Everyday life in Anchorage

As far as I can remember, Anchorage has always been linked in my mind to this country far far away from home. Then, as I developped my Rain-Man side and learnt a lot of capital cities, I now know that it is not the capital of the state.

Anchorage is by far the largest city in Alaska (see article about it). 290,000 inhabitants – 375,000 if we count the urban area, which means that half of the Alaska population lives in Anchorage. This very recent city didn't exist in 1906 when Juneau was chosen as capital city. But still now some people are questioning the move from Juneau to Anchorage.

History

The city developed quite recently. The railroad train builders (see article on the end of the world railroad) arrived in 1914 in what would become Anchorage in 1920. Rapidly the city became a hub for flights over the North Pole. Planes were flying passengers and freight, from Europe to Asia and vice versa, and stopping in Anchorage. Still nowadays, regular flights from Anchorage to Frankfurt, Germany are flight over the Pole during the summer (it is the most direct way).

During the Second World War, the development of the city goes in parallel with the one of the US Army and US Air Force bases. They are ones of the largest in the US. Proximity with Japan and USSR made them of great importance during World War II and then the Cold War. The boom completed when oil was discovered in the 1960's. This fast development had consequences on city planning (or actually lack of planning).

On March 27, 1964, at exactly 5.36pm, Anchorage was hit by the second biggest earthquake ever recorded: 9,2 on Richter scale. Followed by a tsunami, the earthquake is known as Good Friday Earthquake. With 143 casualties, it remains very vivid in collective memory. Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Anchorage is hit every week by earth tremors.

City planning

To be honest, the city is quite ugly. Even if it was hit by the 1964 Earthquake, it developed without following any city planning. And it was mainly during times when Alaska was not a US State and city managed by kind of a local mafia.

As a consequence, the city expended on square kilometres of swamp, clay soil, etc. Next time a major earthquake hits Anchorage, numerous parts of the city will disappear, literally swallowed up.

Less attractive than Fairbanks, the city is composed of downtown where HQs of main oil companies are. Residential houses. Huge area of big-box stores. Just too much. But, located in the Cook Inlet that leads to the Pacific, the city is surrounded by mountains. It is stunning and it compensates the lack of charm of the city.

Moving around

The municipality developed a network of trails on which people go cross-country skiing, biking, etc. They are very nice to hike also. It is much better than walking along large avenues. The trails lead to some parks within the city. So it is not rare to meet moose and bold eagles around.

Here again, cars are indispensable when you consider the distances. For example, the zoo is located 10 miles from downtown. And there is very little public transportation. Everyone uses his/her car. And as everyone has a car, there is no point in developing public transportation. Vicious circle.

When it comes to leave the city, there are not many options. Trains runs only between Anchorage and Fairbanks, buses don't run in winter, ferry boats only depart from an harbour located 100 km from Anchorage. See! It's not that easy (see also previous article).

Then remain planes. It is the most effective way to reach many remote places or to cover long distances. The Western half of Alaska is not connected to any roads. And except from the Dalton Highway, it is also the case for the North-East quarter of Alaska.

And for the rest of the picture, click on Play!