tofu wrote:Biggs wrote:The real kicker in this story, which everyone seems to be overlooking, is that even though this guy is smart, hard-working, well-liked, and everything else puppies and rainbows, his job is contingent on him living in
fk'n Alaska.
I don't say this to belittle Alaska as I also live in a state that is cold, desolate, and devoid of institutions traditionally labeled "culture"
. But the cost of living in Alaska is much steeper than in my flyover state, not to mention that Alaska receives $1.84 in federal benefits for every $1 paid in federal taxes, which I would think is the kind of thing that would upset people who stay up at night worrying about government spending.
I'd love to visit Alaska - it looks beautiful and offers experience my state never could - but LIVE there? I don't care how much that power plant pays; I can earn less and afford a higher quality of life in virtually every other part of the country. A side effect a low cost of living also means I can more readily save the money necessary to travel someplace exciting (like, say, Alaska) or travel to see my friends and relatives (hell, even get some "culture") by virtue of being within 4 hours of a meaningful airport.
For reference:
http://consumerist.com/2014/08/19/how-f ... shows-you/
and:
http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/u ... x-dollars/
Every resident of Alaska gets a Alaska Permanent Fund check every year which varies but is usually a thousand to two thousand dollars its from the oil production. If he is in the Anchorage metropolitan area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, it has a population of around 385,000 people. So we're talking of a city in the range of St. Louis. I would think you could find many cultural activities with a population of that size. It accounts for about 40 percent of the total resident of the state.
I live in, per the US Census bureau, a metropolitan area of 150,000. This is smaller than Anchorage, but in a geographically smaller state with more people - 6 electoral votes instead of 3 - and with a much denser population (for example, I'm also 15 minutes from a metropolitan area of 250,000). I'm sure Anchorage is packed with cultural opportunities, just as I'm sure my town is packed with cultural opportunities and would defend it as such to residents of the coasts (hence my eye roll - sorry for being unclear) who would note the lack of things like
major art and music institutions
good colleges
airports with more than half a dozen options for direct flights
first-run movies/touring shows
pro sports teams
trendy restaurants/chefs
etc.
I'm sure plenty of people have a very high quality of life in Alaska, just as they do in my neck of the woods, but the fact remains that while those places don't have the problems of major cities, they also don't have the benefits. If I want to enjoy the benefits of a major city (hearing the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, for example), I can drive four hours and do so. Driving four hours from Anchorage doesn't have the same results.
tofu wrote:Average daytime summer temperatures range from approximately 55 to 78 °F and average daytime winter temperatures are about 5 to 30 °F . Anchorage has a frost-free growing season that averages slightly over 101 days. Average January low and high temperatures are 11 to 23 °F with an average winter snowfall of 75.5 inches. Honestly that sounds a lot like Chicago weather. I've got friends who live part of the year up in Juneau. He is the harbor master and she is an air ambulance (helicopter RN). They spend the summer in Juneau (which is a quite nice time of year there) and the winter in Hawaii (which I hear is also a quite nice time of year there) where they have a commercial fishing vessel. Not a bad life.
What a perfect comparison to a place with terrible weather! I say that as a former resident (about 5 years) of the Chicago 'burbs. My parents still live there, so when I go to visit them for Christmas, I still get that horrible wind chill, unplowed streets, woolly mammoth stampedes, etc. Sure, there are a lot of great things about life in Chicago and in Flyover Central, but the weather is not one of them. I don't have any burning desire to move in with bloke, but I'd trade weather with him in a heartbeat.
Even your friend with a great Alaskan life agrees - winter sucks! It sucks so much it literally makes him want to leave Alaska because other weather is so much nicer! And, if I could afford a second home in Hawaii, Texas, Florida, etc., I don't think I'd want to spend quite as much time shoveling snow either. Alaskan summers sound great, but I think you'll agree they're relatively short. Shorter, even, than those Chicago summers.
tofu wrote:One last thing - Anchorage has been named by Kiplinger as the most tax-friendly city in the United States. At the end of the day if you get to keep more of what you make it mutes your how far your dollar goes theory. Plus you need to add in the annual per capita state stipend. So you, your wife and each of your kids - gets a nice annual check - just for living there.My state will never ever send me a check - they just raise taxes and find new taxes. Living in Alaska doesn't sound so bad to me especially since I enjoy many of the outdoor activities it offers.
True dat. But, as I said, Alaska is very tax-unfriendly on the rest of us, as the state receives $1.84 in federal benefits for every $1.00 paid in federal taxes - a pretty generous return, funded in part by contiguous-dwelling chumps like you and me. I guess the Alaskan legislature doesn't have much impetus to raise taxes, since we're paying to sustain their high quality of life that I've heard so much about.
Again, Alaska looks beautiful. My wife and I are saving to honeymoon there and do some hiking and fishing. But I don't think I'll do any house shopping.
