Posted on 10/18/2009 6:33:13 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
I guess I've reached that point in my life where you begin to think honestly about retirement.
Not happy with the current state of politics and not happy with the politics of my current home state, its gun laws, the criminal injustice system et al... I'm looking for a new home.
Fortunately its just me, no wife, no kids just me.
What are the opinions of Alaska?
I like the landscape, I love winter, wilderness and the outdoors.
I am talking with some small charter operators who own and operate small planes for a part time slot.
I've been there many times, but usually just a fuel stop as I continued onward to points in Asia.
What are the real in's and out's to Alaska living?
I was the crime reporter for the Ketchikan Daily News, so I know what those statistics will tell you. The crime was terrible - often personal, almost always linked to alcohol and drugs. In Ketchikan, the crime rate in the Tlingit community was sad beyond words.
That still means you probably won’t be a victim of crime if you don’t drink, don’t go to the bars, don’t use drugs, and stay away from the endless party. And since I’ve actually seen the crimes and victims, I know that much of the crime is personal - friends fighting, domestic violence, family feuds. The crime rate is not the same as the way criminal behavior is expressed - and like I said, I know this because it used to be my job. There just isn’t the kind of random stranger-on-stranger crime you sometimes get in the lower 48.
It’s still a great place to live.
No, I live in Wasilla. Are you thinking of coming up?
What about burglary?
The statistics I posted for Ketchikan, for example, show it to be many times that of New York City.
I live alone, and I wouldn’t relish worrying whether my things will be there when I come home, especially if I’m away visiting friends and relatives in the lower 48.
Any insect borne diseases?
(The thing I hate most about the state I’ve decided on, is a small but rapidly rising incidence lyme disease and equine encephalitis.)
I love the outdoors—but something like that (lyme and eee are no joke—they’re much worse than most people realize) would take the fun out of it. I’d rather worry about very big bears.
And then there is Valdez. There is the anecdote about the phone call from an Alaskan to his relative in Valdez asking how’s the weather over there? “Clear and still” was the answer. “Clear” up to my neck and “still” snowing, that is.
Having lived here for over 30 winters, I can say that is no exaggeration. It’s not for nothing it’s called the snow capital of the US. Probably North America. Snow gets really deep here.
Alaska: HOME, SWEET HOME. I've been other places recently enough to know that this is where I have to be.
You need to come up and experience it for yourself, then. Sounds like you have been listening to gossip. It’s not for weaklings, but it is a beautiful, challenging, and rewarding life.
LOLOLOL!!! Yep! Hubby plowed snow in Valdez for 18 years, while I shoveled it off the roof. We used to say, "If you like snow, you'll LOVE Valdez!" Fifty feet was the average in the early 80's for a winter. Any change yet?
50 feet? You must be talking about the winter of ‘89. We set the record that year. Most winters its around 30 feet average.
Thank you for that great personal “look” at the real Alaska. I hope the guy who originally asked (Magical Mysterious Tour, I think) at least gives it a try. We’re living in Charlotte, NC after nearly a lifetime of Florida living and island cruising. I like it here very much and the seasons are truly beautiful. Seems like something is always blooming. The mums and pansies in winter along with the Japanese cherry trees in January and February. The Bradford pear trees, which are all over the place, start blooming in March. Then everything starts back over again. Crape myrtles are STILL blooming in places but we haven’t had a frost yet. Could be this week.
I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your post about Alaska and do plan to one day go there except maybe only by cruise ship. Come visit Charlotte sometime, it’s called the “City of Trees” and is starting to be in full glory right now.
>>>What about burglary?
The statistics I posted for Ketchikan, for example, show it to be many times that of New York City.
I live alone, and I wouldn’t relish worrying whether my things will be there when I come home, especially if I’m away visiting friends and relatives in the lower 48.<<<
There are 14,000 people in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough. There are 8 million people in New York. I’ll bet I can go directly to the neighborhoods in Ketchikan where those 53 burglaries occurred, too. My uncle lives on 86th and Second Avenue in Manhattan, and he has never been burglarized - but go uptown 30 blocks and it’s a world of difference. Same in Ketchikan.
By the way, one of the years I was in Ketchikan there were eight murders - many times that of New York, too. All but one involved a family feud in Saxman, the Tlingit village south of town. One was a drunken domestic assault.
I hate to say this, but most of those crimes on that list took place in the Native community. Sad but true. The same is true in Fairbanks and Anchorage, too. Culture plays a part in these sorts of things. The sexual assault in the Native community is unbelievably high, and it is dealt with in the Native community with resignation. It would make you cry to see what I have seen.
On the other hand, I was never a victim of crime, ever, in Ketchikan, even though I was a young man and went down to the Marine Bar and the Arctic Bar more than once. Those who lived in Ketchikan in the 1980s will know what that means.
You might be amused by the personal fact that there was a place where I was almost murdered (in a robbery), my car was broken into multiple times, I was assaulted twice, and I was carjacked. That was in Salem, Oregon. It was the neighborhood I lived in that made all the difference. Alaska operates the same way.
Asheville proper is moonbat.
You’re here with me in Nashville aren’t you ?
I really enjoyed living in Alaska for four years. It is a beautiful place and everyone should visit Denali and the south central coast sometime in their life.
I suspect we may get to live there again one day when family is different (aging In-Laws).
However, it would be a hard life as I would get old. That much of the year with ice and snow is tough getting around when you get up in years. Lots of slips and falls are tough on the elderly.
It can be a great place, but not an easy place.
Also be aware that there are many great hard-working conservatives, there are many from the West coast that promote the liberal agenda as well. It is an interesting mix of hunters and protect the wildlife at all costs.
A mix of those that want to develop the resources and those that believe 100 million acres of parks and wildlife refuges are not enough.
No, I’ve been there twice but now am on dialysis three days a week and I hate to travel. IF I get a kidney and could find someone to go with me, I’d give it a lot of consideration.
You’re absolutely right about that! The “vortexes in the mountains” have drawn them by kajillions but it doesn’t take away from the beauty of the area and the “normal” folks who also live there.
“Alaska is the world’s biggest small town”
How true that is! I met people I had known somewhere in the lower 48 quite frequently.
Last time my parents went through there recently, my mother got panicky when she was downtown because of all the filthy hippies looking like homeless people all milling about.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.