Living In Anchorage Alaska The Dark Side Of Moving To Alaska

If you know me, you'll know that I have a lot of great things to say about living in Alaska, and Anchorage specifically. But as you're thinking about moving to Alaska, you should know about some of the dark sides of living in Alaska.

Jamin Goecker

Keller Williams Realty Alaska Group

[alaska_realtor]

What other questions do you have? Did I miss any of the darker parts of living in Anchorage? Post them below!

[lollyann]

Some clarifications I'd like to make given that I've lived here my entire life and still continue to live here.
1. Barrow, is pronounced like wheel barrow but without the wheel not Bar - row.
2. The winters, you literally only get about a few hours of sunlight. It's dark by 4pm and this goes on until the seasons over which is roughly 5 months of living in darkness. It's tolerable if you love doing winter sports.
3. The summers, the sun never goes down. It's light 24/7 and one of my favorite things about Alaska when summers hit.
4. The cost of living is absolutely ridiculous. Studios, 1-2 bedroom apts start at 1k+ plus utilities. Unless you have roommates or a spouse, you're going to be hella struggling.
5. It's a great place to consider living, IF you're an outdoor person. It's the most common reason why people move up here that I've had encounters with. They love hiking, camping and fishing.
6. The mosquitos, they're really bad when you're around lots of trees or by water. Other than that they're not too bad.

I'm 25, born and raised in Alaska.

[hjames]

Full on Gotham, LOL. I would agree though, Alaska has two kinds of people: ones that will literally give you the shirt off your back or people that will steal yours off of you while you are wearing it.

[JaviHauck]

I moved to Alaska about 4 years ago and there's a lot of things I love about this state, but was never able to get used to the social part, I consider myself very social, but don't have many friends here, people in general don't want to hangout. One of the reasons the whole covid thing didn't affect us as much as other states is because people just naturally isolate themselves Lol. That part its been hard even for my husband who was born here.

Another thing that I would consider like a dark side of living in Alaska is the seasonal depression, there's something about the long months of darkness and cold that affects everyone emotionally, everyone seems upset or sad at work. People say is all worth it because the summer time is beautiful and it is, absolutely gorgeous, but short!!!

[colleenferris-bagot]

Born 1958, raised and love it here. Winter can be harsh but also what you make of it. Playground or not. The beauty of this place is amazing.

[amycuaresma]

I love Anchorage. Lived here all my life. Nowhere else I would rather live.

[bjmmlvb]

Alaska has a unique beauty, as does Anchorage in certain aspects. However, there’s every evil thing under the sun in this city…it’s getting worse too, people can joke all they want in the comments but in the 26 years I’ve lived here I can say that until people come here and experience it themselves that they shouldn’t scoff at it. A lot of people up here have lost somebody to senseless violence, or who have been injured, lost to substances, robbed, kidnapped, or traumatized in various ways. Go look at the crime rates online, they’re there for a reason, and those are just the ones that get reported. A lot of them don’t, either that or the police just flat out won’t show up or will just do a half ass job when they do. A corrupt law system where dangerous and even mentally insane criminals are simply let back out occasionally, even if they repeatedly commit the same crime. Though this place has its pros, it also has a lot of MAJOR cons. There’s some good neighborhoods in Anchorage, but most of the neighborhoods in this city are not a good place to raise a family, doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. Unless you have money to live in a nice neighborhood, you’re stuck dealing with constant drama and having to watch your back and your belongings constantly for your own safety. Apart from the people you have to keep an eye out for animals too, in the city as well as the wilderness we have moose, black bears, grizzly bears who have been known to hurt and even kill people. There’s also eagles, lynx, wolves, wolverines, and fox who pose a threat to both your children and pets. Alaska is a unique place, one of the highest rates of mentally ill individuals in the US as well as one of the highest suicide rates in the world. One of the highest STD rates in the country. 8+ months of winter where it can get down to -83°F with 30 feet of snow throughout that time with inches of thick ice underneath it, winds as high as 135 mph, floods, mudslides, avalanches, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, blizzards, rugged terrain. Alaska in general is a crazy place for several reasons but Anchorage is by far the epicenter (Wasilla is 2nd and Fairbanks is 3rd, a lot of the villages get pretty wild too).

[joanaparis]

As a long time Anchorage resident, I was pleasantly surprise by the content of this video. It is quite an accurate description of the place. Best tip for breaking the long dark winter blues, is to plan an escape out of the state, somewhere sunny preferably. Even if it is just for a few days, it does make a big difference.

[BoagJackson]

You may not get the hundreds of thousands of views but your content is always of that quality. I’m sure you’re a busy man but I’m sure glad YouTube is one of your hobbies. I would love to a see a video in December this year on what Christmas and the holidays are like in Alaska

[creek]

Alaska resident since 2016 and I love it here, the information you've given is the absolute truth and those damn mosquitoes in Valdez can be vicious ✌️

[shannoninalaska]

For me, having short days in the winter is slightly more tolerable than always having light in the summer. I escape with blackout curtains though.

Every season brings something good.

[boomkruncherzzshred]

I live in Alaska, and at one point moved down to California for about a year. I was amazed how effectively I woke up with the daylight, I was that sensitive. I was NOT used to how pitch-black it got after sunset as well. It was quite the head trip.

Regarding Alaska being “small”. The land is HUGE. The population in contrast is sparse and spread out. Get used to driving cars everywhere, because there is no effective way to get around otherwise. No, public transportation or ride share/taxis/Lyft/Uber is NOT enough to make up for that, nor is it sustainable.

The community is your lifeline. Make some friends and keep up with them. You will thank me later.

[jimmyhinAK]

For all of you reading these comments I live in Anchorage Alaska and he speaks the truth.

[austinlowell]

I once heard someone say “Anchorage might be the biggest shit hole of a city there is but luckily its just a few minutes away from Alaska!” and that just about sums it up perfectly.

[araasis]

My husband and I have given ourselves a 5 year goal of moving to Alaska and your videos have helped a lot. We live in a large city with a pretty high crime rate so that doesn't really scare us but it has made us prefer not to move to Anchorage. I'm really looking at Juneau or Seward.

[kevinhall]

Stayed in Anchorage for a couple weeks last year. Loved it. But there does seem to be a rather high homeless population in the city as well

[JoeKerrAnomaly]

The winters there never got to me. I enjoyed the dark days and most of the time, the colder weather. I never had seasonal depression in Alaska. Born and raised there. I hope to move back soon.

[ana]

Thank you for your help and always giving us the truth about Alaska, hopefully soon I'll be a resident of Alaska also, thank you again 😀

[flightofthebirds]

Barrow (BARE-oh)

Also, that town is no longer named Barrow, hasn’t been for years.

[bodystomp]

The worst part of life in Anchorage for me was the relentless, unending overcast days.