Take a moment. Close your eyes. Say it out loud: “Alaska.” In your mind, what do you see? Probably all sorts of spectacular and far-flung scenes: snow-capped peaks and polar bears and blue glaciers and spouting whales. Because the 49th state is definitely a place that comes alive in our collective imagination.

And Anchorage is the largest urban center on The Last Frontier, with a population of almost 300,000 (which, for the record, is almost 40 percent of all the people living in this huge state). Walking down the numbered streets downtown, passing bars and restaurants and even a mall, you could believe you’re taking a stroll in any other midsize American city.