I Am A Whittier Teacher
February 5, 2015 5:08 AM   Subscribe

 
Well that was just really sweet. I know when I saw a blurb about some town in Alaska where "everyone lives in the same building," my first reaction was to think "Yeah, that's kind of creepily cultish."

Obviously I didn't think through the advantages of having a small community that can really get close and stay close with each other.

I did chuckle a bit at her comparison to a high-rise apartment in a major city though – obviously everywhere is different, but I've never lived in an apartment building where people formed a community with their neighbors, or even knew their neighbors. Some of the buildings I've been in, people were outright avoidant, perhaps even slightly hostile to their neighbors, so when I think about it, I guess Erika actually comes out ahead.
posted by wakannai at 5:23 AM on February 5, 2015


Paging Mr Ballard. Mr J G Ballard to the white courtesy phone, please.

Some thoughts:

1. This is like a small, isolated village in the deep forest. How on earth do you date?
2. What does everyone do in there all day? How did that place get built?
3. Leave the damned tunnel open already.
4. Is the school just one room with a handful of same-age students?
5. It's probably a secret NASA experiment for the Colony Ship project.
posted by Devonian at 5:31 AM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


Wow, cyberpunk was right- arcologies really do suck!
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:38 AM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


2. What does everyone do in there all day? How did that place get built?

For the second, it was the Army who did it.
posted by damayanti at 5:41 AM on February 5, 2015


3. Leave the damned tunnel open already.

The tunnel is one lane, with operating railway tracks down the middle of the road. Careful scheduling is required to avoid Wil. E. Coyote style drive headlong into train incidents.
posted by penguinicity at 5:45 AM on February 5, 2015 [6 favorites]


I don't know why that creeps me out so much. Seems so post apocalyptic. Kind of reminded me of Delicatessen somehow.
posted by 2N2222 at 5:48 AM on February 5, 2015


I used to work with a guy who grew up in Whittier. His father was in the military there. They lived in that building. He showed me a picture of that building, pointed to a third-storey window and said, "That's how high the snow drifts got." Then he pointed to a fifth-storey window and said, "Us kids used to jump out of that window into the snow drifts."

Bears used to come out of the woods to eat garbage out of the dumpsters in the loading dock.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:55 AM on February 5, 2015 [7 favorites]


Previous MetaFilter thread on Whittier.

There's a few other towns like this here and there in the Arctic. The first one I heard of was Fermont, Quebec, an iron-mining town with a half-mile long building designed to shelter houses from the north winds. CBC Radio did a great program on the town a couple years back; you can listen to it here.
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:19 AM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


What surprised me was that they built a high rise in an earthquake-prone area.
posted by mareli at 6:22 AM on February 5, 2015


I visited Whittier about 15 years ago, with my grandfather. We arrived via water; I had no idea about the tunnel. As a tourist, the focus of the place was the small cluster of buildings on the waterfront. The apartment complex was pointed out to us, though. I thought it was really neat.
posted by ocherdraco at 6:27 AM on February 5, 2015


Sounds like star trek.
posted by Ferreous at 6:49 AM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


Thanks Johnny Assay, that thread doesn't have the Whittier and I missed it when scrolling through the Alaska tag.
posted by ellieBOA at 7:27 AM on February 5, 2015


What surprised me was that they built a high rise in an earthquake-prone area.

There are plenty of high rises in Anchorage. Tokyo too.
posted by Dr. Twist at 8:01 AM on February 5, 2015


I've never lived in an apartment building where people formed a community with their neighbors, or even knew their neighbors.

Neither have I. But her description of life in the Begich Towers makes it sound like life in a college dormitory more than anything else. And OTOH, I miss those days; OTO, I don't know if I'd want to spend six months out of the year stuck in a college dorm while the snow raged outside.

Seems so post apocalyptic.

This picture looks a little post-apocalyptic. Very Tom Petty in Bridge City.

Some cool pictures of the Towers on Flickr, including some pictures of the abandoned Buckner Building.
posted by octobersurprise at 8:15 AM on February 5, 2015 [2 favorites]


Yeah I fully expected to feel claustrophobia coming on from the description, but...I'm sold. Think Whittier needs another teacher?
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 8:29 AM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]




Here's a recent HN thread where the top commenter shares some of his experience growing up in Whittier. Interestingly another commenter shows up who grew up in a nearby (AK scale) town and knew some of the same people. Naturally someone else says, 'hey what are the odds' but disappointingly no one actually calculates those odds.
posted by $0up at 9:03 AM on February 5, 2015


"A pot bust on the tenth floor ..."
Dude, they can smell it.

Apparently, the two story Whittier Manor is the town's other residence. There's also the Inn At Whittier and the Anchor Inn, another ex-Army building. I dig that the Anchor Inn boasts nighttime entertainment at the "Overview Lounge"—all work and no play, natch—and "a mid-sized grocery store stocked with almost every imaginable thing a grocery store should have." You can also get Reindeer sausage & eggs.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:25 AM on February 5, 2015


We went there a couple years ago. It's a pretty neat little town, and the locals running the shops and restaurant we visited were nice. Driving through the tunnel was pretty awesome for an infrastructure nerd such as myself.
posted by zsazsa at 9:38 AM on February 5, 2015


Oh man, I didn't see any reindeer eggs at the grocery store.
posted by zsazsa at 9:39 AM on February 5, 2015 [7 favorites]


You can't see reindeer eggs, they're really small so they can fit down the reindeer fallopian tubes. They were there though, you just couldn't see 'em.
posted by jenkinsEar at 9:44 AM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


It is like a Ballard novel but no one is eating someone or having kittens drink thier blood.


I mean I assume anyway.
posted by The Whelk at 10:22 AM on February 5, 2015


Thanks for posting this! Since housing is so expensive in the north, it makes me wonder how communal living in a apartment building compares to more common northern housing options.
posted by Gor-ella at 10:30 AM on February 5, 2015


There is a Whittier Webcam..

It does not update.

It bears the following note - "Whittier has no direct sunlight from Nov to Feb as the sun does not rise above the mountain behind us."
posted by Devonian at 10:42 AM on February 5, 2015 [3 favorites]


octobersurprise, those photos look like if Fallout 3 and Skyrim had a baby.
posted by yoHighness at 12:18 PM on February 5, 2015


Took the train to Whittier once. Had a cup of coffee, walked around a little, and took the train back.

The Portage-Whittier line was used in the film "Runaway Train."
posted by lagomorphius at 12:51 PM on February 5, 2015


Interesting, thanks for posting this. I've been on cruise from Vancouver to "Anchorage" twice and the port where you get off is actually Whittier. Looking at the building from the water and knowing that most of the community is housed there seems very peculiar. It's nice to see a bit of this teacher's life from inside.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 1:28 PM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]






Dude, they can smell it.

Can't do much about it though, apparently:

Dave Schofield is the chief of police in Whittier. He is also the only officer who lives in town. Alaska’s laws often reflect the needs of a sparsely populated state, which presents challenges for policing within Begich Towers. For example, the state constitution has written into it a right to privacy; if something is occurring in your own home, you have the right to keep it private. This means that although there is a pervasive smell of marijuana in Begich Towers, the police can do little about it. “The law says you can’t have drugs within 500 feet of a school; there’s not a unit in this building that’s 500 feet from the school, but we have the right-to-privacy issue.”
posted by craven_morhead at 3:37 PM on February 5, 2015 [1 favorite]


octobersurprise: " OTO, I don't know if I'd want to spend six months out of the year stuck in a college dorm while the snow raged outside. "

Yeah we called that "South Bend." Complete with the (now inaccessible-to-students) access tunnels to different buildings.

"Located on the 15th floor with incredible views, this Lounge has a small kitchenette and is ideal for entertaining up to 50 guests. If you are looking for an inspirational location for your next event, this is the location to consider!" ... I love how they're advertising to people who LIVE IN THE BUILDING.

A 2-br apartment will set you back $39,500. Not bad!

It says 700,000 people visit per year ... I guess a lot of that is people getting off cruise ships? Huge number no matter how you slice it!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:01 PM on February 5, 2015


I would bet almost all that is cruise ship traffic. There's fishing out of there, and some paddling and glacier day cruises but that's about it. It is a weird little town, close to Anchorage but unless you are getting out on the water there it's hard to think of a reason to visit.

I stayed in a "bed and breakfast" in that building once before a multi-day kayak trip. Great views, and each elevator had its own distinct smell.
posted by charmedimsure at 5:52 PM on February 5, 2015


In other Whittier news, here is someone skiing a line through the giant abandoned Buckner building that lurks on the edge of town.
posted by charmedimsure at 6:01 PM on February 5, 2015


Is it weird that I want to go live in this town now? How can I do this?
posted by snwod at 2:59 AM on February 6, 2015


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