Bakken area of North Dakota

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Anyone here live there or familiar with the area?  Is it as desolate as it might appear aside from the oil fields or is there a reasonable amount of commerce/restaurants/public services in those small towns?

[irishpad]

I live about 200 miles east of the Bakken.   Pre-oil boom (and probably still) there are only three towns over 10,000 people (Williston, Dickenson & Minot which is near the Bakken), and not many more over 5,000.   So it is a low population area.   Some grain farming but that is a gamble since they can have very dry years.  Mostly grazing / haying land.    Large rolling hills.   Some coal mining.   

During the oil boom, many "man camps" set up in the those smaller rural towns.   Outside of those larger towns, commerce, restaurants, etc. are quite limited.  

The fluctuating population is a strain the whole area.   In the late 70's, early 80's there was boom (not as large as the recent one) and they tried to meet the needs of that population with expanded schools, etc. and then when the population quickly went down, these communities were fiscally over extended.   With the recent boom, they tried to be prudent and not expand those services too quickly, but the population grew so fast they had to go faster than they wanted.    Once again, the population has dropped quickly and they are now beginning to struggle again.    

The up side is that the state is producing over 1,000,000 barrels a day now so they have a more solid foundation due to the income generated through the tax on the oil production.   

[Deleted]

Who would have thought that area would become one of the most expensive places to live in the country?  

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Apr 20, 2018 19:39:13 GMT -5 irishpad said:

I live about 200 miles east of the Bakken.   Pre-oil boom (and probably still) there are only three towns over 10,000 people (Williston, Dickenson & Minot which is near the Bakken), and not many more over 5,000.   So it is a low population area.   Some grain farming but that is a gamble since they can have very dry years.  Mostly grazing / haying land.    Large rolling hills.   Some coal mining.   

During the oil boom, many "man camps" set up in the those smaller rural towns.   Outside of those larger towns, commerce, restaurants, etc. are quite limited.  

The fluctuating population is a strain the whole area.   In the late 70's, early 80's there was boom (not as large as the recent one) and they tried to meet the needs of that population with expanded schools, etc. and then when the population quickly went down, these communities were fiscally over extended.   With the recent boom, they tried to be prudent and not expand those services too quickly, but the population grew so fast they had to go faster than they wanted.    Once again, the population has dropped quickly and they are now beginning to struggle again.    

The up side is that the state is producing over 1,000,000 barrels a day now so they have a more solid foundation due to the income generated through the tax on the oil production.   

Thank you.  This is very helpful information.  

[chapeau]

My brother used to live in Williston. The federal government closed the office where he worked because they couldn’t get staff—nowhere for them to live.
There is an airport at Minot, but I think you had to fly to either Denver or Minneapolis, it’s been a while so I can’t remember the details. I know he really liked it when he first moved there, and had mixed feelings about leaving. I do seem to remember him griping about the bird-sized mosquitoes, if your son will be headed there this summer.

[hoops902]

There is a small airport in Minot, I've only ever been able to get there from a connecting in Minneapolis. Minot is an ok-sized town with some commerce/restaurants/etc. Doesn't seem to be much around though. An in-law lives in the area, and seems to be very pleased with the fact that there isn't much going on in the area, and that it's relatively desolate.

[muttleynfelix]

There is an air force base in Minot. My cousin is stationed there. She likes it better than her last station, but that is on a work level. It is an 8 hr drive to Minneapolis (civilization). 😎

[Artemis Windsong]

Is this for someone going to Williston for work?  The oil field will be picking up as the price of oil increases.  Trying to find a place to live can be a challenge and the costs are higher than NYC.

The last downturn in the oil field was a nightmare.  People abandoned campers and RVs leaving everything behind.  Someone had to clean up the mess.  A lot of the motels/hotels were infested. 

Not everyone who went to Williston found work.  There were a lot of homeless sneaking into anyplace they could find to sleep.  A lot of crime that law enforcement couldn't keep up with.  Cops did a segment on Williston.  Another TV program did one on the drug traffic but I don't remember what the name was. 

My son does carpentry and will never take work in Williston again. 

The people who made out on this were the ones who sold their houses at premium prices and moved south.  Or rented their land for campers.  A lot of people lived elsewhere and worked on a rotation.

When we moved to ND during the 80s boom in oil, most everyone who moved in faced some kind of discrimination.  The state Project Backhome promoted that because the young people were heading out of state for work.  The project wanted the ND kid to have the job.  I'm out of the work force so I have no idea what is going on there.

I won't give a rosey look to NW ND.