A town of about 200 people, almost all of whom live in the same building
W00h! I grew up in Whittier, AK.  Ask me Anything!  Haha, seriously, I moved to Whittier at the age of 2 in 1974 and lived there until 1986.<p>The big change there since I left has been the tunnel.  When I was there you had to drive your car up onto a railroad flatcar (and pay a steep ticket price) to get out.  Anchorage is only 55 miles away, but really it's two mountains away.  The railroad sold passenger service only as a requirement of the state and prioritized it behind freight. Between that, avalanches and assorted weather problems, you could wait hours and hours for a train.  Winter service wasn't even daily, back then.  We didn't even have cable.  Just PBS and one channel that mixed shows from the three big networks.  It was strange.<p>Yes, most residents live in one big 14 story high-rise in rural Alaska.<p>I most definitely do not miss it.  I recommend this book if you want more info:<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578331919/" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/dp/1578331919/</a>