Anchorage.
 

With FedEx and UPS both currently having domiciles in ANC, I was curious how many of of you live there and what your thoughts are. My wife and I are in the planning stages of a move and are looking at Eagle River and a couple neighborhoods in South Anchorage.
Thanks for any info.

Chip

Lots of great places in Anchorage. Consider southern exposure aspects wherever you end up. ER is great, but there's a lot of housing that's north facing or in the valley floor - winter sun is low on the horizon, so you'll spend several months without direct sunlight on your place. This can make a huge difference in QOL for some folks.

This SO true! I lived close to the river and we lost the sun in September and it didn't hit our house again until April. My wife hated it. If you live in ER, stay on the North side of ER road. JMO.

If you are an airline pilot, how many times month are you driving to Anchorage to go to work? One? Three times? Its not like a daily rat race. FWIW I lived in Eagle River when at Elmendorf in the 1990s, and drove the Glenn daily to work. You do have to take weather into account, but its wasn't that bad. The family needs at least 1 AWD/4WD, and you'll be fine. Bike trails through the area are nice, and waking up and seeing the mountains every day is inspirational.

Thanks for all the advice/info so far, really appreciate it.

Didn't think a lot about the southern exposure aspect, good thinking! I wonder how much that affects real estate value. I like the neighborhood feel of the area south of Eagle River Rd, so it's disappointing to hear about the lack of sun there. The neighborhood area around War Admiral Rd and New England Dr are quite nice, but a little out of my price range. I've been renting a car on layovers and checking out potential neighborhoods, looks like I'll have to keep looking a bit. (Not that ER is that big).

FWIW, I would be commuting to the Hilton and not the airport, thus another reason for the preference of ER. Our crew pickup is there and easier for me to get to.

Second the motion about Eagle River. There will be a couple months where you will get zero direct sun.

I lived in S. Anchorage halfway up the hill. Best advice I can give you...find a place on the flats. If you live anywhere up the hill you will have an additional 6 weeks of winter. The snow falls first at the higher elevations and moves down the hill. The reverse applies in the spring. My house was at the corner of Birch and Huffman. We would have significant snow on the ground before Halloween and would still have snow in the yard on Memorial Day.

That was LONG after people on the flats had seen the snow disappear. Usually by Halloween there was so much snow where I lived the kids couldn't go trick or treating. The good news was the phone company would set up a little Halloween village in their garage so the kids could do their thing.

Try to find a place as low and sunny as possible. You'll appreciate it in the winter. The MatSu valley is an alternative if you're not going to drive to the airport more than a couple times a week. Its more small town out there. Be advised its VERY conservative politically and a LOT of religious fundamentalists live out that way.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Be advised there are a lot of Black Hispanic Asians Mormons in the area.

I live in ER, currently stationed at JBER. I love it! The commute to ANC is about 35 minutes depending on traffic/road conditions. I have a North facing home but I get to see the sun out back, which has more windows as well as while outside on the deck. Just about all the married mil I know live in the ER area. Hoping for an ANC domicile from one of the big boys up here after I retire. Of course if it doesn't work out, I may have a house you can rent!

Thank you for the additional posts! Looking forward to figuring it all out. Couple ANC layovers coming up, more driving around ahead.

Taterchip,
I thought I'd throw in my $.02. I've lived in ER for 10 years and recently moved a little further out to Chugiak. I commute to my domicile (not ANC based). Anchorage has many nice places to live, but my family and I enjoy the close-knit community feel of ER/Chugiak. My wife drives to ANC everyday for work and does not mind the commute. Her ANC dwelling coworkers act as though she just drove in from Fairbanks everyday!

I go to ANC 2-3 times per month to commute out and it works great.

The best bit of advice so far is to find a home with southern exposure. I used to lose direct sunlight from mid-November thru mid-January and it was a bummer. The worst part is that your driveway stays snowed/iced in until the sun is there to help thaw it out!

Best of luck!

Trouser

Somewhat on the same topic, are there any fedex/ups guys in anc that know of any crashpads??

We're interested in the ANC area, but know very little besides what's on the forums. Besides south ANC and Eagle River (and a southern exposed house), what are the other areas with reasonable commutes (within 60 minutes)?
We're seeking more of a rural feel with great mountain views.

Thanks y'all,
Nozz

Wasilla. Next to the Palins could be very exciting. Brawls, lots of kids, maybe some boozing. It's a nice mix out there of those Wild Alaska shows and Cops. Good luck! :D

There are plenty but I would also make you aware that it ones with Southern exposures command a premium. :p

WM (PS---I'm clearly bored on a layover)

That action could've been one heartbeat away from the Presidency!! Keep it classy, Wasilla! :cool:

Just rented a car yesterday and saw what some of you mean by southern exposure! I drove in the neighborhoods south of Eagle River Rd and wow, in the shade by 1:30pm already, no thanks! Great tip and glad I saw it for myself.
Shifting my focus around a little bit. I liked several neighborhoods off of Muldoon.

Muldoon is kind of a sketchy area. Make sure you look in S. Anchorage on the flats...Oceanview, etc. Also check out the area between Spenard, the water and the airport. Some nice areas down there.

I've read that about Muldoon. It seems very pocketed.
S. ANC is nice, but I am commuting to the Hilton (crew pickup), not the airport, and the traffic sucks up to downtown.

I am getting to the point of giving up on this as it seems any decent house in a decent neighborhood is pushing $400,000, which is just nonsense.

Unfortunately, that's pretty typical of ANC. You'll get more bang for your buck out in the MatSu valley. The trade off is the commute, the Bible bangers and gun nuts that live out there.

Got any advice on where to move to avoid the coloreds, ragheads, chinks, or spicks? Just want to check the moderators to see what they find offensive.

That's funny.

Alaska is a great place to live.....flew the bush there for a while. Full of social rejects, alcoholics, anarchist and high numbers of people with abundant mental disorders....Most of which go untreated. Its cold as a witches clit....and the further north towards the slope you go it gets darker are more suicidal. That state tends to attract some odd ball people.

I've got a house for rent near the south end of Muldoon, much nicer area (though still pretty close to some not so great areas). Awesome location though, convenient, low crime, great southern exposure and awesome view of the mountains. Right near the Ft Rich maneuvering area (which you can enter with a free pass, lots of great places to rec in there).

10min from base gates, 5min from Costco (critical), 2min from Carr's, 20-25min from the airport, 45min to Alyeska, 2min walk to Ft Rich land.

If you're interested, PM me.

Yeah, parts of it are sketchy but honestly, there's no place in Anchorage that I ever felt uncomfortable walking at just about any time of the day. Most crime is idiot on idiot it seems and doesn't often involve virtuous folk such as ourselves.

That being said, it always pays to keep your head on a swivel and your brain engaged. If for no other reason that the copious numbers of bears and moose living in town!

Less than $400K!? You either have found the best priced home in a decent neighborhood or have low standards for homes and/or personal safety. If you want a "lower 48" house you'll be spending a good deal more than $400K, or you'll adopt the Alaskan ideal that a home just a box you sleep in and spend most of your money on a remote cabin, snow machines, at least one airplane, guns, a boat, good winter gear, good fishing gear, etc. you get the idea. Most of my friends that are truely happy up here have spent more cash on "stuff" than on a house. Alaska is awesome. Anchorage blows. The best part about anchorage is alaska is only 50 miles away.

!!^^THIS!^^!!

Thanks! It is a nice area... But I don't.

Looking for some rumor control (yeah, yeah...)/expectations management as someone about to start putting in apps. Heard from a couple of different places that FDX and UPS domiciles were not much longer for ANC. True? Realize the conventional wisdom is "cast the widest net"...but trying to understand the art of the possible in terms of moving to (and remaining at) a certain domicile near the Great White North that isn't MSP, DTW, ORD, etc....presuming I can get hired at all...

[QUOTE=fantm11;2038232]Looking for some rumor control (yeah, yeah...)/expectations management as someone about to start putting in apps. Heard from a couple of different places that FDX and UPS domiciles were not much longer for ANC.

Totally untrue. Nothing from FedEx about closing Anchorage. That rumor has been going around for years. There may not be any new hire postings to Anchorage but that doesn't mean the base is going to close. I don't have any info more current than FedEx Aug new hires, none went to Anchorage. FedEx has filled open positions in Anchorage on the last seat bid but it has not increased or really decreased the base in the last year. Fewer FO's though than in the past. I wouldn't count on Anchorage being an option as a new hire but you'd find that out when the seat openings are given to the class. Looks like most guys are going to Memphis with some Cologne and some Hong Kong. Supposed to be good hiring in 2016 so anything is possible.

Watch the housing market
 

I was an Alaskan resident for the last 23 years and recently moved out. I had a larger home, and the economic conditions in Alaska had me more than concerned about going upside down on value.

The State is wheezing financially. They cannot tap their natural resources (logging, minerals, coal) and oil is looking like a longterm bust. It is a welfare state with handouts for everyone - and those with a hand out are moving in at a steady rate. A book could be written on the downturn and all the reasons. Suffice to say - the housing market on the higher end could be risky. I have no regrets about getting out.

The State is seriously floating an income tax and capping the Dividend Fund and to use the income to stem the yearly billions in cost overruns. The future does not look bright. YMMV

And yet it takes ~16 years to hold captain up there.....

While I wouldn't entirely agree that our natural resources aren't being utilized, our dependency on oil has raked us over the coals. It remains to be seen what is going to be done to solve the problem, but even is we have some sort of income or sales tax it will likely be lower than most states. As far as the housing market goes, we never got hit in 2008 like the Lower 48 did, what will happen next is anyone's guess but I don't think a housing market collapse is likely. I'm not so pessimistic in the long run about the State's health, sure there will be some bumps but I think we will be alright.

FWIW I know someone who was recently hired as a NURP manager at UPS... He bought a house. Just saying.

The State will resolve its issues in some way. It may be to drain the PFD. That won't make people happy but the State isn't going to go bankrupt if its got billions in the PFD fund. But back to the OP's question of the base staying open.

I wouldn't worry as a new hire about getting Anchorage if it even comes up. Guys will still bid up to Anchorage because the bid pack contains a lot more international flying than Memphis does. And if a new hire got Anchorage, I think with the current hiring, they'd be able to bid out as soon as they would be allowed, whats that, 18 months if you take the move?

6 weeks
 

You must have lived in a different hillside area, I live about as hi up as you can get, right below flat top, winter comes and goes maybe two weeks before and after

And if you are single, I think Bristol Palin is looking for a husband/father. She's daughter of our former ex governor. I know, I don't think she lives in AK anymore.

Think the OP got more than he asked for?:)

For what it's worth; I grew up in ANC, learned to fly there, got married there, and finally returned on the FX dime, with the hope of raising our young children in the Last Frontier. My wife and I have extended family scattered from ANC to FAI, and more roots in AK than a Sitka spruce. After a gut-wrenching five month decision, we cashed-out and left, following the massive -40 ANC excess of late 2014. While the base may not close anytime soon, the trajectory over the past 5-6 years has been less than confidence inspiring, especially for someone relatively junior (2011 hire here). Local economy notwithstanding, we grew tired of wondering when the next company hammer would drop. The domicile has gone from 450ish total crews in the heyday, to 190ish now. It is an amazing place, with some of the best crews and best flying in the system and is still considered "home" to us. What does the future hold? Nobody knows. You decide, but choose carefully if the prospect of a long distance commute to MEM reserve, or a 4-5+ departure domestic line does not sound appealing. Wishing you the best of luck!