Moving to Alaska?
I just heard from a woman who was moving to Alaska. She was calling to inquire about the preschool where my son goes (I am the contact for newcomers). She is coming from New Jersey and I found myself falling into the role of cheerleader, telling her all of the great things about living here and there ARE great things! A lot of people here are from "somewhere else," which leads to many coming together to form their Alaska Family of friends (community). People really WORK to make fun kid events up here, so there is always something to do with the kids (family friendly). There are many who are dedicated to their year-round "Big. Wild. Life." They volunteer to build and groom Nordic ski trails, create and support winter sports programs, and work on the extensive trail system for biking, hiking, and skiing on an ongoing basis (dedicated volunteerism, accessible outdoors programs for all ages). Anchorage tends to be a smaller pond, professionally, which means that you get to be a bigger fish (opportunity). I didn't mean to go into my "sales mode." The truth is that people either love it here or hate it here and there is not much that you can do about that. I'm a "love it" type and feel so fortunate to have found this cozy corner of the world to live in. But I am the first to admit that it is not for everybody. You have to deal with the realities like shoveling LOTS of snow and swatting at LOTS of mosquitoes. It's more expensive up here (but there's always the permanent fund to offset those costs). It is cold in the winter and cool in the summer (this past summer we only got over 70 degrees a few times). Growing tomatoes take patience and a green house. But in my case, the good feelings outweigh the bad. And when the snow comes drifting down, I feel peace, despite the fact that I will be digging out my car the next morning.
