The world’s full of interesting oddities, whether natural or man-made. No doubt, those traveling or generally interested in the various geographical locations around the world will agree that a lifetime isn’t enough to discover everything that the world has to offer. But you can always try.
A TikTok video showcasing one of the more interesting towns in Alaska has started making rounds on the internet. Namely, a town where practically everyone lives in one building.
More Info: TikTok
While the world is full of oddities, this one certainly takes the cake as there's a town where almost every resident lives in the same building
Image credits: messy.nessy
So, TikToker @livvontheedge posted a video pointing out how there’s a town in Alaska called Whittier. But the former military town is a town like no other as almost everyone lives in a single block of flats.
That alone drew the attention of the internet, but it got better when a young lady named Jenessa (@messy.nessy), who actually lives in that building, stitched her video and provided more context.
TikToker Jenessa happens to be living in that building and gave the inside scoop
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
As it turns out, there are 318 people who live there all year around. In that building, there’s a post office, a church, a store, and a building office, and there’s also a tunnel that leads into the school across the street.
There used to be a clinic in the building, and there is one doctor in the town, but they moved out to another building and there is also an on-call emergency medical service where people volunteer. More serious emergencies are taken to the nearby city of Anchorage.
The town is called Whittier and it's home to 300-something Alaskans
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
Other than that, there’s just one tunnel, spanning 2.5 miles, that connects the town to the rest of the world. Otherwise, you’d have to take a boat, a plane, or a train.
Other facilities include another abandoned building, the manor, which is another apartment building in town, a restaurant, a store, city offices, hotel, harbor, ferry terminal, fish processing plant, and a number of other locations.
Nearly all of its people live in just one apartment block, one of two apartment blocks in the town
Image credits: messy.nessy
You can check out the now viral video and screenshots from other videos below
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
Jenessa explained that the reason why nearly everyone lives in this one building is because nobody can buy property to build a house there because it’s owned by the railroad, but many do own the flats inside the main apartment building, while a small percentage rents.
Since the stitched video came out, it went insanely viral with over 18 million views to date. Many started asking questions about the town, namely asking for detailed tours, asking if the town has a mayor, a hospital, the history of the town, what’s there to do, and, because it’s the internet, asking if this is a cult (spoiler: no).
People were so fascinated to discover this that they started asking loads of questions about it
Image credits: messy.nessy
And Jenessa was more than happy to answer them, turning her TikTok channel into a Q&A deal
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
This has inevitably transformed Jenessa’s TikTok into a Q&A channel where she answers all of the interesting questions people have. Each video’s viewership ranges from a couple hundred thousand to millions of views, and the channel has managed to gain nearly 5 million likes as of this article.
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
Here are some of the more popular questions and answers:
How does anyone find a job? Whittier is a seasonal town, so it closes down for the winter, but during summer there’s a lot going on. Other than that, people can get hired by the city, by the school, the railroad company, the tunnel company, and several other venues.
Is there a mayor or city council? Yes. There are a handful of council members, there are elections into the council, and, as it turns out, Jenessa’s dad is mayor. Also, it’s a totally voluntary job.
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
How does the town deal with the pandemic? Believe it or not, there were several cases, mostly among tourists and seasonal workers, but the town has otherwise managed it quite well and they take extra measures to avoid reintroducing Covid into the now-clean city.
Is food expensive? Yes, but many do their shopping in bulk by simply traveling to nearby Anchorage. However, if there’s something that anyone forgot to buy on one of their rounds to the bigger city, they simply pop down to one of the local stores.
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
Image credits: messy.nessy
You can check out the rest of the videos on Jenessa’s TikTok channel. But before you go, let us know what you thought about this in the comment section below!