Ketchikan also has paid crossing guards, sidewalks, crosswalks, dock facilities, local police and many other amenities that Talkeetna lacks. Unlike Talkeetna, Ketchikan is incorporated (and has been since 1900) and has a rather high sales tax that it uses to offset the impact of "industrial tourism." The population of the city is more like 8000 (about 13000 people live in the Borough). Certainly many of the same complains lodged against MSB, can, and have, been levied against both the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and the City of Ketchikan, and taxes are in general higher than in Talkeetna, yet the issues that Holly Sheldon and others have been addressed and fixed in Ketchikan.

Perhaps Ketchikan should be seen as a model for Talkeetna?