Pickups as a status symbol

One of the stranger things I do is read Craigslist if I'm visiting a new area. Like, all of Craigslist. I think it gives an accurate description of a place. What people are selling and for how much, how people sell themselves, what kind of housing there is etc. Look, I know I'm weird, so you don't have to tell me. Because of this, I had an idea of the housing in the area before I got here. You know, what kinds of structures populate the area and how much of it is new cookie cutter construction. I became interested in housing when I spent some time in Florida. I was used to seeing all old victorians and just really beautiful houses in Boston, so florida was a shock. Concrete and more concrete and no cellars. Obviously they do this for a reason - termites and other house eating bugs is the main reason. There was one lone victorian (maybe, not sure what it's classified as) wood house with a big front porch that I'd always drive by because it was like nothing else there and it reminded me of home. Seeing another place for an extended time made me appreciate the housing history in Boston/New England and how beautiful it is.
Now when I go to new places, housing is something I make a point to pay attention to. I love architecture, which is another reason I pay attention to houses. It's neat to see structures adapted to an area. I go for drives just to see what's around. I also make sure I go to a grocery store while in a new place - that can tell you a lot about an area, too. That's a whole other story, though.

Another reason Craigslist is valuable is because you can get a good feel for the social qualities of an area by looking at personals. Alaskan women are looking for a man that likes kids and doesn't drink too much and Alaskan men are selling themselves based on the fact that they have a truck and love the outdoors. And, yes, the women are looking and the men are selling themselves, which is a whole other thing I could analyze. Trucks are a status symbol here. It's like iPods - everyone either has one or wants one. If a guy in a truck sees a pretty lady they all seem to instantly slam on their gas pedal to show off how noisy their truck is. I just don't see the accomplishment there, but what can you do? It reminds me of that Jerry Seinfeld comedy where he's talking about men who yell out the car window when they see an attractive woman. He wonders what they hope to accomplish - since their car is waaay down the street when she realizes it. He also notes it's the best that men have thought of so far.

The most telling part of my Craigslist journey was in the area where people are looking for friends. There are literally hundreds of people saying they're new to the area and are looking for people to hang out with. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the most active section of the Alaska Craigslist. It's a good perspective of the native vs. outsider population here. I mean native in the sense that they were born here, not the native people that have been here forever. I'm finding that it's common for people to come here to visit and then end up living here. I'm also finding that people seem to stay for 30 years and then cut out when they can't take the winter anymore. What a strange cycling of people this place must see.

One last thing is that I've never seen a section so dominated by RVs, ATVs and pickup trucks as the autos section here. Nary a car to be found. I'm glad I have 4WD here. I haven't needed it, but I thought I was going to today. I went to a nearby park to have a look around. There were a couple of roads off of the main park road so I decided to drive down and check them out. The last one I went down was like off roading. It's not even fair to call this monstrosity a road. There were several spots that had giant muddy dips and you could see deep muddy tracks on the side of the road - you know, the telltale marks indicating someone got stuck there. Did I mention I'll be living on a dirt road on the Kenai? Aww yeah.