Anchorage, Juneau, or Fairbanks? (living, moving, housing)

[stiffnecked]

Anchorage, Juneau and then Fairbanks. I just found the extreme cold in Fairbanks for such an extended period to be too much. Currently living in Anchorage.

[gobrien]

I can't really say about Juneau, because I've only been there for a moment on a ferry-it sure was pretty. I'm from Fairbanks and the cold doesn't bother me, but I don't like having to deal with buying heating oil to be delivered to a tank. Otherwise, there are things I like or love about both cities. I think there is a lot more crime in Anchorage, and traffic, but the shopping is much better. I live in Anchorage now because the job market is better for my line of work, and overall it is more affordable, but I miss Fairbanks.

[Frostnip]

Generally speaking, I don't see much point in moving all the way to Alaska just to live in Anchorage. If you want to live in a really generic city there are much nicer really generic cities all over the US. Yeah, from Anchorage it's a short drive to Alaska, but realistically if you live and work in Anchorage you're going to be spending most of your time in Anchorage.

I've only spent a few days at a time in Juneau so I have no idea what it's like to live there, but it's pretty and it seems very friendly to me. Expensive, though, and I think I'd feel a bit hemmed in if I lived there. Personally I like Fairbanks, but I can see where the winters would be off-putting to some people.

Unless there's some necessary reason to only consider those three cities, there are tons of smaller communities in Alaska that IMO make much better places to have a home, with much more character and community feeling.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by Qazulight

Anchorage, it seems like a big city to me, (Currently living in a town of 25,000.) and it seems to be a wet cold.

Fairbanks, it seems big, but not so big you can't leave, and it gets really cold, but the summers rock and the cold is really dry.

Juneau, it seems like the right size, but the endless rain may be depressing. On the other hand I really like being on the water.

Anchorage: It's definitely not a wet cold. It's very dry! It's hit or miss. If you live in an area with some humidity, your skin will become snake-like until it adjusts. It's the largest city in Alaska, but will feel TINY compared to some of the cities you mentioned. It's easy to drive out of the city, unlike say NYC. It's surrounded by natural beauty. It has a quaint downtown area too.

Fairbanks: I've never lived here, but have visited a couple times. It's awful to me. It's freezing in the winter and in the summer it's plagued by mosquitos. Alaska in general is plagued by mosquitos, but Fairbanks takes the cake. The scenery also sucks and its expensive to leave.

Juneau: I've never lived here, but have visited once. It's very beautiful and has a small town charm. I can't tell you too much else about it. The weather is similar to Vancouver or Seattle.

[Qazulight]

Originally Posted by Frostnip

Unless there's some necessary reason to only consider those three cities, there are tons of smaller communities in Alaska that IMO make much better places to have a home, with much more character and community feeling.

That is where the jobs are. However, there may also be an opening inKetchikan but the reports from there seem to make it less desirable than Juneau.

I talked with the folks in Fairbanks and it seemed like from Fairbanks I would see a lot of the bush in Alaska. 8 days on and 6 days off. However, I heard that they have a similar schedule in Anchorage. I suspect that might get me out to Kodiak and onto the Kenai Peninsula.

I think Juneau would have me island hopping in the panhandle, but I don't know the schedule, and I don't know if there are remote bases like Fairbanks and Anchorage.

Cheers
Qazulight

[muttonhead]

Originally Posted by Frostnip

Generally speaking, I don't see much point in moving all the way to Alaska just to live in Anchorage. If you want to live in a really generic city there are much nicer really generic cities all over the US. Yeah, from Anchorage it's a short drive to Alaska, but realistically if you live and work in Anchorage you're going to be spending most of your time in Anchorage.

I've only spent a few days at a time in Juneau so I have no idea what it's like to live there, but it's pretty and it seems very friendly to me. Expensive, though, and I think I'd feel a bit hemmed in if I lived there. Personally I like Fairbanks, but I can see where the winters would be off-putting to some people.

Unless there's some necessary reason to only consider those three cities, there are tons of smaller communities in Alaska that IMO make much better places to have a home, with much more character and community feeling.

Due to the work some of folks do, they don't have the opportunity to live in a small community. Also, even if you live in Anchorage, you do have the opportunity to take advantage of a ton of things on your off time outside of the "big city".

I would give my eye-teeth to live in a smaller town, but it's not in the cards right now. But to say it's not worth moving to Alaska if you have to live in Anchorage, I don't agree with this at all.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Anchorage: It's definitely not a wet cold. It's very dry! It's hit or miss. If you live in an area with some humidity, your skin will become snake-like until it adjusts. It's the largest city in Alaska, but will feel TINY compared to some of the cities you mentioned. It's easy to drive out of the city, unlike say NYC. It's surrounded by natural beauty. It has a quaint downtown area too.

Fairbanks: I've never lived here, but have visited a couple times. It's awful to me. It's freezing in the winter and in the summer it's plagued by mosquitos. Alaska in general is plagued by mosquitos, but Fairbanks takes the cake. The scenery also sucks and its expensive to leave.

Juneau: I've never lived here, but have visited once. It's very beautiful and has a small town charm. I can't tell you too much else about it. The weather is similar to Vancouver or Seattle.

Agree with you about most of what you said, except for the Fairbanks the scenery, and somewhat about the mosquitos, but only as follows:

In Anchorage you have beautiful scenery right close. For example, the mountains behind Elmendorf AFB as you look toward them from C Street, or just Turnagain Arm a few miles out. But to see the most beautiful scenery you have to drive outside of the city limits.

In Fairbanks you have to drive a few miles away from the city limits yo see any beautiful scenery, toward Fox and the Elliott Highway, or toward Chatanika, or toward Delta Junction and the Denali Highway. You will see some incredible scenery by Donnelly Dome, and as you drive by the Rainbow Ridge toward Summit Lake. Then during the Fall you can see scenery such as this (below) on the hills around Fairbanks, North Pole, and all the other areas I mentioned.


In fact, during the Fall the foliage at UAF hold incredibly beauty (myriad of colors), and numerous areas right within Fairbanks.

And yes, there are a lot more bugs of all kinds in the interior of Alaska around Fairbanks, probably because the very large caribou herds and lots of swampy areas in the Arctic regions.

[muttonhead]

Donnelly Dome kicked my quads butt. I love that whole area around there.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by muttonhead

Donnelly Dome kicked my quads butt. I love that whole area around there.

Beautiful area, specially when cool but sunny. Then over by Black Rapids, and past there all the way to Summit Lake. Lots of trails to ride ATV's or just to pull off the road. Also, really nice if you have an RV or have a place to sleep in, since there are open areas all along the road to park. The Denali Highway is another beautiful area from end to end, but have lots to bug spray, although gnats don't scare easily. The spray works mostly on mosquitos.

[gobrien]

I don't think Anchorage is a generic city-it's got a lot of eclectic businesses and a style all it's own, provided you stay away from overly commercial areas like Dimond Blvd or Tudor Road. Even Northern Lights Blvd is fairly unique in a lot of sections, and downtown is pretty cool. Some of the architecture is really interesting in some areas.