Why Leave Alaska

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

I get this question a lot from people in the lower 48 so I thought I would share with the group since I think a lot of people here dream about moving to Alaska one day...

• Alaska is beautiful, beyond what most people can fathom when coming from the lower 48, this is what I probably miss the most
• Alaska is brutal winters more so than anything, this is one thing many people don't understand, or underestimate
  • If you're coming from any other the northern states, its not really the same. lets talk about a "typical" winter in AK
  • Long, snow is generally around before Halloween most years and will stick around until around high school spring break (early March you usually get to see pavement again in parking lots)
  • Often the ground stays wet enough that for spring baseball you're not able to go on a field until the first game in mid April
  • Days are short, shorter than you'd think possible even in Southern Anchorage. 5:30 mins is what you get at the shortest day. Sunrise 10ish, sunset 3:30ish
    • Going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark takes a toll on people
  • Winter depression is a real thing. If you don't have something to wake up for, its hard to get out of bed when its still dark, and hard to stay awake when the sun sets before 4pm
• Summers, normally, can be a wet soggy mess depending on the year. some years it will feel like a constant dribble of rain all summer long.
• Skeeters are worse than most people can imagine. Swarms. I bet most people didn't know a skeeters can suck blood through denim jeans? I can confirm that they really can, and will.
• You are extremely isolated in Alaska. Want to see your favorite band? be prepared to fly to Seattle. Want to watch any pro sports, again fly to Seattle
  • Man do I love the ability to drive places now. Buddy got married in Washington this last summer, screw it we can just drive it!
• People are different, there is a saying in Alaska: "Alaskans love screwing over other Alaskans".
• Everything costs more (except fresh fish and crab...)
  • Groceries will cost 30% more roughly than most places in the lower 48
  • produce and the like will be lesser quality than most are used to
  • Gas costs more, but the plus is no ethanol
• Jobs can be difficult for high level education. Engineering does exist in Alaska, but Alaska is also served out of Seattle for a lot of their engineering needs
• Drugs and drinking are big problem in Alaska, bet most people didn't know alaska leads the country, per capita, in both fetal alcohol syndrome, rape, and violence against women. By most measures Alaska is terrible for women, just being frank.
• Medical care is sub-par, IMO. Most difficult to treat medical issues end up getting sent down to Seattle for care.
  • Also extremely expensive most the time. A lot of doctors won't take medicare or Medicaid because the gov't limits how much the pay out, but they can make way more with private insurance so that's all a lot of them accept anymore.

So why would anyone want to live in Alaska?

• Summers, long days spent fishing, hiking you name it
• Beauty everywhere. Mountains everywhere, rivers everywhere, lakes everywhere
• If you love the outdoors you will love Alaska
• Hunt all sorts of cool game, Bou, bison, moose, sitka blacktail deer, etc. etc. etc.
• Summers don't get boiling hot, usually. Normally 80 deg happens once a summer maybe in Anchorage
• The way I always have looked at it, most people live in Alaska for the summer and the fall, and put up with winter and spring because the summer and fall is worth it most the time

Now people may feel very different, but I can tell you that out of my 10 close friends in highschool, only 4 stayed in alaska after going to college and getting a degree. Most people ended up in the Washington area, with me being an exception.


So theres my rant of the day, and the reasons why I thoroughly enjoy living in South Dakota, even if it is one of the flattest states out there!

 

[ZBB]

Myself and a couple other guys went up to Alaska to train guys at Richardson. It was in the summer, the mosquitos were no joke. We were also at a bar on the 4th of July in downtown anchorage and saw a guy get shot in a drive by. It was nuts, I never thought in all my travels Alaska would be the place I would see that. Did see a ton of moose though. I’d go back but I don’t think my wife would enjoy it as much.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Medical care is sub-par, IMO. Most difficult to treat medical issues end up getting sent down to Seattle for care.

• Also extremely expensive most the time. A lot of doctors won't take medicare or Medicaid because the gov't limits how much the pay out, but they can make way more with private insurance so that's all a lot of them accept anymore.

Can confirm, my buddy is a GP in anchorage, for a long time most of his patients were flown to Seattle for colonoscopies by their insurance provider because that's cheaper than having one done in anchorage. He says that has changed a bit but it's still a very under-served part of the county.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Medical care is sub-par, IMO. Most difficult to treat medical issues end up getting sent down to Seattle for care.

• Also extremely expensive most the time. A lot of doctors won't take medicare or Medicaid because the gov't limits how much the pay out, but they can make way more with private insurance so that's all a lot of them accept anymore.

Can confirm, my buddy is a GP in anchorage, for a long time most of his patients are flown to Seattle for colonoscopies by their insurance provider because that's cheaper than having one done in anchorage. He says that has changed a bit but it's stuff a very undeserved part of the county.

That just defies logic right there!

 

[westbranch]

The medical talk reminded me of this article I read a few years ago. Craziness up there.

This disillusioned doctor quit his practice. Now he works to reform Alaska’s overpriced health system.

COMMENTARY: As an orthopedic surgeon in Juneau, Alan Gross said, he worked three to four days a week and earned up to $2.5 million a year, performing only five or six surgeries a week.

www.adn.com

 

[Frenchy]

I spent 5 years in Fairbanks right out of college. I loved it, but It is definitely an isolated state. Eventually my ties to the lower 48 won out and i was back in Montana. Don't regret moving back at all, but i do miss some of what the Alaska life had to offer.

It tripped me out my first summer up there when the neighbor started mowing his lawn at 10:30 at night while his kids rode their bikes up and down the street.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

I spent 5 years in Fairbanks right out of college. I loved it, but It is definitely an isolated state. Eventually my ties to the lower 48 won out and i was back in Montana. Don't regret moving back at all, but i do miss some of what the Alaska life had to offer.

It tripped me out my first summer up there when the neighbor started mowing his lawn at 10:30 at night while his kids rode their bikes up and down the street.

Once saw an old lady (80+) gardening at 1-2 am while picking my brother up from a bar in Fairbanks... Still boggles my mind thinking about it!

 

[Trial153]

Thanks for being candid

 

[Randi]

SDPrairieGoat, very good assessment in your opening post,

We moved from Texas to Alaska and there is nothing SDPG said that I can disagree with.

For me personally, the Rodeo's, and Horse shows dont compare to what we had in Texas and I miss that, but that is an individual thing. As mentioned by others, I do miss being able to drive to other States and the variety of events available. Another personal thing I miss, is we raised Longhorns and I miss the ranch in Texas. I believe at some point I will return. But SDPG is correct about the hunting opportunities here as well as the beauty and isolation . I enjoy taking the float plane to my grandparents cabin, it is a wonderful experience . But so is riding through the hill country of Texas on a horse while inspecting a herd of longhorn cattle.

 

[boone52]

Everything that everyone has said above is true but Alaska just tugs at you heart to come back.
After finishing college and six years in the National Guard, I drove to Alaska alone in 1980 as a 27 year old single man who had always dreamed about living there.
Stayed four years---getting my pilots license, trapped beaver thru the ice with my airplane on skiis and "took" some beautiful animals.
If you have the outdoor spirit, sheep hunting is the ultimate experience.
But yes you have to fight the elements/weather at times. Even the paved roads are ice/snow covered at least 5 months of the year. And yes the skeeters--the Alaska State bird--can really be horrendous at times especially in the northern parts---Fairbanks/Circle/Central/Eagle areas.
Life is not refined in Alaska like it is in the lower 48. It has sharp edges. Living there is harsh.
But those mountains keep calling your name.

 

[ashersdad]

My sister lives in Alaska. On Monday I was taking my son to school and he said, "it's too cold to go to school". I looked at the weather app on my phone and told him it was 68 degrees warmer than where his cousins were so get your a** to school.

I love Alaska and try to get up there at least once a year but I don't think I could live there year round. It is a special place though, that's for sure.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

I should have added that now I thoroughly enjoy heading back for a week or two of great fishing in the summer. I get my Alaska fix at that time!

 

[Deleted member 16014]

Every once in a while Bambi has me convinced it's almost worth it...once a year actually.

 

[HuntTalk Freak]

I have two cousins that live in Fairbanks. One of my uncles went up there in the 80’s and built a cabin based on what I remember as a kid. I met him a few times as a kid and teenager. Booze finally killed him in the late 90’s. I still talk to my cousins to this very day and we threaten each other with visits every year but it has yet to happen.
One is a outdoorsman and wants me to come hunt and fish and wants to come down here for whitetail, hogs and bass fishing.

 

[Dave N]

Every trip I've ever made I hated the thought of leaving! I can only imagine how lonely our cabin is without anyone inside it, ha ha!

 

[Bambistew]

Yes, Alaska is awful, please stay in the L48. Nothing to offer, crime, overpriced no job hell hole... and the sheep hunting sucks.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Yes, Alaska is awful, please stay in the L48. Nothing to offer, crime, overpriced no job hell hole... and the sheep hunting sucks.

hahaha! Just helping ya out!

 

[Gerald Martin]

I was willing to put up with the negative s until I heard that the sheep hunting sucks.

 

[Kaitum]

I lived up there for 8 1/2 yrs. Had a wonderful time. Got to do things, like darting wolves and brown bears from a helicopter and counting sheep out of a Super Cub. Work I'll never get to do again. What convinced me the time was right to leave? 8 1/2 yrs of living in Anchorage.

 

[Bambistew]

What convinced me the time was right to leave? 8 1/2 yrs of living in Anchorage.

And now you live in Montana's "Anchorage." hahahaha