A Brief Tourist Guide of Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage was originally established as a railroad construction port for the then-soon to be constructed Alaska Railroad in 1914 and by 1920 shortly after the railroad was finished Anchorage became an incorporated city – centered on the railroad. But between 1930 and 1950 Anchorage quickly became a vital for air transportation with the construction of Anchorage International Airport and for the military as the US Army and Air Force built bases in the area. When oil was discovered in nearby Prudhoe Bay, Anchorage had grown rapidly from the tent city of its early days to a modern metropolis as the city merged with several other localities – the localities of Eagle River, Girdwood and Glen Alps – to create Municipality of Anchorage in 1968. And by the 1980s, the city was growing even further with several different capital projects and an immense beautification project, which took place. Indeed much of the capital projects and beautification projects that took place were largely inspired by the March 1964 earthquake, which devastated the Anchorage area, killing over 115 people and causing almost $2 billion worth of damage.

Unsurprisingly, each of the merged localities has their own distinct personalities and all are known for their varying local cultures, which are quite distinct from Anchorage proper. It is believed by many that the local geography of the Anchorage area inspires such distinct cultures – Anchorage proper lies on a strip of coastal lowlands which extends to the lower alpine slows of the Chugach Mountains on the eastern end, at the southern end of Anchorage is the Turnagain Arm, an ancient fjord known for some of the world’s highest and most dangerous tidal movements, and the Knik Arm, another tidal inlet forms the northwestern most border. And although the Chugach Mountains and the Chugach National Forest have prevented developments on Anchorage ’s eastern side, it is still considered a part of the municipal area. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough (commonly referred to as the Mat-Su Valley to locals) is frequently considered a “bedroom community” or a suburb to Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula which has been largely known for its salmon and salmon enhancement, and the Valdez-Cordova Census Area which is a largely an unorganized collection of nearby towns and villages all have their distinct stamps which a visitor might find truly fascinating. Overall, the entire land area of the Anchorage Municipal Area is larger than the land area comprising the entire state of Rhode Island.

Whenever you’re in the Anchorage area, don’t be surprised to come across all sorts of wildlife in the area. Bears are a regular sight to the Anchorage area as more than 250 black bears and 60 grizzly bears live in the surrounding areas. And Moose is an even more common sight as there can be anywhere between 250-1000 moose in the area as well. Public ski trails have been routinely charged by moose. Wolves and foxes have also been commonly found in the area as well.

Sports are also pretty big in the area although there are only two major professional sporting teams of any sort in the area, including the Alaska Aces of the ECHL and the Alaska Wild, an arena football team in the Indoor Football League. The University of Alaska, Anchorage also has a Division 1 hockey team, the Seawolves that frequently competes in the NCAA Hockey tournament. And a third professional team, the Alaska Dream is slated to play in the ABA this year.

For more information on Anchorage, visit http://www.anchorageblog.net and http://www.anchoragemicroblog.com.