News/sports reporter in Williston, N.D.

I wonder if anyone who is left is looking to jump ship ASAP?

 

This is true. The person who owns the house I live in wants to sell this spring. I have been looking for three months and there is literally nothing. I am willing to pay $1000 for a one bedroom. The only things out there are 3-4 bedroom houses for 1200-1500 per bedroom. It is absolutely ridiculous how much it costs out here.

And the RV route is not an option either. You can find RV's to buy but even if you have the $5-15k to buy one you don't have a place to park. Every once and awhile a spot does open but they charge $1000+ for a parking spot. That's no exaggeration either. The Wal-Mart here has 15-20 RV's parked in it. You can do that but you won't have any hookup for water, heat ... etc.

 

What fucking kind of place is this? I live in one of the 10 most expensive areas of this country and pay $1,200 a month for a rather nice one-bedroom apartment in a very safe neighborhood. (I'm totally going to get carjacked tomorrow. Damn it.)

 

A semi-pro football league is starting up in North Dakota and will have a team in Williston, so you'll get a few articles in before the league folds a few games in.

 

It's the center of the oil boom that the LA Times, NBC Rock Center ... etc. has been reporting on. Williston had a population of 12-13,000 in 2005. It is now estimated to be around 30,000. Because it is NW North Dakota getting stuff built fast isn't really possible so there is an incredible shortage.

 

Sorry. I don't care where you live, $1,200 for a one-bedroom apartment (unless it's furnished AND has high-speed internet, etc.) is INSANE. I know a lot of people paying less than that per month for a three-bedroom house.

 

I agree it's insane. It's also one of the cheaper apartment complexes in the area. But here's the thing: My job pays me enough that I can (sometimes barely) afford it. How anyone could afford to pay that much for rent with this job's salary is beyond me.

 

Exactly. This paper used to have an accountant who happened to own a handful of apartments and would rent them to reporters for $500 a month. However, she quit after 30+ years because of the crazy publisher we have. She literally put in her two week notice walked over to my desk and told me she quite specifically because of the publisher. Her and her husband own a printing shop in town so they didn't need the crap money she was paid.

Anyways, she still rented the apartments to the paper, that is until she raised rent $25 at the first of the year. When she did that the publisher called her and chewed her out saying, "How dare you raise the rent on my employees!" She told the publisher no new employees will be allowed to rent any of her apartments.

This is just one example of the crazy bitch that runs the paper. FYI I'm out of the business for good so I don't really care if people know who I am or that my old boss may or may not see this.

 

I'm guessing the publisher is why the ME I spoke with a few years ago left.

 

The trouble with oil towns is that no one wants to build new housing during the booms because they don't want to get stuck with it during the busts. That's why the actual workers often end up living in the so-called man camps, which are well-known for problems with drugs and bears.

 

Oil workers generally have to lavish gifts on their wives back home, their mistress in town, and bears in the man camps.

 

Some good news for those interested.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-25/north-dakota-oil-boom-brings-blight-with-growth-as-costs-soar.html