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| Anchorage aerial as seen in 1963. |
Seen here is an aerial view of Anchorage as it appeared before the 1964 earthquake. It's a postcard that I purchased at an online auction around a decade ago thus bringing the postcard's journey full circle back to the city with which it depicts. The back of the postcard is signed, "to Gary" and dated August 1968. While I did wonder to myself, "who's Gary?", I was more interested in pinpointing the year of this postcard, which really didn't take long to figure out. With the J.C. Penny department store in the center right only occupying half of its eventual footprint, it's clear this photo was taken in 1963. A year after its 1963 grand opening, the store would be demolished following the 1964 Alaskan earthquake. The string of storefronts along the northside of 4th Avenue between E Street and C Street are also visible, seen here before their literal downfall due to the liquification of the soil during the following year's quake.
But what really gets me is just how green the Anchorage townsite looks. It's a jarring contrast to the present-day downtown cityscape, even more so when you realize that downtown's present-day appearance was largely complete just 20 years after this photo was taken with the topping out of the then ARCO Building and Atwood Building, still the city's two tallest buildings, in 1983. It's a visual reminder of the frenetic pace of redevelopment that came with the pipeline era. But it is impossible to ignore the downsides that came with this frenetic change. In this picture, two whole blocks were ultimately replaced with parking structures. A third block, home today to the Dena'ina Center, was cleared for surface parking. While that block is no longer parking, a number of surface parking lots scattered throughout downtown Anchorage remain. It is a reminder that redevelopment does not always equate to progress. Replacing cottages and small commercial buildings with higher-density apartments, condos, and office towers through upzoning is not just a sign of a maturing city, it is also indicative that the city's planning department is serious in responsibly managing a city's growth. However, replacing entire blocks of homes and buildings that house people in favor of concrete structures that store machines on wheels (which sit idle for over 90% of their lifespan) is not responsible in the slightest. It stems from a desire to outside accommodate automobile users by creating parking availability for them. But it comes at the expense of creating a patchwork of buildings surrounded by surface parking and garages which further take away a city's character and further perpetuates the idea of a 6pm city center that is not meant to be lived in.
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| The same view seen today. |
