If you could catch a flight from the closest major airport to Santa's home in the North Pole, you would have to depart from Fairbanks, Alaska. Yet if a trek to the Geographic North Pole sounds a bit daunting, you cam always visit the 'City of North Pole' – a ten-mile drive southeast of Fairbanks. Actually, the City of North Pole is a 'jolly good' alternative.
City of North Pole
This scenic town with more than 2,200 residents is known as the place "where the spirit of Christmas lives year round." The City of North Pole offers year-round Christmas decorations, seasonal street names, and light poles decked in a candy cane motif. There is even a Santa Claus Lane with three consecutive traffic circles within a quarter mile.
The world-famous Santa Claus House is the most popular attraction in this northern town. Even mailing a letter takes on a whole new meaning in this festive city. Mail postcards from the U.S. Post Office and your family and friends – young and old – will have the pleasure of receiving mail from North Pole, Alaska. (Holiday tip – Santa's zip code is 99705.)
No doubt, the City of North Pole is the perfect place for a holiday visit or stopover at any time of year. Yet this holiday town is a year round home for many people. A huge part of the town's claim to fame is its proximity to Santa Claus but the City of North Pole is also a primary energy center.
The city is home to two oil refineries and the largest electricity-producing generator in the Interior of Alaska. As well, the community is situated between two military bases - Ft. Wainwright and Eielson AFB. More than 30,000 people live in the 'Greater North Pole' area and this small town serves as the commercial hub in this northern region.
North Pole Home Sales
If you want to live near Santa year-round, expect to pay in the range of $221,000 (average listing price). A few area homes are selling in the $150,000 range (or even for lower prices). Other houses are priced closer to $300,000.
Within Santa's zip code (99705), last week's average listing price was $221,952 (a .3% increase). Actually, Santa's zip code was the most popular zip code for the second week before Christmas. That number is not a surprising statistic as Christmas nears and people want to get closer to Santa Claus.
Currently, there are 182 resale and new homes in North Pole listed at a real estate website. Even though the City of North Pole has a festive theme, the town cannot escape all the realities of modern life. Of course, foreclosures do not represent a significant percentage of North Pole home sales. Seven out of the 182 homes for sale, however, involved houses in pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process.
Yet whatever the roadblock, the City of North Pole, Alaska, seems to be conducive to keeping up one's spirits and, eventually, finding the right direction. After all, Santa has been doing that for centuries – and it is his neighborhood, too.
Would You Like To Live In North Pole, Alaska?