Relocating to Anchorage or .... how are jobs/social life? (Juneau and: real estate, rentals)

[niclh]

My girlfriend and I are SERIOUSLY thinking about relocating to Alaska after I graduate...

Well,, Let me take that back, we ARE moving to Alaska in 2008...

I've been searching and searching and I think I have read just about everything on the internet about Alaska.. Hard to find stuff on relocation information. I'll be graduating from UGA with a degree in Management Information Systems so basically I would be looking for some sort of computer / IT job up there.

Just wondering how easy / possible this might be? I've searched monster, careerbuilder, etc and have found a few leads I will be applying for.. Do you think companies will even take me seriously seeing I don't currently live in AK? I can't imagine a lot of kids go to school for this sort of field at UAK.

Currently I've researched Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks and I think Anchorage would probably have the most opportunities in terms of employment than that of Juneau or Fairbanks.

Also, how is the social life there? We like to go out and have some beers and see good music, I'm sure people still get outdoors even in the winter...

How much does a young couple need to make up there to live well? We are looking at buying / renting a small house with a yard for our dogs 1 or 2 bedrooms would be fine.. could we live somewhere on the skirts of anchorage and still be within the city in order to get to work okay in the winter?

Also, is moving up there in the Winter a ridiculous concept?

Thanks and please send some good energy to us.. It is god awful so hot and humid in georgia I need to escape..

Nic

[Alaskan_Adventurer]

Hey Nichl. Anchorage is a great city to live in, though a bit pricey compared to most cities of comparable size. As far as IT jobs are concerned, I can't help you there. You might be able to find something, but I would have to guess that the field is a bit limited here.

Buying or renting a house? Housing is very expensive here. A 2 bedroom house will cost you at least. You can check out the classifieds to get an idea on housing price. adn.com | Alaska News, Jobs, Cars, Homes, Rentals, Classifieds and more or just do a search on real estate in Anchorage. You can get a 2 bedroom condo for maybe 130-140k, but you would still have to deal with the condo fees.

You would be surprised as to our nightlife. If you compare Anchorage to other cities of the same size, we would win hands down. Tons of clubs and bars here. In the winter people have a tendency to party a lot more than the average Joe. Chilkoot Charlies or "Koots" as people call it is the largest of all the clubs. If I remember right, it has 5 seperate bars with multiple dance floors. They all play different styles of music. You can also see the live bands that they get on occasion. We also have Thursday night fights(boxing) and AFC(Alaskan fighting championships) whichs occurs once a month.

I don't know about how much you would need to make. If you live outside of Anchorage and commute from the Valley(Wasilla and Palmer) it would be quite a bit cheaper. I also don't really know your spending habits. If I were to guess, I would say 60-80k for two people?

I hope this helps.
Winter outdoor activities would be skiing, snowboarding, ice-fishing and the biggie....snow-machining. Cross-country skiing as well. Lots of stuff to do if you don't mind playing in the darkness and cold.

[niclh]

thanks for the reply,, more than helpful..

How far is the Valley from Anchorage? I think that is what we are looking for, we don't want to necessarily live in downtown anchorage so this would be ideal..

Our spending habits are very reasonable since we aren't the normal materialistic people from the southeast you might expect.. I think that Alaska is a good fit for us since we are young, 21 and 23....

[akroxy]

from the valley it is only about a 30-45 minute drive,people do it everyday that live out there,its not a bad drive at all.alaska is a good fit for anyone who likes the outdoors.there is alot of places to live in anchorage that isn't in the downtown area,but the valley is nice and quite,growing though...goodluck to you.

[dmderosa2k]

Are there a lot of accidents on that commute?

[akroxy]

there are accidents,but not as many as in town,the thing is people think cause they lived up here so many years that when it snows its no biggie and they cruise way to fast,or they think because they have 4wdrive that they will be fine but in the ditch you will see more 4wdrives in there than any other car or truck.its a nice drive,its gets pretty icy in the winter and yea there are accidents but seriously there is more in town.

[JavaPhil]

It just clogs up the roads in winter, and there is only one route into Anchorage from the north and south. West is water, east is mountains.

[ianjh89]

UGA --- Georgia? An Atlanta company just won the Medicaid Management Information Systems (MMIS) contract in Alaska. The operations will be based out of Anchorage. You should go to the company website and apply. Google it and you'll find more info.