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Valley Area Information, Alaska

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough (usually shortened to Mat-Su Borough) is just north of the Municipality of Anchorage and is about the size of the state of Illinois. The Mat-Su Valley is located in the Mat-Su Borough. Both are named after the Matanuska and Susitna Rivers. The Matanuska Valley, or Mat Valley, is where the cities of Palmer and Wasilla are located. The Mat Valley is usually what people mean when they refer to "the Valley."

For the past few years, the Valley has been the fastest-growing area in the state of Alaska. Most people in the Valley live in the area we refer to as the "Valley Core" area. If you were to draw an oval that included Palmer and Wasilla it would pretty much represent the Valley Core Area. There are about 40-50,000 people that live in the Valley Core area and about 20,000 of them commute to Anchorage for work. For most Valley commuters it's a 40 to 60 minute trip each way.

Unlike Anchorage, the Valley has a lot of available land for growth. As a result land prices are typically lower than those in the Anchorage and Eagle River areas. Around the eastern part of the Valley you'll see a lot of open agricultural property that was cleared in the 1940s & 50s when the Palmer area was first colonized. If you go down toward Point McKenzie you'll find more recent agricultural development.

Another prominent feature of the Valley is water. We have many lakes and streams and three large rivers. The Valley core area has four lakes over a mile in length and many more large enough to accomodate a floatplane. The Matanuska, the Knik and the Little Susitna Rivers are in or near the core area as well as many smaller streams and creeks. The mighty Big Susitna River and its tributaries are in the western part of the Mat-Su Borough and accessible by road, floatplane or riverboat.

For many years the Valley has been considered Anchorage's playground. Nowadays, it's home for many South-Central Alaskans who love the rural lifestyle the Valley offers. So if you have the need for space and don't like small yards, the Valley might be the right place for you!