Breathtaking Scenery with a hint of civilization! - 7/27/2022

I've lived in Wasilla for two years so far and I love it. I have no problems with the valley. I live about 10 minutes south of the center of town in Wasilla and bought my first house here. I moved here from Austin, TX in 2020 and aside from being far from family & friends I love it! I enjoy great scenery everytime I drive into town or even to Anchorage every once in a while and have only had a couple of run ins with bad apples but Austin, Texas was by far more crazy and worse! I'm retired military and used my benefits to buy my first house in Alaska! despite the fact I don't know that many people up here really I have no complaints nonetheless. I'm quiet & introverted so I like being away from big civilization and doing things on my own. I love the winters here! I had a big knack for cold, snowy weather that I never received while in Texas for 24 years! so I knew what I was getting myself into moving 4k miles from my home state of Texas! It gets -20F in the deepest, darkest part of winter with extremely little sunlight (the sun only touches the horizon and drops for like 3 hours). Which I find fascinating! it feels like living on another planet! The Summers are one of a kind! Its only 75 max on the most typical hottest day! The midnight sun keeps you up but I just go to my basement to sleep and problem solved! The midnight sun bothers me somewhat if I was being honest but not enough to dissuade me from living here! I enjoy hiking and not having to worry about "when is it going to be dark", haha. The salmon fishing in Willow is the best spot closest to Wasilla that I go to alot during summer! I also bought blackout tint for all my windows of my house during the midnight sun for when I'm out and about in my house around 9pm when its still full sunshine out the window so it feels like nighttime inside my house (for mental sanity) You get paid to live here! the amount changes every year apparently. This year I'm getting $3000 and some change to just be a permanent resident of Alaska! I also have a lifetime registration for my vehicle here! Weed is legal which doesn't bother me at all and I don't even see it as a "drug", despite the massive conservative politics here (I myself am very conservative) I differ with my fellow conservatives with pot and "backing the blue". Otherwise I love guns and am mostly Republican myself I'm giving 5 out of 5 stars because I have greatly enjoyed everything Alaska has to offer compared to Texas. Even living up here all alone with no friends or relatives. I still have no complaints and enjoy living the "extreme lifestyle", of The Last Frontier in the USA. if there is one thing I've learned about Alaska over the past two years its you either LOVE IT or HATE IT! there is no inbetween like in the lower 48. Sure were cut off from the mainland but I can see it in a good way since only the people dedicated to the outdoors and extreme weather, checking out of society, and getting closer with nature and "simple living" choose to stay here permanently. I can't really comment on the job market since I live off my military benefits. The only crime I've witnessed myself here is someone stealing something from Walmart here in Wasilla and running out the door. Otherwise I've witnessed none personally. I know Alaska has a huge crime statistic, which is why I'm commenting on it. I love COLD WEATHER, being isolated, dark winters, fresh and mild summers (with bad mosquitoes I'll add) getting paid to live here, the fresh air (breathes cleaner than Texas), the small town vibes, leaving society with a short drive away with nothing but breaktaking mountains, landscapes, and bald eagles, the PEACE & QUIET I never got from city life in Texas and the lax attitude on the plant called Marijuana! (its just a plant! get over it!)

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Why Wasilla is not for me - 8/25/2021

Previously lived for many years in Eagle River, Alaska. Moved to Wasilla almost 6 years ago now. The Wasilla cityscape is littered with aging strip malls and junky-looking lots. It is not an attractive city. To be fair it is the last stronghold with large grocery stores and supplies like Walmart and Lowes before you head out into hundreds of miles of rural homes and wilderness. Alaska is beautiful. The areas around Wasilla are mostly beautiful. Wasilla is not. The political climate here is strongly conservative and even though cannabis is legal in Alaska, the people of the Mat-Su valley, which Wasilla is a part of the borough, wish to abolish it. Thankfully there are still new dispensaries popping up here and there but many of them are outside of the city limits or in the surrounding towns like Houston, AK. When dealing with the pandemic, most people here didn't mask up and still don't even though they just declared the Anchorage and Wasilla hospitals ICU full yesterday. I will say that usually, Alaskans are decent to each other but the pandemic has brought about some unsettling social side effects. As of today, the Alaska state covid dashboard reports that 54% of the state 12yo+ is fully vaccinated against covid-19. That number becomes 45% of the population if you add the kids back into the count. Crime here is insane. The valley's shady reputation for meth-heads and crime is definitely warranted. Nearby Anchorage has one of the worst crime rates in the country and you'll find it on most "dangerous cities in the nation" lists. While violent crimes are a little lower here in the valley than in Anchorage, property crimes are higher here than in Anchorage. I live near what would be considered downtown Wasilla and frequently hear the sirens flying down the highway. Recently, someone tried to steal my husband's motorcycle from our apartment's parking space. Vandalism and vehicle theft are common here as are drug addicts. For a little contrast, I enjoyed living in Eagle River. Eagle River sits on the base of the mountains with houses going up the hillside a bit. I was there when Mt Redoubt and Mt Spur erupted and the view was spectacular being able to see the plume across the inlet. Also earthquakes of 5.0 and below are a regular occurrence here. Most aren't even noticeable and are slept through with no damage. Bigger than 5 are usually noticed but don't start doing any real damage til you get to 6.0+ Personally, I don't mind quakes at all. I'll take a lil shaking over a tornado any day. We don't have tornados here and until recent years, we didn't have thunderstorms either. Now a couple of times a year we may get a little thunder. As a child that was born in the Dakotas, coming up here to no thunder was really strange. I'm sorry I ramble so much. This is why I don't usually write reviews. Make what you will of the mess I've left here. Be safe out there.

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school costs are misleading - 11/3/2012

The main reason I’m commenting is to point out a glaring error in this website’s data. School funding is not $5,700 per year as this site reports. It is likely double that. Note that Anchorage’s reported figure on this web site is over $10,000 per year, and the Mat-Su Borough’s per-student school spending is certainly not not less than Anchorage. Aside from that the descriptions of Wasilla (including comments) are generally accurate, but I don’t consider Wasilla to be a “rat hole” as one person commented. I’ve lived in the valley for 18 years and on the outskirts of Wasilla for 14. Most folks are nice but some of the children here lack respect for others and can be frustrating. It is common to see young children (some under 10) racing 4-wheelers in the summer and snow machines in the winter. Noise can be irritating in residential areas. Property crime is likely under reported outside city limits because Troopers are spread too thin to effectively follow-up that type of activity and some folks just don’t bother to report. Wildlife can be a mixed blessing. Moose commonly wander thorough residential areas. They are impressive to watch, but often cause damage to fences and shrubbery. Many folks are here because they work in Anchorage but prefer not to live in the big city. The price for that benefit is two hours of commuting per day, and sometimes more in the winter.

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Weather - 8/30/2011

Most people think all of Alaska is cold and allot of it is. But Wasilla area, forty miles from Anchorage and we share a much warmer weather system. Eighty plus some summers and very seldom lower than twenty five below zero. It is worth spending a little time with your computer and investigate these two cities. Be careful that you don't fall in love with Alaska as I did fifty eight years ago.

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The little rathole that was - 6/30/2009

I left that rathole back in the early 1990,s . Don't miss it a bit. Too much rat race and too many people to enjoy anything to do. Back then there were few stores in Wasilly . Most had to go into Anchortown to shop. Can't say as I would ever go there again.

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Winter - 6/5/2008

winter was to long this year. Snow and dark from oct to April and it snowed may too!!! Its June now and the weather is nice and mild with 18 hrs of daylight.

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Alaska isn't for the weak of heart - 2/6/2008

While I have lived here 23 years this May, Alaska is I can say not for the weak of heart. It takes special kinds of people to live here effectivly. First of all any area that you must import everything because the ground is too cold to dig, is in my mind not a place to be. So instead I chose Wasilla, nestled right outside Anchorage this sleepy little town is expanding at a rapid pace. Target blew up the old mall but that's okay because they were overpriced and hardly had any good stores. Now in Alaska we have what all other urban cities have, Gap, Banana Republic, Nordstroms, and TGIFridays. The difference is the prestine but always threatened landscapes, the overly buracracy riden social programs, and the extreme cold. However, the land scape overcomes all and you are either mezmerized or miserable.

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