The City of the North
Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, is a city of promise. Located midway between Tokyo + NYC, we are situated to capture the untapped potential of this position to become a leading city in the future. Nowadays, we are all virtually and globally connected. In Alaska, you can start your day working in the east coast and close it out in Asian markets. Anchorage is a city with modern creature comforts yet surrounded by an unparalleled natural environment. It is adjacent to world class parks with miles of trails to explore. Anchorage should claim its latent identity as “The City of the North.”
Anchorage’s current motto is “Big Wild Life” and our nickname is “The City of Lights and Flowers.” Our other slogans are “Los Anchorage” and “15 minutes from Alaska.” A historic nickname is “Green Apple of the Arctic.” While these have all helped define our past, none really rings true for our future. Anchorage is home to the world’s fourth busiest airport for cargo. The reason we are a critical hub is also the key to our future. We bridge the Asian and US markets. We provide a live-work balance close to outdoor play. Our future is not oil. Our future is in becoming The City of the North.
To capture the potential all around us we need to do a few key things. First, we need to realize what our strengths are and double down on them. Then, we need to identify our weaknesses and put the smartest teams together to tackle those vulnerabilities. For example, the Port of Anchorage processes ~95% of all consumables for Alaska – if that fails, we are in trouble.
Anchorage is facing many challenges. We have members of our community that are experiencing homelessness. We have major deficits in our housing stock. We can’t compete as a modern city without downtown living or alluring housing for new residents. We should have options to keep our current residents as they age. Alaska functions as an island, acutely in times of emergencies, so we need to boost our self-sufficiency. Our days when we could afford to be lackadaisical are over, we need to think strategically to diversify our lines of revenue.
Anchorage - The City of the North - needs to be activated in both ephemeral and permanent ways. A city has a heartbeat – it breathes and fluctuates over the course of a day and the seasons. Currently, we are flat-lining due to the pandemic, but even before it we were at risk of requiring resuscitation. We need a clear vision of our future to decide how to solve the problems of our present.
I had the privilege to hear Maya Angelou speak at university, where she said, “When you know better, do better.” Let’s be brave when we make choices that define our collective future. We live in the Last Frontier - a land of promise - so let’s embrace it and reclaim our pioneer spirits. In future PSAs, I will provide ideas on how we make this happen.