I was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, the city in Alaska that I like to call the only city in Alaska. Having spent the first twenty-one years of my life here, I’ve certainly experienced my fair share of both merits and demerits to living in the penultimate state added to America.

While living in Anchorage definitely means a different lifestyle than living in the more rural areas of the wilderness, here are the perks and drawbacks I’ve come to know after living my entire life in the Last Frontier state.