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ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - USA
Anchorage, Alaska is a city in the U.S. State of Alaska. It is also a census
area. With 260,283 residents according to the 2000 census, Anchorage is the
largest city in the state of Alaska, composing somewhat less than half of
the state's population. Anchorage is a municipality: a combined borough and
city that is not part of any larger borough or census area. Anchorage is
administrated by an elected mayor and assembly, and a city manager.
Anchorage is located in South Central Alaska,
at 61 degrees north latitude (about the same as Stockholm and St. Petersburg),
-149 degrees longitude (about the same as Hawaii), northeast of the Alaska
Peninsula, Kodiak Island, and Cook Inlet, due north of the Kenai Peninsula,
northwest of Prince William Sound and Alaska Panhandle, and south of almost
everything else in the state (nearly due south of Mount McKinley/Denali).
The city is situated on a triangular peninsula bordered on the east by the
rugged, scenic, and eminently hike-worthy Chugach Mountains, on the
northwest by the Knik Arm, and on the southwest by the Turnagain Arm, both
of which are arms of the Cook Inlet. Adjacent to the north is Matanuska-Susitna
Borough, Alaska. To the south is Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, and to the
east is Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska.
Despite having wide and treacherous mudflats rather than beaches, Anchorage
is a major port (over 95% of all freight entering Alaska passes through the
Port of Anchorage), as well as a major hub of the famous Alaska Railroad.
Major industries include government and military, oil, and tourism. There
are two strategically important U.S. military bases bordering Anchorage on
the north: Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson. Nearly all Alaska
Interior-bound tourists pass through Anchorage at some stage of their
journeys in Alaska. Not surprisingly, summer is tourist season, and downtown
Anchorage, as well as the highways leading north and south of town, are
typically teeming with tourists then.
Average daytime summer temperatures are approximately 55 to 80 degrees
Fahrenheit (13 to 23 degrees Celsius); average daytime winter temperatures
are about 5 to 20 degrees (-15 to -7 degrees Celsius) (warmer than many
places in "The Lower 48"). The weather on any given day and indeed for
entire seasons can be very unpredictable. Some winters feature several feet
of snow and bitterly cold temperatures, while others, just a foot or two of
snow and constant, annoying thaws, which puts dangerous ice on the streets.
(This has forced Anchoragites to be become rather good drivers.) Summers are
typically very mild and pleasant, though it can rain quite a bit then. There
isn't any beach-bathing in Anchorage, except at a few local lakes on the
warmest summer days, and then those lakeside beaches can be extremely
popular. Aside from the winter cold, which most Alaskans don't mind, there
are two primary nuisances associated with the seasons: in the summer,
mosquitos (which are much worse out in the Bush than in the city itself); in
the winter, long nights and very short days. Since Anchorage is at such a
high latitude, for months in mid-winter, residents go to work in the dark
and return home in the dark. Those who don't study or work next to a window
can go all week long without seeing the sun. Consequently, Seasonal
Affective Disorder (SAD) is an acknowledged problem in Anchorage and in
Alaska generally.
Anchoragites exemplify many of the qualities to be found among Alaskans
generally: independence, friendliness, practical-mindedness, and a love of
the outdoors. There is, even among businesspeople in Anchorage, a tendency
to "dress down" (eg, there is no dress code in any Anchorage restaurant).
This, and a sort of frontier spirit that still lives on in Alaska generally,
gives Anchorage a relatively casual, relaxed atmosphere compared to some
other American cities. (These cultural characteristics are only more
exaggerated the farther one moves out of the city into the rest of Alaska.)
The city has traditionally served as a destination for immigrants, and there
are active Asian, Eastern European, and Hispanic communities, along with
various groups of aboriginal Alaskans. Anchorage has an airport called Ted
Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
Anchorage was carefully laid out by city planners in 1914, originally as a
railroad construction port for the Alaska Railroad, and in 1915, the first
sales of town lots were held. In 1920, the United States government
relinquished its direct control over the city, and elections were held.
Anchorage was incorporated on August 15, 1938. Growth began in the 1940s,
with the construction of Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson, which
made Anchorage into a major defence centre. After Alaska became a state,
Anchorage faced a severe housing shortage, which was solved partially by
suburban expansion.
There was a massive, incredibly destructive earthquake (9.2 moment
magnitude) on March 27, 1964 called the Good Friday Earthquake, and the
earthquake danger has perhaps prompted a limit on the height of buildings in
Anchorage; the tallest buildings are 21 stories high. The city has an
attractive skyline nonetheless, particularly with the Chugach Mountains,
Cook Inlet, or the oft-visible Mount McKinley (also known as Denali) as a
backdrop. From Government Hill, one can have the best view of Mount
McKinley. Though space is limited in the "Anchorage bowl," as locals call
the peninsula on which the city is located, many parks, greenbelts, and
other undeveloped areas can be found within the city itself, making it
particularly attractive to nature lovers (to say nothing of the attractions
available just a short distance outside the city). Over the past thirty
years, however, many of these undeveloped areas have filled in with houses,
strip malls, and other development. Nonetheless, there is an enormous amount
of land under the Anchorage municipal control: some 1,955 square miles
(about the size of Delaware). The vast majority of this land is located
within the Chugach mountains to the east of the city, which also comprise
Chugach State Park.
The largest branch of the University of Alaska in east-central Anchorage.
Despite the remoteness of the location, the arts thrive in the city. The
city boasts a symphony orchestra, an opera company and concert association,
and numerous independent performance groups. There are even weekly sessions
of Irish traditional music and other sorts of music.
There are other features of Anchorage that make it unique: the huge tidal
range, second in the world; multiple, beautiful cross-country ski trails;
the Fur Rendezvous festival, held each February; a relatively high
percentage of airplane pilots (with several airports and landing strips in
the city or nearby); a very low population density for a city its size;
frequent small earthquakes; spring windstorms ("Chinook winds"); erupting
volcanoes nearby (to the southwest, in the Alaska Range, there are active
volcanoes such as Mount St Augustine, Iliamna volcano, and others, that have
coated the city with ash); its extreme youth (it was founded in 1915 and
didn't grow much until the 1940s); and much else besides. Despite all this,
Anchorage is definitely an American city, replete with an enterprising
business sensibility, large shopping malls, a lot of automobiles (one can't
easily move about by foot and public transportation in the middle of
winter), areas of town resembling suburbs (and two sizable actual suburbs,
Eagle River and Chugiak), a downtown skyline, etc.
Anchorage received the All America City Award in the year 2002. The three
programs that the city presented were the 2001 Special Olympics Winter
Games, the Anchorage Youth Court, and Bridge Builders.
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