We had a 7 hour direct flight into Anchorage.  Maybe it was because the entire group of 45 had the same T shirt on, but immediately upon arrival to the airport in Anchorage, people started asking where we were from, and what we were doing there.  When stopping at a McDonald's just at the out skirts of Alaska, a local group of teenagers came over and talked to a group of our teenagers.  Even though we were from the friendly South, it seemed like maybe it was a bit aggressive.  But, we later concluded, that they liked seeing visitors and talking to them.  Even though the city of Anchorage is considered a big city.  It's population of 260,000 made it seem like a little more than a small town, but not what I would consider big.  Another distinction is that there do not seem to be suburbs that make the city spread outward.  You quickly get to rural areas.  When traveling the highway from Anchorage to Nikiski, we were traveling at night.  We found the places to stop for gas, bathroom, and snacks to be sparse, but also found that families lived at the store/gas station, and were signaled when someone was there, and opened, and were, friendly, and glad for the business.  When arriving in the Nikiski area, the commercial buildings and the homes were older, and many in need of repair.  But, arriving at the high school where we stayed, we found it to be newer, and by far one of the nicer buildings in town.  There are some more expensive homes in the area, but what I saw was not.  To me there seems to be a lot of difference between the haves, and have nots.  Oil refineries were the big push in the area in the 60's and 70's.  Most people that I talked to had come from places like Washington state, and Oregon to get away from the developing areas there.  Churches in the area were small, most of them the metal style building.  Also, many churches had showers to help people in the area that were without water for any reason, and to accommodate people who came to serve in the area.  Things like the water table level, septic issues, or filtration system issues kept us from being allowed to use the bathroom facilities in some areas.  There would be a sign that no public use of restrooms was allowed.   I don't know if it was all because of well and septic issues, or if they used cisterns also.  But, there has been drought in the area also.  Moose, and black bear were prevalent in the area.  We saw moose daily.  They seem to be thicker than their relatives (deer) are in Georgia.  We did not see any bear.  According to the locals we could more likely be killed by a moose, than by black bear.  The moose will attack, and stomp you to death, even though they look harmless.  A bear may look frightening, but the type of bear that are prevalent in the area (black bear) are shy, and would be frightened of humans.

     The lack of zoning in most areas is obvious.  And when we asked what the local code was for building a deck, we were told "if two or three agree, that's the code.  When you are from an area that has strict zoning, code enforcement, and even more rules with homeowner's associations, the lack of these things can look pretty appealing on one hand.  But, you can quickly see what could happen to your property value on the other hand.
You could see a house, with a shed in front, and several other buildings used for whatever scattered around the house.  Or, if you had the property, maybe your own junk yard.  Most homes and buildings were in some stage of repair or construction.  I was told there was a surge of vacation homes, and cabins, and a lot of the contractors were building these homes instead of the little projects in their short summer.

     The group of 12 that I was assigned to, worked on a home of an 81 year old man, and his wife.  The wife was recovering from surgery.  The 81 year old was active, and helped us with the project.  We found them easy to talk to, and appreciative of what we were doing.  Our group built an 8x21 foot deck on the front of their house to replace one that was falling down.  Also, we finished siding his house.  He had the material for the siding, and that was a bonus job he wasn't expecting.

     Nikiski, is located in the Kenai Peninsula.  The town of Nikiski only has a population of 4,000, so the amount of 450 (which was the total of all the groups from different places), increased their population by more than 10%.
Many services that mainland small towns would be used to were 4 hours away, in Anchorage.  The price of food was higher.  A quick comparable is McDonald's in Anchorage was about $2.00 higher that we were used to.  Fresh fruit and vegetables were very pricey.  One of the churches in the area bought vans and buses to be able to rent to individuals and groups that come to the area.

     Foreclosures are prevalent in the area.  The price of land varies greatly.  You can buy a lot on the river for $4,000 to $6.000, but in some areas you only have access by float plane, or boat.  Many roads, and streets off the main highway are gravel and dirt.  Some houses in listings for the area are in the range of $599K, or $299K, but I didn't see any of those.  Most of what I saw would be about in the $30,000 to $60,000 range.  Depending on how much the area had started to develop, and the condition of the house, and how much property.  To see a greenhouse with a beat up house was common, because of their short growing season.  If you are into fishing, and hunting, chopping wood for firewood, snow and its aggravations, but also enjoy snow for recreation, than Alaska may be the place for you.  You could truly live off the land if you worked hard enough on it.  Yes, it is "the last frontier".  All the highways we were on had dirt trails on the side of them for four wheelers, and snowmobiles.
The sun shone most of the time when we were there.  It set at about 11:50 P.M.  Then rose at about 4:00 A.M.  But in the winter the typical time of sunlight is from about 9:30 A.M. and setting at 3:30 P.M.  I think that would get to me.

     Would I want to live in Alaska full time?  No.  But would I buy some land sometime to put a cabin or RV on for summer hunting and fishing expeditions?  Maybe.  I was not able to get enough of a total view of the area to know what areas will most likely see the most appreciation.  I would like to go back again sometime, on a working mission trip would be fine, but I would also like more time to look around.

$55,000 576 Sq. Ft. 1.71 Acres 51120 Frost St Nikiski/North Kenai, AK 99635 Single Family Property, Area: North Kenai, Approximately 1.71 acre(s), Lot is 74488 sq. ft., Year Built: 1992 ...  View details.

     This house is typical, but newer of the type of homes we saw in the Nikiski area.

     Have any of you, my readers been to Alaska, or live, or lived there?  Feel free to leave a comment below.  If you like this blog, subscribe, either by email, or RSS.