I have lived all over the country.  I am currently in Washington just west of Seattle.  the wife and I were talking about where else we would like to move and we both kept coming back to Alaska.  We love the weather here but hate the politics, the traffic, the amount of people and the inability to get lost in the woods without driving a few hours to get there.  From what I can see Juneau has similar weather to where we live now but what I can't find online is how the locals like it.  what are the good and bad points? I have traveled to 48 states in my life but never made it north to Alaska yet so I kind of am flying blind.  Big issues for the wife are safety/crime problems, schools for the rug rats and ability to get to work in 30 minutes or less.  Big issues for me are to have a few acres of land, large enough house with dedicated room in the house or shop for a gun room, places to shoot, hunting and fishing and I don't have to look out my window and see my neighbor. Your thoughts?

Thanks all.

Juneau is the capitol of Alaska so if you dont like politics that might bother you. Its a place thats to beautiful for its own good. Over run,literally,with tourists in the summer. My friends from Juneau that visit me in Kodiak say,you're so lucky,you still live in Alaska.Lots of nice people.Living pretty close together by Alaska standards. Hunting and fishing are very good when you get away from town,like a boat or plane ride to nearby islands.I lived in Juneau for 12 years until the late 90s and went back a few years ago. Not for me.

I've lived here in Juneau for a little over 2 years.  I will be moving out of State, more due to my wife's difficulty living here than mine.

The good -
- If you enjoy fishing, salmon and halibut are plenty around here.  
- Traffic is almost non-existent.  I live on the north end of Juneau (locally called "back loop" in "the valley") near the glacier.  I drive to the Federal building downtown every day, and I've gotten to the point now where if I hit two red lights I'm annoyed.  
- There are some pretty cool cultural things to do around town.  The State Museum opened after extensive renovations a few months ago, and is pretty amazing.  There is also the Sealaska Heritage museum if you'd like to see some native history.
- Life is definitely slower paced here for the most part.  

The (potentially) bad -
- Limited selection for shopping.  Many national stores aren't available locally.  There is a Home Depot, but no Lowes.  McDonalds and Dominos Pizza, but no Burger King/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut, etc.  I don't tend to eat there anyway, but if it's something you like, you may miss it.
- Much of the downtown area is closed up in the winter.  Shops near the docks are only open during tourist season, when cruise ships will bring in up to 15k people per day (in a city of 30k, it's a huge influx of people).
- Good paying jobs are limited, and cost of living makes even good paying jobs hard to live off of.  
- Gas is still around $2.80-2.90 per gallon.  Utilities/services like electricity, cable tv, internet, cell phones are very expensive.  Internet service is typically not unlimited.  If you go over, you end up paying even more.
- It's pretty expensive to go anywhere.  You are pretty much stuck in Juneau unless you have a boat.  A ferry trip for 4 and a car up to Haines is around $500 each way (winter rates are more like $300), and if you want to drive to the rest of Alaska you are looking at a 600-700 mile drive through Canada to get there.  If your job flys you around a lot, you can rack up miles with Alaska Airlines pretty quick and can get tickets out fairly inexpensively.  Otherwise, flying is pretty expensive too.
- The biggest issue my wife has had with the area is the weather.  October is usually the worst time of year around here.  Minimal daylight, Cold and wet, but not cold enough to snow, so you don't get the light reflecting and brightening things up.  It rains here.  A lot.  It almost never rains HARD, but you get many days where it just never seems to stop drizzling.  Of course, this summer we went something like a month straight without rain, so you have extremes.  The last two winters have been very mild, almost no snow to speak of, so if you enjoy snow activities you may be disappointed.  I bought snowshoes for the family 2 Christmases ago, and used them maybe twice since then.
- Don't come here without a job in hand, and preferably housing lined up.  Rent is pretty expensive here, but buying is probably worse.  Limited inventory, and high prices.

All that being said, I've loved my time up here.  Of course, my job sent me all over, from Deadhorse to Kotzebue, Denali, Tok, Seward, etc.  I got to see a lot of country, and am glad to have had the experience.  If my wife were still wanting to live here, I probably would be here for a good long time.  People either stay here for a couple of years, or stay for life it seems.  Not much in between.

Wait a while.  Our economy is about to collapse and Juneau's economy depends on our state government.  When we run out of money the real estate market in Juneau will be a bloodbath.

Sorry to see you go Armstrong.  Best of luck wherever you and your family go though.  Where are you thinking of going?

I have great timing.  I accepted a job in Baton Rouge the day before all the fun began down there.  Add to that the flooding in the area we were looking to move, Denham Springs, and it has been an interesting month.  We are heading up to Skagway on the 4th and making the drive down through Canada.  Should be a fun drive.  I'm sorry to leave.  I do really like it here, high cost of living and everything.

Damn, take care dude. Seems like everyone is leaving lately.

Drove by your house today. I will always smile when I do.


Your neighbor also yelled at me for trying to peek in your windows. Asshole.

Hahaha, It will never be the same.

He's a douchebag, don't worry about him.  You're always welcome to come take a look