Juneau or Anchorage??

[KCanuck]

Besides geography and climate, how do these locales differ?

 

[kingfisherktn]

The difference would be like Ottawa vs. Prince Rupert, BC.

 

[northbird1]

In my experience, Juneau is very expensive for buying a house or land; Anchorage and the surrounding area has much more reasonable housing and land prices. Grocery prices are much more reasonable in Anchorage than Juneau.

Juneau has a more small-town feel compared to Anchorage, which seems like some city down south (except for the moose). Anchorage has moose walking through the downtown and residential streets; I've encountered bears on the residential streets in Juneau (no moose in Juneau).

More "cultural" stuff to do in Anchorage than Juneau....

Anchorage has a much more diverse population with folks from a lot more countries than I saw in Juneau. Juneau population is around 31,000 and Anchorage is around 279,000, so if you don't like being around a lot of people, you would like Juneau over Anchorage.

 

[AK_Kid]

Additionally, Juneau is more isolated because it is not on the road system. Logistically, it is more difficult to explore all Alaska has to offer from Juneau than from Anchorage.

Anchorage is the State's business hub. Juneau is where we send our politicians for a few months out of each year when we get sick of their nonsense.

 

[AK Ray]

Anchorage - mud flats on three sides and mountains on the fourth with 350,000 people trapped between with one road out of town - north or south only.

Juneau - Mountains on one side with rocky ocean sea walls on the other with a couple thousand people waiting for the cruise ships to either show up or leave them alone. No road out of town that does not envolve a boat ride.

Anchorage - huge mix of small town with big city that confuses everyone for a while, but usually results in people leaving sooner than they expected they would since "its only 45 minutes from Alaska."

Juneau - small town that is comprised of three smaller towns and is a seasonal bus stop for 5,000 passenger floating buses.

Anchorage - opera, national concert performers (getting less frequent), art galleries, business hubs both international and statewide, minor league pro hockey team, two large globally oriented military bases,

Juneau - historic seat of state government, recreational ocean fishing center, tourist fleecing art galleries, tourist fleecing bars with local tallent productions.

 

[KCanuck]

More of a small town girl, but this too can be relative. Spent a year in Inner Mongolia and grew up in small town northern Ontario so size and climate aren't of huge concern. Affordable rent, in addition to a solid community of decent folk, a local watering hole and a few girly girl amenities. But I suppose I will need to go where there is work.

 

[northbird1]

More of a small town girl, but this too can be relative. Spent a year in Inner Mongolia and grew up in small town northern Ontario so size and climate aren't of huge concern. Affordable rent, in addition to a solid community of decent folk, a local watering hole and a few girly girl amenities. But I suppose I will need to go where there is work.

I lived in Juneau for eight years, but left in 2003...I think the following is still the way it is there (though someone will weigh in if things have changed...) If you choose Juneau, to get the affordable rent you'll want to look for a rental in the fall/early winter. A lot of the good rentals are gone by December because the Legislature and their staff show up in January.....then the seasonal (summer) workers show up around late March/early April. Most all the seasonal folks are gone by the end of September.