For those who are familiar…how would you describe the city of Anchorage?

The largest city close to Alaska.
In the decade I lived there I saw a marked change in demographics with a heavy bent towards “diversity”.

(50) FIFTY years ago Anchorage, Alaska was the support center for homesteaders. Even "south" Anchorage was still being homesteaded, all of Wasilla was still being homesteaded. It was "like" the very best of the "Old West" of America in the later 1800-1920's period.

Now it is the dead rotting corpse of a city addicted to the life'support of Federal corruption money, and Corporate empire corruption money. It is a city filled with zombies, who live for the "weekend" escape either north or south on the only two roads from the prison of the illusion of "Being Alaskans".

And yet, it would seem like paradise to those escaping many "[bleep]'hole" urban areas of the "Lower-48" states. But Los'Anchorage is "NOT" Alaska, it is where humans suck'it up and endure metropolitan life, as the price they must endure for weekends in paradise.

I’ve been here for 48 hours ( my first time) and sadly this is my impression already.

Anchorage used to be like Eagle River. Just go there.

What AGL said. When I came here in 68, Northern Lights was all forest, with the exception of Gary Kings, B&C, and maybe Barney's.

My thought at the time was "What the Hell are they doing way out here? Huffman was howling wilderness, as was the Hillside.

Gary King's and the forest have both suffered an irreversible decline since. Last time I was in GK was maybe 4 years ago- first thing I saw were two "sales associates" with man-buns. Hard 180.....

The Holiday on Seward and Diamond used to be a gas/coffee stop for me. It was a comfortable place, before the diversity took over. I no longer stop there.

Where’s Gary Kings LAS? I thought they were out of business long before I got there. I did catch a bunch of bottom fish on an old GK halibut rod from a garage sale one summer.

Oh and one thing Anchorage and The Valley do have going for them is the best garage sales on earth. Everyone has outdoor gear, some of it high end, and everybody gets rid of it before the move outside.

I go to Anchorage every March for a week or less. As far as shopping goes it's real user friendly with good air freight,mail at the airport, and big items on the barge at Homer. This covid deal has made medical visit's much easier as they don't try to perform endless test's and appointments now. My circle of friends in town is shrinking as they move south for good!

Sorry, no such thing as a "man bun." Proper term is "twatknot."

It's a dirty place. Physically and politically.
Ever so often it is a helpful place to go, good for a supply run, as it is a useful hub.
But I try to avoid it if possible. I do not like when my business trips have me go there. Feels like going to the greater Seattle area.

The "Seattle Mafia" used to control Anchorage and most larger cities. That suffered substantial problems, when the "Brothers MC Gang" made some serious miscalculations.

I've visited Anchorage, as well as a good bit of Alaska. Good and bad, like most places, but what cleared it up for me is the following !! Had a guy doing some stone work for me here in Virginia & as we talked this guy (ex Military) & shot up a bit (god bless him) related that he grew up in Anchorage & that Anchorage went to hell after Katrina hit New Orleans, many dirt buzzards were relocated to Anchorage & the city "went to hell". ANY COMMENTS ??

Anchorage went to "HELL" when they built the Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline. Doubled the population, instantly made the State of Alaska "drunk wealthy" on oil revenue. Then in the early 80's the crash came, then in the "MID" 80's the horrific economic "DEPRESSION" started, (78% of all banks, credit unions, savings and loans went BANKRUPT) then for giggles March of 1989 a "drunk" [bleep] named "Hazelwood" crashed a oil tanker in Prince William Sound.

It went around the bend around 2010s. It was a great place in the early to mid 90s then things fell apart.

Only 30 minutes from Alaska.

I was there last August. Club Paris was not opened, truly sad.

Skanchorage started going to chit when the municipality went to vote by mail scam. Ever since then the assembly has gotten more liberal and woke. Hell what am I talking about the assembly is as liberal as any other democrat ran city. The mayor is a conservative, all that means the liberals couldn’t find enough votes in the back of a mini van.

Not to get off topic but Palmer is going the liberal route as well with a bunch of woke retards on the city council. Wasilla is holding strong. But the going joke with momma is we have to move to willow. What’s interesting the matsu burrough mayor lives in willow.

I’m as guilty as anyone mocking Anchorage as Los Anchorage, and being “ a short plane ride from Alaska”.

If one enjoys the out-of-doors, it has a lot going for it in terms of stores to supply your outfitting needs, and the accessibility to hiking trails and generally close proximity to the good places north and south of the city.

I just could not live there. 😉

Indeed Mike. There ain't no iron removing salt for the water softener in Soldotna or Kenai, except at Culligan right now. for $5/bag more than FM or Wally has it as, when they have it. Going to Anc on the first to pick up son and DIL, so may stock up then, if I can find it.

That is the one advantage Anc sometimes has, more product. and more/better? medical facilities. Just had hand surgery up there, over the local expert who inspired no confidence for my gut feeling....

But then there is E-bay and Amazon for many things, and no traffic.

PM or text me who you saw here?

I grew up in Anchorage in the late 60s and 70s. A truly great place then for a city. We hauled my dad's J5 Cruiser hulk right through the middle of Anchorage from Lake Hood to Government Hill roped to the back of a Plymouth sedan! Nobody even linked an eye as we drove through town. That's how Anchorage was. Still pretty good into the early 90s, but yes, the pipeline boom began it's downward trend and the dumping of bunches of immigrants on Anchorage by Catholic Social Services, and bunches of Samoans making Anchorage their new sugar daddy, and people coming up for the bennies... that has ruined Anchorage. Then the libs began to colonize Anchorage to turn Alaska blue and have been very successful. It is no longer Alaskan in flavor by any stretch of the imagination.
When I lived in Dillingham in the 80s and 90s, it was truly wonderful to come into Anchorage and live it up, but these days, when I visit my son and his family or my daughter and her family, I drive straight to their houses and drive straight from their houses and try not to stop if I can. I really dislike that place.

Are the rest of you armed when you go to Anchorage?

Yes!

I left in 2015. Up to that time I cannot say that I ever felt I needed to be armed. My dad used to yell me 'if you look for trouble you will find it'. I was born in anch in the early '50s and watched it grow from a medium sized town to the city it is today. I remember the place when Northern Lights Blvd was dirt. When the the back road through the Port was the way to get to Government Hill. Tudor road stopped in the swamp and Muldoon was the off base hangout for Ft Rich. soldiers. The Pipeline changed the place the most both city and State. Anchorage has always been the jump off or staging place for West Alaska. Merrill field used to be the busiest airfield per take offs and landings in the USA. Partially due to the numbers of students as well as support fot the outlying villages. I flew my cub off Merrill for years. The city is what it is, a fast growing urban place with all the good and bad that goes with such places. I am not sentimental about the place at all. I enjoyed the place until I decided I was tired of the cold and dark fall/winter days and the buggy damp summers. I liked the proximity of Anch to what I enjoyed most about Alaska. I like Fairbanks for much of the same reasons except Fbxs is too far from salt water. I suspect that if you expect Anch to be like it was 50-60 years ago you will be disappointed.

I’ve been to lots of big cities. LA, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, NY, Boston, Dallas, Miami, Chicago, etc., etc. I’ve never really thought Anchorage was as a bad as the out of towners make it out to be. It’s definitely not Alaska, it is a city, but making it out to be some war zone schithole just tells me you haven’t been many places.

Yes.
A friend was carjacked a while back in Anchorage. Another who was selling seafood from his camper vehicle was barred inside while a few guys stole the generator he had chained to his vehicle,
I'm not sentimental about Anchorage, but it has become a "schithole". The "homeless problem is out of control; not unusual to see people peeing or pooping right on the sidewalk off of Tudor. I can handle the crime, but I hate the way that Anchorage politics dictates to much of the rest of Alaska by the sheer amount of lib voters. Anchorage may not be as bad as many cities, but that ain't saying much.

Anchorage took a social nosedive during the pervert mayor’s term and the pretend mayor.

Coincidentally, both democrats.

Little Ethan oversaw the record number of homicides/murders (several years in a row), record carjackings, he killed the economy with some help from the largely D ass-embly, tried to make Anchorage a sanctuary city. Other than that, he’s a POS and probably the worst mayor Anchorage ever had.

IMHO.

Couldn't agree more. Almost anywhere you go in Anchorage you are in a relatively safe neighborhood. The rough areas, like Mt. View, Fairview, etc., are not THAT rough, most of the time, and they are very small parts of the city. Go to any big city outside and there are huge sections where the house windows all have bars on them and you can drive for an hour and not get out of the ghetto. Houston, Denver, Kansas City, etc., seem like they are 50% ghetto now. Try to drive across town in them and the traffic is so bad you can't get anywhere unless you pay to take a toll road. I live on the south end of Anchorage and work on the north and it takes me 20 minutes to make the trip. No other city this small has two Costco's, or two Cabelas/Bass Pro's. Ocean fishing is only a few hour drive away, and you don't have to know a landowner to go hunting.

Yeah, I figure I could do worse.

Seattle North.






Why wouldn't I be?

You’ll notice the only two people defending Anchorage live there. No one is going to shït in his own living room, so take it with a grain of salt.

Anchorage is also a "perfectly" designed Death-Trap/Kill-Zone in any area wide emergency.

I was in Anchorage during the last earthquake. Because of good building codes, the city held together very well. Whearas in other areas of the world, places crumbled and looting was rampant after eartquakes of similar magnitude.

I saw Anchorage folks work well together, and there was virtually no serious death and injury or looting.

When the dog team blew my hand out against a tree, anchorage surgeons and medical staff put it back together well.

If Anchorage was so bad, why is there a steady stream of thousands of Matsu valley folks into Anchorage every morning for work?

Being stationed at ft rich for 8 years, and having gone to college in Anchorage, Im thankful for the experience.

I personally can't live there in Anchorage because my upbringing, I grew up in the woods, far out of town. So the city thing or even the townie thing doesn't work for me. But that's a personal thing, doesn't give me the right to sht on the entirety of Anchorage........

Because the type of work they do requires them to be in Anchorage to find employment, but there’s no way in hell they’d actually live there, so they commute?

I mean, I get what you’re saying, but the answer to your question contradicts the point you’re trying to make. It basically points out that even though they work there, they aren’t willing to live there.

Let’s be honest, Anchorage is bad, but it’s all relative. It’s bad when the rest of Alaska is just down the road. If forced to choose, I’d still pick Anchorage over any other city in the lower 48, just because it’d keep me in Alaska. But, since I don’t have to choose, I avoid the place and only go down there when I have to, usually about once every 2-3 months.

......

Easy solution for you all that don't like Anchorage, stay the fugg out then.
Don't come and use our Costco, our Airport, Our hospitals, don't drive in for a paycheck and then bitch about how bad it is.
Anchorage isn't great, but it isn't as bas as a lot of medium sized cities that have all these amenities.

That sounds like a "almost" fair deal.........To be fair lets keep the Anchorage people the hell off of the Kenai Peninsula.

The most beautiful city in America.

Apparently still in business on Benson. At least that's what Google says.

I think they are long ago out of the sporting goods business. Now only sell the Garry King line of inflatable boats and rafts. Butch King has his guiding business down on the "Cinder River" area, on the Alaska Peninsula.

Agreed.

ANCHORAGE........Winter 1970

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CnzmeSr0-o&t=104s

At the risk of being called "sentimental", I truly miss that kind of Anchorage. The people that lived there then would never have let there be the kind of assembly that Anchorage suffers under now. They would never be subjects, nor snitches.
The majority elected to the Anchorage Assembly is really all you need to know about the state of Anchorage in 2021.

I’ve spent some time in Anchorage over the last several years, and live in Phoenix. Comparisons between Anchorage and a seriously big city are ridiculous.

How many people are required before there are issues with drugs, gangs, and crime? 3? 4? Bush alaska is as rife with addiction, rape, and woe as any place. Population has nothing to do with it.

Anchorage does not have a “small town feel”, whatever that means. If you want that go to Kodiak, where you have to kick past the homeless to use the public toilet at the marina.

Anchorage has lots of good people in a spectacular setting. Failure to find beauty there reflects on the viewer, not the view.

Spectacular setting? Its mud one way and rocks the other...

But the view….

Maybe you should drink less?

Who is comparing Anchorage to L48 cities? We are comparing Anchorage to Alaska.

That's just like... Your opinion man.

skAnchorage is filled to the top with Democrats, if you stop in & hang out too long ya might get brown balled ....

those worthless foo king commies are everywhere out here, it's like a full Rent-A-Can left out in the July heat too long

Full disclosure. My mother, nephew and sister live in Anchorage. We have some Anchorage roots. My father after he was disabled moved the family into Anchorage for about 10 years from 1987 to 1997 when he moved up to Fairbanks.

My younger sister bought a large 4000 square foot house in midtown on a relative bargain(300K) for the time. She was one of the state economists and felt that the house would accrue value. It took her two years to sell that place at a loss. The midtown area is just as bad a Phoenix. She had several breakins and her neighbors were robbed and then murdered. This is what used to be a posh area of town close to the Boney Courthouse and her state office. Sure there are places that are nice up on hillside. But make no mistake, the old Anchorage that was just a big small town is gone. It is rough in several areas.

People might be in denial but it was a great place for a long time. Eventually it just got rough. We used to go into town to get a good porterhouse steak at Black Angus Steakhouse- we were homesteaders and not enlightened enough to know about Club 29 or Simon and Seaforts. I betcha that you might get robbed if you went there today and your steak would not be top choice meat. Might not even be cow. People who want to call hate can do so. It is NOT the way it used to be.

Not to pick on your sister, but an economist should understand property swings and realize that house probably had only a couple swings where it was underwater. I guarantee it would be worth more today by quite a bit...

My folks had a new 4k foot house built in 97 and paid 250K for it. Sold when they retired in 08 for about 750K
Just like location location location, timing timing timing is also important.


Black Angus steakhouse isn't open any longer either.

3X value in 11 years don’t suck!

I am pretty sure it was on 15th Ave. You can go on there with Zillow and see how they cut prices in that area. Junkies basically go door to door. They felt that they would save money on transportation because she could walk to work. She would take a 6 ft waxwood staff to her office and then home. It took them 2.5 years to sell the place. They moved to Oregon where she is the economist for Fish and Game and my brother in law is the town city manager for Tangent, Oregon. They do want to come back but they don't like Anchorage.

She is the only one of all of us(five) who lives outside. We are betting how long she will last.