Thinking of moving to Alaska . . .

When I think of crunchy-small-town Alaska, the places that come to my mind first are Talkeetna (2 hr. north of Anchorage), Girdwood (30 min south of Anchorage) and Homer (6 hours south of Anchorage). Of course, these are all places on the road system. I haven't been to southeast AK, but I believe Juneau is pretty crunchy too. HTH!

That's true! Wasilla is definitely not what I'd call crunchy either, but I've never had a negative remark about NIP or my slings. The advantage I can think of to living here is that we're easy targets to spot. Karen found me without any trouble at the sports complex thanks to my sling. :LOL

Try this website for house hunting: http://www.matsumls.com/home.shtml :

That's a great link Matanuska Motherlode. DH and I want to move to AK someday too. I grew up there and miss it terribly.

It's the best! Hurry home...

AK is great!

But the organic foods can be hard to come by, unless you're in or near a major population center. Southeast has almost no organic food offerings, for example, and land is extremely expensive. (But its beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, esp. if you ocean-fish and hunt.)

But Mat-Su or interior living (within easy driving of Fairbanks) sounds like it might be the thing for you.

I'm in Fbx, and I agree with eightyferrettoes - the place initially feels uncrunchy. But last weekend (or maybe the weekend before?) we went to a free bluegrass concert outside, for families - and there were tons of moms and dads and babies and kids - all rolling around in the grass, and I'd say 80% of the babies were slung, and I noticed many people breastfeeding. Oh, I know why I'm confused. Weekend before last was the bluegrass concert. Last weekend was the Folk Fest. Very similar events! Both great!

I moved to SouthEast Alaska in August of 2003. Sitka has a great crunchy feel to it, but land prices are really expensive. I've heard that Tenakee is a really beautiful and cool place to be. Sitka is definitely beautiful and has a great family-oriented community. I just wish that there were more birthing options, as I had a midwife with the birth of my daughter in Oregon. Hope this helps!

Amanda, : , EDD 2/12/06 and very proud Mama to Magnolia, 3/20/96

Thank you so much for all of the great ideas, mamas. We just bought an Alaska travel book so we can start making arrangements to go see some of these places. I can't wait . . .

I agree with Magnolia's mama - Sitka land is very expensive. A tiny tiny lot, with no house, no view, no nothing can easily run $100,000. Juneau is similar. My brother, a single guy making good money - can't afford anything larger than to rent a tiny 1 bdrm apartment.

I don't know about Tenakee. My memories of Tenakee are all from when I was a small child, and Tenakee had no plumbing - outhouses that dumped directly into the ocean (don't go walking on the beach at low tide!) and a bath house that had "mens' nights" and "ladies' nights." I'm sure some modernization has come to Tenakee in the last 15 years!

You can't drive to every type of community in Alaska - but you can go on a good tour. There is always a trade-off. In AK, you are usually swapping the beautiful scenery, sense of open space, and friendly community for lack of shopping choices (food, medical care, clothing) and difficulty travelling in or out.

Have fun looking at your book! I'd also recommend The Milepost, if you actually come up for an exploratory trip.

PM me if you come to Fairbanks.

my sis is on her way up to Alaska right now with her dh, 6 year old, and 10month old. She will be moving to anchorage and we can't wait to visit. she has been driving since 6-13 from texas. they came up here (seattle metro) to catch the bellingham ferry but got denied b/c they claim she checked in too late! they called this morning and are now leaving b.c. what a drive!! hope they like it there...although they have never ever been in snow (not since the freak snow storm of '85 in san antonio!) and they aren't the type to hike and don't like the outdoors..etc. let's just say they are the complete opposite of crunchy...very not crunchy, i guess good luck with your move it sounds amazing! hope to be up there visiting soon! dh misses AK since he worked out of Dutch Harbor for a couple of years..

My husband and I have lived in Juneau for the past 3 1/2 years. We recently moved to Maine in hopes of being closer to family but, after a 6 month job search, we are looking at returning to the Anchorage area. We miss it dearly and have come to acknowledge that we are in love with Alaska. The place has a way of doing that to you!
Juneau is beautiful and the community is WONDERFUL. They have a fabulous birth center where we had our daughter in Oct. of 2003, lot's of family oriented community events, and a Juneau Parent's Yahoo Group. On the other hand, Juneau is very isolating, land and housing is expensive,and because there are no roads out and Alaska Airlines is the only carrier it is very expensive to leave. Especially coming from North Carolina, the summers are wet with a short growing season. Not a whole lot grows there. I worked at an organic plant nursery and we did grow and sell tomatoes, squash, lettuce greens, etc..
We love and miss Alaska dearly and hope that the Girdwood/Anchorage area will allow more accessibility along with an exceptional community.
Best of luck! And beware...once you fall in love in Alaska there's no turning back

The whole Anchorage area is just the best, MatSu down to Gird!
Good luck