When most people think of Alaska, there are probably a few things that spring to their minds: unbeatable natural beauty, frigid temperatures, bears—and did you know that you can see Russia from there?

Actually, no, you can’t. Clearly, these people aren’t actually from Alaska, because if they were, words like adventure, fun, and excitement would spring to mind (as well as beauty, of course.) Here at the Movoto Real Estate Blog we are all about spreading the gospel of what states are actually like. So today, we’re taking a look at the most exciting places in The Last Frontier State, because, sparsely-populated though it is, there are places here that are actually quite thrilling.

The most exciting of those places? These 10, starting with our winner, Ketchikan:

1. City of Ketchikan
2. City of Fairbanks
3. City of Wasilla
4. City of Palmer
5. City of Kodiak
6. City of Homer
7. CDP of College
8. CDP of Badger
9. City of Bethel
10. City of Kenai

To find out how we came up with this list and what makes each of these places more exciting than the rest, just keep reading.

How We Created This Ranking

Just like our other Big Deal Lists, we started this exciting journey with a visit to the U.S. Census website in order to make a list of all of the places in the state with populations of 5,000 people or more.

Then, we used the 2010 U.S. Census and business listings to research each place according to the following eight criteria:

• Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy, etc.)
• Live music venues per capita
• Active life options per capita (parks, outdoor activities, etc.)
• Arts and Entertainment per capita (movie theaters, festivals, galleries, theaters, etc.)
• Fast Food restaurants per capita (the fewer the better)
• Percentage of restaurants that are not fast food (the higher the better)
• Percentage of young residents ages 18 to 34 (the higher the better)
• Population density (the higher the better)

Next, we ranked each of our 22 places with a score from one to 22, according to the above criteria, where the lower the number, the more exciting the place. We averaged these rankings into an overall Big Deal Score, where, again, the lowest score was our most exciting place.

If you’d like to see more than just these top 10, you can head down to the bottom of the post for a look at all 22 places. Otherwise, grab your warmest wooly socks, because we’re heading to our winners to see just what make them so exciting.

Uh, your virtual wooly socks, that is.

1. Ketchikan

Ketchikan may not be the largest of cities in Alaska, but with 1,850 people per square mile, it was easily the most densely-populated in the state. This compact little city was not just filled with people, but young people to boot—24.11 percent of residents were between 18 and 34.

So what does a lot of young people mean? Well, here in Ketchikan it meant the second most nightlife options, the fourth most music venues, the third most active life, and best of all, the most arts listings per capita in the state.

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  Alaska, moveto.com, places, top 10, top ten