Talk:List of neighborhoods of Anchorage, Alaska

Hmm...
I don't think this list is at all useful as it stands. Most of the articles will never be created, because it's a list of community councils, which are just lines on a map, not communities themselves, and have no existence or significance outside the narrow context of Participation in Local Affairs (except by coincidences of naming).

Example: if the Hillside were to get an independent article, all the info would logically go into Hillside (Anchorage) or Anchorage Hillside or similar. Even encouraging the existence of Huffman/O'Malley, Hillside East, Mid-O'Malley, and Bear Valley for the very little that specifically pertains to each strikes me as a little silly.

Really, what could you say? "(Wossname) is a community council area in Anchorage, established by the Federation of Community Councils in 19(notverylongago). It's bounded by (such and such roads). It contains 0-1 landmarks, and (something in Anchorage) is it."

I suggest shortening the list by merging or renaming entries per above ("Basher"? What the heck is "Basher"? Basher is a road. AFAIK the neighborhood is Stuckagain Heights, period), removing those that aren't part of actual named, notable-even-in-Anchorage areas (e.g., Tudor Area goes), and adding missing ones regardless of whether they have their own CC or not.

Thoughts? Or should I just go ahead and do it? Zero Gravitas 22:38, 20 February 2006 (UTC)


 * All right, I did. I'm pretty sure I got all the actual neighborhoods. I'm not entirely convinced "North Star" is really a neighborhood of itself, but I left it in. &mdash;Zero Gravitas 09:00, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Possible Solutions to the Notoriety Issue
Hello, thought I might comment on the neighborhood notoriety issue some, I've been following it awhile. As a long-time Anchorage resident, I somewhat agree with the changes already made. I have heard of the "North Star" neighborhood, but am unfamilliar with its notoriety. I would suggest combining the "Oceanview" and "Bayshore" neighborhoods since they are in basically the same area near the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, though I might dispute the notoriety of that area too, it being only subdivision development; that area might get a little notoriety for its proximity to the ACWR and its relevance to a local controversy regarding the extension of bicycle trails, but to non-Anchorage residents, that probably wouldn't qualify as notoriety.

Basing articles on the Community Councils map is a good start, but probably not the best way to pin down the truly notable neighborhoods. When I think of "Anchorage Neighborhoods," the names "Downtown," "Midtown (Anchorage) Midtown," "Spenard," "South Anchorage," "Sand Lake-Dimond area," "Hillside," "Fairview," "Mountain View," and "Turnagain" come to mind. The communities outside the Anchorage Bowl (especially Girdwood) should have their own articles as well.

Articles that could definitely be written, and are needed the most are the Downtown (central business district; original townsite), Midtown (financial center; office district; lots of shops, restaurants, galleries, clubs) and Turnagain (huge chunk of neighborhood slid into the Cook Inlet during the 1964 quake--need I say more?) neighborhoods. The University-Medical District (U-Med) might qualify due to presence of UAA and Providence, and the locally infamous Lake Otis-Tudor intersection, but I think the name itself is only really used by urban planners, real estate salespeople, and for bus route planning, for now. I think enough locals make reference to the Hillside for it to qualify, especially helpful to tourists or newcomers to the city, and it has its own unique issues. Other than those, most of the other neighborhoods have been around long enough to dig up some history on, and I could think of a few notable things about them also. I own several printed books about Anchorage and its history, and if helpful, I can list them here later.

Reliable Internet sources on the neighborhoods are scarce and hard to come by, though, making citations difficult. I could help out by starting some articles as stubs, but maturity of these articles might take some extra research. Anyone with paid access to the Anchorage Daily News archives, or residents with local library cards could help a bunch! These people could also really help with the History of Anchorage, Alaska article as well. Good luck! --Ak49north 08:22, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

Comments on neighborhood history
I came across this while looking for something else. I realize this is mostly an old discussion. Hope this helps, though.

>("Basher"? What the heck is "Basher"? Basher is a road. AFAIK the neighborhood is Stuckagain Heights, period)

I'm not sure whether the name of Basher or Stuckagain Heights came first. I do know that the Basher name has been around since at least the 1950s. See Maynard L. Taylor, Jr. for more information. He was largely responsible for incorporating Basher as a city in 1958, though the city government didn't really do a whole lot to speak of, and it was dissolved after more than a decade in existence.

>The University-Medical District (U-Med) might qualify[...]but I think the name itself is only really used by urban planners, real estate salespeople, and for bus route planning, for now.

That's exactly it. Keep in mind that this neighborhood was referred to as the Goose Lake neighborhood, starting with the construction of Alaska Methodist University and Providence Hospital about 50 years ago, and for many years after that. U-Med only came about in the past 10 years or so.

Other notes:


 * My 1948 Alaska business directory lists Mountain View as East Anchorage, not as Mountain View. It appears as if Mountain View may have been a neighborhood-specific name at that time, but not known as such to the rest of the world.


 * How about City View? I think most folks nowadays know the name from the little league, rather than the neighborhood which spawned it.  I believe City View is the name of a subdivison.  However, City View, along with Anchor Park, Saxton and Grandview Gardens subdivisons, became known over time as the City View neighborhood.  The name Grandview Gardens had notoriety in its own right, due to the library of the same name operated for many years by the City of Anchorage.  Said library is now the home of Out North, and was discontinued by the Municipality of Anchorage in the 1980s.  They shut down most of the former City's neighborhood libraries at around the same time they moved the Loussac Library from downtown to midtown.


 * Is "Little Fairbanks" for real? Actually, Spenard or Chugiak, or Sand Lake in its earlier years, would be the parts of Anchorage most closely resembling Fairbanks.  The northeastern part of Fairbanks, home to the major commercial area here, became known in the blogosphere as "Fanchorage."  I would have to assume this to be due to its resemblance to the Dimond Center area.

RadioKAOS (talk) 22:46, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
 * Prior discussion mentions the Hillside. If anyone is familiar with the political battles over unification, then you should realize that yes, there is plenty which could be written about the Hillside.

Another way of looking at neighborhoods in Anchorage – voter precincts
Seeing as how we still haven't provided much information on neighborhoods in or the neighborhood-level geography of Anchorage, here's a breakdown by voter precinct. This is so far incomplete. It may be more useful were a sorting function added. I'll see what I can do. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions 17:11, 15 November 2015 (UTC)