For 20 years, Rick Goodfellow ran Ghost Tours of Anchorage. In his trademark top hat, he led groups of mostly tourists through downtown, telling ghost stories and teaching local history.
“That last August experience, I realized, it’s gotten worse, it’s going to continue to get worse,” Goodfellow said. “Would I want to come on this tour? What am I doing here?” “Most people behave as they believe other people expect them to behave,” Goodfellow said. “And they will push the rules a little until they get slapped. For whatever reason, downtown Anchorage has become very permissive.”Stan and Scott Selman are co-owners of the longtime Downtown Anchorage restaurant Club Paris.
“I had four girls walk in the restaurant, dressed to the nines,” he said. “First thing out of this woman’s mouth, ‘Somebody shit in your doorway.’ How are we supposed to manhandle that?” She said the Anchorage Police Department recently reinstituted a downtown foot patrol to improve public safety.