Assuming you are retired or don't need regular employment..??? No fantasy (made-up locations)

I'd look at the outskirts of fairbanks. If you're retired you're up in years. I wouldn't bet my life on a village clinic elsewhere.

Not for myself. Just to stimulate conversation. I figure I found the best place. (For me).

For us it is down in SE.
Been here over 9 years now.

A guy could make an argument that Eureka has a lot going for it. One of the best views you'll ever see of the Chugach, for sure. Not a lot of people, but you are on the road system. If you have wings you are within striking distance of lots of good stuff, but I guess that goes for many places.

Downsides: it gets cold in the winter, and the place has a habit of making it's own "to the deck" snow/cloud cover. Medical services probably consist of what's in your first aid kit. You are still in the matsu so they are bleeding you dry on property tax. You can drive a little further and avoid that, but the view drops right off.

The Interior.

cwh2,
I assume you mean the Eureka Lodge area and not the Eureka out of Fairbanks.

Most important thing to consider is access to medical care. When you are a senior life isn't easier and only gets more difficult with each passing year.

If we moved back it would be to the Kenai area simply because of our love for fishing. Plus it would add only a few more hours to our annual Koyukuk moose hunting trips.

I guess it all depends on what you like to do. I’m seriously thinking of snow birding when I retire. At that point, I’ll take a place down the Kenai Peninsula. Summers full of fishing and then I can drive north to hunt. I don’t mind Wasilla, but traffic on the Parks during rush hour sucks! I thought other places I’ve lived was bad.

During the summer, traffic on the Kenai sucks too. Tourons. We need not go to Anchorage to experience Anchorage traffic on the weekends, either, as they come to us. Starting about now, I try to make right hand turns only, as much as possible, excluding stop lights.

Homer has some outstanding views. Indian, also. Med facilities readily available both places (Anc is 35 miles from Indian).

Manley has no view, just a big river, if that's your thing. Way laid back, but 160 miles from Fairbanks, by road. Air service available.

Striking distance to the Brooks Range.

Fox, 10 miles out of Fairbanks avoids "city life" largely- no view, really.

Fall colors are pretty impressive in Interior, but winters suck, and I have spent 14 cumulative years in the Arctic.

If I were to go Interior, it would be Manley, Tok, Delta, personally.

Kenai Pen was much nicer when we moved here in 1980.

That's all I have to say about that!

Yes. Eureka Lodge.

Only ever driven by the other one.

I would invite those interested in stating what they would desire in an Alaska for a location. (Speaking here to those with little residency experience).

Borough assembly passed an ordinance last week stating that the Kenai P. is closed.

I am still working and living in the outskirts of Fairbanks. I live off of Skyridge with a 250 acre moose refuge next to me. The nearest neighbor is about 1/4 mile away and winter with the aurora is wonderful. I miss the mountains. In the near future, I see myself leaving the gun stores and grocery stores of Fairbanks for getting away from the hubris of civilization. I guess that I am young because you get a 225K property tax exemption at 65 and that is 10 years away.

My notion of an ideal location is Kenny Lake. It doesn't rain as much or blow as much as Chitina. Chitina has a medical clinic as does Glennallen. Its a pretty quick trip to Valdez hospital or to Providence Hospital. I can see a 10 acre homestead on the Old Edgerton with a mountain view in my near future. You get an extra month of Sheep hunting at 60 years of age. You are fairly close to Valdez for halibut fishing and sea food. You can easily manage a fish wheel and get a subsistence moose. Gardens are great there. They have good water that doesn't cause cancer. The water off of Liberty Falls will extend your life about 5-10 years. They have a nice little farmers market and Wegner's Farm store. Three bears and Safeway in Valdez. Go to Costco and medical care once per month. That is probably a pretty good gig. That is probably what I will do. Only problem is that gas prices are high so you need a bulk tank.

kaboku Where can you get a xtra month of sheep season at 60? Or is it a Federal Subsistence hunt?

Spent a good portion of my 18 years up there hunting out of Tok in various areas. Met alot of good folks up there and love the place. A tad Chilly in the winter but would have been worth it

Loaded question. I would say Petersburg ak.

Local residents or those qualified with a federal 13.44 permit.

Eagle River with a plane would like it better but I have friends with planes! I am 30 minutes from Alaska! Utility costs are pretty cheap in suburbia compared to the rest of Alaska, If I want remote will build a cabin, don't have to fight it all winter!

Wasilla is the worst place to live in Alaska, the view sucks, no fish to catch within 200 miles and the hunting is absolutely terrible, no caribou at all and most guys drive 3-400 miles North just to get a moose

Def stay away from Wasyphilis

Just talked to some folks who left Fairbanks for the KP. Their taxes were $5000 a year for a small house and garage.

Way too much taxes, for a dark, nasty, smokey sht hole. Best sign I see after a run to town for supplies: "You are Leaving the Fairbanks North Star Borough"

Resource wise, and less wildland fire smoke:
Copper center and slightly south.

You get:
Good dog mushing
Subsistence caribou,
Allowed to run a fish wheel on a federal permit,
Good sport fishing,
Somewhat close to Valdez for getting yer ocean fix
Large birch and spruce
Good farming soil
Little to no wildland fire smoke
No constant sonic booms, fighter jet traffic, helicopter noise, oversized mining trucks or crashed military convoys strewn all over the fkn place.

BUT:
Long ways from a costco.

Freezebanks in da winter
Firebanks in da summer

Fartstanks all other times .... except
Fu ckskanks when ya go hogging in bars

It is interesting to hear the opinions, that's for sure. I can barely stand to visit Kenai in the summer. Think I might lose it if i lived there. Can't imagine Valdez aa my only saltwater option, but I guess if you're retired you could make that work.

I had largley written off southeast, but there are several good options there. You just have to be willing/able to travel by boat or plane and then sometimes by road to chase opportunities.

Lot of Alaskans retire in Haines. But don't mention it to a local. It's kind of a secret.

I spent a week in Haines in May. Don't think it's a town for me

Mulled it over a bit. While I like the idea of living in SE or Kodiak where I can take a skiff out for an evening and get into fish, I don't think all and all I could handle the small town and limitations. That being said, if retired I'll take the boat out for 2-3 days in the middle of the week. So, I'm leaning towards sticking to our place in Anchorage. The views don't suck, I can access enough fishing and hunting and I have hiking, skiing, rock climbing etc. 1/2 hour from the house.

With about one tenth of a percent of the total AK population they sure are keeping it quiet...

There is much more to the Kenai Peninsula then the dying "Kenai River". There are rivers that "no one" fishes that are choked with salmon. There are small hidden pockets of Dall Sheep, that is a (in&out) one-day hunt.

Makes the short list of my least-favorite AK towns.

Fifty years ago, Wasilla was a paradise. You know what turned it into the second worse place in Alaska?

People moving in.

That is what is so-so-so wonderful about living in a majestic eleven-mile-long Alaskan valley with only (8) Eight neighbors, in the center of a (7) Seven-MILLION-acre National Forest. With your own (30' Foot) CASCADING WATERFALLS entirely on your property.

Yeah, Hope is out of range for the yuppie class who need to show up to work in Anchorage.........and I'll venture a guess that you probably don't have another 50 years to see how the place might change.

I live in the Valley, and I'm disappointed that the growth went so out-of-control, but I've got a few acres and a bit of privacy while still enjoying a great, clean view. While still healthy, I'm glad that we have health care at our doorstep. My most important anchor are my wife, children, and grandchildren. I raised my kids in the Valley, and they're all still there or in Anchorage. For me, family is everything.

You really are living in the past. Lucky I suppose. Or dementia is setting in.

Did your mother have any children that lived?

SE is nice but the logistics of getting to interior Alaska suck.

How long is a string?

I think about one rope length Butch.

Calvin, yeah.... That's a tough one, especially as far south as you are. You sorta have to live with your priority I guess.

I've visited a handful of times. I always liked Eagle River as close enough to medical and shopping, but a little ways away.

Was hired to drive a 1970's landcruiser from Juneau to Hillside Anchorage October 2015. Fk that trip!

Flew into Juneau, located the supposedly drivable fj 55.
It was sunken into the salty ground. Ate some nasty pelmini Russian dumplings for breakfast.

Had to pay a tow truck driver to leverage the landcruiser out with his articulating flat bed . Couldn't even get a bottle jack under it.

He sold me an old 1980's set of weather cracked tractor tread mud terrains.

Beat the rust out of the front calipers and rear cylinders.

Floor boards were rusted to [bleep]. Was afraid that the seat would fall out right from under me, if I hit a pot hole. I dove into a dumpster at a construction site and fashioned roofing metal scraps into make-shift floor boards held in with sheet metal screws.

Took carburetor apart and soaked overnight in berrymans chemdip. Drained some rusty mollases out of fuel tank. Drove to Oreileys, the crew there was a big help. No landcruiser guys thought it would even start. Fired right up.

Went to catch the ferry, did not realize was way out town! Down pouring, dark, no winshield wipers. Brakes stopped working. They said it wasn't safe to go down ramp onto the malaspina ferry. Had to beg to drive it onto the malaspina ferry. Told them all the sht I'd gone through. Went down ramp and slammed it into reverse, right near a new pickup truck. Disconnected battery and assured them it wouldn't cause a fire.

Got to haines, wipers started working. Canadian boarder workers said there was heavy snow up in the pass. Finally got up into I think was chilkat pass? Treeless, heaviest fkn slushy snow I've ever seen. Reminded me of king cove snow. All these gigantic spiders started falling out of the headliner. Guess they died in the cold.

Alternator seized up and smoked the belt, also shared by the waterpump. A giant splurge of foamy, overheated coolant blew the radiator cap and covered the windshield. Veered right, as left side was a shear cliff. Hit a rock and broke the entire exhaust system off.

Sideways snow, getting dim out, got the alternator bearing free spinning with some penetrating lubricant. Bunch of rust poured out the alternator. Reset the raditor cap lever, topped her off with coolant, headgasket still intact!

Found a spare belt in my oreileys care package. Loud as fck with no exauhst I drove 20-30 mph to Haines Junction and overnighted as i had a bad head ache from carbon monoxide. Overslept a bit and took my time.

Kept driving, Died again 8-10 miles out of beaver creek near the border. Same deal, smoked another belt. Hiked into town, bought a bunch of various sized belts. Caught a ride back to the land cruiser and fixed it. Kept driving,crossed the border. Boarder agent was a Landcruiser owner. He had heard that I was broke down from the Canadian guys.

Kept driving, pitch black I blew another belt near mentasta. This time, I took a rachet strap and ratcheted the alternator outwards tightly as I could get the belt tension as the belt tension bolt snapped. Sprayed the alternator bearing every hour after that. Some drunk mentasta guys stopped, couldn't believe I was driving that piece of sht.

That last repair held up all the way to Anchorage. The overheating burnt the rings. Could only make the eagle river hill at about 40 mph., no power.

Parked it up in hillside got paid, I guess it never started again after I shut it off.

Never did that trip since.......

At least you earned your $5,000.00 FEE ....

Angoon! Google" this is Angoon" if you need proof. Thank me later

Never did that trip since.......

That trip is absolutely not repeatable! Great story!

Mentioned Valdez, as it's a hub to get other places for many in interior folks. Always see guys on highway, leaving fbx hauling saltwater boats.

If the wildfire smoke gets bad again, I'm loading my dog team and heading to Cordova temporarily

Swerve Merv! LOL!

Thanks, that was funny!

From fall 2000 to summer 2003 my little family lived in Unalakleet. Really enjoyed that place. Hunting was decent. Trapping great. Fishing pretty good. Fair amount of money floating around. Both myself and my ex had good jobs. Wouldn't mind living there again. Helped that I had an airplane. Ex was from Emmonak and went there often. I liked Nome too!

Chickaloon is the place to be.

Lol...this thread is killing me ...

Chitna, now that is one happening place. Only a few hours from the city of McCarthy.

As long as you're east of the Chickaloon River, you're qualified for federal subsistence, and still just a half hour drive from Palmer. Still have to pay borough property taxes, though.

Some place around here !

Have family in Haines. Beautiful town. Lots of bears. Been there several times but it’s an expensive place to live.

When I was much younger I’d have picked Glenallen, actually I came close to doing that. Not a lot of jobs. And these days the lack of medical keeps me away these days.

Best I came up with given the givens, I can deal with Palmer, though I’m not convinced the medical is as good as Anchorage.

so in all seriousness , how does Eagle River rate for us old farts that need to be fairly close to good medical and some modern conveniences ?

^^ THIS for sure ^^

"Welcome to Anchorage"

Most of the disadvantages of the valley, few of the advantages of Anchorage...

Truth

so that is a no ?

Lol because they re doing grocery in whitehorse ...

Might be an issue finding medical care unless you can use the VA or Jber facilitates. According to my friends in Alaska it is becoming increasingly difficult to find places that accept Medicare unless you are already established with a physician in the area.
Perhaps the Alaska residents on Medicare can chime in and offer their experience.

Here in Delta, the medical care is very basic and Fairbanks doesn't compare with Anchorage.
Most of us either have our graves dug or keep a big wood pile to cremate our carcasses. We did a friend and it took a gallon of diesel and probably two gallons of whiskey.

Sounds like an interesting story....

Sounds like a Viking ceremony.

...sans saltwater...

No votes for Soldotna and just to the south yet? I have always thought that area had a lot going for it. It's been a while since I looked at real estate prices there, but they were better than most small AK towns.

If you like mosquitoes/ the state bird!!! Daylight 23 hours a day or dark 23 hours a day go for it! I've been to Alaska 6 different years for work and Montana has it beat in every single imaginable way possible as far as a place to retire goes

in the summer, Soldotna/Kenai has far too many old fks clogging up the grocery aisles and roads, every fkn time theres a delay, slow down or complete shutdown it's because some silver haired old fkr is dragging balls or tits

probably because of all the old bastard pukers coming to town to snag sockeye in the Kenai River

We are thinking of moving back up and I visited Soldotna area a few times during my visit this summer. I didn't find it as appealing as I remembered. House prices were very similar to Anchorage. The difference being most lots in Soldotna were bigger. For now this area is off the table for us. Although if we did move I would plant a big trailer on a lot for the summer on the Kenai.

Cooper Landing will improve dramatically when the "bypass" is complete.

Randy still trying to find a Dr to see me before I go on Medicare it's not easy, still happy with Eagle River seldom have to leave and traffic is not an issue like the Valley or Anchorage. Finally got an appointment only took 2 months sure I can go to a walk in but want a primary care Dr that knows me and my history and not ready to retire.

How’s the salmon and halibut fishing or other saltwater activities in Montana? 😂

Montana is a beautiful state with a lot going for it but there’s no comparison if outdoor pursuits are the measure!

There is no advantage to living in Anchorage.

Traffic in the valley doesn’t get bad until Friday when Anchorage decides to head North to go camping.

Doesn’t Montana have a state income tax? Sales tax?

The hell it doesn't. The Palmer/Wasilla hwy intersection sucks every single day of the week. It takes as long to get thru the gridlock there as it does to drive from Anchorage to Lowe's/Kendall Ford.

Montana has very little to offer. It is good to see how much better Alaska is so we don’t get as many move-ins as we would without Alaska.

The other great thing about Alaska is the jet boats and airplanes that you have to own so you can get to a lot of the places you want to go.

Montana has unlimited sheep units. I've hunted it ...

Alaska has dalls that are a smidge better than a needle in a haystack. At least used to.

The view in Sitka as of right now. At least it isn’t raining…

Alaska is absolutely horrible....please stay away......

I live at the Alcan and we cheer every U Haul we see heading South.

It's getting overcrowded here.

Kurk,
Good luck. We decided to list our house and property in January. If it sells we are moving back. Going to be tough to sell it due to all the acreage involved but all we can do is try. If it doest sell we will be content flying up 3-4 times a year. Fortunately both the wife and I can utilize the VA as well as the resources at Jber.

It’s all about the adventure getting their.. I can’t help the few times you been to Alaska you punched the tourist card. I told you if you ever came back up I take you and show country that will blow your mind…

You are talking the parks hwy and Palmer wasilla. Agsin that intersection sucks on Friday afternoon when people are headed North from Anchorage, so yeah it does suck. Any other time during the week it’s easy peasy..

Only tourists and state workers go to Sitka. Avg joe blow Alaskans don’t purposely go to Sitka, Ketchikan, Juneau.

I do hear Browning, Montana is pretty good place to live.

Shrap, I am going to break it to you gently. We send about 80% of our liberal hippie kids to Bozman.

If the skAnckorage scum stayed in their own backyards in town, then the rest of the highway points going North & South would be easy traveling and access to fishing & hunting would be awesome, but these cockroaches plug up every single spot on the map and 90% of them act & feel like they are entitled to tear through everybody's property because they are elite beings from the "city"

They ruin the Alaskan experience for everyone then go back to their liberal schithole and keep voting for bs that affects the rest of the state negatively

Fairbanks scum is the same way

We turn them into tourists and send them back to Alaska…

There is no 3 Bears in Valdez, I thought there was but when I went there back in early July the only store we could find was Safeway.

We've lived in Eagle River for almost 20 years now, wouldn't live anywhere else, tight knit community and very conservative. We have a group of people that are working on getting us the hell out of the Anchorage muni (EaglExit) which is run by a bunch of liberal tweekers (assembly), hoping like hell that that happens.

That would be okay if they left after a couple weeks of dropping money along th hwy system. Tge ones that piss me off are the seasonal scum that come ere for the summer and skim off as much as they can, then run south to warm weather to spend it.
"Tourism" my ass........