Alaska Beat

Beauty, 'friendly snowplows' help Anchorage top Winter Cities list

Anchorage -- the largest city in the cold, dark north -- and Fargo, N.D, one of the windiest cities on the continent, have been named the top places to spend the winter by a website called Livability. Livability bills itself as the site to "discover America's best places to live.''

Anchorage and Fargo were ranked first and second on a list of the country's "Top 10 Winter Cities.'' Bozeman, Mont., was third. The only significant urban area other than Anchorage on the list was Spokane, Wash., at number eight.

The rankings were weighted towards smaller communities like Fargo, population 90,000; St. Cloud, Minn., 66,000; and Bangor, Maine, 33,000.

Livability editors, according to a press release, looked for "cities that adapt well to wintry weather, embrace the cold and even view it as a valuable commodity. Anchorage was chosen because it also ranks high in several livability factors -- ample outdoor recreational opportunities, arts and cultural offerings, affordable housing and unemployment rates lower than the national average."

It would appear, however, much of the credit for the selection goes to Patrick Coleman, CEO of the Winter Cities Institute. Coleman founded the Institute, and he just happens to live in Anchorage. He moved to the city on the edge of the Chugach Range from flatter-than-a-pancake Marquette, Mich.

He clearly loves his new home with its stunning views of the Alaska, Aleutian, Chugack, Kenai and Talkeetna mountain ranges. And he clearly doesn't mind the barely-five-and-a half hours of winter daylight. Marquette gets more than eight hours, even on the shortest day of the year.

Coleman "lists Anchorage among his favorite cold-weather towns. It's no wonder; this Alaskan beauty knows how to chill. Numerous outdoor ice skating venues are created on the small frozen lakes in the city that include skating pathways," Coleman says. "Anchorage public works crews use a 'friendly snowplow' that prevents the pushing of snow into residents' driveways during snow-clearing operations. The municipality of Anchorage also considers design for winter in zoning and building regulations."

It must be the "friendly snowplow'' that tipped the difference for Anchorage over Fargo.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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