Anchorage, Alaska

A metropolis of some 260,000 in Alaska that is a few thousand miles away from any other large city in North America and where half the state lives. Despite its isolation, crime is relatively high, especially in the Mountain View, Muldoon, and Spenard neighborhoods. Winters are cold and dark, but manageable and summers are nice and mild with temperatures rarely going above the high 70's. The middle and upper middle classes live mostly west of Minnesota Drive and south of Dimond Boulevard. There is no interstate highway system in the city except for a few miles of the New Seward Highway, the southern part of Minnesota Drive, and between Northway Mall and the Mat-Su Valley. Almost all of the homes in it like the rest of Alaska are wood frame or other composite. It is the only major city in America that has both downhill and cross country skiing in it.