We just got back from a 9-day vacation to Alaska. You can't throw a stone in Alaska without hitting an airstrip, and that's saying a lot! The population distribution up there is such that if the residents were evenly spaced across the state, there would be more than a mile between any two people, and yet the aircraft ownership rate is one per every six people. Of course, flightseeing is a huge tourism business (Husband circled Denali at 20,000' and will post some of his video footage soon...), and there are the bush pilots who provide the only deliveries to many of the remote communities, and the hikers and mountain climbers in many cases have to be dropped off by air for some of the adventures.
We had never seen brick-and-mortar airplane parts stores, but driving down the road next to either airport in Anchorage proved that they exist and that it's a viable business up there! Plenty of spots advertised "Learn to Fly Here!" and servicing and even a neon sign with a phone number for medicals (as compared to Williamsburg, VA, where some research must be done to locate a doctor who can do this).
There were lots of float planes, as well as planes with skis and/or plump tundra tires. Drivers approaching the Ted Stevens International Airport terminals in Anchorage would do well to keep their eyes open for small aircraft traffic as well -- at least one taxiway crosses the road, just like a normal vehicle crossroad!
A neat park along the water on the southwestern (I think) side of Anchorage gives a nice spot to see land-based GA planes coming and going, sea-based GA planes coming and going, and the big boys (commercial cargo and passenger) roaring through the air. (Earthquake Park, it is called, for reasons unrelated to the engine sounds above, although an observer can feel the 777s as they climb out!)
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