North Dakotans UNITE!

[blaundee]

Hubby & I are looking at moving to ND, he was offered a job up in Williston. Neither of us have ever been to ND, I hadn't even seen any pics of it til this week when he got the offer! I understand the winters are cold & rent is HIGH... what else do I need to know about it up there? I imagine being so close to the river, there are a lot of mosquitos & other bugs. Is there a lot of grass? Is the general population friendly, standoffish, cattle growers, city people? I know there's a huge influx in the population due to the oil boom, but how would you describe the people in general? Is it a good place to raise kids? What is the general feeling on homeschooling children?

We are early 30s, and are thinking about starting a family. I will be leaving my parents, sisters, inlaws, horses, goats, sheep, and poultry behind, taking only the one cat & one dog, and hopefully later finding a place to take my 3 horses & 2 of my goats to. I hate to think of moving, and hate to think of leaving my family & critters behind... but its a super job offer. We will likely be in a small apartment for at least the first several months.

As for what I'm used to- I live 2 hours from town, way out in the boonies, so it'll be an adjustment to live in/near town- I lived in town during my college years, but soon after we got married we moved back to our tiny hometown of 200 people... we know how to live in the city, but far prefer the country & no neighbors lol It is around 9% humidity here except for when we get the monsoons in the summer. We are considered "high desert", live over 7000' elevation, and have mountains & a lot of evergreen trees, but not a lot of grass. Water is scarce. We get deep snow, and it lasts all winter, which lasts from Oct to April. We have wonderful summers, though short, and a very short growing season- if you get 80 days, you're blessed! lol The people here are very self reliant, standoffish but helpful if you need them, and deeply religious.

Thanks everyone!

 

[blaundee]

Hubby & I are looking at moving to ND, he was offered a job up in Williston. Neither of us have ever been to ND, I hadn't even seen any pics of it til this week when he got the offer! I understand the winters are cold & rent is HIGH... what else do I need to know about it up there? I imagine being so close to the river, there are a lot of mosquitos & other bugs. Is there a lot of grass? Is the general population friendly, standoffish, cattle growers, city people? I know there's a huge influx in the population due to the oil boom, but how would you describe the people in general? Is it a good place to raise kids? What is the general feeling on homeschooling children?

We are early 30s, and are thinking about starting a family. I will be leaving my parents, sisters, inlaws, horses, goats, sheep, and poultry behind, taking only the one cat & one dog, and hopefully later finding a place to take my 3 horses & 2 of my goats to. I hate to think of moving, and hate to think of leaving my family & critters behind... but its a super job offer. We will likely be in a small apartment for at least the first several months.

As for what I'm used to- I live 2 hours from town, way out in the boonies, so it'll be an adjustment to live in/near town- I lived in town during my college years, but soon after we got married we moved back to our tiny hometown of 200 people... we know how to live in the city, but far prefer the country & no neighbors lol It is around 9% humidity here except for when we get the monsoons in the summer. We are considered "high desert", live over 7000' elevation, and have mountains & a lot of evergreen trees, but not a lot of grass. Water is scarce. We get deep snow, and it lasts all winter, which lasts from Oct to April. We have wonderful summers, though short, and a very short growing season- if you get 80 days, you're blessed! lol The people here are very self reliant, standoffish but helpful if you need them, and deeply religious.

Thanks everyone!

 

[blaundee]

Hubby & I are looking at moving to ND, he was offered a job up in Williston. Neither of us have ever been to ND, I hadn't even seen any pics of it til this week when he got the offer! I understand the winters are cold & rent is HIGH... what else do I need to know about it up there? I imagine being so close to the river, there are a lot of mosquitos & other bugs. Is there a lot of grass? Is the general population friendly, standoffish, cattle growers, city people? I know there's a huge influx in the population due to the oil boom, but how would you describe the people in general? Is it a good place to raise kids? What is the general feeling on homeschooling children?

We are early 30s, and are thinking about starting a family. I will be leaving my parents, sisters, inlaws, horses, goats, sheep, and poultry behind, taking only the one cat & one dog, and hopefully later finding a place to take my 3 horses & 2 of my goats to. I hate to think of moving, and hate to think of leaving my family & critters behind... but its a super job offer. We will likely be in a small apartment for at least the first several months.

As for what I'm used to- I live 2 hours from town, way out in the boonies, so it'll be an adjustment to live in/near town- I lived in town during my college years, but soon after we got married we moved back to our tiny hometown of 200 people... we know how to live in the city, but far prefer the country & no neighbors lol It is around 9% humidity here except for when we get the monsoons in the summer. We are considered "high desert", live over 7000' elevation, and have mountains & a lot of evergreen trees, but not a lot of grass. Water is scarce. We get deep snow, and it lasts all winter, which lasts from Oct to April. We have wonderful summers, though short, and a very short growing season- if you get 80 days, you're blessed! lol The people here are very self reliant, standoffish but helpful if you need them, and deeply religious.

Thanks everyone!

 

[blaundee]

Oops... sorry for the multi-post. I'm on my phone, and I cant delete any of them. :/

 

[Frosty]

Hi! From your description of the weather where you are, I would say that you are well prepared for a winter here. Yes it does get really cold, but it's usually a dry cold. It does get windy, but at least for me the windchill isn't as bad as 'wet cold'. Mosquitos... we joke that they are the state bird. Some years are worse than others, but yes they are pretty bad. Another saying is that we are always one day away from a drought. In a normal year it's really dry up here. By now the grass is normally brown and dried up.

The population... I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Williston is a bad place right now. Because of the oil boom, crime has shot up and with that area being the center of the activity... I don't live in that part of ND, but from the news reports I've seen, women are afraid to go out alone. If you come up, make sure you have a place to live lined up in advance. Rent is high, yes, partly because there isn't much housing available. I'm in the Minot area and they are building more housing so it's getting better, but there are still people that I work with who are living in their cars. If you decide to come up, welcome to ND!

 

[blaundee]

Thanks for the info! I appreciate it VERY much!

 

[blaundee]

What is the growing season up there?

 

[blaundee]

I have found someone on another board who lives in Williston, but I'm still looking for contacts

 

[blaundee]

I have found someone on another board who lives in Williston, but I'm still looking for contacts

 

[kodster]

I live in Ross, which is halfway between Minot and Williston. In fact, I was in Williston last weekend, doing site visits on a couple of hotels in the area. Yes, rent is high, because of supply and demand. However, if your hubby was offered a position with an oilfield company, your rent will likely be subsidized by the company, so that will help. The companies bringing people in realize that housing is difficult to find, so they're offering assistance as part of the hire package. You might want to consider other communities that are nearby, that will have housing, too. I'm about an hour away, but live in a town that normally would only have about 100 people in it... it's up to 250 right now... but we don't have any amenities here, unless you count the bar... no gas stations, etc. That's all to the east of us, 10 minutes away, in Stanley. Or you can consider Tioga or Ray for housing, which is to the west of us. We're all on Hwy 2, which is the state highway that runs through Williston (along with Hwy 85, which runs north and south through Williston). If you're used to living out in the boonies, and being 2 hours away from town, then you'll adjust rather quickly to here, if you decide on something further out. There are also farmhouses for rent, so you'll be able to have your critters, too. Keep in mind, though, the farmhouses are usually not in the best conditions, but they will work if you want animals.

The folks in these neck of the woods are pretty much the same, now, because of all the influx of new people. The folks that have been here for years, they will hold you off at arm's length until they get to know you. I've been here since October of 2010, but I also spent my childhood growing up on my grandparents' farm near here, so I'm considered a "NoDak", anyways. (NoDak is the affectionate term for those that have lived here a long time.) The rest of the folks are newcomers, or only been here 2 or 3 years (since the boom started). Williston is a boomtown, as a result. It is growing by leaps and bounds, and can't keep up with the growth, so it's suffering some growing pains. Thankfully, the state government is aware of it, and is addressing the issues, as well, encouraging housing development, law enforcement increase (state troopers for the area), etc. Crime levels have increased a bit, but that's to be expected, when you have folks coming in from other areas of the country, as well as internationally. Fortunately, North Dakota is a CCW state... no gun restrictions. Hunting is a tourism activity here, so if you and hubby are into hunting, fishing, etc., and are familiar with guns, you'll fit right in. Hopefully, you are, because if you get a farmhouse out in the country, you'll have to contend with the wildlife here... deer, coyote, boars (the occasional wild llama, LOL! yes, we do have one that ranges here, and occasionally, my hubby, who is a local truck driver, will spot it... he's seen it 3 times already this year), foxes, raccoons, skunks, etc.

The leaves are just starting to fall off the trees, now... you stated in your post that you deal with deep snow, from Oct to April... that's the same here. We had a late start to summer here, so our growing season, which is normally from April to Oct, was shortened. In addition, we have had an extraordinarily wet year, so no drought conditions here. LOTS of grass here, and beautifully green. Summer is beautiful here, with pleasant temperatures, just a lot of wind (being on the prairie, that's to be expected). Some days we have next to no wind, others, 40+ mph. It varies quite a bit. The only thing different is the elevation, it sounds like... we're around 2000' (on average) here.

I think you'll find that you and your hubby will fit in, okay, after you settle in and find your places. Private message me, if you want to make friends up here!