4 ms·

Yah Alaska really needs to figure out an economy that's not based on selling things they find in the ground. They need to learn from California and New York an

Yah Alaska really needs to figure out an economy that's not based on selling things they find in the ground. They need to learn from California and New York and other places where people have figures out how to make money off of ideas. You need smart people for that, though.

douche 11y ago
Eh, you kill the resource extraction industries, and all you're going to have left will be the homesteaders and some tourist trade. It'll look like the coast of Maine, at best. People aren't going to freeze to death up there if there isn't free land or easy money.
- gnarbarian 11y ago
  It'll be like Maine except we will have triple the cost of living. Anchorage will look like Detroit and the bush will look like rural mongolia 100 years ago. Maybe we'll even have to run the iditarod for real again to try and get vaccines/food/supplies to nome.
  - zardo 11y ago
    I grew up in the bush. Without support from the government, it would be amazing if they did that well. They don't have the culture and population to live off the land completely again. It would be the apocalypse out there.
gnarbarian 11y ago
Funny you should say that. I agree with some aspects of your complaint. But I place the blame on trendy tech companies and wonder why we don't see more investment/activity from tech firms here. Oil has been what makes money in AK for the last 35 years, We're not going to change overnight. There are attractive things for tech startups here. In Anchorage I have a gigabit home internet connection. I'm Sr. Programmer, I've been in the industry for 10 years, have a CS degree and I only make $70k per year. In other words we have a supply glut for programmers in Anchorage. I could make more in Cali, I'd have to leave my california illegal guns with my family first. I could also forget about hunting and fishing with my dad every weekend. I bet the the best backcountry snowboarding in california is a far cry from what I have an hour from my house. The real issue is I derive value from what I can do in my time off here that I can't do anywhere else in the world. There is talent up here that can be tapped for pennies on the dollar when compared to NY or SF. I'm sure there is even more talent who would like to move here because it's friggen awesome[1]. I wonder why we don't see more startup activity here, where you can actually operate a business and hire good people for less than six figures. Meanwhile the employees can rent apartments or even buy houses and have a mortgate with a 10 min bike commute to the office for around 1k per month. Sure seems silly seeing all those people pay out the ass for an apartment to commute two hours to an office the startup can barely afford with no parking. You would think a bunch of software engineers would be able to solve a simple network optimization problem by pushing resources to the edge of the graph but it seems like an office in a trendy location and insane taxes and rent is more important than a sustainable operating budget with work life balance. But of course us Alaskan's are the dumb ones. [1] http://imgur.com/a/llGid http://imgur.com/a/llGid
- nazgob 11y ago
  Guns, hunting, fishing, offroad. Yep, you fulfill my stereotype of Alaska ;) Nice photos, they remind me northern Sweden.
  - gnarbarian 11y ago
    Nothing wrong with those stereotypes :D I have a feeling i'd be right at home in the wilderness of Scandinavia.
zardo 11y ago
"You need smart people for that, though." Why do you think an entire state lacks intelligent people?
- gnarbarian 11y ago
  Mozumder must get his info from reality TV shows. Pity there aren't any featuring petroleum engineers. I guess smart people doing technical work without causing problems isn't good TV. His attitude is a pretty typical thing that comes from coastal urbanites who think they know what's best for rural America without ever setting foot here.

douche 11y ago

Eh, you kill the resource extraction industries, and all you're going to have left will be the homesteaders and some tourist trade. It'll look like the coast of Maine, at best. People aren't going to freeze to death up there if there isn't free land or easy money.

gnarbarian 11y ago
It'll be like Maine except we will have triple the cost of living. Anchorage will look like Detroit and the bush will look like rural mongolia 100 years ago. Maybe we'll even have to run the iditarod for real again to try and get vaccines/food/supplies to nome.
- zardo 11y ago
  I grew up in the bush. Without support from the government, it would be amazing if they did that well. They don't have the culture and population to live off the land completely again. It would be the apocalypse out there.

gnarbarian 11y ago

Funny you should say that. I agree with some aspects of your complaint. But I place the blame on trendy tech companies and wonder why we don't see more investment/activity from tech firms here. Oil has been what makes money in AK for the last 35 years, We're not going to change overnight. There are attractive things for tech startups here. In Anchorage I have a gigabit home internet connection. I'm Sr. Programmer, I've been in the industry for 10 years, have a CS degree and I only make $70k per year. In other words we have a supply glut for programmers in Anchorage. I could make more in Cali, I'd have to leave my california illegal guns with my family first. I could also forget about hunting and fishing with my dad every weekend. I bet the the best backcountry snowboarding in california is a far cry from what I have an hour from my house. The real issue is I derive value from what I can do in my time off here that I can't do anywhere else in the world. There is talent up here that can be tapped for pennies on the dollar when compared to NY or SF. I'm sure there is even more talent who would like to move here because it's friggen awesome[1]. I wonder why we don't see more startup activity here, where you can actually operate a business and hire good people for less than six figures. Meanwhile the employees can rent apartments or even buy houses and have a mortgate with a 10 min bike commute to the office for around 1k per month. Sure seems silly seeing all those people pay out the ass for an apartment to commute two hours to an office the startup can barely afford with no parking. You would think a bunch of software engineers would be able to solve a simple network optimization problem by pushing resources to the edge of the graph but it seems like an office in a trendy location and insane taxes and rent is more important than a sustainable operating budget with work life balance. But of course us Alaskan's are the dumb ones. [1] http://imgur.com/a/llGid http://imgur.com/a/llGid

nazgob 11y ago
Guns, hunting, fishing, offroad. Yep, you fulfill my stereotype of Alaska ;) Nice photos, they remind me northern Sweden.
- gnarbarian 11y ago
  Nothing wrong with those stereotypes :D I have a feeling i'd be right at home in the wilderness of Scandinavia.

zardo 11y ago

"You need smart people for that, though." Why do you think an entire state lacks intelligent people?

gnarbarian 11y ago
Mozumder must get his info from reality TV shows. Pity there aren't any featuring petroleum engineers. I guess smart people doing technical work without causing problems isn't good TV. His attitude is a pretty typical thing that comes from coastal urbanites who think they know what's best for rural America without ever setting foot here.