Alaska's one-house town, home to hundreds (2015)

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2015/07/us/whittier-alaska-american-story/

by Jaruzel • 4 years ago

209 102 4 years ago

beardog2• 4 years ago

The tower is governed by a condominium association, so essentially everyone in this town has to follow private contract law as opposed to government ordinances.

Here's their rules https://begichtowers.com/uploads/3/4/0/4/34048295/house_rule...

beardog2• 4 years ago

They do have a mayor and city council too, but I imagine the tower association has just as much if not more impact on day to day life

renewiltord• 4 years ago

What an absolute nightmare of rules haha. Jesus Christ, what a miserable existence.

i80and• 4 years ago

I don't see anything particularly out of line with regular apartment rules in my experience. The only thing I can see is the quiet hours do start a little early; 11pm is more common than 10pm.

datameta3• 4 years ago

Looks like some of the few newer rules are from 2007 which is when the railroad tunnel became also accessible to vehicles. PR move for visitors, it seems.

KennyBlanken5• 4 years ago

Most of the rules struck me as being driven by necessity because a few eccentric assholes. Example:

The tops of the elevators shall not be used to move any materials

Imagine the very deep sighs from the board when they had to institute that rule because some asshole was tripping maintenance mode on the elevator and using the top to move stuff for some reason...and when told not to, shouted "IT'S NOT AGAINST THEM ROOLS!"

The rule about kids not playing with toys in hallways seems a bit authoritarian but was probably prompted by parents not sufficiently supervising their kids and toys getting left around and stepped/tripped on.

The rules regarding entering an apartment are a bit more protective than in my state; a landlord has to provide notice (but only if not an emergency) and certainly doesn't have to leave a note, nor have a third party present, nor maintain a log.

The biggest thing I see a problem with are the laundry room policies which seem like how they leverage control (ten days, in Alaska, to get a washer/dryer if you get a laundry room? Come on) and their excessive impound fees. Fifty bucks if you leave your gear in the wrong place at the wrong time of year?

Fifty bucks if you don't return a cart within thirty minutes of using it?

Fifty bucks if you leave your car in the loading dock longer than 30 minutes after unloading it?

Basically violating any rule is "at least" fifty bucks. If you do it again, the fine doubles. It sounds like the fine doubles indefinitely, too.

I did laugh at the "Horizontal Properties Regime Act". That is some straight-up dystopian-sounding bullshit.

standardUser2• 4 years ago

You might be shocked at how unreasonably repressive a lot of standard condo and apartment rules can be. I worked in the industry and recall one building where every unit had a really nice balcony, but they were almost all empty and unused because the rules were so strict.

But in practice, I think most of these types of rules are rarely if ever enforced.

MithrilTuxedo• 4 years ago

Makes me think of the Mayflower Compact.

dmoy• 4 years ago

If you do drip water or fish slime in the building, you must immediately clean up after yourself or call maintenance for assistance. (Adopted April 13, 2007)

I wanna know what on earth happened in March 2007 lol

konschubert• 4 years ago

Someone slipped?

moralestapia• 4 years ago

"Oh yes, of course, the great slime event of 2007 ..."

kingcharles• 4 years ago

First rule of Begich Towers is... we don't talk about March 2007...

nickysielicki2• 4 years ago

If you ever end up in Whittier, make sure you eat at Wild Catch Cafe.

datameta3• 4 years ago

I have taken the tunnel mentioned in the article in 2011, I believe it was out of Whittier to Anchorage after arriving on a ferry from Seward. It's an interesting experience - single lane for what seemed like 5 minutes. Strangely, I don't remember the BTI building at all.

KennyBlanken5• 4 years ago

It's weird that they haven't come up with a better system other than "the tunnel changes directions every hour and shuts down at a certain hour, forcing people to sleep in their cars." In the boonies when they have to make a bridge one-way they put traffic lights at each end with radar presence sensors.

Seems like the rule is serving as an unofficial (and frankly illegal) town "drawbridge" to keep the riff-raff out.

Edit: to all the replies telling me how it couldn't possibly work because people will break the rules: which is also true of the current system? And gates are a thing, folks. So is automated enforcement?

If it's a private tunnel, nothing stops the railroad from saying "if you ignore the traffic control system, we fine you $x. If you do it again, you're barred from using the tunnel for a month and have a fine of $x*2. If you do it again, you're barred from using the tunnel permanently." Watch how fast people follow the rules.

adamhearn• 4 years ago

The tunnel is the only way, besides helicopter to get to Whittier besides the port.

https://dot.alaska.gov/creg/whittiertunnel/faq.shtml

Why is Whittier so important to the Alaska Railroad?

From an economic and geographic standpoint, Whittier represents the Alaska Railroad's only viable freight interchange point for its barge service connecting Alaska with the lower 48 states and Canada. Seward and Anchorage are not viable port alternatives for barge interline service. Anchorage is not free of ice year-round and Seward requires traveling over a mountain pass at a 3% grade (it would take six locomotives to haul a heavy load from Seward versus two from Whittier). Whittier is a year-round, ice-free, deep-water port. It is located only 50 miles from Anchorage and has slight grades for trains and engines. For these reasons, all the Alaska Railroad's railcars, locomotives, and rail-borne freight must enter and depart via Whittier.

belkinpower• 4 years ago

You’re underestimating how long the tunnel is, how many vehicles are waiting to go through, and how unwilling to follow rules people are. When I was waiting to drive through it last summer some guy decided he was tired of waiting and tried to drive around the line and into oncoming traffic. The railroad police had to chase after him and stop him before he shut the whole tunnel down.

blincoln• 4 years ago

It's a really, really long tunnel. GP's estimate of 5 minutes travel time sounds reasonably accurate. If someone ignored the light and went down it while someone was coming in the other direction, getting traffic unsnarled could be a headache. Even more so if there was a collision.

walrus01• 4 years ago

there's a youtube video of a guy riding a freight train through that tunnel, with a gopro strapped to his head...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOBCGmZppaA

KennyBlanken5• 4 years ago

That building sounds like a real-life version of the subterranean shelter in Wool, only...more Christian.

TomAbel• 4 years ago

Whats Wool?

KennyBlanken5• 4 years ago

Hugh Howley book about life inside a subterranean shelter, where the cardinal rule is "if you talk about going outside, you get your wish." You're given a piece of wool to clean the lens on the camera before you die.

I enjoyed the first three books, but the "prequels", decidedly less so. YMMV.

FalconSensei2• 4 years ago

First book in the Silo trilogy by Hugh Howey. I finished the 2nd book a couple weeks ago and so far, highly recommend - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo_(series)

mistrial9• 4 years ago

and Coober Pedy, Australia right?

Lamad123• 4 years ago

Heaven!

qnsi• 4 years ago

I wonder what it does to people? Never leaving a building, not seeing sun for some people I speculate for days or weeks

One of the important things everyone should do is see natural light (not through windows) in first hour after waking up.

SeanAnderson• 4 years ago

Why does observation through a window change anything?

redweer• 4 years ago

they heard it on a podcast

solarmist• 4 years ago

I don't think it applies at apartment windows, but I believe many sky scrapes would have UV treatments on their windows.

mariebks• 4 years ago

Sunlight through a window is much less bright according to lumen meters than when you’re outside. We have neurons that wake you up more and directly respond to bright light early in the morning. (paraphrased, source from Huberman Lab podcast).

wizzwizz4• 4 years ago

Whether it's in your peripheral vision.

chrisseaton3• 4 years ago

One of the important things everyone should do is see natural light (not through windows) in first hour after waking up.

Is there some science behind this or is it a spirituality thing?

thoughtstheseus• 4 years ago

It improves your sleep / wake cycles.

t8e56vd4ih• 4 years ago

common sense?

wincy• 4 years ago

I’m pretty sure $300 worth of LED bulbs will work just fine. Getting to 50,000 lux or so in a room (which is some equation with lumens and the volume of the room, a small apartment should be easy to make bright as day vs a warehouse). It’ll only cost as much as running a few hundred watt bulbs incandescent bulbs did back in the day. The sun isn’t magic or anything.

klyrs• 4 years ago

Sounds like a habit one living near the equator would take for granted and pass off as wisdom. In Anchorage, that would mean sleeping in past 9 in the winter. Good luck keeping a job on that schedule.

adventured2• 4 years ago

I wonder what it does to people?

Entirely depends on your personality.

I'm able to be alone for months at a time without it bothering me much. Other people go crazy after a few days of that. Some of that is determined by whether you merely enjoy the company of other people or if you require other people.

I enjoy the company of other people, however it extracts energy from me, and I preferably want to be alone afterward to recharge (social gatherings every night would deplete me, I'd require a break). Other people are more the social butterfly type, and they get recharged by being around other people, socializing, and they get increasingly depressed when that is missing.

I could spend months reading/working/thinking alone on an island (so to speak), and not have a care in the world about the passing of time. I'd enjoy having hundreds of years just to spend that way, there are so many things to learn and think about.

jader2013• 4 years ago

I'd argue it's not so much about whether you're introverted or extroverted. In a place like this, it seems like you have plenty of opportunity to be around others, or be alone (though, the article makes it sound like sometimes even alone time can be interrupted by intruding neighbors).

This is more about handling mostly indoor life vs. outdoor life, which impacts other aspects of wellbeing vs. socialization/introversion/extroversion.

jhbadger• 4 years ago

The atmosphere (people dropping by for a visit at any hour in their pjs) reminds me of a university dorm. I'm not a particularly extroverted person, but I remember enjoying my time living in a dorm. I'm not sure I'd like it so much now though.

nickysielicki2• 4 years ago

That’s not possible during large stretches of winter in Alaska regardless of what kind of building you live in.

vidarh• 4 years ago

Growing up in Southern Norway, during winter it'd usually be pitch black when I got up, and I'd not only not see much natural light in the first hour after waking up, but it'd still be twilight until the first school lesson was underway.

It might be nice, but it's not that important.

FalconSensei2• 4 years ago

The article could really use a couple pictures of inside and outside the building.

troupe• 4 years ago

Here are some pictures from an apartment sold in 2021: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/100-Kenai-St-510-511-Vald...

camtarn• 4 years ago

Huh! It's a lot more colourful than I'd expected, given its origins as a military base. I guess that having something bright and colourful probably helps a lot in the grim weather.

haroldp4• 4 years ago

I grew up in Whittier and those photos really take me back. Apartment 510 means fifth floor, north-east side. I was 905, ninth floor north west side, same layout, but mirrored.

They have retained the original shitty steel kitchen cabinets and steel trimmed formica counters where my mom made all our meals, and baked bread and made wild blueberry jam, and all that.

inetsee• 4 years ago

There's an NPR article with a nice picture at the top showing the Begnich Towers building, with a dry-docked boat in front of it.

https://www.npr.org/2015/01/18/378162264/welcome-to-whittier...

blamazon2• 4 years ago

I found this amusing:

"Thompson pays a hefty sum for her junk food and returns to school. She shows off an indoor hydroponic garden she started so the kids would appreciate fruits and vegetables more. The school acquired the equipment after the police busted a guy who was using it to grow pot in his BTI condo."

Tronno• 4 years ago

Obviously we don't know the details of this bust, but it probably happened just before Alaska legalized posession of plants for personal use. The article was written in mid-2015, and legalization passed in February of that year.

Whatever pointless, unjust penalty this person suffered, in addition to having their property seized, makes this story seem less than amusing. Maybe the words you're looking for are "tragic" or "dystopian"?

blamazon2• 4 years ago

Mmm, wasn't aware of the timeline. My presumption was that the grow operation was only a problem because it was too close to a school, which is generally verboten even in legal states. My presumption being they reallocated the equipment and left the justice at that. I will retain my amusement at the reallocation but agree there may be a tragic or dystopian story we are not party to.

haroldp4• 4 years ago

Alaska has had a crazy history with marijuana legalization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Alaska

baybal23• 4 years ago

Very small by Chinese standard. What about living in a condo compound with 8000 flats?

I think the biggest apartment complex in the country (and probably in the world) went as far as 20000 flats with 20 towers joined at stylobate.

Scoundreller• 4 years ago

Does China have them as standalones with basically nothing otherwise nearby?

baybal23• 4 years ago

If something like that built in a smaller town, it surely "sucks life out" of the rest of the neighbourhood as most of commerce migrates into a place with better deal for rent/revenue.

There is a village called Sanmen in Zhejiang where the manufacturer of scooters I dealt with was located.

It was a rather big village, turning into an industrial town. The moment they got a nuclear plant, a ton more of industry moved in there.

A huge residential development with 40 highrise towers was built near the industrial park, and almost anybody of notable level of income in the village moved there, and all the commerce followed

Riseed• 4 years ago

Whittier, including its hospital, school and city government, functions within one self-sufficient structure

The story is not so much about a big building, but rather about an isolated town that exists inside only one building. Do these condo compounds with 8000 flats include the hospital, schools, city government, general store, post office, etc?

baybal23• 4 years ago

The mall taking up to 4th storey is bigger than most malls you see in the US.

Some GP mini-clinics are surely there.

bootlooped• 4 years ago

There was a This American Life about it, centered around a family that moved there from American Samoa.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/555/transcript

jader2013• 4 years ago

This video interviews the teacher mentioned in the article (Erika Thompson) and shows shots of life in the building, which helps give you a much better idea of their daily lives. Before watching this, I had a much different impression of what the building looked like/how life was, from reading the article alone.

https://youtu.be/naPguX84Amg

EDIT:

And an even more recent one (from 2021) with Erika, that covers more of the city itself, vs. more focus on the BTI building. (The video above is from 2013.)

https://youtu.be/P0y4D5RJuXE

standardUser2• 4 years ago

Thank you for this! It was exactly as I pictured it from the article. One tidbit not mentioned in the article is that the town is a tourist destination during the summer, which was the first thing that came to my mind when I looked on Google maps and saw a museum, lounge and seafood restaurant: https://www.google.com/maps/@60.7739931,-148.6857725,1497m/d...

danielvaughn• 4 years ago

I went there in 2008, it was the first time I’d ever kayaked. I remember seeing the building in the distance, thinking it seemed like a fairly depressing place to live, even if the surrounding area is beautiful.

peter303• 4 years ago

Whittier is Anchorage's "port" where where cruise ships stop. There are shops inport. You can take day trips to Anchorage or overnight to Denali National Park.

Whittier has other boats too forbwhale andbglacier tours, fishing, etc.

kgin• 4 years ago

Possibly a case study for future space settlements.

every• 4 years ago

Reminds me of the Soviet Siberian "towns"...

suzzer99• 4 years ago

Seems like a ton of problems could be solved by just keeping the tunnel open an hour or so later. Maybe they don't want people driving drunk back from Anchorage. Force them to end their night early.

judex• 4 years ago

This is normal e.g. in Hong Kong. I have met people who live like this there with everything in one huge building. Probably similar in many other asian cities - just guessing. Really interesting. Would you like to live like that?

seanmcdirmid2• 4 years ago

I don't think that is very normal in HK. Ya, they have a lot of tall buildings, but people still go out to shop/eat/work (unless you mean...they never have to go outside because of the subway tunnels in Central HK?). Maybe when the Kowloon walled city was still around, but that is just an area that turned into a bunch of buildings that grew into each other.

bobthepanda2• 4 years ago

Right, the interesting thing is that the people here literally do not have a choice.

In non-pandemic times, HK people live like people in any other city; they usually don't work where they live, and often times they don't necessarily do all their shopping there either, because people like variety. (Although with how crazy the real estate was getting in Hong Kong, I remember each visit that it seemed like each mall was slowly turning into the same chains and whatnot in every one.)

hnfong• 4 years ago

Native Hong Konger here.

Having one building house hundreds (or thousands) is normal here, and these days new properties developed tend to have shops and malls below the residential apartments (more $ for the developer), but IMHO the lifestyle couldn't be more different than what is described in the article.

It used to be the case a couple decades ago that people in public housing poked into their neighbor's businesses sometimes, but these days even if you live in a huge apartment building everyone minds their own business.

Very few people live and work in the same building, or even the same district (due in part to zoning). The signature feature of Hong Kong life is trying to cram yourself into a crowded bus or metro train (which is presumably also true of most other Asian large cities). There's a big difference living in a small town with a couple hundred people, and a dense city of millions.

I honestly don't think most Hong Kongers (that includes me) would last even a week in the Whittier winter.

bitwize• 4 years ago

Neat. A prototype arcology.

aussieguy1234• 4 years ago

I'm curious if humans ever lived on another planet where they couldn't go outside because of a toxic atomosphere if it might look something like this. A whole town or city inside one structure.

fortysixdegrees• 4 years ago

Would be a good PhD subject, studying this place through that lens

sangnoir• 4 years ago

If you are be interested in written-form scifi stories based on that idea, I strongly recommend Wool by Hugh Howey - the book series also goes by the same name,IIRC.

A TV show based on the books is also in the works.

haroldp4• 4 years ago

I grew up in Whittier and answered some questions about it in a previous HN thread:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8840005

craigching• 4 years ago

I saw the post on CNN before seeing it here, remembered your thread, and went back and read it again. It was fun reading the first time around and I enjoyed it again!

timonoko• 4 years ago

You cannot obviously anchor at Anchorage. Mud flats and tidal currents. Strange name then. And why do they not improve the tunnel, because Whittier is the best harbour near by.

I tried to start kayaking from the Anc Airport, but some responsible citizens prevented it and told me to take a bus to Whittier. Probably saved my life.

Alaska's one-house town, home to hundreds (2015)

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