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Ship, each place has its' own beauty - beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What you think is beautiful, someone else may not. I love the mountains and bodies of water. My sister on the otherhand finds rolling hills and farmlands suit her better. Go figure.....
Last edited by Alaskapat528; 07-29-2011 at 02:37 PM..
In my view, some of you are making too much of Fairbanks and Alaska in general, but it's OK. I am not going to burst your bubble
Alaska's the first place that's ever given me a bubble. Despite everything I learn about it, that's what keeps me wanting to move there. I've long had a vision of the kind of place I'd like to live and the kind of life I'd like to live there, and I always thought it would just be a fantasy ... until I found out about Southeast Alaska.
But yeah, Alaska is a real place, although I'm far more intimidated by the job market up there than I am by the climate, the wildlife, or the logistics. The difficulties and dangers involved there seem to be to be well-defined if nothing else, as well as the methods for avoiding or dealing with them. Certainly they start my mind racing to figure out solutions, and again no other place has done that. But the economy I'd have no control over.
Alaska's the first place that's ever given me a bubble. Despite everything I learn about it, that's what keeps me wanting to move there. I've long had a vision of the kind of place I'd like to live and the kind of life I'd like to live there, and I always thought it would just be a fantasy ... until I found out about Southeast Alaska.
But yeah, Alaska is a real place, although I'm far more intimidated by the job market up there than I am by the climate, the wildlife, or the logistics. The difficulties and dangers involved there seem to be to be well-defined if nothing else, as well as the methods for avoiding or dealing with them. Certainly they start my mind racing to figure out solutions, and again no other place has done that. But the economy I'd have no control over.
Like AlaskaPat said, "every place has it's own beauty." For example, the US Northern regions near the border with Canada, from the West to the East coasts, have incredibly beautiful places one can spend years to enjoy or just to look at. The same can be said of any State in the nation, as long as you get away from the cities or towns. In the states bordering with Mexico, you have hot-desert areas, and some people find such beautiful, while at the Northern regions you find places that are not so hot during the summer, but with snow and cold during the winter.
Since Alaska is so large, we have areas where it gets quite warm during the summer plus very cold during the winter, plus some other areas where the weather is relatively easy to take (relatively stable), although with a lot of rain. But while the interior of Alaska is much like a desert, the land is covered with vegetation unlike in a desert in the US South. However, a lot of places in Alaska don't have road access, so it can be quite expensive to fly-in to enjoy
What draws a lot of people to Alaska are illusions: Nothern Lights, wild animals, snow, cool weather, jobs, a better life, the end of the road, the end of the rope for some, running from the law for others, etc. Our emotions drive us to always wanting to see the other side of the mountain, greener pastures, and so forth. A lot of old-time Alaskans live here during the summer, and spend time at other locations during the winter months. Several of my coworkers have homes at AZ, Nevada, and NM. When it gets real cold they get their behinds out of here
What draws a lot of people to Alaska are illusions: Nothern Lights, wild animals, snow, cool weather, jobs, a better life, the end of the road, the end of the rope for some, running from the law for others, etc. Our emotions drive us to always wanting to see the other side of the mountain, greener pastures, and so forth.
You just wish you could act on those emotions rather than burying them and being grateful for a steady paycheck and 15 minute drive to a megamall where you'd never buy 99% of what they sell anyway. Ironically, down in the Lower 48 - especially in the urban areas - you're surrounded by the message that everything that makes life down here easier, cheaper, safer, more reliable, physically more comfortable, and more convenient is somehow bad for your soul and causing you to live a life that is much less stimulating and satisfying than would be possible in a place that's not necessarily difficult (as in odds of failure) or unrewarding, but which would certainly expect more of you.
But no-one moves to a romantic place like Alaska, or Hawaii, or Europe in order to struggle and suffer. As for work, it wouldn't surprise me if people are looking not for easier work or more money, but rather for work that has more immediate, direct, and material progress and rewards than you'll find in more developed areas, as well as a greater variety of specific tasks, all of shorter duration: compared to doing the same thing for weeks and even months at a time in the city. Rural areas are perceived as much less structured, where a little impulsiveness is not only possible, but essential. People think that all the economic niches they see in the city are wide open - rather than nonexistent - so just about anything they get it in their heads to do will find eager customers, but won't take over their lives completely thanks to the small market.
Rural areas all over the country suffer from many of the same problems you find in Alaska: the vicious circle of small populations and weak job markets ... unless you're in the mood for a long commute or only heading into the city on the weekends. But the city is just as limited in its own way - for all the things you can do, you don't do them; you don't have the time, the money, the energy, etc. - while the suburbs seem like the worst of both worlds.
You just wish you could act on those emotions rather than burying them and being grateful for a steady paycheck and 15 minute drive to a megamall where you'd never buy 99% of what they sell anyway. Ironically, down in the Lower 48 - especially in the urban areas - you're surrounded by the message that everything that makes life down here easier, cheaper, safer, more reliable, physically more comfortable, and more convenient is somehow bad for your soul and causing you to live a life that is much less stimulating and satisfying than would be possible in a place that's not necessarily difficult (as in odds of failure) or unrewarding, but which would certainly expect more of you.
But no-one moves to a romantic place like Alaska, or Hawaii, or Europe in order to struggle and suffer. As for work, it wouldn't surprise me if people are looking not for easier work or more money, but rather for work that has more immediate, direct, and material progress and rewards than you'll find in more developed areas, as well as a greater variety of specific tasks, all of shorter duration: compared to doing the same thing for weeks and even months at a time in the city. Rural areas are perceived as much less structured, where a little impulsiveness is not only possible, but essential. People think that all the economic niches they see in the city are wide open - rather than nonexistent - so just about anything they get it in their heads to do will find eager customers, but won't take over their lives completely thanks to the small market.
Rural areas all over the country suffer from many of the same problems you find in Alaska: the vicious circle of small populations and weak job markets ... unless you're in the mood for a long commute or only heading into the city on the weekends. But the city is just as limited in its own way - for all the things you can do, you don't do them; you don't have the time, the money, the energy, etc. - while the suburbs seem like the worst of both worlds.
But my point is that things seldom are are as we imagine (illusions), and I will give you a few examples.
a. Lets imagine that you move to Hawaii and have to work for a living: there is no way that you are going to get a job in Hawaii, one that will put you ahead of the local Hawaiians. In Hawaii there is a native-hire preference. So, it means that you can visit Hawaii, own property there, and even hold a job if you get in front of the locals. And yes, it's a very beautiful place one can visit and enjoy.
b. Most of Alaska is owned by the Federal Government. Alaska Natives also own some of Alaska, a very small portion by the State of Alaska (where the towns exist): Anchorage and vicinity, Fairbanks and vicinity, and Juneau and vicinity. But these three cities are turning into the same places people who have moved to Alaska from the lower-48 left behind. We now have malls, chain stores, traffic jambs, big parking lots, gang activity, and crime of all kinds. In other words, we have screwed-up the places we have left behind, looked at Alaska as our "end of the rope," and then have proceeded to turn it into the same messes we have left behind (I have been here for over 30 years already).
c. As long as you have to work for a living, or to live on a pension or something, suffering will never end regardless of where you live. But one thing is for certain: one better have enough money to survive the high cost of living in Alaska We have just a few clinics and hospitals, and for real serious hospital care, those who can afford it or have the best insurance coverages go to hospitals in the lower-48. This makes Alaska a very difficult place to retire if one has a fixed income.
What draws a lot of people to Alaska are illusions: Nothern Lights, wild animals, snow, cool weather, jobs, a better life, the end of the road, the end of the rope for some, running from the law for others, etc.
I think climate is a relatively practical reason for moving to a new place. Try living your whole life in the south and cooler weather may not be such an "illusion." Try missing out on an entire season your whole life and you may see the draw of a place where winter lasts half the year and snow falls in feet, not inches. We all have different perspectives. What seems like a silly thing to value for one person is perfectly reasonable for another.
Remember winter daylight is very short like Scandinavian countries due to its northernly latitude; but summer daylight is very long. Unique place to live, but it also mean it could be boring after a while. Bitter cold and lots of snow, with mild summers.
a. Yes, finding a job is my main worry. The reason I haven't come up there already is because I don't want to blow my savings on weeks and months of fruitless job hunting and then come back to San Diego with no job here anymore either and no savings ... but then I'm afraid that will happen even if I head for Seattle or Portland. But then I'm not looking at Alaska because I want to make millions and spend just as much, but rather I'm looking for a place where you don't have to be a millionaire to enjoy all it has to offer.
b. By my Southern California standards Juneau is the exact opposite of a sprawling (sub)urban wasteland. To me it's practically a model little town, and being surrounded by protected wilderness pretty much prevents it from sprawling. Sitka and Ketchikan too. A little touristy perhaps, but lightyears away from what I see out the window every day. I mean no disrespect, but the bush is not what I'm interested in.
c. I'm young, so retirement and (God willing) serious health problems are a ways off. Architecture is also not a very physically demanding job; most guys never stop doing it.
I think climate is a relatively practical reason for moving to a new place. Try living your whole life in the south and cooler weather may not be such an "illusion." Try missing out on an entire season your whole life and you may see the draw of a place where winter lasts half the year and snow falls in feet, not inches. We all have different perspectives. What seems like a silly thing to value for one person is perfectly reasonable for another.
On the same token, some of those who have lived all their lives in cold places dream of moving to warm places. But the illusions I am referring to are mainly those put into our minds by the movies, TV shows, and books we read. Just look at the people who move to Alaska to be in the wilderness, or just to live with the bears and other wild animals. How about the one who died in a bus not too far from Healy, the two who bicycled to Alaska with their children, the one who got eaten with his girlfriend by brown bears, and on and on...? But it's practical to move to another place if one can afford the move. The rest is just hope.
It's only human nature for always wanting to see the other side of the mountain.
Last edited by RayinAK; 07-29-2011 at 09:41 PM..
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