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Anchorage will never allow that bridge to be built. Just like they didn't allow the MatSu Borough to build a ferry terminal on the Anchorage side of the arm. They know what it'll do to their tax base.
Building that bridge will help the valley but really won't affect Anchorage except the folks on Gov't Hill. It would kill their home values because of teh increaed traffic. I doubt JBER wants it either. In fact that bridge doesn't help the commuters from Wasilla or Palmer either. The Valley is building like crazy and people are moving there but a lot of people do not want to do that commute so they stay in Anchorage. There is some construction out in the Chugiak but the homes are large and upgraded. Most of those $400k homes are not really "modest." They are large with small lots and lots of interior upgrades. I have a house I rent out that I would like to sell in the fall, single family with about .5 acre lot 3/2 and its $240.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hogfamily
I have friends, co-workers, and acquaintances that have recently bought homes in Anchorage and did not seem to have any difficulty finding decent houses in decent areas of Anchorage for less than $300,000. Some were fixers for well below $200,000. Several bought duplexes, tri or quad plexes and their renters are paying their mortgages.
Maybe because they were not looking for mansions just reasonable homes?
Condos are generally not a good investment.
BINGO!!! If you want 4 car garages and granite counter tops, you have to pay for it.
If they build the bridge and the land costs only change a paltry 10-15% then it will be a bust and a complete waste of money. I would say it would take at an absolute minimum a 40% reduction in home prices across the board for the bridge to be a success. It will be a huge boon if housing and land prices are cut in half.
This is not going to happen. You'd need more than the bridge to be built to drive property values in Anchorage down 40%. Even 10-15% seems unlikely. I think your idea of getting a condo you can afford is a good idea. If not, you'll be sitting around renting for a very long time waiting for values to decrease. The bigger potential for depreciated property values is more tied to TAPS than the Knik Bridge.
I'm thankful they are revisiting the commuter rail between Anchorage and Matsu.
(I have actually heard that it will be closer to 5$ a pass and part of it will be bonded out).
Having ANOTHER bond to fund that would subsidise commuters from Mat/Su to Anchorage certainly would not fly with a property owner like me, that is for DAMN sure!
So where are all these new people with cheap homes going to work?
If the property values are slashed significantly as I suggested it would open up a whole new market for potential new business. Also it would take the strain off of families that are paying out the rear for a decent place in anchorage (regular counter tops with a 2 car garage in the MIDDLE of a nice area). This would free up money in the local economy to support new buisness, investment, etc.
When everyone who does not want to endure the horrid commute to the valley is house poor or living in the ghetto its not good for anyone but the hand full of 1960's land owners in Anchorage and I dont think the state should care about their opinions because the overall state economy is more important than the interests of land owners trying to keep the real estate market captive.
We are pretty much a single industry state but it does not have to stay that way. No one in their right mind would invest up here with the captive market in Anchorage but with the huge tracts of land in pt mackinzie the sky is the limit once its tied to the anchorage market.
If we dont diversify our economy and the oil producers start conditioning, liquifying and producing the gas then we have about 10 years max left and the show is over.
Last edited by highlife2; 02-20-2014 at 03:10 PM..
Having ANOTHER bond to fund that would subsidise commuters from Mat/Su to Anchorage certainly would not fly with a property owner like me, that is for DAMN sure!
I talked to the bridge authority and the bonds would be supported by private investors in combination with the state once everything is approved and construction begins. It is in the states best interest to diversify Alaskas south central economy. I suspect existing land owners in Anchorage will not support it but this state can not continue to afford to live in the past unless we want to totally colapse to pre 1950's with no hope of recovery once the gas cap is sold off and the north slope becomes a penny anty opperation by small time operators producing less than a quarter of todays volume, which would not have enough thermal mass to even operate in the winter so would likely be a summer time operation only unless they added heaters to each pump station.
People forget that this place was a baren waste land before oil and it can go back to that, you think a 40-50% slash in home values is bad, try 90% when TAPs is nothing more than a novelty.
This is not going to happen. You'd need more than the bridge to be built to drive property values in Anchorage down 40%. Even 10-15% seems unlikely. I think your idea of getting a condo you can afford is a good idea. If not, you'll be sitting around renting for a very long time waiting for values to decrease. The bigger potential for depreciated property values is more tied to TAPS than the Knik Bridge.
I'm thankful they are revisiting the commuter rail between Anchorage and Matsu.
I guess commuter rail is ok but then you have to own 2 vehicals, one to commute to the rail way (will there be a secured lot for a nominal fee?) and another vehical on the anchorage end (again will the rail road maintain a secured lot?). My guess is the traffic would be horrid from the rail yard into town. There is very little space for parking down by the rail road yard and port.
Perhaps the rail road would have a shuttle to a big parking area (again secured?). The problem is while the valley is cheapER its still not cheap enough for me to gamble on the rail road maintaining such a program, what if its not profitiable enoguh for them and they shut it down, now im stuck with a mortgage and a horrid commute that I never wanted.
Another option is if our national representitives petitioned congress to force JBER to give up ALL their land in arctic valley east of the glenn, then a parallel highway could be build on the pipeline road and tie into basher area to decongest the eagle river traffic. Also all that wasted military land could be opened for development and bring housing costs down for everyone.
Location: Anchorage Suburbanites and part time Willowbillies
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I do not want the state to be responsible for a billion dollar boondoggle. If you think that private investment in anyway is going to pay for this then I have a bridge that I will sell you for a mere 10 million dollars.
I would rather see the state fund a gas pipeline that would benefit more Alaskans than a few people that have bought up the land on the other side of the inlet and a couple of "I can't afford my perfect dream home in the perfect neighborhood" whiners.
A commuter rail from the Mat-Su would also be a boondoggle. Not enough riders that will give up their cars.
Any one here remember when the speculators bought up all the land around Willow?
I guess commuter rail is ok but then you have to own 2 vehicals, one to commute to the rail way (will there be a secured lot for a nominal fee?) and another vehical on the anchorage end (again will the rail road maintain a secured lot?). My guess is the traffic would be horrid from the rail yard into town. There is very little space for parking down by the rail road yard and port.
Perhaps the rail road would have a shuttle to a big parking area (again secured?). The problem is while the valley is cheapER its still not cheap enough for me to gamble on the rail road maintaining such a program, what if its not profitiable enoguh for them and they shut it down, now im stuck with a mortgage and a horrid commute that I never wanted.
Another option is if our national representitives petitioned congress to force JBER to give up ALL their land in arctic valley east of the glenn, then a parallel highway could be build on the pipeline road and tie into basher area to decongest the eagle river traffic. Also all that wasted military land could be opened for development and bring housing costs down for everyone.
Wasted militray land?
In case you are unaware, the land beneath the Glenn HWY Between Eagle RIver and Anchorage is owned by the DOD.
I do not want the state to be responsible for a billion dollar boondoggle. If you think that private investment in anyway is going to pay for this then I have a bridge that I will sell you for a mere 10 million dollars.
I would rather see the state fund a gas pipeline that would benefit more Alaskans than a few people that have bought up the land on the other side of the inlet and a couple of "I can't afford my perfect dream home in the perfect neighborhood" whiners.
A commuter rail from the Mat-Su would also be a boondoggle. Not enough riders that will give up their cars.
Any one here remember when the speculators bought up all the land around Willow?
As soon as a gas line is built we have about 10 years left, the gas will go alot more quickly than the oil did and then it will be all over. I wont need to whine about housing in anchorage becasue there will be no anchorage like we know it today and I will be gone. So if you think the gas line is the answer I suggest you start getting your kids prepared to leave the state when they are in their mid 20s.
I frankly dont care one way or another, if the state cant pull its head out of its rear, I wont buy unless I feel its a good deal in my own mind, otherwise I will rent and put money away to leave some day. As it stands now the 1960's land owners hold all the cards as far as real estate so I will just extract money from oil and gas and go once it drys up. You call it whining I call it buisness. Im not going to buy an over priced basket of goods.
There will always be real estate speculators, it paid off pretty well for the 1960's anchorage land owners dident it? I am not worried about the pt makinzie land owners making a few bucks I would like to see south central diversify its economy and remove the choke hold on anchorage real estate. Out ragious real estate prices are not good for anyone but a hand full of people. The state has to think about the future, once the gas starts to go that is the beginning of the end.
As soon as a gas line is built we have about 10 years left, the gas will go alot more quickly than the oil did and then it will be all over. I wont need to whine about housing in anchorage becasue there will be no anchorage like we know it today and I will be gone. So if you think the gas line is the answer I suggest you start getting your kids prepared to leave the state when they are in their mid 20s.
I frankly dont care one way or another, if the state cant pull its head out of its rear, I wont buy unless I feel its a good deal in my own mind, otherwise I will rent and put money away to leave some day. As it stands now the 1960's land owners hold all the cards as far as real estate so I will just extract money from oil and gas and go once it drys up. You call it whining I call it buisness. Im not going to buy an over priced basket of goods.
There will always be real estate speculators, it paid off pretty well for the 1960's anchorage land owners dident it? I am not worried about the pt makinzie land owners making a few bucks I would like to see south central diversify its economy and remove the choke hold on anchorage real estate. Out ragious real estate prices are not good for anyone but a hand full of people. The state has to think about the future, once the gas starts to go that is the beginning of the end.
Really? Do you honestly beleive that 36 TRILLION cubic feet+ will be extracted in less than 30 years?
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