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Wasilla, Alaska

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"Wasilla" redirects here. For the Sarmatian god of the same name, see Wasilla (god).
Wasilla, Alaska
city
U.S. Census Map
U.S. Census Map
CountryUnited States
StateAlaska
BoroughMatanuska-Susitna
Government
 • MayorDianne Keller
Area
 • Total12.4 sq mi (32.2 km2)
 • Land11.7 sq mi (30.3 km2)
 • Water0.7 sq mi (1.8 km2)
Elevation
341 ft (104 m)
Population
 (2000)
 • Total5,469
 • Density466.8/sq mi (180.2/km2)
Time zoneUTC-9 (Alaska (AKST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-8 (AKDT)
ZIP codes
99600-99699
Area code907
FIPS code02-83080
GNIS feature ID1411788
Websitewww.cityofwasilla.com

Wasilla is the [[List of cities in Alaska by population|fourth largest city]] in the U.S. state of Alaska located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the state. The U.S. Census Bureau recorded the city's population at 5,469 in 2000 and estimated it at 9,780 in 2007.[1] Wasilla is the largest city in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and part of the Anchorage metropolitan area which has an estimated population of 362,340 in 2007.

Established at the intersection of the Alaska Railroad and Old Carle Wagon Road, the site brought the decline of the nearby mining town of Knik. The completion of the George Parks Highway transitioned the town into a work commuting city of Anchorage. Historically entrepreneurial, the economic base shifted from small-scale agriculture and recreation to providing rural living for workers employed in Anchorage or on Alaska's North Slope oilfields & related infrastructure in the 1970s.[2] Several state and federal agencies have offices in Wasilla, including the Alaska Departments of Environmental Conservation, Labor and Divisions of Public Assistance, Social Services.

Wasilla gained national attention when Sarah Palin, who served as mayor before her election as Governor of Alaska, was chosen by John McCain as his vice-presidential running mate in the 2008 United States presidential election.

Wasilla is named after respected local Dena'ina Indian, Chief Wasilla.[3]

History

Glacial ice sheets covered most of the northern hemisphere until they disappeared between 10,000 and about 7,000 years ago.[4] Early humans moved through the area and left evidence of their passage.[4] The Matanuska-Susitna valley was eventually settled by the Dena'ina Alaska natives who utilized the fertile lands and fishing opportunities of Cook Inlet. The Dena'ina are one of the eleven sub-groups comprising the indigenous Athabaskan Indian groups extending down Canada's western coast. Russians occupied Alaska from 1741, occupying strategic trading posts in Lower Cook Inlet until Alaska's sale to the United States in 1867.[5] Near the mouth of the Matanuska River, the town of Knik was settled about 1880. In 1900, the Willow Creek Mining District was established to the north and Knik thrived as a mining settlement.[6]

In 1917, the U.S. Government planned the Alaska Railroad to intersect the the Carle Wagon Road (present Wasilla-Fishhook Road) which connected Knik and the mines.[7] Knik businesses and residents rushed to purchase plattes and the town declined. Wasilla Station was named for the nearby Wasilla Creek. Local miners used the name "Wassila Creek", referring to Wassila, a chief of the Dena'ina. There are two sources cited for the name, one being derived from a Dena'ina word meaning "breath of air" while another stating Dena'ina derived it from the Russian name "Vasili."[8][9] As Knik declined into a ghost town, Wasilla served early fur trappers and miners working the gold fields at Cache Creek and Willow Creek. The area was a supply base for gold mines near Hatcher Pass through World War II. Until construction of the George Parks Highway around 1970, nearby Palmer was the leading city in the Matanuska Valley. Wasilla was at the end of the Palmer-Wasilla highway and the road to Big Lake provided access to land west of Wasilla. The Parks Highway put Wasilla at mile 40-42 of what became the major highway and railroad transportation corridor linking Southcentral Alaska to Interior Alaska. As a result, population growth and community development shifted from the area around Palmer to Wasilla and the surrounding area. Wasilla was incorporated as a city in 1974.[10] All non-borough municipalities throughout Alaska are designated cities.[11]

In 1994 a statewide ballot initiative to move the capital of Alaska to Wasilla was defeated by a vote of about 116,000 to 96,000.[12][13] About that time, the Matanuska Valley began to recover from an economic collapse, beginning a sustained boom that involved dramatic population growth, increased local employment, and an extremely robust residential and commercial real estate development boom.[14] The local real estate market slowed in 2006. In 2008, suburban growth and dwindling snow resulting from climate change forced organizers of the Iditarod race to bypass Wasilla permanently.[15] The race had its start in Wasilla from 1973 to 2002, the year when reduced snow cover forced a "temporary" change to Willow.[15]

Past controversies

Sarah Palin served as mayor from 1996 to 2002. Since Republican presidential nominee John McCain chose her as his running mate in August of 2008, Wasilla's past policies and the record of former Mayor Palin have been subjected to a greater amount of public scrutiny. News sources alleged during Palin's tenure, Wasilla billed rape victims for rape kit examinations.[16][17][18] The City of Wasilla reviewed records which showed two rape kits requested in fiscal year 2000 were paid for by the state.[19] After Palin hired a well known professional lobbyist,[20] Wasilla residents became among the highest per capita recipients of earmark benefits in the nation, receiving in excess of six million dollars at a time when its population was approximately 6,000 citizens.[21] In 2005, Wasilla received national attention when a bridge providing secondary access to Wasilla was dubbed one of the two "bridge to nowhere" projects by fiscal conservatives. As of September 2008, the bridge that would benefit landowners 10 to 20 miles southwest of Wasilla, known as the Knik Arm Bridge, was in the planning and review stages, estimated to cost $1 billion. Landowners in the Matanuska Valley would experience little change in transportation economics[22], but their lands would experience a substantial increase in competition from better-located lands which were previously inaccessable[23] from Anchorage.[24][21]

Geography

Wasilla is located at 61°34′54″N 149°27′9″W / 61.58167°N 149.45250°W / 61.58167; -149.45250Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (61.581732, -149.452539).Template:GR

The city has an area of 12.4 square miles (32.2 km²). 11.7 square miles (30.4 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) of it (5.64%) is water.

The Dena'ina (Tanaina) Indians called the area Benteh, meaning 'among the lakes'.[25]

Located near Wasilla Lake and Lake Lucille, Wasilla is one of two cities in the Matanuska Valley. The community surrounds Mi. 39-46 of the George Parks Highway, roughly 43 highway miles (69 km) northeast of Anchorage. Nearly one third of the people of Wasilla drive the 40-minute commute to work in Anchorage every day.[26]

Climate

January temperatures range from 4 °F (−16 °C) to 29 °F (−2 °C); July temperatures vary from 47 °F (8 °C) to 78 °F (26 °C). The average annual precipitation is 17 inches (430 mm), with 50 inches (130 cm) of snowfall.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1960112—
1970300167.9%
19801,559419.7%
19904,028158.4%
20005,46935.8%
2007 (est.)9,780
Population 1960-2000.[27]

As of the census of 2000,[28] there were 5,469 people (up from 4,028[29] in 1990), 1,979 households, and 1,361 families residing in the city. The population density was 466.8 people per square mile (180.2/km²). There were 2,119 housing units at an average density of 180.9/sq mi (69.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 85.46% White, 0.59% Black or African American, 5.25% Native American, 1.32% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 1.32% from other races, and 5.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino were 3.68% of the population.

There were 1,979 households out of which 43.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.2% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the city the population was spread out with 33.6% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 6.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30. For every 100 females there were 99.5 males; for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $48,226, and the median income for a family was $53,792. Males had a median income of $41,332 versus $29,119 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,127. About 5.7% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.6% of those under the age of 18 and 9.7% of those 65 and older.

Economy

Wasilla began as a transportation logistics & trade center serving natural resource extraction (mining, trapping & timber) followed by small-scale agricultural activity circa 1935; around 1975, construction of the Parks Highway substantially reduced travel time to Anchorage, encouraging the transition to a satellite bedroom community where workers commute to Anchorage for employment.[30] Local service employment has increased in recent years.[31]

About 35 percent of the Wasilla workforce commutes to Anchorage.[26] The local economy is diverse, and residents are employed in a variety of city, borough, state, federal, retail and professional service positions.[32] Tourism, agriculture, wood products, steel, and concrete products are part of the economy. One hundred and twenty area residents hold commercial fishing permits; commercial fishermen work seasonally in Lower Cook Inlet and distant Bristol Bay or the Gulf of Alaska & Prince William Sound (there are no commercial fisheries in Upper Cook Inlet)[33].

Arts

The Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry in Wasilla was established in 1967 "to give a home to the transportation and industrial remnants and to tell the stories of the people and the machines that opened Alaska to exploration and growth."[34]

The Alaska Avalanche hockey team of the NAHL play their home games in Wasilla.[35]

Charles Wohlforth, in a Frommer's travel guidebook on Alaska, described Wasilla as "the worst kind of suburban sprawl of highway-fronting shopping malls and gravel lots."[36]

Government

Wasilla city Hall, August 2008

The Wasilla city council is made up of six members who are elected at-large by residents to designated seats. They serve for three years, unless appointed to fill a vacant seat. The Office of Mayor is elected separately. A run-off election will be held if no candidate for Mayor receives more than 40% of the votes cast. Run-off elections are not held for city council seats. All positions are part time.

Education and health

Wasilla is served by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District. It has four high schools:[37]

In January 2006 a new hospital, Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, opened. It is outside the city limits halfway between Wasilla and its twin town of Palmer.[38]

Transportation

The Glenn Highway connects Wasilla to Anchorage and communities on the Kenai Peninsula, the Glenn, along with the George Parks Highway link the Matanuska Valley to northward to the rest of the state and Canada. The Alaska Railroad serves Wasilla.

The city-owned Wasilla Airport, with a paved 3,700 foot (1,130 m) runway, provides air taxi services.[39] Wasilla also has eight public-use seaplane bases located on area lakes.[40] Private-use air facilities registered with the FAA include 43 land-based airstrips, eight additional seaplane bases, two heliports and one STOLport.[40]

Religion

Notable residents

References

  1. ^ "Table 4: Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Alaska, Listed Alphabetically: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007" (CSV). 2007 Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. June 21, 2006. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  2. ^ Alaska Economic Trends. Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) |url=http://state.ak.us/trends/}}
  3. ^ "Wasilla History". City of Wasilla. 9/23/2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ a b Hollander, Zaz (June 29, 2005). "Archaeological dig perplexes; Trapper Creek: Team from Nevada didn't discover what it had been expecting". Anchorage Daily News. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Palmer History". Palmer Museum of History and Art. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  6. ^ "About Knik". Wasilla Knik Historical Society. March, 2006. Retrieved 2008-10-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "About Wasilla, Alaska". Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce. 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  8. ^ "Wasilla: Community Overview". Community Database Online. Alaska Division of Community Advocacy. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
  9. ^ Orth, Donald Orth (1967). Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 567. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  10. ^ "Visitors: What's the Climate Like?". City of Wasilla, Alaska. August 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-01. Agriculture and natural resources sustained growth and the city was incorporated in 1974.
  11. ^ §29.04.010 and §29.04.030 of the Alaska Code, accessed 2008-10-23.
  12. ^ "The 1994 Elections: State by State; West". The New York Times. November 10, 1994. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  13. ^ "Alaska's 1994 General Election Results Summary". Alaska Division of Elections, State of Alaska. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  14. ^ Alaska Economic Trends (PDF). Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. January 2003.
  15. ^ a b D'Oro, Rachel (January 10, 2008). "Warming Forces Iditarod Changes". Fox News. Associated Press. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Dilanian, Ken and Matt Kelley (September 12, 2008). "Palin's town used to bill victims for rape kits". USA Today. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Palin's town billed rape victims to get evidence". Associated Press. September 12, 2008. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Text "author-Pemberton, Mary" ignored (help)
  18. ^ Bryson, George (September 11, 2008). "Ex-Gov. Knowles, Ketchikan mayor say Palin misleads". Anchorage Daily News. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Mayor Dianne Keller. "Billing of sexual assault victims for forensic exams". City of Wasilla.
  20. ^ "Wasilla, Alaska Benefited from Nearly $27 Million in Earmarks from 1996 to 2002". Taxpayers for Common Sense. September 2, 2008.
  21. ^ a b Conason, Joe (September 9, 2008). "The Fairy Tale of Palin the Reformer". New York Observer.
  22. ^ "Knik Arm Bridge And Toll Authority".
  23. ^ "Preliminary Regional Connection Rout Concepts" (PDF). Knik Arm Bridge And Toll Authority.
  24. ^ Hulse, Carl (November 17, 2005). "Two 'Bridges to Nowhere' Tumble Down in Congress". New York Times.
  25. ^ http://qenaga.org/placenames.html
  26. ^ a b "Community Profile: At Work". city of Wasilla, Alaska. July 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  27. ^ "Census Of Population And Housing". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
  28. ^ "Wasilla, Alaska". Census 2000 Demographic Profile Highlights. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
  29. ^ "Wasilla city, Alaska - Population Finder - American FactFinder". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  30. ^ Interview Neil Fried, AK DOL economist @ 907 269-4861
  31. ^ labor.state.ak.us/trends/
  32. ^ http://labor.state.ak.us/trends/jan03.pdf
  33. ^ labor.state.ak.us/trends/
  34. ^ "About Us". Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  35. ^ "North American Hockey League: Alaska Avalanche". OurSportsCentral.com. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  36. ^ Wohlforth, Charles (August 29, 2008). "Dispatch From Alaska: Palin? Really?". The New Republic. Retrieved 2008-08-30. I had written a Frommer's travel guidebook about Alaska (I live in Anchorage and was on the Municipal Assembly here at the time). In the book, I frankly described Wasilla as a place to skip, "the worst kind of suburban sprawl of highway-fronting shopping malls and gravel lots."
  37. ^ "High School Listings". Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District. Retrieved 2008-09-02.
  38. ^ "Our History". Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  39. ^ Airport page at city of Wasilla web site. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  40. ^ a b List of air facilities in Wasilla from AirNav. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  41. ^ "About us". Wasilla Assembly of God.
  42. ^ Thornburgh, Nathan (September 2, 2008). "Mayor Palin: A Rough Record". Time.
  43. ^ "Main page". Wasilla Sacred Heart Parish.
  44. ^ Representative Wes Keller (August 27, 2008). "Tundra Creator Honored as Alaska's Cartoon Laureate" (Press release). Alaska State Legislature's House Majority. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  45. ^ Gardner, Alan (May 24, 2008). "Chad Carpenter wins Newspaper Panel Award". The Daily Cartoonist. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  46. ^ Richardson, Jeff (February 8, 2008). "'Tundra' cartoonist finds success in unexpected places". Fairbanks Daily News Miner. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  47. ^ Demer, Lisa (October 31, 2007). "Kohring neither defiant nor remorseful". Retrieved 2007-11-03. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |news= ignored (|newspaper= suggested) (help)
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