[von949]

Originally Posted by airics

Oil! Have you not watched the news lately? It's booming there!

He'll yeah it is. There was a detailed story on 60 minutes or 20/20, can't remember which one. Guys with no experience making 90k. On site living conditions were a little rough though.



Sent from cell...

[C. Maurio]

Originally Posted by airics

Oil! Have you not watched the news lately? It's booming there!

Even with a boom, they have hundreds of thousands of open acres there. $800 to park a trailer in ND? You have to be kidding me? You can park a trailer in New York City (Liberty Harbor NJ) for that!

[9162]

Ridiculous. Las Vegas unemployment 13%, North Dakota unemployment 2.5%. Most people who are unemployed came from the hospitality industry. LV, one of the worst choices you could make.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by 9162

Ridiculous. Las Vegas unemployment 13%, North Dakota unemployment 2.5%. Most people who are unemployed came from the hospitality industry. LV, one of the worst choices you could make.

You don't live here, I assume.

Most of the unemployed came from the construction industry. We're STILL reeling from the loss of construction jobs. But hospitality has been chugging along. The middle-of-the-road restaurants have fared poorly, but the low-end and very high-end restaurants are doing just fine.

The restaurant where I work is making more money now than they did before the crash.

[strangecasualty]

The unemployment rate is awesome. Despite the complete lack of things to do up here, I wouldn't consider moving if I could find housing, but our lease is up in June, and we've been trying to find a place since last April. People who are making 90k are living out of campers. I live about 125 miles from the oil rigs, and we've seen a 12% population increase, plus increased traffic from the oil rigs, and they're expecting growth to continue rapidly. Our police department is struggling to keep up with crime, and attracting qualified officers is difficult without housing available.

It's a great place, if you're a single guy looking to get ahead and you're interested in working the rigs. If you aren't, don't bother: the cost of living is high. A lot of my friends have already moved on because they can't afford it here, even with jobs paying $15/hour popping up everywhere, and the rest are living with 5 adults to 3 bedroom mobile homes.

In short, the job market is good, but everything else is a disaster. It might work out nicely in 5-10 years, but I'd have to be crazy to wait it out.

We have a lot of open land (70,700 square miles). We also have a low state population (under 700,000 people in the entire state). Property values have increased within reasonable commuting distance to the towns, and outside of commuting distance, where do you work and purchase groceries?

Las Vegas was on the table because my girlfriend and her brother would like to live close to California, and they were under the impression that the job market is even worse there. It also seemed worth considering despite the unemployment rate because in a lot of states with high unemployment, restaurant jobs are still easy to find. Since I've known a few coworkers who have relocated there and found restaurant work with minimal effort, I'll push her in that direction instead if she's set on being close to home.

[Datafeed]

Good luck to you. A buddy of mine does security at a mancamp up there and makes six figures per year and only works 1/2 the year.

Consider other places than Vegas though.

[von949]

Originally Posted by Datafeed

Good luck to you. A buddy of mine does security at a mancamp up there and makes six figures per year and only works 1/2 the year.

Consider other places than Vegas though.

One of my friends who got out of the Army tried it for a year and said he could not hang. He went back to contracts in Iraq. I think that is saying a lot.

http://www.suntimes.com/business/739...-man-camp.html




Sent from cell...

[Datafeed]

Originally Posted by von949

One of my friends who got out of the Army tried it for a year and said he could not hang. He went back to contracts in Iraq. I think that is saying a lot.

Earning-$100K-at-




Sent from cell...

Iraq was likely easier money and more of it. So smart move. A 92k tax exemption in Iraq plus 1/2 the time you just sit around and grab ass in the sandbox depending upon your job. Is it more dangerous, yea, but very few people get critically blown up or shot...yours truly not withstanding.

Life on a rig is hard work. Very hard. No sitting around and playing xbox jaw jacking with the homies and telling stories about your "girl" in Dubai or Manilla.

vegas is not the blue collar mecca it once was. I'd rather take the money today--even if it involves some initial separation or communal living--and leave in a few years with five or even six figures in the bank than eeking it out in Vegas praying that the overindulgence of others trickles down to you.

but i am sure the OP will be ok.

[von949]

Originally Posted by strangecasualty

The unemployment rate is awesome.

It's a great place, if you're a single guy looking to get ahead and you're interested in working the rigs. If you aren't, don't bother: the cost of living is high. A lot of my friends have already moved on because they can't afford it here, even with jobs paying $15/hour popping up everywhere, and the rest are living with 5 adults to 3 bedroom mobile homes.

It has got to be great when a stripper would rather dance in ND versus LV.


Strippers cash in on lonely oilmen - YouTube

[Cyborgt800]

I would suggest going for an apartment in Vegas for a year then looking for a house....mobiles aren't a good choice here or usually anywhere. Apartments are cheap here...off the strip area.