I’ve been to that town. The tunnel is for trains and motor vehicle traffic, but is a single lane. They alternate the flow of traffic (every 30 minutes I think), closing it down whenever a train is set to traverse the tunnel. It was really cool! There is a tiny fishing settlement there too and I’ve taken a glacier cruise from the port.

In the 1990s I was a volunteer for a group called NetDay Alaska. We were telecom/computer cabling professionals who helped install Internet access to bush Alaska schools and health clinics. One of those trips was to Whittier. Our group stayed in the Begich Towers and I remember walking through the tunnel to the school. Thanks for bringing back some fond memories.

Shout out to all my SimCity peeps! I have actually been in Begich towers, back in the 1980s. Thanks for the great video, Simon and Team!! Re: the pastel paint job - Before the new paint, that building looked like a Stalin-era apartment block plopped down in the middle of the beautiful Alaskan landscape. Now it looks like any other 90s government building in Alaska.

Omg I’ve wanted to live here for the last 5years. My fiancée said we could do it- but only for a year max; she hates the cold, I frigging love it. My fan stays on all year round, even in winter 😂 and we live in London. I don’t understand how she hates the cold, she’s from New York, their winters are way worse than ours (and she’s only lived here for a few years permanently) 🤷🏽‍♀️ Right now it’s about 14°C outside, my fan is on Max and I’m in bed only using a top sheet... she’s next to me under a 14tog Duvet 😂

@r.travisbrazelton7941

Жыл бұрын

I have a 2 bedroom condo available that we just acquired. It can be arranged!

There's something like this in Quebec, Canada. The town of Fermont has a housing complex called “The Wall” that is used to block high winds from people living in the area behind the complex. Pretty cool place, maybe a future video? ;)

@theemissary1313

3 жыл бұрын

A Canadian colleague mentioned this to me when we were talking about a place called Byker Wall, basically a long block of flats here in Newcastle UK. Canadian wall sounds better.

@AvoidTheCadaver

3 жыл бұрын

Beyond are the White walkers

Before I even clicked this video all I could think of was SimCity 2000. Such a great game, my childhood

@15SACREFLYER

3 жыл бұрын

i thought it was lindybeige🤦

@jonnda

3 жыл бұрын

Did you ever try Sim Tower?

@A._is_for

3 жыл бұрын

You and me, same page *slaps script

@samsamson391

3 жыл бұрын

Same. But they were my college days. I had no idea this even exists.

@james8449100

3 жыл бұрын

Did you ever manage to get them to launch into spce

Canada has an Arcology called the MEGA, it's the Canadian Forces Recruit School in Quebec, I lived there for 8 months, Fascinating living in 1 building 2 kilometres long with everything including, theater, shops, library, dining, sports, swimming, night club, party rooms... the list goes on and on!

Imagine a political drama or a crime/mystery show set in a building like that. I'd watch the shit out of that.

@svennoren9047

3 жыл бұрын

In winter. With the tunnels blocked off by an avalanche. And the harbour by an iceberg.

@IJustWantToUseMyName

3 жыл бұрын

Can you imagine what would happen if Jessica Fletcher or Miss Marple lived there?

@dude-jk2hn

3 жыл бұрын

it could be similar to the office drama.

@spookerd

3 жыл бұрын

So.... Deep Space Nine?

@SeanTheOriginal

3 жыл бұрын

@@spookerd ... Shit, that _is_ just like DS9. I knew the idea seemed familiar, just couldn't place it.

I’m reminded of “oath of Fealty”, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. . . a story in which the Arcology was a main player.

@none3763

3 жыл бұрын

my first thought also. second thought is i need to revisit them, as niven & pournelle wrote superb sci-fi and it's 30 years since i read them.

@Beryllahawk

3 жыл бұрын

Same here, must go find that again

I lived in Anchorage for 3 years but never went to Whittier. Now I wish I had. The whole state is stunningly beautiful.

In Québec, the city of Fermont has something similar : a 1300 metres long, 25 metres high building where all municipal services are housed, along with 350 housing units and everything else needed to live. It protects the rest of the city from strong winds from the North.

As a fellow Alaskan, we're a weird bunch. It takes something special to brave these winters.

Thank you for doing one in Alaska! I have been to Whittier many times it's really beautiful and yes they really all do live in that tower!

It gets higher than 50 degrees in the summer!

@offcenterconcepthaus

3 жыл бұрын

Yep. Hiked over there many times. Much warmer.

@0311Mushroom

3 жыл бұрын

I agree, spent a fair amount of time there.

@gliderpt777

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, easily hits over 70 in the summer. I live in Anchorage and visit Whittier several times every summer.

@emmie657

3 жыл бұрын

50 degrees Fahrenheit or celcius?

It is so cool to see Alaska featured on here and to have gotten to see Whittier myself two years ago; the tunnel would be a awesome side project subject too, it was so surreal driving through a tunnel like that; I’ve been through other ones that were bored through parts of mountains but not ones like that.

@ladymopar2024

3 жыл бұрын

I remember when the railroad built that it would spook a lot of people

@LordOfNihil

3 жыл бұрын

i went when the railroad was still in, not really that spooky. but ive only been there once, currently live in petersburg down in the south east.

@ladymopar2024

3 жыл бұрын

@@LordOfNihil I remember when the guys from the railroad built the tunnel they would stay at our hotel, some of the guys were creeped out cuz it was so dark building it

@LordOfNihil

3 жыл бұрын

@@ladymopar2024 i don't recall the tunnel being very well lit, at least it wasn't when i went through. they probably improved the lighting when they replaced the rails with the roadway. of course i haven't seen it in its current form.

@ladymopar2024

3 жыл бұрын

@@LordOfNihil yes it is very well lit now, but some of the guys got creeped out when they were building it. It is the longest tunnel that you can't see from end-to-end so we can boast that

1:00 - Chapter 1 - Origins 3:50 - Chapter 2 - The town under one roof 6:10 - Chapter 3 - Life the towers

As my father was stationed there, my 1959 school picture was taken there, and it says Whittier, Alaska. We received our mail addressed to Port of Whittier, not Camp Sullivan. My family and I lived in the Hodge Building as it was already set up with many 2 and 3 bedroom apartments, and at that time if we needed any medical treatment there was a clinic in the Buckner we used, that is also where we did our grocery shopping, went bowling, and went to the theater.

I live about 2 hours from this place, Whittier is a really cool place but don't get stuck out there overnight, it CAN happen

Rideau Canal and or the St Lawrence Seaway, please.

@MutantHippieGaming

3 жыл бұрын

One of Canada's greatest engineers. Constructing a 200km canal, and the entire history of "Bytown" now Ottawa is truly fascinating. Bytown, the Mos Eisley of Canada :)

@joeblow9657

3 жыл бұрын

yes

Fun fact: when i first moved to alaska in 1990, the great alaska earthquake's magnitude was 8.9. Over the years, it became a 9.2, stepping up over the years.

@NajwaLaylah

3 жыл бұрын

At what point does it increase, in retrospect, to an ELE (Extinction Level Event)?

Hi Simon can you please do a sideprojects on the Peterborough lift lock in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada? I believe it is the oldest man made lift lock.

@masaharumorimoto4761

3 жыл бұрын

Word!

@ZacJ

3 жыл бұрын

I like how most of the top comments are for canadian places :D

@agentcooper497

3 жыл бұрын

Not quite the oldest. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anderton_Boat_Lift

@drewmcauley8725

3 жыл бұрын

@@agentcooper497 Thanks for the information, really interesting to know about this place!

@--_DJ_--

3 жыл бұрын

@@agentcooper497 We do it a bit different in my neck of the woods. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Chute_Marine_Railway

I understand that there is an apartment building in Greenland that houses 1% of the entire country’s population, but I don’t know much more than that. Might be interesting to look into.

@Bubbaist

3 жыл бұрын

@@neonpowar3766 Good point. But it's remarkable that so few people live there!

"Oath of Fealty" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

I visited the town and drove thru the tunnel. Lots of shops by the docks during the summer and many live in the tower during the visitor season.

I literally searched this on KZread the other day to see if you had a video on it and now you do! Perfect!

It's 4am and I'm sitting here having a cuppa as I learn yet again something new from Simon and his crew.

@sandybarnes887

3 жыл бұрын

Business Blaze Mega Projects Side Projects Top Tenz Today I Found Out Biographics Geographics Highlight History Xplrd Visual Politik EN The Simon Whistler Show I may have missed one. Visual Politk EN is now hosted by someone else. The Simon Whistler Show hasn't had updated content for a while. His new podcast not included.

@branon6565

3 жыл бұрын

AMAC CAMA ...wtf is a cuppa?

@amaccama3267

3 жыл бұрын

@@branon6565 A cuppa is English or Australian slang for a cup of tea or coffee. In my case coffee.

1. Love SimCity 2000. The arcologies were such a great addition to it. I hate that later versions of the game haven’t had them. 2. Loved visiting Whittier during a vacation in Alaska.

Great video. My love for arcologies was also driven my SC2K when I was a kid. Been fascinated ever since.

They do leave the building to go grocery shopping in Anchorage. Some work in fishing, the tunnel, and cruise line; therefore, they need to leave the building.

Thanking you for hosting! 🤩

If you were wondering what happened to the other complex, the Buckner Building, Wikipedia says: "In 2016 the building went into foreclosure and the city assumed ownership. There is now a fence around the building to keep trespassers out. The Whittier Department of Public Works and Public Utilities have done some work. The city would like to maintain it to preserve history but the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation recommends that the building be torn down."

Perhaps those who plan to go to Mars and live in a biosphere should go there during the coldest times when you just cannot go out to see how they cope with it?

@johndododoe1411

3 жыл бұрын

Similarly, information should be gathered from how people have coped with one-way migration on earth. I have heard space people make idle speculation that no humans have ever moved away from everyone like that, which is obviously historically inaccurate.

Suggestion : the Rideau canal in Ottawa, Canada.

@jackbrown3985

3 жыл бұрын

Yes please!

2:09 We have a saying in Alaska, "it's always shitter in Whittier"

Traveled to Whittier last year with a buddy, it's a beautiful place. The drive through the tunnel to get there was so surreal, definitely recommend the trip!

I love this new channel‼️

There’s also Whittier Manor and a few scattered cabins where people live. Otherwise, fun video.

I have a suggestion for both side projects and mega projects. Even better they both relate to each other. Mega projects:- the raid on saint nazaire paired with side projects:- the commando’s. If you feel to switch these around that’s, of course, your more informed perspective. I’m going to try and think of other suggestions for more of your channels. I’m a big fan of side projects, mega projects, TopTenz, today I found out, biographics and geographics. I know you do more and I’m a fan of them too. Cheers for entertaining me and filling my brain with yummy facts.

We Alaskans cherish our weirdness. Whittier is worth a visit if for nothing else than to experience the unique tunnel to get there and an entire town in one building. However, in the summer there are quite a few other small businesses open to book fishing charters and provide food and trinkets to tourists, mostly along the harbor.

I’ve been there many times. Great fishing and snowmachining there.

This is just like our military barracks in Germany. The 1st floor in all of the barracks were offices for different squadrons. Big difference, no elevators. It's just an apartment building or condo, folks.

We go to Whittier for halibut fishing every summer! Great fishing in the prince William sound!

Do the tunnel please. I live in Anchorage and Whittier is so neat.

@carllarsen

3 жыл бұрын

graduated from Service High myself. i love whittier

@akkoyote

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed! Houston high here.

@russyp

3 жыл бұрын

@@akkoyote I went to HHS! What a small world lol

@carllarsen

3 жыл бұрын

@@russyp anchorage didn't have a houston high when i went to school. where is houston high?

@russyp

3 жыл бұрын

@@carllarsen lol I live in Anchorage, but HHS is in Houston out near Wasilla and Big Lake

The building complex Wohnpark Alterlaa in Vienna houses about 9000 people. Could be worth a side project episode.

They recently built a Public Safety Building for Police and Fire. And the boilers were recently replaced. Source: worked for a company involved in both projects.

I'm going there in July! I mean, not because of this video, but I *knew* I had heard of this before. Watched this when it came out and now have to rewatch it to make sure I know what I'm in store for!

I have been there and visited the building. Great people and community. They close down during the winter and the people who stay there have learned to get a long. The only downside is the prices of perishable foods.

I loved playing that too. And tropico 4 danny would love to that. Industry giant is also relaxing

I used to live in Soldotna and my family took a trip to Whittier once. It was so cool

@quinnzyker6521

3 жыл бұрын

Man I miss living there

Thank you

you need to do a casual criminalist or decoding the unknown on Mark Begich because his story is very interesting full of Alaskan wilderness and the mob. please and thanks!

THis building misses a very important criterium for an archology. Autarchy. They aren't self-sufficient, having jobs elsewhere and (probably) importing food. Still an interesting video.

@kaltaron1284

3 жыл бұрын

@@Darksh0t009 Did you catch the fish inside the building? Is all your food produced inside the building?

@kaltaron1284

3 жыл бұрын

@@Darksh0t009 Wow, didn't expect that. Then my point is moot of course. Except for the jobs but if you can produce enough food in the building then jobs aren't as important.

@danopticon

3 жыл бұрын

Complete self-sufficiency isn’t a criterion for being considered an arcology. Simply having mixed-use developments within a connected complex of buildings, stressing integration with the surrounding environment, while avoiding land waste by developing vertically more than horizontally, is enough. Having schools, government services, residential and commercial spaces, _largely_ within a building complex with shared services, would certainly suffice. For ecological reasons, preferably food would come from nearby, from the surrounding countryside, and not be imported from far away via refrigerated truck… but your apple wouldn’t have to have been grown hydroponically in a building basement: it could simply come from an apple orchard which the arcology overlooks. Montreal’s RESO area could be considered a budding arcology, for instance. It’s too loosely-connected at the moment, but the framework is there. And Chicago’s Marina City from the ’60s, the Bertrand Goldberg building, was meant to be a vertical neighborhood, with offices, homes, a school, grocery stores, and recreation facilities, all under one roof. That’s an early precursor to the idea of arcologies. Really, the main criterion to be considered an arcology is avoiding land waste. A vertical city that frees up surrounding farmland which then feeds the city would be the ideal arcology, no sun lamps or hydroponics required.

@kaltaron1284

3 жыл бұрын

@@danopticon Just checked the wiki and unless I misinterpreted something, self-sufficiency was a requirement in the first SciFi books that dealt with the idea. As it's a tiny bit impractical this was dropped or reduced for modern definitions of arcology projects. So I gues the answer is "It depends." ;-) I was going by the older, stricter definition but if anyone wants the call Begich an arcology that is fine too.

@simonWhistler, I'm not sure if you have already investigated this, but the LADYBLOWER RESERVOIR HOLE looks interesting. LOVE YOUR CHANNELS! Thanks for the great production quality and witty humor. Keep it up!

I heard the rideau canal would be super interesting! Don't forget about the river also!

Fascinating video, I had no idea this place existed.

Good video 👍

Never even heard of this place tyvm for the video.

You really ought to do a Biographics episode on Paolo Soleri, since he basically invented the concept of an arcology.

Fascinating

Was exploring tiny Islands last night and came across Johnston Atoll - would be cool to see a vid on it! It was used as a nuclear test site and Agent Orange is disposed of there I think

So, I bugged the channel on a bunch of videos to do a megaprojects on Arcologies, and this is a pretty great twist on that. Thanks! Still like to see a mega project take on the number of theoretical arcologies out there.

5000 years from now the future equivalent of a university will have a department of physical anthropology dedicated to the study of the remains of one of these buildings. The head of that department will be known then as the "arch-arcological-archaeologist".

I wanna learn way more about this place!

@johnbarber4549

3 жыл бұрын

He pretty much covered it all.

Holy cow I been to this town before!

I’m surprised that you haven’t done a video on the Roman Aqueducts yet. Historical, and a mega project if not a side project. 👍🏻

@leonchevalier

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, Britain has some amazing ones. Always makes me wonder how they built them a couple of thousand years ago 🤔

oooh ive been fascinated by Whittier for ages its so fascinating !! i never knew the building still in use was renamed after Nick Begich though - that whole story is a bizarre and sad debacle. not sure if its quite video material but Simon may find it interesting as the theories behind what might have happened to lose a senator and a congressman on the same 4 person flight are wild and some drift off into mob connections (thanks to Missing In Alaska podcast for that, theyve done some amazing crowd-sourced research on possible leads themselves)

The whistler, legend

Why did it take me so long to hear about a place so isolated - I spent my life living in places with to many (smallest was 125, largest was 280,000) people and where I had t go out to get to work

I played 2000 an awful lot too :) you're not alone

Nice video! Maybe you van do one on the Russian settlement Barentsburg on Spitsbergen too? That's very interesting.

You should consider doing a video about São Paulo , Brazil!

Well written and interesting! Thankfully not about war. WHEW!

Very interesting, would only have liked some pictures/videos from inside.

Simon Whistler, our Boi on the Side!

Can you please cover the English electric lightning attempt 7

You should do a video on the time a merchant cruiser, RMS Carmania encountered her twin- the SMS Cap Trafalgar which had been disguised to look like the Caronia. The then fought a battle against each other.

6:49 I feel like "war hawk" is more a name for a plane than a boat lol

@svennoren9047

3 жыл бұрын

Sounds better than "war grouper" though.

@joeyr7294

3 жыл бұрын

@@svennoren9047 lol very true

Yes simon I love sim city 2000 use to play it pc and playstation 1

The first place that sprung into my mind out from this video was that episode of Blue Peter about Biosphere II (since Simon is a similar age to the author he may even have seen it himself. He might even have built his own biome from a plastic bottle and some sellotape!!) It's well worth a visit if you're ever out in Arizona. I (vaguely) recall the two most interesting conclusions of the experiment was that the human subjects couldn't stand each other by the end of the project and the biomes couldn't be self-sustained.

@spiritofthetime

3 жыл бұрын

The second place that sprung to mind was the arcology depicted in High-rise by J. G. Ballard and particularly the building depicted in the 2015 film derivative. Wholesome.

@dianagoodrich7169

3 жыл бұрын

The builders of Biosphere II suffered severe ignorance of concrete and what happens when it cures. Curing concrete sucks up massive volumes of Oxygen. Which had to be replenished in the Biosphere. I do believe the people suffered "too much togetherness", but hypoxia could have played a role also.

1:17 Alaska wasn't a state in the 40s

@samsamson391

3 жыл бұрын

It was. However it didn't reach STATEHOOD until 1959.

@Hobbes4ever

3 жыл бұрын

@@samsamson391 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska

@samsamson391

3 жыл бұрын

@@Hobbes4ever ...the definition of "state" is quite broad. Even the Vatican is a "state".

i didnt expect a destiny 2 reference in the description

Reminds me of vault life in fallout

Am I the only one who didn't know the definition of arcology, and waited for the host to define it? Which he never did? I have a lot of big words, but not arcology, until now. BTW, as I type this, arcology is underlined in red because Microsoft doesn't recognize it as a word.

@brendakrieger7000

3 жыл бұрын

No, I don't know what it means either.

@LordOfNihil

3 жыл бұрын

from wikipedia: Arcology, a portmanteau of "architecture" and "ecology", is a field of creating architectural design principles for very densely populated, ecologically low-impact human habitats.

@brendakrieger7000

3 жыл бұрын

@@LordOfNihil thanks😊

@dianagoodrich7169

3 жыл бұрын

I appreciate the Wikipedia reference. Paolo Saleri near Phoenix AZ founded Arcosanti, also meant to be an "arcology". [I was disappointed to hear that that community structure was built without any bathrooms -- that certainly tempered my enthusiasm for Soleri's "VISIONARY" status. That is apparently a problem with inexperienced architects. The student union building of a university campus was a winning student design and had that problem in it's blueprint stage. Very capacious bathrooms "his" and "hers" were tucked into the design to make it practical.]

@haroldb1856

3 жыл бұрын

I encountered the term in the novel Oath of Fealty.

Interesting,I never knew ❤️👍🇬🇧

The farming in Alaska is insane

Is there a pub tho?

@jonc-1989

3 жыл бұрын

This guy is asking the real questions. Also, as it's a self contained community would the pub still be open during the pandemic?

Signing in from condo 909!!

I sat this video and thought of Issac Arthur's video on arcologies. I never knew they were anything besides theory.

Places like this are so interesting, just like battleship Island in Japan. And the place in Hong Kong with the highest recorded density

“Social claustrophobia was as common as loneliness.” Damn dude, that cut both too close and too soon.

4:54 love to see pics of this.

This video made me google 2 new words. Arcology and portmanteau..... thanks Simon. Also this reminds me of snow piercer. Or willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. Both of wich have some odd coincidences and a cool fan theory video.

This is some serious bullshit. Simon has like 150 channels and everytime I find a new one I have to subscribe cause the sound of his voice calms me while I go about my daily tasks. Now my boyfriend thinks I'm obsessed cause all he hears all day is Simon

Love these weird one-off stories. Has to odd living in one building, nowhere else to go, fore you're whole life.

Why did the notification for this not reach me for over 3 hours? 🤘

I played that game all the time and still play simcity 4000

Yes

I played so much SIM city 2000! That is awsome!!!

Would have liked more photo or video of the interior.

Thing: exists Simon: 🔎🔎🔎👀👀🧠