three questions from a perpetual wanderer. (Anchorage, Fairbanks: transplants, how much, house) - Alaska (AK) - City-Data Forum

girlsayvoid · 03-10-2013, 03:53 AM

Real quick back story:
Grew up in rural Nd, so I know inclement weather.....intimately. From 40 below in the winter to 110 in the summer and horseflies the size of small house pets. I've also lived in Minneapolis (ice storms and windchill that'd crack the toughest nut), Sioux Falls (three feet of snow over night), Seattle (ice, rain, perpetual overcast), & Portland (less rain, less overcast, more potheads). Spent a couple months in New Orleans, Brooklyn, & Omaha. Traveled to or through almost every state in the lower 48.

I'm scouting for a new location. I'm a bit of a wanderer so I don't get too stressed by the idea of a complete change of scenery. But I do have to make a living and a life where ever I land so I have a few non-routine questions:

First question: baked goods. I'm a pastry chef and baker. Normally when I hit a major city I've got some options for picking up a couple part time jobs either in restaurants or local bakery. I've been told that things are different up in Alaska and there aren't a many options. I'd appreciate your thoughts or observations. Anyone with industry experience would be awesome as well! And where do you go, what are your favorite places for bread or pastries?

Second question: ok i'm gonna own my ignorance; I've never been to Alaska. What's the typical genre if people who live there? I'm pretty adaptable so i'm not overly concerned about not fitting in but I'd like to know if things like tattoos, gauges gonna be an issue...? Any huge hangups most transplants have besides the weather or remoteness?

Last but not least: groceries. what's your average produce section look like? I'm spoiled rotten from living in Portland for 5 years. It's definitely the land of plenty when it comes to produce. It'll be sad to leave that part of p-town behind but there are so many other things that I won't miss maybe it'll be a fair trade.

Thanks in advance for your time and opinions!

bongo · 03-10-2013, 09:30 AM

Anchorage would be your best bet for a baker/pastry chef job. Lots of fine restaurants there.

Anchorage is quite a mix of people, so tattoos should not be a problem but what is a gauge? A piercing? Piercings should be no issue in Anchorage particularly in the restaurant industry.

In Anchorage, with Costco, Carrs/Safeway, Freds, New Sagaya & Natural Pantry we always found what we needed, including produce. However, the produce will not be equivalent to your west coast.

Best of luck!

stiffnecked · 03-10-2013, 10:52 AM

There are plenty of other foods to eat besides produce. After all that's what vitamins are for. I think Costco's produce is pretty top rate and fresh. Not as big as a variety as Fred Meyer but a bit cheaper as long as you understand they sell things in bulk. You just can't go into Costco and buy 2 apples.

heathen · 03-10-2013, 11:51 AM

Yeah, sounds like Anchorage would be your best bet, at least to start off. Maybe take a look at Fairbanks, Mat-Su, Kenai, Homer, and some other small towns when you get here. As a town, Anchorage is nothing spectacular, mostly a strikingly normal smallish American city, but with a few quirks resulting from northern isolation. It is, however, in an extraordinary location, arguably with more spectacular scenery and higher quality outdoor recreation close by than any other city of its size.

Unless really extreme, tattoos and piercings would only be an issue in some of the very small towns, and even then probably a minor issue.

Pro-hint: if you want to introduce yourself to the Alaska backwoods alternative scene, make your way to Trapper Creek Bluegrass on Memorial Day weekend. Mostly crappy music, but DIY, and good people. As far as genres of people go, the alternative types up here tend to segregate way less than in bigger cities. I'm mainly an underground black/death metal guy but I have fun at everything from hippie festivals to raves to symphonies. We have some alt/indie hipster types, particularly in Anchorage, but nothing like you see in the northwest. We have lots of blockhead metal people (Pantera and deathcore fans..), a few punks, and quite a few random iconoclasts like myself. If there's an Alaska social/music scene stereotype, it's probably crusty punks in Carhartts and rubber boots, playing bluegrass in the woods..

Dakster · 03-10-2013, 07:23 PM

Gauges are the rings people put in the ears... The ones that can get so large you could put in a quarter through the opening in the ear... Obviously there are different 'sizes' or 'gauges', in order to market (i.e. make money) off of the trend, there are industry sizes.

For the fear of posting something copyrighted, I won't post a picture. But if you go to google images and type in ear gauges you will get pages of photos of them.

girlsayvoid · 03-11-2013, 02:45 AM

Quote:

a few quirks resulting from northern isolation

@heathen: don't leave me hanging that's what people are on this forum to hear...the inside scoop, the dirty laundry, the dish.

if you would be so kind as to share your regional quirky secrets?

heathen · 03-11-2013, 09:27 AM

Eh, the dirty laundry is mostly like any other city, except the chronic inebriates tend to have way better stories... We're also way behind or totally detached from cultural trends, but these days that more because we like it that way, rather than due to geographical isolation. The fact that we get very few out of state touring bands definitely has an impact on the music scene though.

Most of the quirky stuff is more positive - fishing for salmon on your lunch break, moose in city parks, grizzly bears in the suburbs, summer nights that don't get dark, carnival rides in the snow, disheveled bush dwellers shopping at Costco, and the general feeling of being on an island of civilization in a sea of wilderness, instead of the other way around.

phlinak · 03-11-2013, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by girlsayvoid

Real quick back story:
Grew up in rural Nd, so I know inclement weather.....intimately. From 40 below in the winter to 110 in the summer and horseflies the size of small house pets. I've also lived in Minneapolis (ice storms and windchill that'd crack the toughest nut), Sioux Falls (three feet of snow over night), Seattle (ice, rain, perpetual overcast), & Portland (less rain, less overcast, more potheads). Spent a couple months in New Orleans, Brooklyn, & Omaha. Traveled to or through almost every state in the lower 48.

I'm scouting for a new location. I'm a bit of a wanderer so I don't get too stressed by the idea of a complete change of scenery. But I do have to make a living and a life where ever I land so I have a few non-routine questions:

First question: baked goods. I'm a pastry chef and baker. Normally when I hit a major city I've got some options for picking up a couple part time jobs either in restaurants or local bakery. I've been told that things are different up in Alaska and there aren't a many options. I'd appreciate your thoughts or observations. Anyone with industry experience would be awesome as well! And where do you go, what are your favorite places for bread or pastries?

Second question: ok i'm gonna own my ignorance; I've never been to Alaska. What's the typical genre if people who live there? I'm pretty adaptable so i'm not overly concerned about not fitting in but I'd like to know if things like tattoos, gauges gonna be an issue...? Any huge hangups most transplants have besides the weather or remoteness?

Last but not least: groceries. what's your average produce section look like? I'm spoiled rotten from living in Portland for 5 years. It's definitely the land of plenty when it comes to produce. It'll be sad to leave that part of p-town behind but there are so many other things that I won't miss maybe it'll be a fair trade.

Thanks in advance for your time and opinions!

Girlsayvoid,

Judging from your posted experiences, sense of adventure, and openmindedness, I'd say go for it and just jump in.

You've lived in a wide variety of places and I think that you're probably intelligent enough and social enough to make your way here. Anchorage is more isolated than any other American city except for maybe Honolulu, but putting that aside, a city is a city and if you have basic street smarts and bring something to the table career-wise, you wil do fine.

Also, if you do make the move here (especially in Anchorage or the Matsu Valley), please send me a DM to let me know where you end up working because I am always down for some really good pastry.

AKStafford · 03-11-2013, 11:09 AM

Seasonal work for the visitors season is about to start up. That would get you here and give you a foothold. You'll find a lot of those jobs here: Alaska Jobs | CoolWorks.com

It seems like Craigslist always has job posting for cooks, but I'm not sure how much I've seen for bakers. We do have bakeries up here, so I guess they have to hire sometime.

girlsayvoid · 03-11-2013, 11:27 AM

I would just like to say i've looked at a couple places to move in the past year and ended up deciding to stay put because most people were so negative on the boards and very openly aggressive toward people who had any differing opinions from their own. I'm loving the Alaska vibe y'all have set on this and other threads it's open and friendly and everything i'm looking for in a place to settle down.