The Top Reasons People Are Leaving Alaska!
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- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- Alaska is a great state with a wealth of opportunities to live a unique lifestyle. But, for some people it might not be their forever destination for a multitude of reasons. In this video, I discuss what some of the top reasons are that people are leaving Alaska!
Jamin Goecker
Website (For Relocation Guide): jgoecker.kw.com
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Keller Williams Realty Alaska Group
I LONG for the isolation (nearly every time I leave the house.)And I am all for long cold winters and I love to miss out. I have concert tickets for Def Leppard this week which I’d like to see, but I don’t want to go. So I’m selling them. I can’t wait to sell our house too and leave the increasingly horrible dumpster fire that is Washington state and move to AK. I’d leave tomorrow if I could.
I've heard that more and more from people in WA. We'll be right here when you're ready. :)
Seattle is the gateway to AK! 😉
@@starmaster191 how so?!
You sound like me......except I would never have found myself in a position to have tickets to a concert I needed to sell. Too many people! Although Def Leopard is a great band.
@@shannoninalaska yes, way too many people. My husband bought them 2 years ago. The bands postponed the tour dates due to covid and I was so relieved. Then they rescheduled. Ugh. 2 weeks before the concert hubs said he didn’t want to go anymore because people. I laughed at him and said “welp, you better sell them then!”
I just got a job in Anchorage. My wife and 4 children are moving there next week. I'm looking forward to getting up there.
Where from?
I accepted a job here last January. Have not regretted it, not to say the cons aren't real, but it's a good fit for us
That's great!
I want to move to Washington
There is nothing to miss down here in the lower 48.
Your episodes and research is awesome man. Thanks for all your videos
I appreciate that!
small time Alaska here. reasons I see people leave
1. lack of decent housing. you pay too much for a crappy house simply because labor is short and hard to get supplies to repair the place.
2. lack of child care
3. you have to be very handy to survive.
4. lack.of food options.
Where are you living? I've heard that a lot from people in places in Seward/Homer
5. Cold most of the year and dark
Islands in southeast Ak
We just set the record for consecutive number of 100+ degree days here. I can't wait to move to Alaska. Have to save more money though first. Hoping for next summer still.
Right on! What made you move out of AK?
Great and informative video... much appreciated. I want to move up there around the Fairbanks area so much. Might be able to sometime in the next 5 years.. I want to buy a piece of land.
That'll be fun! Have you been up there before?
We are coming up in 3 years. Already picked Wasilla as our home base.
My significant other is a land broker in southern Alaska. He didn't mention this to me. His focus is the Kenai Peninsula.
Just subscribed!
1) Family...a flight for a family of 4 is expensive and may take 18-24 hours to visit family in some locations of the lower-48.
2) Winter. Some people find the short days of December, the length of winter, the cold tough. Fairbanks at winter solstice daylength 3 hours 42 minutes.
3) Cost of living. Higher cost of transportation, goods and services. Higher cost heating homes.
4) Retirement. Heath care better in some locations of the lower-48, especially for retirees.
Those are great points
I love this video! Every reason people are leaving is every reason I want to move up there. Been up twice and going again in August and January to get all the seasons before the final decision. I can't stand what I call "The lower 49"! I want a small town, slow, and respectable population. I'll give you a call when the time comes brother!
Looking forward to it!
I couldn't stay in Alaska. I tried for 5 years and could not find ANY job that pay higher than minimum wage. Of course, the cost of living is higher than the lower 48. I would have stayed but for no opportunities for residents. Most of the people with high pay were not residents of AK, they flew in from the lower 48, then flew back to Seatle, etc. (BTW i had a degree in Electonics and 5 years of RF and other radio engineering) If I could find a good paying job, and I've tried for the past 40 year, I'd be there. When we lived there, we referred to the rest of the states as the "Lower 48", but we meant it as a derogatory term.
I'd luv to live there great hunting and fishing thx
IF u can get away from the masses of "hunters" in the popular ares...read about the 40 mile heard. I generally wont hunt caribou unless i can get on a plane with a friend or go out with my native friends.
Good when shtf happens will have plenty of natural resources when they don't have groceries. Been hunting/fishing/trapping for 20+ years
I get seasonal depression in the summer. Been this way since a kid. Summer time makes me depressed. I feel like I come alive in the fall and winter. I'm thinking of moving to Alaska...NJ is so congested I can't take it anymore. The less people around the better.
I can't say I've met anyone who can the summers are a more depressing time! What part would you consider?
@@alaska_realtor I hope to visit soon and figure that out 😁
Two words.......blackout curtains. 😄
I am glad someone besides me likes nights better. I don't get seasonal depression but the long daylight hours in the summer here is not something I enjoy. I tolerate longer hours of darkness better.
Phoenix in August is pretty oppressive 😬 @@alaska_realtor
Raised in Alaska. I loved my job but the pay wasn't as good as some places in the Lower 48 and also my retirement was garbage. Not to mention the weather, i love mountain biking and the season is soooo short up there. I'm east coast usa now wish I left Alaska sooner.
Think you listed off mostly why I'm looking forward to moving there except the whole seasonal depression thing. I always have blackout shades in my house anyway so don't THINK it will affect me.
The SAD-Seasonal Affect Disorder mainly applies to prolong winters/ short day light and only for some due to too much daylight during opposite season causing insomnia. Blackout shades are needed for summers but either vacation in sunny location during winter are helpful or good investment in so called Full Spectrum lights for SAD syndrome ( White seems better than blue light, just fyi).
Great points
It's one of those things you just won't know until you get up here, but getting plugged into a community will really help
I'm thinking about Alaska for a few reasons. First, I'm tired of the hustle and bustle of the lower 48. Second, I'm tired of the hot and humid summers that are present even in the northern continental United States. The humidity zaps my energy and drive to do anything. Third, I would love to be a part of a state with so much natural beauty. I can only imagine the beauty of the mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, and wildlife of Alaska. My biggest worries about Alaska are the cost of living and the lack of job opportunities. So...I just don't know...
That's the quandary that a lot of people find themselves in; is the compromise on some career prospects worth the lifestyle? For a lot of people, it is but for others it just isn't. It's an individual decision.
Since I've visited southeast alaska twice id say have a way to adapt. For me im going up there with an RV and hitting folks up that need money and chill on their property and get a job there so I can get myself financed for some property.
I'm not sure if data is available yet, but my friend in Fairbanks says that it's gotten much much worse since the pandemic. He was telling me that since the pandemic many jobs in alaska have dried up. Tourism and the service industry collapsed and people had to find work in the lower 48, or return there. Less tourism=less money spending=local economies stagnate. After a few years of lockdowns people seem to travel less. Just the other day he was mentioning that restaurants which used to have 3 or 4 waitresses, now only have 1 or 2 at a time. Then he was complaining that 10,000 new servicemen were just garrisoned near Fairbanks and it's driving rent prices up unnaturally. He expects his rent will increase by 50% next time he re-ups his contract.
From what I've seen in my area, there's a shortage of labor. It's not that the jobs aren't there, it's that people in the job category have been encouraged too long not to work during the pandemic and they're still trickling back to the workforce. Frustrating for business owners!
That would be interesting to see as far as data. There are many forces however, that drive rents up. High interest rates push people into rent because they can't qualify for mortgage for example. Shortage due to sudden influx of military in smaller city like Fairbanks with fewer options of housing will have faster and more profound impact. I remember way back when my parents were heavily investing in realestate, lower rates drove more house sales but induced lower rents because landlords were losing tenants who were purchasing houses. Then during high rates, buying housing got suppressed, which is what we see now since end of May, prices dropping on houses, which we see now on Zillow with significant reductions to original listing price and getting worse due to rates, hence rents are going up. Then you add increase in energy prices that are reflected in rental cost as well because landlords pay for heat and lastly, people voting for a lot of projects new projects, causing realestate taxes to go up then complaining that rents go up. Rental business is more complex than most think. During pandemic lots of people stopped paying rents but nobody stopped banks from collecting mortgages from landlords, so now that adds to equation as well.
Military is there to help support the new fighter planes, since it’s close to Russia and all. Glad the military is beefing up there
My opinion with pandemic fallout is those who own outright and had finances in order did just fine....while low income renters did not. A friend owns several cannabis cultivations and the talks ive had with him about the employee market were surprising! Lot to say about this video and im surprised there are not more comments!
Jobs were very rare to find when I was living in Fairbanks, from 1980 to 1986.
You hit many correct points why people leave, but I think to be fair you would need at least three category breakdown and each will have different main reasons to move. Younger generation; middle age and retirees. Younger and middle generation number one would always be job opportunities, pay vs cost of living ratio and that goes for all US. Younger frequently never comes back after they finish college in lower 48th.
Middle class:
1. They either can’t find good paying job, since our cost of living is high, or they need to move in order to move up the job advancement latter.
2. Moving to be closer to rest of the family.
3. Moving due to weather and that is split in categories: prefer warmer climate, prefer shorter winters, prefer city life and you not outdoorsy type ( if you not winter/ Fall-Spring outdoorsy you are really in a wrong state and going to be miserable).
4. Military families move due to given orders while active or returning to their home base.
Retirees equally important:
1. Cost of living
2. Closer to family
3. Want warmer climate
4. Medical needs
5. Want more travel freedom.
Now, I totally disagree with people moving out of state due to lack of food choices ( that only applies to small communities in Alaska and I gotta say, Anchorage Costco is stocked with better choices than Illinois for example). Lack of affordable child care I totally agree with but that falls under cost of living vs wage category. Housing is not cheap but when you add all the state and sales taxes that people pay in many states that changes and many people do not do the math in that regard. Also, many states have even higher cost of housing and the only cheaper thing is repair, maintenance and upgrade cost, hence why is hard to find houses that are renovated.
I'm guessing the THREAT of Russian invasion may have a bearing on some leaving recently!? The higher cost of fuel, long cold winter & isolation. Lack of medical services, distance of retail. All of these issues would impact on persons ability to live long-term.
The positives are: It's one of the world's resource rich territories, it's STUNNINGLY Beautiful & very CLEAN. I love Alaska 😍
Russian Invasion? LOL! Lets say none of our military operations here in AK doesnt catch them trying to get hundreds of thousands of troops across the ocean. Lets say they manage to take the Aleutian Islands. We strike them with missiles. Lets say they get to our inner cities all to be met with 60%+ of Alaskans that not only have guns but actively practice shooting, hunting, etc. They would be met with a militia of at least a couple hundred thousand people that will defend their land and family to their death. Alaskans wont flee an invasion. Likely the dumbest military action by any nation would be attempting to invade a heavily armed alaska.
Well maybe for some people, but the geography of AK makes an invasion laughable. I thought about making a video specifically about that, but I decided I didn't want my channel to end up in a Russian military briefing lol
I feel like Russia wouldn’t invade Alaska, wouldn’t make an impact, they’d target major cities first..
@@alaska_realtor im literally wanting to go to alaska to defend it if those commies come this way!
@@BackwoodsKitchenAK exactly!
Every one is different, I could not stand to live in the cold, the long Winters, that would be
too much, perhaps i live in the Tropics. Darwin OZ. Have never seen snow.
Oh wow, that's rare to meet anyone who can say that :)
Darwin is a sauna 6 months of the year the other 6 months its just hot. I live in Victoria and we have temps from -5c winter to 48c summer we can have weeks temps over 40c but no snow. A 3 hour drive to the mountains if we want to see snow in winter which is only 3 months here.
@@ontoitaussie7390 Yes, I am an ex Melb, I lived there from when I arrived in OZ age 14 in 1961, I left in 2020. Even if it gets hot, I never like the cool changes. Once the world's most livable city, so sad.
Bogota has the best climate in the world. Very green, average high of 67 and low of 48, year-round!!!
It's not just the Alaska economy, it's the Alaska economy relative to the lower 48 and the PNW in particular. We're losing population because things have been booming down there and sketchy up here.
What does PNW stand for?
@@alaska_realtor Pacific Northwest.
Exactly. Alaska is good, but why live there when other places are a lot better. This is especially true if you’re young. You have better dating, better jobs, and better fun options in other states.
The taxes arent that bad.. even tho taxes are a scam.. its a little lower than what i pay in fl, and i have a smaller house than the ones ive been looking at up there
Well with all these immigrants coming here , I think we citizens should all go to Alaska and make it wonderful!
Exactly.
How's the court system there in regards to child custody? If I move there with full custody am I going to be able to keep it?
So far so good in a blue state but red states typically have the deck stacked against the fathers, the only good thing about a blue state tbh....no offense to the lefty Loosies on here.
The courts will automatically default to the status quo. So if you have custody, you'll keep it. If you don't, you won't. How you view the courts will depend on where you are coming from. The Alaska courts aren't the worst, but they definitely have their frustrations. The system is slow and expensive.
Strangely though, it sometimes depresses me to see the sun come up. I'm more alive and spiritually discerning when its dark.
You forgot how EXPENSIVE it is to live there !
The lack of consistent daylight year round, the lack of public transit, and the isolation from the rest of the world is why Alaska sucks. My circadian rythms get messed up in Alaska but not in Washington or Oregon or California or Massachusetts.
I flew up there from Houston and had 3 interviews people are nice supplies and basic things were not that more expensive. The reasons I decided not to move my family and business to Alaska was over really two things.
1 , the Canadian Alaska highway is a FN joke I have never been treated for no reason at all like the awful Canadian people. Utterly disgraceful..
2 , the land for sell up there has almost no value yet for some reason it cost more than prime land in Texas . And the restrictions on the land there is unreasonable. Can't do this can't do that. Alaska is absolutely beautiful and for the most part the people are friendly but if the Alaskan government really wanted to attract more people they should improve roads and land access. .
Lover your channel BTW and maybe one day I'll revisit Alaska.
I agree we need more roads! Unfortunately, anytime we try to install new roads, we have to battle it out in the US congress because every interest group for some reason think they have some stake in how AK conducts itself. Unreal.
Why do you think they care so much about how alaska develops, or rather doesn't? There must be some reason, right?
Canadians are a-holes. They go put of their way to act like that.
The restriction definitely depend on the Burrough you live in. Some have low property taxes, and the Gov. could care less about what you do on your land. But others have strict "lower 48" restrictions.
@@artymowski
I appreciate your advice from the previous comment. But don't lump land restrictions in with all of "the lower 48". In Texas, unless you are in the city just like anywhere, we do what we want.
💚💚💚
I can’t wait to move out of boring tourist town Sitka
Where are you moving to?
The problem is housing, primarily Airbnb. There is 0 regulation for vacation rentals, and rich property owners outside of Alaska. Housing is so bad in Alaska, that average folks can't afford to stay here. Nurses, teachers, and essential workers are paying over 1000 USD a month for a room. I've seen hard working people resorting to living in cars... Teachers and hospital staff living in cars. Until there are regulations on Airbnb or the prices of housing goes down, then people will continue to leave. It's funny you didn't mention that anywhere in this video.
Where do you live? I've heard of the market being scarce in certain markets but haven't really seen an impact in the southcentral area.
@@alaska_realtor Juneau! It's gotten so bad, a lot of businesses can't find workers. Essential businesses are on skeleton crews because pay doesn't match the cost of living. It's either live in my car or pay over a 1000 to live in a bedroom.
I want to move to Anchorage in the next few months. ANy nice people can hit me up.
Feel free to join my private FB group. It's for people moving up here and a place you can talk directly with people going through the same process as you. fb.me/g/p_6eopLFWA52R8Duw1/aqnJt10W
How'd it go? My husband was offered a job and we are considering going
@@naminaoberhausen2131 If you love nature, its a no-brainer. Gorgeous! But you need a decent job to enjoy it. Living in a shack earning minimum wage would be terrible. I've done that and it was not fun. Houses in the Matanuska valley are no really cheap, considering the low pay of most of the jobs I've seen. Certain trades and profession do pay well, however. Unfortunately, my trade was a total bust there.
@@artymowski Yeah, Titan construction strung my husband along a week's long interview process and were advertising a 6 figure salary for the job. At the third interview, they informed him they were actually offering like 70,000... to move to anchorage from texas... with 2 weeks notice... lol good luck with THAT Titan...
Alaska, Florida, Wyoming, the Dakotas are uninhabitable.
I left Alaska in 2018--not because of problems with Alaska, but to pursue an opportunity. My friends there voice plenty of complaints about how bad things have gotten. I do worry for Alaska's future. I will always love the state, and I miss those mountains dearly, but there are some foundational aspects to Alaska that are distinct negatives. (1) It is a Godless culture. The churches are weak and have caved to the popular culture. (2) Education is not appreciated. Why learn to think critically when you can just learn to weld? (3) Alaskans--and their legislature--are economically illiterate. When oil prices are high, they live like kings. And when the oil revenue dries up, they have saved nothing. (4) Substance abuse--primarily of alcohol--is rampant. (5) The economic leaders have always been interlopers. They arrive with a plan to extract wealth from Alaska and then leave. They build nothing of permanence. (6) The adventure of Alaska attracts the young and foolish. About the time someone is developing some wisdom, they will likely be leaving for somewhere else. So Alaska remains perpetually filled with idiots. (7) Far too much of the economy is built upon the government. Nearly a quarter of the population works for some level of government. I love Alaska, and I want to see it do well, but I fear that it may be beyond salvage.
Funny you say it's godless but then say they don't value education. I was raised in Alaska and I find the bible thumper god types HATE education and constantly complain about the schools, at least Anchorage School District. When you say the churches are weak it makes me laugh because Prevo was a king maker for years. Taking people by bus to go vote.
I lived in Alaska for seven years and just recently moved, do yourself a favor and don't go. The state itself is beautiful but living there is a nightmare. There is like ten guys for every one female and plan on lowering your standards a lot. The cost of living is through the roof and shelves are routinely empty. There is a a large amount of crime, gangs, homeless and drugs. The words "customer service" doesn't exist up there. And I hope you like darkness cause there's plenty of it. Yes there are positives to living up there but they just don't seem to out weigh the negatives. So seriously consider the things I just mentioned cause they are all very real.
The only way to live there is to have a great paying job, otherwise it's depressing.
I hear cold, jobs, and dating being the top two reasons people leave. I imagine it being hell.
I can't imagine anyone being homeless there while being too cold and too dark.
The ratio of men to women is now nearly even. Worldwide, women make up 54% of the population. In Alaska, it's a mere 50%. If you live in a mining camp, it will naturally skew to the masculine. In Anchorage, the Mat-Su, and Kenai, there are plenty of women. That said, it doesn't mean they are the women that you want. There is a derogatory term up here: "an Alaskan Ten." That's a term for a woman who would be a 6 anywhere else, but thinks that she's a 10 because she has no competition in Alaska.
yeah she has no competition because there are no women up there. not really sure where you got your numbers from but unless you've done a census lately its far from 50% women, and also the VAST majority of the women that are up there are married, so either way your out of luck if your a single guy up there. @@JeffBradley-yu4tr
53.000 is a drop in the bucket! Commiefornia had 350,000 leave last year!!!
I'd live there again if I had the money. I miss Alaska so badly. I hate living down in the lower 48. I hate the summers,hate the climate,hate the people. I wish I could move back but I'll never make enough money to afford.
Have you seen what your job would currently in AK at the moment? That might change the equation.
I totally agree. BEST state to live in, unfortunately, you need to buy bread to live!