Please help with info re Anchorage move
 

Hi there. My husband and I are wanting to move to Anchorage Alaska within in the next year or so... What is the jobmarket like up there and how about the price of living?

Job market is steadily growing. There is a lot of new commercial construction going on, much of it speculative.

Right now it's a buyers market for homeowners; there has been a flood of new home construction over the last five years, to the point that the local market is a little bit saturated.

The big thing in Anchorage is whether or not a natural gas pipeline gets built from the North Slope to either Valdez or Canada. If that happens, Anchorage's economy will boom again. If not, look for the market to continue its slow, steady growth pattern.

Cost of living is higher in Anchorage than most of the country, save some of the major metro areas like New York or San Francisco. This is due to the geographic isolation. Here's a good website for comparing the cost of living from one city to another: http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/costo...tofliving.html

Before moving to Alaska, may I suggest....
 

a trial run?

I have family in Alaska and have dreamed of returning there to retire. Before I do so I'll go up there and rent a place for 6 months or so through a winter to see if I can deal with it.

I had to leave Alaska once and it broke my heart. There are reasons that few people are chatty on the flights to the Outside.

If you can't afford to do a trial run, likely you can't afford to live there at all.

Curiosity question: Why do you want to move to Anchorage? For perceived job opportunities? For kids? For outdoor activities? You may be able to find an equivalent level of what you're seeking in a less costly place to live....?

I love it here, but I always tell people they need to come spend a few days in the dead of winter to see what it's like. Yeah, you know what cold is like. You know what dark is like. But you need to see them together and imagine living that way for a few months straight.

Seriously, watch for deals on tickets and come visit for a few days before you move. It's a very different way of life up here.

There are two things that balance out the supposed higher cost of living: one, wages are generally a good bit higher here (especially in blue-collar industries--this is a blue-collar worker's paradise), and two, after a full calendar year of living here, each Alaskan receives the Permanent Fund Dividend, which has varied from anywhere from $800 per year to nearly $2000 per year since I've been here.

I'm not sure that I even agree with the assertion that the cost of living is "substantially higher" here than in other places. It's been my experience that the difference between here and the majority of the Lower 48 has shrunk over the last decade. Of course, my main comparison has been with the state of California, since that's where a vast majority of my family live, and that might not be too fair of a comparison (especially in regards to housing prices). But with the exception of fresh produce, the cost of goods and services up here isn't way out of whack like it once was.

Eastwest mentioned that it's a different way of life up here. That's true not only in the sense of the weather (it's colder and worse in places like North Dakota and Minnesota) but in the activities and attitudes of the people. Although Anchorage is a decent-sized city, it's missing a lot of the "civilized" amenities of large cities in the Lower 48. In order to really enjoy life up here, it really helps if you're into the outdoors. In the summertime, love of activities like fishing, hunting, ATV riding and/or hiking, kayaking, etc. are almost necessary, and in the winter, you'll develop cabin fever unless you're into skiing, snowmobiling (or what real Alaskans call snowmachining) or organized sports like hockey, etc. If you're into shopping or are into the arts, etc., Alaska may not be the place for you, unless you can afford to purchase a lot of weekend plane trips to Seattle. (Since Anchorage is the cultural center of the state, we do have a fairly decent arts community for a city our size, though; but consistent with the fairly blue-collar nature of the state, even oil execs wear jeans to the opera...)

That blue-collared attitude manifests itself in a lot of ways in Alaska, too. A large portion of Alaskans would probably find themselves in line with Libertarian policies, although the Republican party seems firmly entrenched up here (well, it did until news of all of these scandals broke). People generally have a good work ethic and not a lot of sympathy for those not willing to work their way. Government is generally frowned upon, especially in the cities, towns and villages outside of Anchorage. A relatively large number of people outside of the major cities literally live on little or no income by subsistence hunting and fishing.

There is a bit of camaraderie that manifests itself, too--a feeling like "we're all in the same boat together." If you get stuck on the side of the road, expect most of the people driving by to stop and offer assistance. The "rat race" isn't quite as hostile here. It's a small state, too, in terms of people and connections: with a very small capital city (30,000 or so) and one major town (275,000--half of the state's population) where almost all of the business is conducted, most likely you'll develop connections with people who know people or even find yourself hobnobbing with presidents and CEOs (and not even realize that they are such, since they dress in blue jeans and T-shirts and drive decade-old SUVs).

Here are some links to some commentary on Alaskan life to help you get an idea of the flavor up here:
http://www.bigwildlife.net (the city's official site with slickly-produced PR about living up here, but it's worth looking at)
http://www.elisetomlinson.com/faq-alaska.html (primarily Juneau-centered information from a librarian down there, but she provides good commentary on the whole state)
http://www.uq.net.au/hyperlinked/johnorr/alaska.htm (thoughts from a former Alaskan resident)
http://www.akla.org/jobs/librarians-in-alaska.html (perspectives from other librarians--they seem to write a lot about this kind of stuff)
http://www.susancanthony.com/AboutAlaska/alaska.html (links from an Alaskan resident)

This is the kind of stuff you won't get by visiting here for a few days no matter what time of year, so I thought it would be nice to provide you with a bit of this info before you committed the resources to transplant yourselves. Hope it helps!

Thank you everyone for responding. I will look into all of those websites and we will do a "trial run" that was already decided but I just wanted to see what some of the people up there had to say. So thanks again and maybe one day we will pass each other on the sidewalk... who knows.

I've been going as a visitor for 10 years now, and it seems Anchorage, especially, has gotten more affordable. My favorite time to go is September, just after the crowds (will be there in a week, actually). Seems nothing like the economically hostile place depicted in the 70s movie "Joyride". I guess it has come a long way. Though I do feel a bit sorry for 'em in that they almost NEVER get the big concert tours (will see the White Stripes out there, but if you want the Police or U2, fuggeddaboudit).

It also seems that having award travel to/from Alaska at 25K miles is a major improvement over how it usedtabe.

Or, for AS flyers, 20K awards!

(Very true about the concert scene. All we had this year was Charlie Daniels and Craig Morgan at the fair. Don't recall any other big names, even at other venues, especially outside the country genre--country singers do seem to like it up here more than rock groups, etc. I'm sure some came and escaped my attention, though, as I usually don't take notice of such things.)

hello jackal!

very nice post,very informative.

i was in anchorage/elmendorf this summer for three weeks. it was very funny, that after running on the coastal track for only a week you get to know quite a lot of people that are in the bars and restaurants at night and, that those even recognize you.
i was really surprised by the number of east european students working in anchorage.and even more funny when you suddenly start talking e.g. polish to them.
i do not know if i could bare the cold weather in the wintertime.
nonetheless i really liked my stay there.


cheers