My wife and I will soon be moving to AK, though we are not sure where.  Heck, if it was up to me, Point Barrow here I come.  My wife prefers the warmer climates though.  My brother lives in Juneau, and I have considered Juneau, Anchorage, some other towns on the Kenai, Ketchican, and Sitka.  

I want to be near water and buy a nice big sailboat soon so Fairbanks is out.

I have heard bad things about Anchorage - mainly that crime is bad and it is crowded.  Is that crowded by Alaska standards or lower 48 standards?  Traffic here in Ft Collins CO is getting terrible, and we are about 125,000 people.  What's the job market like in AK, mainly JNU and ANC?  My brother seems to think that there are plenty of opportunities for someone to start a business in AK, I guess he sees lots of needs unfulfilled.

I am self-employed, but qualified as an accountant and Director of IT, both of which I did for a number of years.  General operations management type stuff falls into my realm too I suppose.  I am a pilot but from the sound of it I really don't want to become a "bush pilot", being away from home for days on end in blizzards, etc.

Any advice anyone can give is much appreciated (other than "stay in CO!" ......I hate all the Californians moving to CO so I understand the sentiment).  One other thing - is animosity toward outsiders strong enough that it would be difficult to assimilate and run a successful business?

Animosity is not an issue unless you screw someone over here...Seward is a small town, and people catch on quick for the most part.  I am not sure of the statistics, but I am pretty sure that 1/2 if not more of the population is from somewhere else, and more than likely more than that.  

Anchorage is too damn hectic and poorly layed out for a bigger city.  It isn't that it is crowded, it is who it is crowded with.
I think it is the lack of consistancy in how things run as far as traffic in anc is, I have been in rush hour traffic in Seattle, LV, and a few other places, but there everyone drives the same, in anc, you'll have one dork doing 12 and another trying to do 112.

Anchorage is a great place to leave.

Property prices are moderate, but going up fast there, not the insanity of some CA cities, but getting there, the outlying areas are growing, and the further away places (kenai/soldotna)are starting to get an influx of people who realize that they do not need to live in a huge city, and can get decent property for about 1/2 of what anc property sells for.

I love Seward.  People ask me why I live here, and how I can stand living in such a small place, and I reply "because people like you can't stand it and stay out".

Water and a sail boat? Yep gotcha covered no sweat .

Warmer than  the  rest of AK . Yep that  too . We  got  two good storms last  winter . Neither  one  dropped  more than  a foot (  Way less.). To  be honest I  don't  realy think  we had winter last  year unless you count wind  chill.

Starting a buisness? Yea .Rent is a  little crazy here being an island and  the fact that the locals know they  can gouge  cause  the  USCG  will pay it even  if  some one  else can't . I  won't lie  . The  job market sucks .  You get jobs  here  by  word  of mouth  .But the  pay  is great for  most of  them .

Anchorage to  put  it bluntly is a  shit  hole . Prostituon ,  Gangbangers,  Homeless  drunks bugging you  all  the  time , But damn  it makes me home  sick  some times .


You  don't want  to be  a bush pilot? Well for what  it is  worth  you  can make killer money  up here  doing that  . Hell  if you already own a plane get  water  certified and hang out  your  plank .  I am sure  you can make it .  

If you are a certified  CPA , you  could  move  in and  cut throught the other two  out as they charge way  to much  for the level of work they do  .

Quoted: ...Anchorage is a great place to leave....

Hell, I like Anchorage...  But you are correct about the traffic layout.  

PeteCo,
I'm not sure what your heard about crime.  there's not a part of town that I wouldn't go to... That said, there's definitely parts of town I wouldn't want to live in.  Sounds like any where in the US  huh?  Good luck with the move dude.

~Dg84

Okayyy.....fine, ANC ain't that bad.  I have been in shitty parts of Ohio and other places that resembled 3rd world countries 'cept for the McD's on the corner.  I am just spoiled now.  I was B&R in ANc, and had been trying to leave since I can remember.  Finally did it permanently 5 years ago (been coming down for the summers since I was 18)...lost weight, blood pressure lower, no more anti depressants, blah blah blah blah...

Seward is a great place for sailing, fishing, etc, not quite as scenic as Kodiak is though.....

Quoted: Quoted: ...Anchorage is a great place to leave.... Hell, I like Anchorage...  But you are correct about the traffic layout.   PeteCo, I'm not sure what your heard about crime.  there's not a part of town that I wouldn't go to... That said, there's definitely parts of town I wouldn't want to live in.  Sounds like any where in the US  huh?  Good luck with the move dude. ~Dg84

It depends where you are from.  I am from L.A. and Sacramento, Anchorage ain' near as bad as anywhere in those cities.  I like it here in Anchorage but then again I am a city boy

and Anchorage is only a 20 minute drive to Alaska

If you MUST live near the ocean Valdez might be an idea since people are leaving due to the pipeline reconfiguration and all homes are cheaper. But you might want to invest in a snow shovel or 10. I think they get around 30 feet of snow a year. Sitka, Juneau and the rest of south east Alaska get way too much rain for this kid.

I live in Fairbanks (and I own a 43ft Hatteras that I keep in Valdez) and IMO Interior Alaska is the place to be. Job market is great and having 3 trucks (notice I didn't say cars) in front of you at a red light is heavy traffic. Just bring a coat, its gets nippy here.

Homer on the Kenai peninsula is a nice little town, too.  One of my sisters lives there with her family, the other spends her weekends there with her husband.

Quoted: (and I own a 43ft Hatteras that I keep in Valdez)

I am sooooooo jealous...

'cept of your fuel bills of course...

Homer is not as nice of a place as one might think!  

Do not plant those rumors that it is sweet to live here with all the fishing and the great life style and well priced houses and nice people and good schools and the big blue berry bushes.  Just don't do it.  

Got to love homer.

I spent the day sea kayaking today and just returned home a couple hours ago.  

Homer " the Halibut Fishing Capital of the World"  

Quoted: Any advice anyone can give is much appreciated (other than "stay in CO!" ......I hate all the Californians moving to CO so I understand the sentiment).  One other thing - is animosity toward outsiders strong enough that it would be difficult to assimilate and run a successful business?

You know, swarms of Californians relocating to Alaska has never been much of a problem for some reason  Although around town I see a lot of growing communities of Samoans, Laotians and Hmong.

As for animosity towards outsiders, almost every non-Eskimo/Indian Alaskan here is from somewhere else, so don't sweat that.  You WOULD feel animosity out in a small bush village, but you're not going to live out there so don't worry.

Everyone in Alaska came from someplace other than Alaska, to include the native groups.  The native groups just came simply at an earlier date.  

As long as you do not try to make your little spot in Alaska into the place you just came from you will do just fine up here.  

P.S. You would mind living in Barrow!

Quoted: Everyone in Alaska came from someplace other than Alaska, to include the native groups.  The native groups just came simply at an earlier date.   As long as you do not try to make your little spot in Alaska into the place you just came from you will do just fine up here.

I have come to the conclusion that some people were "born Alaskan" despite being born elsewhere.  

I agree.  I feel being Alaskan is a state of mind, no matter where you are from.  Some have it, some don't even if they live here - and the true Alaskans can spot them easily.  The way you behave will prove you to be Alaskan or not.  You can be Alaskan and live elsewhere.

Being Alaskan is like what founded this country - rugged individualism.  Common folk need not apply, they may even perish.

Quoted: Quoted: Everyone in Alaska came from someplace other than Alaska, to include the native groups.  The native groups just came simply at an earlier date.   As long as you do not try to make your little spot in Alaska into the place you just came from you will do just fine up here.   I have come to the conclusion that some people were "born Alaskan" despite being born elsewhere.

Sadly the  reverse is also true .

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Everyone in Alaska came from someplace other than Alaska, to include the native groups.  The native groups just came simply at an earlier date.   As long as you do not try to make your little spot in Alaska into the place you just came from you will do just fine up here.   I have come to the conclusion that some people were "born Alaskan" despite being born elsewhere.   Sadly the  reverse is also true .

They usually leave.

And I do my best to encourage them to do so  

I wish everyone but us Alaskans would just get the hell out. I have been here since 1969. If you eat bark and sniff posies go home.

Then come to work for my company and not only spend your time on the coast, but often on top of a big assed mountain on the coast (West), or in a treeless flat dessert (North).  I like our interior stations.

Quoted: Then come to work for my company and not only spend your time on the coast, but often on top of a big assed mountain on the coast (West), or in a treeless flat dessert (North).  I like our interior stations.

What company would that be?  I have a very broad range of skills, from accounting to flying to welding and fab to management to I.T.  I am looking for a change and open to pretty much anything.

IM sent

Been gone 10 years but still have the ten acres in Halibut Cove.......................miss the summers but not the winters!
Jim in Hawaii

Looks like I may have found a job in Anchorage.  If not, we may move to Juneau and start a Part 91 flightseeing op with one plane.  Looking at a new Maule M7.  

As expensive as freight and air taxi is there (according to my brother), there may be some opportunities for a Part 135 operation running cargo and people to Skagway and back.  Wings of Alaska is getting about $100 each way for air taxi.  Seems high to me.