Sorry, should've said where we were, huh? Ketchikan. Sadly, nearly all of the towns economic base has gone from self-sustaining (logging and commercial fisheries) to dependence on tourism. Every day the huge cruise ships line up & disgorge thousands of passengers who then go on four hour tours - kayaking, sportfishing, floatplane/glacier tours, even 'working' on a commercial crab vessel. Many more just go sightseeing in town or shopping. When you get right down to it, even the serious fishermen and hunters are still just tourists.

The point of all this is that Ketchikan and many other small Alaskan towns only survive because of tourism dollars. I would love to live there year-round, but would prefer to have a viable economic means of supporting myself.