In The News...

Map courtesy of UAF.

Happy New Years. Can't believe this blog will be turning eight years old this year. Anyways, I've been busy, but I did not want to let these stories go by without some coverage as they are pretty interesting, particularly the post-quake data that just came in:

Anchorage Seismic Data Published
So apparently Anchorage had a thorough seismograph network installed about a decade ago that was finally put to use during the recent Iniskin Earthquake. The results that came in have been surprising as they reveal dramatically different results for different parts of the city when it comes to the force of the shake. For instance, check out the difference between the seismograph reading in Jewel Lake and the one right below it in Southport. Surprisingly, the Hillside felt it more than Southport. Conventional wisdom has been that Hillside is most immune to quakes. That was one reason why homeowners who owned property in Turnagain Heights (which of course slid into the inlet in 1964) were provided with plots on the Hillside. I was also surprised that downtown and West Anchorage were not off the rails as they were the biggest disaster areas for the Anchorage Bowl following the '64 quake. Jewel Lake, Airport Heights, Midtown around Dowling and C Street, and parts of Hillside suffered more rattling than downtown, which according to the map was placed around West 5th Avenue -- the heart of the townsite.

An Orchard for Government Hill
Residents of Government Hill have recently proposed building an orchard and garden on a two-acre site that sits vacant between the neighborhood and the neighborhood's commercial strip. The site was once home to the Sourdough Inn, a long abandoned motel that was controversially demolished last year by the DOT to make way for the proposed Knik Arm Crossing. This despite the fact that financial backing for the project has not been secured yet. Some residents claimed this to be the DOT's way of trying to make the project look inevitable and discourage protest. Surprisingly, the DOT is on board with Government Hill residents on the orchard idea. But of course this sort of land use will be easy to remove should the bridge project actually go forward. Whatever the case, hopefully this first-of-a-kind project for the neighborhood materializes.