I love it here and so does my dh (From Oregon). People either love it or hate it, and Alaska is so big (think a couple Texas', or 1/3 the size of the continental U/S...like Northern FLorida to San Francisco...and all the climate and terrain differences they have) that each part is completely different from the others. We live in the area that is like Seattle but with a good 2-3 times the rain. Our climate is very temperate and we don't usually get much snow nor does it get hot in the Summers. No one has air conditioners and you don't have to plug your car in when you park (like in Fairbanks durring the winter -OY!?!).

It is very laid back and has a small town feel, with lots of arts (small scale obviously) and laws here are more constitutional rights friendly overall. It was a logging town, though that disappeared when I was in Junior high, but there's still tons of fishing and hunting. And tourism in the Summers. We have seals in the bay that winterover in front of my mothers, geese were in the yard yesterday, eagles gallore, and black bears that get into our garbage. DH loves that there are no snakes. People also don't usually care what you look like here...we are generally not keeping up with the Jonses. You can go to our fanciest restraunts (and they are good, we aren't total hicks) and if you're wearing carhearts at lunch you get a discount. ;)

Building codes out of the city are nearly non-exhistant. They care about lot zoning (how big, how much, how tall, setbacks, what kind of building -commercial, home, etc) and septic systems, but nothing other than that. There are no inspections and the cost of the 2 page permit I filled out myself was about $250 and they can approve it while you wait. Maybe 6 months later a guy walked around outside for about 15 seconds just to see that we built about what we said where we said. No coming inside. Of course, if you want to sell you still need to pay attention to code, but it isn't a breaking point here like other places. Banks WILL loan on houses that don't meet code. In the city, there is ONE inspector and they mostly care about structure (as in, framing).

If you're interested in homeschooling, AK is, I believe, the only State where the burden of proof lies upon the State. Meaning, you can homeschool here without so much as telling the state that is what you are doing and you are legal. There's more than that as you can homeschool through certain programs (each is a bit different as to what you can do/can't do) and get atleast a portion of the money you've paid in education taxes to pay for books, lessons, and supplies.

Of course, mainstream media has now tagged us "nowhere alaska", and travelling to/from here is expensive overall. Actually, living here isn't cheap, but our pay is good too. I have a number of friends that work at the local hospital; they pay well and would LOVE new nurses. Like all OB wings there are some good old'timers and some monkeys, but it is very nice. You could check it out at peacehealth.org if your wife is interested. I'm friends with two nurse managers (different areas, though) and some of the radiology folks. I've had plenty of experience with the OB practice and CNMS if your wife wants further details.

I'd suggest you come for a visit before making any decisions. Heck, they might fly you here if your wife applies for a job, you never know. Best of luck! I'm sure I just gave you too much information... ;)

Catherine
SAH mother of 4 under 6 - loving homeschool!
Birth Doula and student midwife
Class of 9/2-3/2006