Negatives of living in Alaska (Anchorage, Metlakatla: crime, mobile home, unemployment rate)

[pittsflyer]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Pitts lives in Anchorage, and with the amount of tourists that place gets during fishing/hiking/etc. season, it's not as easy as it looks from the outside to get a relatively people-free outdoor experience. Combat fishing is a real thing.

Also if you live very far outside of Anchorage life gets even harder and more expensive. At least we have a Costco to keep costs as low as possible in Anchorage. When you get way out costs of everything soar.

For what you save in real estate and taxes you will easily burn up in gas and replacing your car every 4-5 years from high mileage.

I dont know how these guys out in these super nice remote lodges do it like Thule Lodge out side of McCarthy, it has to cost and absolute fortune keeping that place that nice and going.

The lodge is absolutely beautiful and its like being in Girdwood from inside that living room but you are in the middle of nowhere.

[jertheber]

I'll add my two bits here as a long ago Anchorage resident. My take on the town was mostly the same as my feelings were for parts of Montana, Wyoming, and the early days of Washington states primitive areas. Cold and miserable in winter, economic hard times as a norm, a place where people who aren't city types go to find their isolationist nirvana lifestyle, mostly friendly folks, but not overtly craving socialization, isolated from the norms of large city life.

A week ago, I was talking to a Portland Oregon bar tender who was a recent resident of Anchorage, we were comparing notes on the area when he began to tell me about the Anchorage of today, gang activity, more hard core poverty, huge drug epidemic, poor schools, high unemployment-- nothing positive in his entire recollection. I wondered if some of the negative stuff wasn't coming from a biased view, but reading here today I have concluded he was probably correct in his assertions. But--Here he was, in Portland, a place with a ton of it's own problems..

Every city in the country has undergone big changes and Anchorage certainly isn't immune from the ravages of American socio/economic upheaval, it's just another American city, nothing special about it. People speak of the natural beauty of the place, but that only makes for a good travel advertisement. The truth of anyplace is in the guts of it's social makeup, and Alaska has always been a place where people come to be left alone. Many Alaskan's are loving the state, and many more are packing to find a better life, at days end-- it's all in the normal Alaskan state of things...

[pittsflyer]

Originally Posted by jertheber

I'll add my two bits here as a long ago Anchorage resident. My take on the town was mostly the same as my feelings were for parts of Montana, Wyoming, and the early days of Washington states primitive areas. Cold and miserable in winter, economic hard times as a norm, a place where people who aren't city types go to find their isolationist nirvana lifestyle, mostly friendly folks, but not overtly craving socialization, isolated from the norms of large city life.

A week ago, I was talking to a Portland Oregon bar tender who was a recent resident of Anchorage, we were comparing notes on the area when he began to tell me about the Anchorage of today, gang activity, more hard core poverty, huge drug epidemic, poor schools, high unemployment-- nothing positive in his entire recollection. I wondered if some of the negative stuff wasn't coming from a biased view, but reading here today I have concluded he was probably correct in his assertions. But--Here he was, in Portland, a place with a ton of it's own problems..

Every city in the country has undergone big changes and Anchorage certainly isn't immune from the ravages of American socio/economic upheaval, it's just another American city, nothing special about it. People speak of the natural beauty of the place, but that only makes for a good travel advertisement. The truth of anyplace is in the guts of it's social makeup, and Alaska has always been a place where people come to be left alone. Many Alaskan's are loving the state, and many more are packing to find a better life, at days end-- it's all in the normal Alaskan state of things...

If you are one of the 3 oil people or a doctor living on the hill then everything is going to be "biased" to you that bums you out or is negative. In fact at some point the word bias starts loosing meaning. The things he said are objective truth, the homeless population is soaring, gang activity is slowing down (probably because no one can afford drugs anymore other than the 3 oil workers who are now likely subject to quarterly drug tests to try to lay them off plus the legalization of pot took a huge chunk of the gangs business away or they have already carved out their turf and no one is infringing so the violence has subsided), for what ever reason the gang activity in terms of killings is far less now.

We pay the highest costs per student and get the worst results, this is objective fact. The unemployment is the highest in the nation and most of the openings are mcjobs.

We have 2 years left until we can leave.

The state lets oil companies get away with murder in regards to taxes and the federal courts have hamstrung Alaska by not allowing state resident hire preference so oil companies can farm people in and out at will, being an Alaska resident with the qualifications has little bearing on your ability to secure professional well paid respected employment.

[SanneD]

I'd love to visit Alaska. It seem like an awesome place to live.

[rntim]

It is SanneD. We lived and worked in Anchorage in the 90's. Wasn't such a bad place. Now, no way we"d live there--just like any other city. We live in Southeast AK. now and its a pretty nice place without lots of drama.

[rwjoyak]

I haven't lived in Alaska for 30 years, but continue to visit friends and family regularly, mostly in Fairbanks but also in Southcentral and Southeast. Pitts, I agree with you and others that the economy up there is wretched right now. But no one I've talked to personally has as gloomy a view about available jobs. There are good jobs still available, depending on your skills, experience, and self-initiative.

For example, see the current job ads in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner - Jobs | Jobs | newsminer.com. There are 26 postings, many for multiple positions, covering a range of occupations including civil and environmental engineers and project managers; accounting; software coding; business services director; health care and family services; operations and maintenance engineer; administrative/clerical; tourism; customer service; facilities, grounds and maintenance; print media; cement masons and plasterers apprenticeships; cab drivers; and educators.

Not a huge number of postings, but also very few that are Mcmuffin-type jobs. For example, Nortech is looking for civil/environmental engineer/project manager applicants. This Alaskan-based company, started by a friend of mine, has a good reputation and offices in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Juneau. Would seem to be an excellent place to apply if someone had the appropriate background. Another person just starting out or looking to switch/upgrade occupations might go for a masons/plasterers apprenticeship.

Something else to think about is the large number of baby boomers who are retiring out of the work force, including in Alaska. Someone hired even at an entry level position in a larger organization may find it easier and quicker to advance as senior employees age out of the work force.

I know I'm not living up there and trying to find a job, but I just don't believe the Alaskan job picture is as bleak as Pitts' view of the world.

[Metlakatla]

^ I think what a lot of people, including Pitts, are worried about concerning the job market is what's going to happen if and when the governor's proposed budget comes into real time play. People will lose jobs, and those lost jobs will affect peripheral jobs and so on. Ex. if the ferry goes away, a few businesses will follow it into the night, and that'll mean less money in the state's general fund (which will indeed affect all Alaskans whether they understand it or not).

It's an obvious play for Pebble on the governor's part, and once again, Alaskans will fall for it, thinking it's going to bring them jobs, but it won't. Maybe a few will be given token low tier employment, but the bulk of the jobs will go to outsiders just like they always have.

[CaliRestoration]

Originally Posted by pittsflyer

being an Alaska resident with the qualifications has little bearing on your ability to secure professional well paid respected employment.

Do you have proof of this?

I can't see any company not hiring locally and looking outward if perfectly qualified people are at their doorstep.

[Metlakatla]

You might look into the Jordan Cove project, Pitts. It's probably going to fly, and they'll definitely have to bring in outside staff. Not in Alaska, but there are much worse places to live than the Oregon Coast.

https://www.jordancovelng.com/careers

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by CaliRestoration

Do you have proof of this?

I can't see any company not hiring locally and looking outward if perfectly qualified people are at their doorstep.

In Pitt's industry (oil & gas), this happens, especially with remote projects with out-of-state contractors. I used to work with an engineer who flew up and back from Venezuela for his rotation; the company had their own engineers on staff. Most subcontractors brought their own employees as well. My rotation partner lived in Idaho.