There are few cities of any size and few football teams. I saw on the news that Ketchikan High School was going to play Barrow (Utqiagvik now). I thought the distance was a bit much to travel to play a high school football game. The distance they have to travel is 1331 miles (2141 km). That is roughly the equivalent of flying from Chicago to Miami, Florida or London to Naples. That makes for a very expensive high school sports program. When I moved to Alaska near the Bering Sea, an acquaintance asked me to stop in to visit his friend in Skagway. That was like asking someone in Chicago to visit a person in Baltimore...and no roads much of the way. Here is what Alaska looks like superimposed on the Lower 48: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/ak/technical/dma/nrcs142p2_035899/ Almost 2 1/2 times the size of Texas with more coastline than the entire remainder of the U.S. The map has blue lines on it, which are the major rivers, a main transportation system before air travel.
I agree! When I was a teenager my stepfather subscribed to Alaska magazine. I was always fascinated when I read articles about people of average means flying airplanes from place to place as part of a normal routine. I suppose it comes down to different priorities and different needs. For me, stories about life in remote areas or Alaska or life in midtown Manhattan seem a little odd compared to my quiet little life. It is always fun/interesting for me to get a glimpse of how other folks live and what is considered normal for them.
Maybe with global warming....oops, I mean climate change, some of our citizens in overcrowded cities can move to Alaska. Looks like there is plenty of room.
We'll see @Shirley Martin. Perhaps it will get warmer...and let all the riff-raff in. Now the less hardy folks are kept at bay by the weather and the transportation difficulties.