Florida to Alaska HeLp!!! (Juneau and: Home Depot, school, live)

[Denz79]

Thank you for your help. We chose Alaska as something different and never expected it to be a reality. My husband is an air traffic controller. When he finished school we had to choose 5 states as options for him to work. We have lived in Miami our entire lives, and NEEDED something different. We are in Oklahoma now, it is in the 30's. Coldest I have ever felt Just wanted info. on places really, I do not know about "bad neighborhoods" there. Thanks again for your help.

[Xa'at]

*Runs into the room*
Sorry I'm late!! I'm ashamed to admit I skipped over this thread because of the way L was capitalized in help. I guess I'm a spelling bigot.
All these posts... "why move to Juneau?"
The question should be... why not?
Frankly- if you don't like rain and and the color grey... don't bother. Otherwise, Juneau is the most beautiful city in Alaska, and Alaska is the most beautiful state in the world, so wouldn't that make Juneau the most beautiful city in the world? Law of substitution.
This seems repetitive to me since earlier today I explained the ins and outs of Juneau life to another person- a student doing a report.
I'll be honest... I have a lot to share, but typing out long posts regarding everything I can think of strikes me as a waste of my time. I guess I'm just in a bad mood. If you can provide actual factual questions to which I can write an actual factual reply, I will be a much less grumpy Xa'at.
In the meantime, if you're questioning your choice, check out my flickr album... Flickr: Photos from Xa'at (http://www.flickr.com/photos/laquatique/ - broken link), the highlights of which can be found here: https://www.city-data.com/forum/photo...t-contest.html
Sorry if I come off as rude. Just a long day.

[Denz79]

I actually spelled help correctly, what I did do was use the caps incorrectly. I thought I did write a question. What are the best places to live? If that is a factual question, I am not sure. Perhaps I did not write it as a question, you are right, I wrote it as a thought. Thanks for the help anyway.

[User 2]

The post said moving from Florida to Alaska, but now you're in Oklahoma?

I'm unsure of why you say, "had to choose 5 states as options for him to work."

Don't they employ air traffic controllers in Florida?
.
..

[Xa'at]

Originally Posted by Denz79

I actually spelled help correctly, what I did do was use the caps incorrectly. I thought I did write a question. What are the best places to live? If that is a factual question, I am not sure. Perhaps I did not write it as a question, you are right, I wrote it as a thought. Thanks for the help anyway.

If you haven't run a forum search yet, that's always my first recommendation. I've written out quite a bit of stuff, and I guess it just annoys me when people rush in here demanding help when it's all there... you just have to search for it.
Nevertheless, in the aim of you not being mad at me, I did dig out one particular post which may clear some stuff up for you...
I'd suggest you open up google maps and take a look at the layout of Juneau while you read this...

Originally Posted by Xa'at

Have no fear, Xa'at's here!
There've been quite a few posts about people wanting to move Juneau lately... and if all the u-hauls on the ferry were any indication apparently they're making it here.
Yes we have a paper: the Juneau Empire. It's a small town type newspaper, but it's really great. When I was living down south I was very disappointed in the quality of the "home town" papers. The Empire is really great, but I wouldn't look for a house there.
If you haven't been to Juneau, you may not understand the various "region names", so I'll break it down for you.
Douglas
Across the Gastineau channel (we just call it the Channel) from downtown on Douglas Island. Consists of downtown Douglas, which gets a reputation of being rather hickish, but it's a cute little village area with a skating rink and a nice sandy beach, Blueberry Hill, where all the mansions are, and North Douglas, the highway which runs north along the edge of the island. The ski resort, Eaglecrest, is on Douglas Island.
Downtown
What is generally known as Juneau. The waterfront is pretty, but dominated by tourism in the summer. Up the hill is where the real downtown is- a lovely place full of quaint businesses, along with the capitol building and lots of the state and federal buildings. Houses here tend to be very expensive- and make sure you get a view of the outside; further up the hill, you cannot always drive right up to them. Some have long staircases because of the steepness of the mountain. Downtown Juneau is politically very liberal, the only district in Alaska to cast a majority vote for the democratic candidate in the last pres. election.
(Mendenhall) Valley
The "suburb" of Juneau. Houses here are less expensive, and there are more of them. Some have excellent views of the glacier or river. The valley has most of the larger chain stores: freddies, home depot, all manner of restaurants, the Nugget Mall, etc, along with every church ever conceived of and the int'l airport. The road connecting downtown and the valley is called Egan (Expressway) and along that road are the Lemon Creek (named after the glacier) and Salmon Creek areas.

Auke Bay/Out the Road
Auke Bay is a little fishing hamlet past the Valley, on Glacier Highway. This is where the regional university (University of Alaska Southeast) is located, along with the ferry terminal and more housing. Past Auke Bay and you get into the area called "Out The Road", which is basically just more houses that get increasingly remote until the road finally dead ends.

Hopefully that helps you get an idea of the area when you're looking at ads. A few other things that you may or may not know, but really should, before deciding to move here:

-We are off the road system. This means that you cannot, unless your car has a submarine feature, drive to Juneau from anywhere. There are two ways to get out: the Alaska Marine Highway and Alaska Airlines.
-We are in a temperate rainforest- think a slightly colder Seattle. Most of the year it rains, August is our driest month, not sure what the wettest is. It does snow some, but usually the snow does not last long. Right now we have about half an inch, with forecasts for more. The most important thing to remember is that it does not get hot (read: above 70F), and summers are probably different than you are used to. If you do not like rain, change your plans now.

[Denz79]

Yes, I am sure they do employ Air traffic controllers in Florida, but I said earlier we needed a change User 2. (wow) I was not aware that people in Juneau got so aggrivated at questions from people off the internet. We are in Oklahoma so he can finish his training before we head off to Alaska User 2. Thank you for the help Xa'at,that actually did help me out alot. I am not mad at anyone and I am not demanding anything from anyone, just help.

[Barkingowl]

I know a guy on one of the corvette boards I'm on who is a controller out of Fairbanks, but he gets around to other areas of the state. I can DM you a link to the board if you'd like?

[User 2]

Originally Posted by Denz79

Yes, I am sure they do employ Air traffic controllers in Florida, but I said earlier we needed a change User 2. (wow) I was not aware that people in Juneau got so aggrivated at questions from people off the internet. We are in Oklahoma so he can finish his training before we head off to Alaska User 2. Thank you for the help Xa'at,that actually did help me out alot. I am not mad at anyone and I am not demanding anything from anyone, just help.

I'm not aggravated, I just didn't understand your statement that you had to pick 5 states.

I didn't understand a decision to pick Juneau as a destination, declare your intent to move there and then ask what it's like....

If I ask a question it's not because I'm aggravated, ...it's because I want to know the answer to my question.
.
..

[tomcat6369]

My family and I are moving to Juneau at the end of this month. Well I will be and the family will follow this summer when school gets out.

We did a lot of research before choosing SE Alaska, we did like the summer warmth of the interior but the winter cold, I will take the rain and beauty of the panhandle.

We are from Washington State so the green landscape and fresh air is very appealing.

Read as much about the area as possible and listen to the experts in this forum. They have helped bunches.

To think the ferry leaves Bellingham in like 14 days. Can't wait!

[Denz79]

When he finished school, he had to choose 5 states that he would be interested in working at. Florida was one of the ones we chose. So was Alaska. He was employed in Alaska. They usually give a few months after being employed, but I guess there is such a shortage in Juneau for air traffic controllers that he was given less than a month. We are in Oklahoma now because this is where the FAA is based. He has to finish training here, then we go to Juneau. We know a bit about Juneau. I thought that maybe it would be different talking to someone that lives in Juneau, as opposed to a tourist site that is designed for, well, tourists. There is what is going in a nutshell. I have been trapped in a hotel with my 2yr. old daughter. If I come off as rude or nutty, I am sorry. I am new to this sort of forum, it seemed to me that I asked a question and people got deffensive. That's how it seemed to me. Thanks