retired -move to Talkeetna or Willow? (Anchorage, Wasilla: for sale, house, high school)

[Sib mom]

Hi My husband and I are considering moving to Alaska. We are retired and are 60 and 56 yrs. old. My son, his wife and 2 grandchildren currently live in Willow and have been there 2 yrs. He suggested we might like Talkeetna. We are both very active people, but have not lived in the snow since we were very young. Have looked at everything on the net about both places, and my sone found a house we might like in Talkeetna. Any and all information or suggestions would we welcome. Just don't know how things would be there as we get older. Thanks, Gary and Linda.

[Rance]

I've never lived in either location. But I've been to Talkeetna. It's nice. I really don't see any issues unless your heating with wood or snow removal. Might be hard to do as you get older. Other than that, it's plenty warm in the summer months. And you can have a garden if your into that sort of thing.

[Rainy]

There are quite a few older people living in Talkeetna...Rance is right, it's a good place for gardening. It's a nice community overall.

[Tressa]

watch for mosquitos in the summer months but we all get use to them, but very nice in Talkeetna. You feel that you go back in time to the hippy era or flower child pretty cool place to visit, to live there I don't know to far away from everything civilized (shopping)

[Sib mom]

Originally Posted by Rance

I've never lived in either location. But I've been to Talkeetna. It's nice. I really don't see any issues unless your heating with wood or snow removal. Might be hard to do as you get older. Other than that, it's plenty warm in the summer months. And you can have a garden if your into that sort of thing.

Thank you for the info. Are the roads between Talkeetna and Wasilla cleared during winter? Winter activites for older folks in the coummunity? Do you know of anyone that we can talk with that lives in the area? What about Willow? My son lives on Honeybee Lake and found a house we may like on Nancy Lake. This will be a huge move for the two of us, but torn because me miss our family and grandchildren. Thanks again.

[JavaPhil]

Roads are plowed within 24 hours of any heavy snow. Care and a healthy dose of common sense will get you to Willow in no time at all.

[Alaskan_Adventurer]

I have been to both Willow and Talkeetna. Both extremely beautiful small towns with a friendly atmosphere. I have a family friend who owns a nice house right on Willow lake. Willow has the advantage of being closer to civilization. You are within 20-30 minutes of Wasilla and a little over an hour to Anchorage. Talkeetna is quite a ways farther away, but not too bad.

[Rainy]

I'm quite familiar with Talkeetna; have lived there off and on for years.

The roads are well kept, de-iced etc. What you need to worry about most is moose. They feed on the willow trees by the sides of the Parks Hwy in the winter. It's best to avoid driving after dark as they do jump out in front of cars. The Parks is also a major trucking route; it standard equipment for the semis to have moose guards on their front fenders.

Things to do...there is a senior center in Sunshine, about 14 miles from Talkeetna at what they call the Y--where the Parks intersects the Talkeetna Spur road. Though you two aren't exactly seniors, they still host other activities. This year, though, they will also be hosting the local high school that recently burned down.

There are various classes you can take around town, if you're into volunteering, it's got a good little radio station; if faith is important to you, you can probably find something that will meet that need. It's got a great winter festival in Dec. (with a bachelor auction, I was there for the very first one ) Can't beat the Talkeetna Roadhouse for a decent breakfast or blackberry pie. Pretty good place to live. It has a very nice hippie type population that mostly manifests itself during the summer months and that is a tradition there, but underneath that is a more stable community. Best Belgian chocolate shop ever is there and Cafe Michelle for dining in the summer

People come there from all over the world because it's the take off point for climbing Mt. McKinley.

When I first lived in Talkeetna, the spur road was still gravel. I have to say that over the years, even though "civilization" has moved closer, it has still retained it's more than considerable character and charm

[Sib mom]

Hello thanks again. We are all from California. My son saw some property for sale in Pedro Bay about 5 yrs. ago. It is 26 acres and borders Lake Clark National Forest. So, guess what happened - mom and pop bought it. We have a river skift there and have camped out a couple of times. It is just awesome. Bear fishing the stream not 300 ft. from our tent and fox stealing cookies from us at night, not to mention the views. Someday our families hope to build a fishing lodge on it. Ryan just bought an older airplane, so that helps with the flight from Anchorage. He now works as a finance manager at Nye Ford. They both love Willow. Oh, the house he looked at is on Sunshine Lake, and he just keeps asking us " Well what's stopping you guys". Guess we better finally make up our minds. Hope to see Talkeetna before Sept. of this year. Maybe the house won't be sold yet.

[losercore]

Hey Sib mom

Alaska is a great place to live. i grew up in California and went to Alaska for 6 years and loved every minute of it. i would move back in a minute.

As for your cities of choice one thing to consider is that Talketna is also a tourist town while Willow gets very few tourists at all.

My uncle lives in Willow and I must say I am not a big fan of the area. If i was choosing between the 2 I would choose Talketna without a doubt.

Hope you make it up there soon, I know you will love it...