Why I live where I live: 14 Alaskans tell their stories

What makes a place a home?

The question is more complicated than it first seems.

"Why we live where we live often changes over time," writes Homer writer Miranda Weiss, introducing our collection of essays on this topic.

And perhaps nowhere is that question more relevant than in Alaska.

So we asked 14 writers from across Alaska to try to answer a question all of us will ask at some point in our lives: Why do I live where I live?

Their responses are as rich and varied as the state we call home:

1. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/stampede-road-smelling-north/
2. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/unalakleet-so-many-connections/
3. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/mccarthy-birds-and-bush-planes/
4. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/tenakee-springs-a-happy-compromise/
5. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/anchorage-gift-of-diversity/
6. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/slana-the-homecoming/
7. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/kodiak-a-generous-town/
8. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/utqiagvik-flying-home-to-utqiagvik/
9. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/seward-reverential-peaks/
10. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/fairbanks-sky-magic/
11. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/dutch-harbor-austere-and-voluptuous/
12. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/gustavus-turn-your-watches-back/
13. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/nome-beautiful-yet-dysfunctional/
14. /alaska-life/we-alaskans/2017/01/25/haines-shared-roots/