How walkable is Anchorage? (Kenai: rental, mover, buy)

[30somethings]

I'm thinking about renting a place for a little while in downtown Anchorage and was wondering how walkable it is? I won't have access to a vehicle if I fly out there, and need to know if I'll be able to get by (groceries, coffee shops, restaurants, etc.) without a vehicle.

Thanks in advance.

[roadfamily6now]

well, yes and no. It depends on where you are living. I am on the east side, so I can walk to the grocery store and the post office from my house. There is also a Holiday Gas Station with a RedBox if I needed a movie. But if I wanted anything else, I'd be better off taking the bus, especially in the winter. With the bus I am at the mercy of the system, which I know little about but heard they are cutting back on the routes and times. However, the bus system should be able to take me just about anywhere.

Now, you mentioned "downtown" assuming you mean somewhere along a Letter street or a 3-10 Numbered Street, then you will have a lot of neat things to see and do in that area but I'm not sure there are any grocery stores in that area. (there is a Carrs on the edge of Fairview)

Personally, given the fact that the Municipality of Anchorage is the size of Delaware, I'd have a vehicle.

[stiffnecked]

A vehicle is a must.

[melbern]

I stayed at the youth hostel in downtown Anchorage this year. What the other folks said is right...there is no grocery shopping downtown (at least not that was in walking distance of the hostel). But, within walking distance I either went to or saw...restaurants, bars, small public park, dry cleaning, Office Max (or Depot?), laudromats, coffee shops, fed ex/ups type store and a museum. There is a also a department store downtown, as well as other knick knack shops. I had to take a taxi to get to a grocery store. I would think for the money you'd be saving by not maintaining a car, you could either take a taxi to do the essentials like groceries or rent a car for the occasional weekend/day to get out of town/run errands. I think I paid around $35 a day for my rental when I went down to the Kenai. This was in January of this year.

I wouldn't want to do this as a long term solution, but for a few weeks or 3 or 4 months it would be pretty doable, at least for me. After that point I'd want a vehicle just to be able to go where and when I wanted without the rental/taxi hassle.

[bongo]

New Sagaya City Market is within walking distance to downtown. It has a lot of ethnic and health foods, fresh vegetables, fresh meats, dairy & is well known for it's fresh fish, bakery & coffee! It's more expensive than Carrs, Super Walmart or Fred Meyers but it has quality selections.

[stiffnecked]

If you can make the PeopleMover work for ya good luck. Lots of them use it. Price isn't too bad.


People Mover

[30somethings]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I buy mostly veggies and fruit when I go to the grocery store, so the New Sagaya City Market might be the ticket...

[bmw335xi]

You need a car to live in Anchorage year round.

[Chilkoot]

Based on living in Anchorage for a "little while" you'll be fine without a car. A bike is nice during the summer and the busses have quick fit bike racks. Anchorage is a bit fragmented but certainly walkable. Downtown Anchorage is on the west side of the municipality. From there the Midtown area is about 3 miles from downtown heading south. Anchorage is easy to navigate. A GPS is alwasy nice to have.

[FloridaKash]

How walkable is Anchorage. Well... honestly if the weather is nice, you live in downtown its an ok walkable city. It's a much more bikeable city IMO than walkable. So here is a breakdown based on bikeable as a city.

Summer 100%

Winter 75%

Really cold or snowy winter day 5%