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On land, people rent a two-bedroom apartment for an average of $1,021 a month. The average monthly mortgage payment is from $1,700 to $1,900.

On the water, people pay their monthly liveaboard fee of $45 and a moorage fee based on the length of the boat. The monthly moorage fee for a 32-foot-long boat is $89.

The cost of the boat itself and monthly payments vary widely. Liveaboards often run from $25,000 to $90,000, but some people have bought boats for a few hundred dollars and others have invested in high-end vessels that run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Jodee Goldsberry, a service center manager of JRC The Alaska Club, has lived on a boat with her husband and son for a year and half.

About 100 Juneau families live in boats - half of them at Aurora, the city's largest downtown harbor. The liveaboards account for 8 percent of Juneau's harbor users.

"A wide spectrum of people live in the harbor," said Juneau Harbormaster Lou McCall, who himself lives on a 58-foot-long yacht at Aurora with his miniature schnauzer.

"Some people can afford to live on land but prefer to live on the water," McCall said. "Some choose to live in a boat because rental is very expensive and hard to find. Some people don't have a choice. They buy a derelict vessel and move in just to have a roof over their head."

Goldsberry and her husband, Erik, live on a boat because it facilitates a simple lifestyle. They built their own boat, the Blue Heron.

"We don't buy as much," Goldsberry said. "We don't want to deal with shoveling snow on the sidewalks."

But she said she and her husband eventually want to buy a piece of land and build a house themselves.

"Probably not in Juneau, partly because it is too expensive here," Goldsberry said.

Pete and J. Frank have lived on their 44-foot-long power scow, the Chad, for 25 years. During the first few years, the couple looked at houses on the market once in a while.

"We called it a reality check," J. Frank said. "We checked out the houses on the market and we came back and felt our boat was the most affordable place."

Unwilling to buy a tiny piece of property in Juneau, the Franks pursued their American dream in Canada. Last year, the Franks bought a cabin in Tagish, Yukon, where they plan to move after Pete retires from the city's harbor office.

For some, living on a boat is a lifestyle.

McCall has lived on a boat for 13 years. Before moving to Alaska, he lived in a five-bedroom house in Bellevue, Wash. When his wife died, he sold the house and moved into his boat.

"I can afford to live on land but there is no way I want to mow grass," McCall said. "I like the people and the ability to get away when I want to. It is a very comfortable and relaxing life."

McCall said he travels in his yacht to go crabbing, fishing, hunting or just to get away from the dock and relax.

"You take your house along with you," McCall said. "You don't forget anything.

Goldsberry said living on a boat allows her to be close to nature.

She has a 360-degree water view from her houseboat. Her windows frame Juneau's waterfront life with boats, yachts and birds bathed in glittering reflections. The waves are lullabies to her 6-year-old son, Fu Bao.

Despite the mobility and beautiful view, boats demand constant upkeep.

"You learn to be a carpenter, a plumber, an electrician and a welder," Pete Frank said. "If you have someone else work on your boat, you'd better have a lot of money."

McCall recently spent $5,000 replacing the prow of his yacht. He has been sanding the prow and the sides so he can apply primer and the final coat.

"Anything related to a boat is expensive," McCall said. He bought the yacht in 1996 for $237,000. "You get a gallon of high-end house paint for $30-something. I spend $200 a gallon on the high-end bottom paint for my yacht."

"It doesn't pay to go cheap on the boat," McCall said. "The environment is corrosive with the sun, wind, snow and salt water."

"There are definitely pros and cons on living in a boat," Goldsberry said. "The cons include carrying groceries up and down the ramp, no yard to work on your bike and no garage to store your things. And you never know where you are going to park. But this is our best choice."