Where would you move to out west if you could?

[OXN939]

I’m not against Alaska. I’ve just never been there. Never experienced it in person. What areas do people consider good places to live up there? If I were to take a trip up this summer, where should I go?

Anchorage or Fairbanks are the two cities that are generally recognizable as such to outsiders. Gotta see places in person to make your decision. And, if you were really serious about it, you should go in winter to get an idea for what the majority of the year will be like. I'm doing it in a year or two, but with the understanding that winters up there are a pretty pervasive and inescapable force.

 

[EastMT]

I’m not against Alaska. I’ve just never been there. Never experienced it in person. What areas do people consider good places to live up there? If I were to take a trip up this summer, where should I go?

There’s a refinery in Valdez, one in Kenai and I think the one in North Pole is still operating but I’m not positive. There is always a shortage of skilled labor here (that can pass a piss test) and work in most of these places.

Kenai is great if you love fishing, for most hunting you have to travel but some great goat tags.

North Pole is cold winters, hot summers. If moose/caribou/sheep is your focus this is a great place. There’s good fishing but not the abundance of the coastal regions.

Valdez is one of my favorite places, good goat/bear hunting. Good fishing. Snow is measured in feet not inches in winter, so if you don’t like tons of snow this is a bad option. It’s a great place, but yes the extra expenses to add up and you just have to cut corners where you can.

 

[Gobbler36]

A good strategy could also be the Dakotas or Nebraska/ Kansas. Hunt mulies and whitetails and turkeys and be within driving distance of elk hunts and you don’t have to watch what was a nice quiet mountain town turn into a city

 

[FLAK]

Wallace, Id. is a cool little town with a funky vibe.

 

[Challis]

I am partial to Idaho with no preference points and a reasonable chance of a productive hunt each year.

 

[gabenzeke]

I looked into it a while back, I think you pretty much HAVE to take a pay cut. Didn't seem to me that there was any way around it.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[SwampBone]

In the same boat. Hard to make the jump making good money where you’re at and moving out of state with all the unknowns. Making good money where I’m at but what’s the trade off. More money in my retirement and more toys. I think the most important factor on being happy in life is where you live. I’m looking at Fairbanks for the hunting/fishing myself being from MN I’m used to the cold but not the dark. But will probably be worth it compared to staying here and gaining 50# and golfing every weekend or dying a month after retirement. Which is a sad but true reality.

 

[TREE ‘EM]

With your skill set I’d go to Alaska

 

[Trevor73402]

or dying a month after retirement. Which is a sad but true reality.

I’ve watched that happen to atleast 4-5 people in the last 7-8 years here where I work. They put in 30-40 years of work only to retire and die in less than a year. That’s why I do what I want when I want to. Buy what I want when I want it. That whole theory of “waiting till I retire” isn’t my game.

 

[jsb]

I have lived several places in Montana but finally settled on Helena as the best place for me. Still affordable, job market is ok, great trail system, fishing, hunting, etc. Centrally located so makes it easy to explore the best the state has to offer. Great place to raise kids too. Good luck with your search.

 

[bojangles808]

i thought flagstaff or northen az would be a fun place to live.

 

[Midwest.Bushlore]

If I won the Powerball and could afford to move to wherever I wanted I'd move to Idaho. Probably Kellog but there are other nice places. It's about 20 miles from CdA for shopping and about 1000 feet from deep forests. Great public access to tons of woods and mountains. I'm in Montana and it's pretty good but there are some serious annoyances to living in this state as well.

Apropos of nothing MN is great. Wages are a lot higher than in MT and ID in my experience (and my field). Lots of woods to play in up north. Winter sucks but really not much worse than my part of MT.

WA is nice but the gun laws are getting a little silly IMO.

 

[Catchfish]

I live in Kenai, Alaska and work at our local refinery. There is a small oil patch here, as well. The refinery in North Pole is pretty much closed I believe the tank farm is operating because Marathon owns it as well. The plant is gone though saw the demo vids. There is always a boom and bust with the oilfield here and we get an influx from Texas, oklahoma, and Louisiana every once in awhile. Cost of living is high, and your driving is limited due to distance and the amount of time it takes to get places and the limited roads. If you enjoy driving and seeing places Alaska can be pretty small. I was raised here and came back here and my wife has family here as well. I enjoy the hunting and fishing but you have to think of Alaska as being an island. You probably won’t get to go do any other western hunting.

The slope is another option, but jobs can be slim for the big companies Hilcorp just bought BP out and there are experienced people looking for work.

Alaska winters can be tough the cold and snow aren’t terrible. The darkness Is what sucks. I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark during the worst of it. If you have more questions feel free to pm me, and we can talk there or even by phone if you would like.

i thought flagstaff or northen az would be a fun place to live.

I also lived in Flag for 3 years, loved Arizona enjoyed the ability to drive and see places, elk hunting is nice but it’s all draw good luck, best chance is otc archery deer and leftover tags down south. I shot a fair amount of waterfowl and quail while I was there. Went back to visit last year city had changed ALOT!!! Very Cali talked to friends with small businesses and they were very disappointed in the changes. Williams is nice but you will do most of your shopping in Flag prolly. I liked Camp Verde area as well but good luck with the work situation. I did make some great friend back there and weather is nice, plus the winters it’s not dark.

 

[Dexter Grayson]

I live in Kenai, Alaska and work at our local refinery. There is a small oil patch here, as well. The refinery in North Pole is pretty much closed I believe the tank farm is operating because Marathon owns it as well. The plant is gone though saw the demo vids. There is always a boom and bust with the oilfield here and we get an influx from Texas, oklahoma, and Louisiana every once in awhile. Cost of living is high, and your driving is limited due to distance and the amount of time it takes to get places and the limited roads. If you enjoy driving and seeing places Alaska can be pretty small. I was raised here and came back here and my wife has family here as well. I enjoy the hunting and fishing but you have to think of Alaska as being an island. You probably won’t get to go do any other western hunting.

The slope is another option, but jobs can be slim for the big companies Hilcorp just bought BP out and there are experienced people looking for work.

Alaska winters can be tough the cold and snow aren’t terrible. The darkness Is what sucks. I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark during the worst of it. If you have more questions feel free to pm me, and we can talk there or even by phone if you would like.

This!

 

[ericthered]

Planning on Bozeman when I retire from my first career. Then hope to pick up a second career in the adventure industries all sort of moving into Bozeman. We’ll see...

 

[aggieland]

I have studied this topic over and over for the past 15 yrs. Yet to move but Lord willing we will make the move in the near future. I have a few areas pinned for us to focus on depending on how much work we will still need to do to supplement income.

 

[rustneversleeps]

dying a month after retirement. Which is a sad but true reality.

Heard too many of these stories. Hunting buddy's brother got diagnosed with brain cancer and is less than a year from retirement. Live it up while you can

 

[WV Mountaineer]

Wyoming.

 

[String&stick]

I'd shoot for Wyoming. . . But since I'm a Nebraskan i'll put a plug in for my state.

1. There is zero and mean zero draw for Californians unless they are the type that want to buy a section of land and live away from people. . . And I'm good with those folks.

2. We have ample opportunity for deer (whitetail and mulies), tons of turkeys, great waterfowl hunting in most of the state, and depending on where you are some decent upland bird hunting. We also have elk ,you'll never draw but we do have them, and some big horns that you have a 1 in 10,000 chance of drawing a tag for.

3. We also have pretty good walleye, white bass, and catfishing state wide.

4. Cost of living is low and wages are decent. Property taxes are higher than some places but when you can buy a 3400 square foot brick house in a town of 10,000 for $130,000 you can afford to pay some taxes.

5. You are close to the mountains. I'm in South Central Nebraska, I can be in Denver and 4.5 hours, Laramie in 5, Yellowstone in 9, and Wyoming elk camp in 10, Idaho elk camp in 14.5, and Colorado elk camp in about 12.

6. Possibly the most important part. While we don't have tons of public land,with many landowners a little work goes a long ways. (Ie. Work calves and brand = duck blind on warm water Slough, cut cedar trees = 640 acres to hunt deer on, help drive grain cart at harvest = hunt geese in any of the fields.

Nebraska still sees people leasing up ground, and it gets a little tougher each year,. But overall it's a pretty sweet state with big deer and lots of opportunities. Our unemployment rate is currently around 3.5% so there are jobs to be found as well.

 

[Akwoodchuck]

My house is about two blocks from the farthest western point you can drive to in North America...I spend a lot of time looking at the mountains to the west and trying to figure out how to keep moving in that direction...