A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building • Hacker News Board

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

#121

Post by haroldp » Tue, Jan 06, 2015, 3:26 AM UTC

prawn wrote: post #113

haroldp wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the Army installed great heavy-duty double paned windows that you could totally open and close. However, they were kind of bulky and ugly, so many people (especially on the North side with a view of the Sound), have replaced them with big unopenable picture windows. Whittier is really not THAT cold most of the time.

Was it a bit stifling, even with air-con/ventilation, not being able to open windows for fresh air? I don't think I could get used to that!

Most houses retained an openable window or two. Every apartment had a big vent with a fan.

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

#122

Post by haroldp » Tue, Jan 06, 2015, 3:38 AM UTC

nemanja wrote: post #115

haroldp wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'll say that even then there was other housing and not everyone lived in the one building. When I was there last in `86, there were a few dwellings (maybe 8-12?) at the Sportsman's Inn and two old shacks right down by the railroad owned by one family of three. On google street maps I can see two or three new freestanding houses. The Shens who ran the better bar lived there. The vast majority of people live in Begg…

> It looks about the same now as it did then... That is really impressive. The first thing I noticed looking at the building is how well it looks for 1956 construction and particularly given harsh environment. I suppose it's a testament to the great work of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Most of the Army's engineering in Whittier was pretty amazing. For example, Begich Towers is built on three sections with a gap of six inches through the full height. The gap is closed in with steel, accordion-shaped baffle so that in the frequent earthquakes, they could move independently instead of breaking.

On the other hand, hip-roofs simply weren't in the Army handbook, so everything was built with a flat roof. In a town that may get 400 inches of precipitation in some years, most of it snow, it's a recipe for disaster. Many of the smaller buildings roofs (including the school) were destroyed that way. Begich Tower's roof leaks. I mean, you can be on any floor and have your roof leak due to the capillary action through the cracks. The plumbing sucked. You let the water run until it was clear before you started drinking.

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

#123

Post by bduerst » Tue, Jan 06, 2015, 3:41 AM UTC

runjake wrote: post #78

You can virtually drive through the infamous train tunnel in Google Street View: http://goo.gl/g1p9Kj

Here's a better link:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Portage+Glacier+Hwy,+Chuga...

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

#124

Post by UhUhUhUh » Tue, Jan 06, 2015, 3:52 AM UTC

Bigger and utopic.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LS6MOZY

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

#125

Post by jimmcslim » Tue, Jan 06, 2015, 4:30 AM UTC

dynjo wrote: post #112

Reminds me of Chungking Mansions in Hong Kong http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chungking_Mansions

Beigich and Chungking are both perhaps proto-arcologies (although far less utopic than most arcologies are envisioned).

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

#126

Post by saganus » Tue, Jan 06, 2015, 4:33 AM UTC

haroldp wrote: post #118

weeksie wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm from Cordova and sometimes my dad and I would dock the boat in Whittier during closures. I remember playing connect four with Irma at the Sportsman and drink Roy Rogers (which is also where I learned how to play pool, I was between 7-14 then) Fished the sound in one way or another until I was 20 and moved away.

Oh man, I remember Ross and Irma, but I got my Roy Rogers and pool from the Anchor Inn. If I recall correctly, the Sportsman's is actually older than either the Buckner Building or Beggich Tower

Interesting how out of the total HN population there is more than one person that lived in this very small town.

Not sure what to make out of it, but certainly interesting.

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

#127

Post by sytringy05 » Tue, Jan 06, 2015, 5:14 AM UTC

gnarbarian wrote: post #83

haroldp wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Today is a beautiful day in Whittier: http://whittierak.yukontel.com/ But most of the time it is snowing or raining. And it usually doesn't rain down. With the wind, it rains straight in your face.

That's why we have the saying "it's Shittier in Whittier" It's almost always raining there. We keep our boat there in the summer and go fishing in Prince William Sound most weekends during the summer.

I went to Iceland in February and we went to Gulfoss (the Golden Waterfall). It wasn't that cold, maybe -5 deg c, but with the winds (probably gusting at 100km/h) and the frozen rain it was the single most unpleasant place I've ever been. Coupled with all that was the fact we were trying to look at a waterfall which had rain and ice whipping off it directly into our faces.

It did, however, stop raining that night and we spent about an hour watching the northern lights out in the fresh snow which was magic.

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

#128

Post by wcauchois » Tue, Jan 06, 2015, 5:21 AM UTC

krebby wrote: post #107

A good friend of mine just finished up a year and a half of living and photographing in Whittier. She has a few amazing photos here: http://documentarystudies.duke.edu/uploads/media_items/city-... The stories I've heard about this town are wild

That was pretty cool.

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

#129

Post by cylinder » Tue, Jan 06, 2015, 5:44 AM UTC

haroldp wrote: post #64

alandarev wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will grasp this amazing opportunity and flood you with these questions: 1. Why the town even exists? Article tells nothing about its purpose. 2. What are the most jobs? Is there any production? 3. How did it feel to live in such a small community?

> 1. Why the town even exists? OK, history/geography lesson... The Kenai peninsula hangs down into the Gulf of Alaska and sort of separates those two areas. The landscape around there is very mountainous. However, Whittier has a low mountain pass to "easily" travel between Passage Canal (not an actual canal) on the east side to Turnigan Arm and Anchorage (more of a muddy tentacle) on the West side. Portage Pass was w…

Is there a doctor in the town? A hospital? What happens if someone has a medical emergency - you said the only way to Anchorage in winter was by a train that often didn't come daily.

I just don't understand how these kinds of towns keep any residents. They seem downright dangerous to live in. In Russia, I can understand it, but these are US citizens who can get a flight down to a whole host of warm, easy towns and get any minimum wage job and still quite easily be better off than before.

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

#130

Post by oliyoung » Tue, Jan 06, 2015, 5:58 AM UTC

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…

It sounds idyllic, but you run the risk of ending up with Kowloon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City