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The Perfect Home- Anchorage, Alaska

© James Soos

Is it just myth, or does the perfect place to live really exist? Hold on to your golden nugget, my friend, for that fictional place in your mind is not a mist shrouded fantasy. The Eden of all abodes is, in fact, real. It comes in the form of Anchorage, Alaska.

Modern day Anchorage is a far cry from its roots as a railroad construction camp in 1915. The location where the original “tent city” once stood along Ship Creek is now considered prime salmon fishing grounds in the downtown area. Alaska’s largest city has, as they say, “…come a long way, baby.”

Known as the “City of Lights and Flowers”, Anchorage casts a warm and welcome feeling to all who have had the pleasure of experiencing this wonderful city. During summer months, (yes we do have great summers here in the Great White North), our community unites, and plants some of the most beautiful flowerbeds in the world. The result is both pleasing to the eye as well as the nose. But we don’t stop there. Hanging Baskets abound throughout our town as residents, businesses and the city itself decorate our home with aromatic displays. This lends to yet another title bestowed upon us as “The Hanging Basket Capital of the World”.

During winter months, we refuse to come down with a case of the blues. Instead, we decorate with white lights. Anchorage emits a warm glow wherever you look as homes, businesses and city streets are lit up in a festive mood. You can never claim we are of the dull sort. Of course, Alaska itself contributes year round with spectacular shows of the Aurora Borealis in winter and a bounty of wildflowers during warmer months.

Some think Alaska is enveloped in winter darkness and brightened by 24-hour daylight. While this is true in some parts of the state, like Barrow, located above the Arctic Circle, Anchorage enjoys a milder form of these strange phenomena. Daylight hours range from 5 ½ in December, to 19 ½ in June. The summertime hours are the best part. When the sun sets, we are treated with a few hours of dusk rather than darkness. Imagine being able to enjoy any outdoor activity of your choosing at any time of day without the worry that it will get too dark to see. It's a benefit we Alaskans are blessed with. And as for weather… well let me tell you, Anchorage is double blessed. We are protected from frigid Arctic winds by the picturesque Chugach Mountains rising at the edge of town, and warm Japanese currents entering Cook Inlet help keep the waters warm. The result?… Average temperatures hover around 65- 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and near the 20’s during winter. Not too shabby in my opinion.