An Alaska town living under one roof

"Where you from dawg?!" "Downstairs foo!!"

Employee: Sorry I was late for work. There was traffic. Boss: we all live and work in the same building! What do you mean?!

As a guy in a wheelchair, this sounds pretty awesome.

“Every kid is seen” that’s beautiful

Bravo to the 18 year old for getting her town noticed.

This would be the ideal site for a military vs alien/zombies movie.

My wife and I went up and visited Whittier a couple years ago, it was beautiful and the people were so kind. It seems like such a great place to live.

Was there in the early 80’s, looks a lot nicer now.

One time we were hit by a winter storm and got stuck in a vacation resort for over a week. It was like this. We each had our rooms “house”. We ate there in their restaurant. We shopped there in their lil store. We’d exercise there in their gym. We’d hang out in the lobby. It was weird. After the storm we all felt sad saying bye to each other. Like, we got used to that lil community.

It looks like an old style Soviet building

When I see stories of remote areas like this I find their softly spoken nature almost intoxicating especially now when so much of our world is in flux.

"Just A Small Town Girl Living In A Lonely World, She Took The Midnight Train Going Anywhere"

This is actually really smart. No frozen pipes in the permafrost, no commuting through icy roads, heating bills are probably lower than trying to heat each house.

I've been here. There's another large building in town that they didn't show. A creepy old large abandoned military bunker. You can't miss it.

I used to live in Whittier, as a kid, before the Begich Towers building was constructed. - and even before the Army Buckner Building was constructed - when the original Army Post was an interconnected maze of Quonset huts. I spent a lot of time wandering around the halls of the Buckner Building, which used to be an I interesting place, in its own right. I don't recall the numbers, but it was a sizable Army Post under one roof - now abandoned and decayed by the elements; but still a massive and strong structure, even in its 'shell' state. Whittier has gone through a lot of changes over the years. It used to be a hustling Army 'town,' with the federally owned Alaska Railroad - now privately owned - activities in second place. Whittier used to get an ungodly amount of snow, with seriously short daylight, due to the surrounding mountains. Thus, Whittier can potentially be a "depression hazard," with the added hazard of "Cabin Fever." Definitely not a healthy place, come winter, for anyone disposed to alcoholism and/or drug problems. While little appreciated, Whittier has an interesting military history, dating to W.W. II, particularly after the Japanese invaded the Aleutian islands. It's very certain that it takes a special character and personality to live in Whittier on a year-round basis. Preferably in the format of a couple, with a healthy relationship, able to contribute to the "small town" nature of Whittier and Alaska, in general. It would be vital to keep active in some productive fashion, and be able to easily and actively socialize, lest a variant of "The Shining" evolve. Luckily, it's not particularly difficult to 'escape' to Anchorage for whatever reason, including a "sanity vacation." However, Anchorage has more than its share of drug and alcohol related 'problems,' thus caution is advised. Any related 'problems' can occur as a total surprise, even if caution is appropriately employed. In contrast, Whittier might be better appreciated, than one might otherwise value. Not much of Alaska is less than an adventure for anyone living there in excess of six months out of a year. How many appreciate that Alaska starts out as the northernmost, westernmost and easternmost state in the US, as the Aleutian Chain extends into the Eastern Hemisphere; bordered by Russia to the West and Canada to the East. After that, Alaska can get seriously interesting; and reliably so. Those who don't keep a serious journal/diary - add loads of pictures and videos - are cheating themselves and family out of a great legacy. The key is to include as many truly interesting accounts of others, as well, hopefully adequately annotated as to the source and timeframe. In places such as Whittier, should life get boring; give it another fifteen minutes. Worst case, check the news in the Lower 49 (remembering that Hawaii is the southernmost state); and be grateful to be so far from such chaos. WELL, there's always Anchorage if you're somehow desperate or homesick for a little bit of that chaos. It's nice to have such as purely an option - AND internet service, of course. All that under one roof - WOW! It wasn't like that when I was a kid, I guess I should get serious about an autobiography, while my memories are still available. Those were interesting times, as well. The Cold War started, the Korean War, then there was Mccarthyism, the Whittier docks fire; and radio shows like Amos and Andy, The FBI in Peace and War, Fibber McGee and Molly and occasional trips to Anchorage, with black and white TV at the Anchorage Hotel .....

Looks like a good life. A simple life. A good life. "A foolish man complicates the simple and a wise man simplifies the complicated." -brian padrick drake

They better have damn good firefighters

I loved living there during Summer of 1989, during summer break from grad school. I lived in that building and the view was amazing especially when the cruise ships would come into harbor. That was truly one of my favorite summers as I learned so much and had incredible adventures. Thanks so much Whittier for the gifts of Summer of 1989!

This is heaven for introverts like myself!

I love how they glossed over the fact that the railroad company owns all the land, which is why everyone lives in that Building. No one can build anything cause the wont/cant own the land the building would be on. As quirky as that building is, the current property ownership conditions in Whitter will stifle growth no matter the publicity.