Condidering moving to Alaska from NY

[LiquidFluoride]

Originally Posted by Laurakitty

1. Are there any small towns in Alaska that are within walking distance to stores, resturants, parks, etc? I looked into Nome, it looks like a nice little town, but theres nothing fun to do.

2.What is the job market like in the IT field? How much will I make with a computer/electronics carrer?


3. Whats the cheapest apartment rent?? And how high do utilites run?

Nome is... for special people.. I personally do not like going there.

there are NO roads to nome, the weather is extreme, and the job market is non-exsistant.


the jobs in Alaska are service based (for the oil workers) government based (due to taxes from the oil companies) or oil related (for the oil companies) with a few other exceptions (not many).



I work IT for the government up here, the non government IT positions pay C R A P (for some reason) the government jobs are decent (state) and pretty good (Federal)

Hope that helps


as far as the town you are looking for, I'd say eagle river or Palmer would fit the bill plus be able to support your carreer asperations better.

[dcbrewmeister]

Originally Posted by Laurakitty

1. Are there any small towns in Alaska that are within walking distance to stores, resturants, parks, etc? I looked into Nome, it looks like a nice little town, but theres nothing fun to do.

2.What is the job market like in the IT field? How much will I make with a computer/electronics carrer?


3. Whats the cheapest apartment rent?? And how high do utilites run?

You are going to find that a lot in AK... If you don't like the outdoors - camping, hiking, fishing, sled-dogging, snowshoeing... etc, etc - forget it. If you are looking for a "wild night" of clubbing - forget it - most are small "local" bars full of drunk fisherman - unless that's your thing.

Anchorage, Juneau is about as close as you are going to get to a "major" metropolitan area. NY never closes - AK rolls up the sidewalks at night - like any small city in the country. Going from millions to hundreds of thousands of people is going to be a culture shock to you.

And cheapest rent? APT complexes barely exist in Anchorage and in most smaller communities are NON-EXISTENT.

The best piece of advice I can give you - is go and visit for a week or two before you commit to moving as far as you can get from NY and still be on the North American continent...

[AKStafford]

Originally Posted by dcbrewmeister

Anchorage, Juneau is about as close as you are going to get to a "major" metropolitan area. NY never closes - AK rolls up the sidewalks at night - like any small city in the country.

Fairbanks is larger than Juneau... And I disagree with the "rolls up the sidewalks" comment. For Anchorage, the Valley and Fairbanks our grocery stores are 24 hours, the bars are open into the wee hours of the morning, restaurants are open late, soft ball games in the summer start as late as 10 & 11pm. The little town I grew up some in Oregon, the grocery store, video store and only restaurant closed at 6pm. After that you had the Circle K on the highway and the tavern had a small grill for burgers.

Originally Posted by dcbrewmeister

APT complexes barely exist in Anchorage and in most smaller communities are NON-EXISTENT.

It seems to me there are plenty of apartment complexes in Anchorage and a fair amount in the Valley if you know where to look.

Originally Posted by dcbrewmeister

The best piece of advice I can give you - is go and visit for a week or two before you commit to moving

Agreed. A visit before moving is a great idea.

[akck]

Originally Posted by Laurakitty

1. Are there any small towns in Alaska that are within walking distance to stores, resturants, parks, etc? I looked into Nome, it looks like a nice little town, but theres nothing fun to do.

2.What is the job market like in the IT field? How much will I make with a computer/electronics carrer?


3. Whats the cheapest apartment rent?? And how high do utilites run?

I'd look into Sitka, Skagway, Wrangell, Petersburg, Craig and Haines. You can be within walking distance in Ketchikan too, but it's a larger city. There are more IT jobs in the bigger cities though. Starting salaries vary, but you could make anywhere from $40-60K depending on your skills. Rent can run from $400 for a room and up to $2,500+ for a house. Apartments can range from $600 to $1,200. It all depends on where you end up. Likewise, electricity can run from $40 to $500+ depending on location and heating type. Other utilities may or may not be included in rent.

[bongo]

There are a lot of apartment complexes in Anchorage. No shortage of apartments. However, they come with a price. $1OOO/month for a 1 bedroom, if lucky.

Here's just a very rough idea of rentals:
http://tinyurl.com/rentalsanchoragearea

Your best bet for nightlife, something to do, IT jobs would be to look for jobs in Anchorage. Then look for a community outside of Anchorage in which to live: Birchwood, Chugiak, Eagle River. Even Bear Valley in south Anchorage.

But as I always say, the job should come 1st! Best of Luck!

[Latina7]

Originally Posted by julian17033

You wouldn't be related to this guy would you?

He is awfully good looking....