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A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building

stories.californiasunday.com

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Re: A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building

#21

Post by CanSpice »

lucaspiller wrote: post #13

This article makes it sound like some remote wilderness where you would freeze instantly when you go outside. The climate there (according to wikipedia) isn't that cold, right now it's -12c with a high of 3c over the next few days - there are plenty of European cities with colder climates. Still an interesting place none the less. They have an official website with more details: http://begichtowers.com/ - there is a…

The full article (http://reedyoung.com/project/whittier-alaska/r-young-whittie...) has this to say about the weather:

> The first thing we noticed when we arrived in Whittier was the wind—we were barely out of the car when a powerful gust pushed us down the hill. People in Whittier get out of their cars carefully; the wind has been known to shatter windshields and bend car doors backwards. Because the weather can be so extreme, kids often walk to school via an underground tunnel. The town averages around 250 inches of snow annually, but some recent years have seen closer to 400 inches. Two winters ago the snowdrifts near Whittier School were piled so high that the principal let students go outside to take pictures of one another hanging from a street lamp.

Re: A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building

#22

Post by notahacker »

noobermin wrote: post #14

It would be interesting if someone tried this in one of these larger cities with high rises like Singapore. You'd create a smaller groups with a sense of community while still giving members the benefits of living in a large city. The reason I thought of this is it reminded me of a strategy of using small bible study groups being employed in a large church that was part of my alma mater. The idea is that it was easie…

Large cities often have apartment buildings for 200 or more people with units connected by concourses to their own shops and community facilities. Difference is, people there have alternatives.

Re: A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building

#25

Post by Coincoin »

This reminds me of Fermont[1], a remote Canadian city in northern Quebec that I visited when I was young. There is this 1.3 km long building shaped like a wall with all services, shops, restaurants and apartments in it. The wall protects the rest of the city from northern winds.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermont

Re: A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building

#26

Post by grecy »

lucaspiller wrote: post #13

This article makes it sound like some remote wilderness where you would freeze instantly when you go outside. The climate there (according to wikipedia) isn't that cold, right now it's -12c with a high of 3c over the next few days - there are plenty of European cities with colder climates. Still an interesting place none the less. They have an official website with more details: http://begichtowers.com/ - there is a…

Coastal Alaska isn't nearly as cold as everyone thinks. The ocean keeps it mild. It snows a lot, and it's often windy, but the actual temperature is rarely below ~ -20C.

I'm in the Yukon, away from the ocean. I rode my bike to work at -37C this morning :)

Re: A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building

#27

Post by grecy »

sanoli wrote: post #5
Kiro wrote: post #2

I wouldn't mind living there. I've been dreaming about moving somewhere remote and just do freelance work. The only requirement is a good internet connection which sadly excludes a lot of cool places.

The thing is, this town is not only remote, but during the winter you have to pretty much dug in and stay inside. No going anywhere. It's not the same as just being somewhere isolated and remote, and you have to take that into consideration. Some people might enjoy it anyway.

> and stay inside

Huh? Why would you stay inside when you live in such a beautiful place? I live in the Yukon - it's -37C today and it's absolutely beautiful outside. I rode to work today, and just did a 1 hour round trip walk to the library to drop off some books. I'll go for a ~2 hour snow shoe tonight in the dark with my headlamp. I saw the Northern Lights last night, so I'll take my camera tonight.

Winter is actually the most beautiful season - the snow is so clean and bright, and the sun shines off all the ice crystals so beautifully. It was cold this day - http://theroadchoseme.com/mendenhall-glacier-juneau-alaska

Re: A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building

#28

Post by haroldp »

W00h! I grew up in Whittier, AK. Ask me Anything! Haha, seriously, I moved to Whittier at the age of 2 in 1974 and lived there until 1986.

The big change there since I left has been the tunnel. When I was there you had to drive your car up onto a railroad flatcar (and pay a steep ticket price) to get out. Anchorage is only 55 miles away, but really it's two mountains away. The railroad sold passenger service only as a requirement of the state and prioritized it behind freight. Between that, avalanches and assorted weather problems, you could wait hours and hours for a train. Winter service wasn't even daily, back then. We didn't even have cable. Just PBS and one channel that mixed shows from the three big networks. It was strange.

Yes, most residents live in one big 14 story high-rise in rural Alaska.

I most definitely do not miss it. I recommend this book if you want more info:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578331919/

Re: A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building

#29

Post by cgh »

lucaspiller wrote: post #13

This article makes it sound like some remote wilderness where you would freeze instantly when you go outside. The climate there (according to wikipedia) isn't that cold, right now it's -12c with a high of 3c over the next few days - there are plenty of European cities with colder climates. Still an interesting place none the less. They have an official website with more details: http://begichtowers.com/ - there is a…

The coldest city in Europe is Helsinki. According to Wikipedia, the average high is 9 C and the average low is 2.9 C. For Whittier, the average high is 7.3 C and the low is 1.7 C.

Can you give some examples of these many European cities that are colder, on average?

Re: A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building

#30

Post by haroldp »

onezeno wrote: post #6

I googled the location, expecting it to be in the far north of Alaska, given the description. But it's just southeast of Anchorage. Is the weather really that much worse?

I grew up there! The weather is a lot different than Anchorage. Anchorage is colder. Whittier gets a TON more precipitation.

The Army actually built Whittier during WWII because it was a good deepwater port (ironically, Anchorage has huge tides that make it a horrible anchorage) that was always overcast, making it hard, they thought, for the Japanese to bomb.

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