Do homeowners associations generally have restricions on pets? Around here it's just apartments owned by landlords, so I'm wasnt sure how strict they are since townhouses are connected...but not rented....

Also, what about Cell Phones? lol
I currently have my phone through the Sprint PCS network.
Do the main carriers down here offer coverage up there, is their coverage good?
I assuming as long as we are in the Anchorage area, cell reception is decent?


Sorry this is such a long post... Thank you, I'm sure I will have many more questions as the move progress.

[FloridaKash]

Here's the dirty secret about Alaska employment. Its who you know not necessarily what you know. If your wife has contacts here you need to start networking with people now. Getting on with a large company is ideal, but smaller companies tend to be more personable to work for. Plus with a small company they'll love you if you can just showup everyday and on time which may lead to a pay increase. There are some Massage places here, which might be a good thing to look into. I do know that Alaska has very lax requirements for Massage Therapists so most are severely under trained compared to those in other states. I believe in Alaska you have to be certified, not licensed. If you are licensed, have good experience and an impressive resume you may be able to get a job with a Chiropractor, Sports Therapy, etc. Of course you can always work at a SPA as well. I think you have an advantage in this field.

Sprint is not up here. There is only one National Carrier up here, AT&T. ACS (acsalaska.com) is great, GCI (GCI.com) is good, AT&T is great as well. There is an unlimited Alaska plan which allows you to talk unlimited locally for $59/mo. Because of these rate plans many people do not have a land line.

Internet is expensive here. GCI has the fastest connections and is very expensive unless you do a Package with them (Cable, Phone, Internet, etc). ACS has DSL up to 2MB with unlimited usage...... however you can only get 2MB in certain parts of town. Do not use Clearwire, its awful.

There are many pet friendly places up here, you'll just have to find the right place. Homeowner's Associations are far and few between here unless you are in a Condo.

~Kash

[Barkingowl]

Sprint works fine in Anchorage & the MatSu valley.

[Marty Van Diest]

I don't want you to get to enthused about how easy it is to find housing with your dogs. My estimate is that 90% of the rentals will be closed to you with your english mastiff and about 50% or more will be closed to all dogs. It will be very difficult to find housing with your dog.

[Nephler]

Yes, I agree completely with Marty. We are in the process of looking for a new rental. We have 3 dogs, two medium sized and one small. Most places that "allow" dogs state 25 LB or smaller. I have to ask, WTH is that? Anyway, no, it's not easy to find a place that allows dogs, of any size.