Would like to know if North Dakota or South Dakota is good for us. (Minot: fit in)

[CookieMonster25]

Considering to relocate to North or South Dakota.

My husband and I and our 1 year old son are looking for a nice small quiet town, we would like somewhere where it snows during winter, lots of trees and wildlife. We had been looking into Northern Idaho but after reading a lot of information on crime, violence and sex offenders, we were amazed to see that it had high numbers for the volume of people there. We also saw that there was a meth problem.

Is there racism out there? the reason I ask is because we also saw a very high population of so called nazis and kkk in Idaho, according to the forums there is a lot of racism.

We also wonder how the jobs are out there, everywhere we have been looking is out of jobs.
My husband is a light duty diesel tractor mechanic and is also very good with computers, any job with general labor would be good.

I am a dog groomer and would like to work from home.



Do you guys think North or South Dakota would be a good fit for us?

[ChrisC]

Originally Posted by CookieMonster25

we would like somewhere where it snows during winter, lots of trees and wildlife.

Although the snowfall totals are not that impressive in most of the Dakotas, due to the fairly consistently cold temps, snow tends to stay on the ground all winter (at least in the eastern part of ND). But, trees are not all that abundant in most of North Dakota and South Dakota--it's generally prairie grassland with a few trees here and there. You might try the Black Hills area. The snowfall is generally greater and there are more trees since it's more of an alpine geography. As for "quiet towns," I don't think there is a shortage of those!

[Bhaalspawn]

Look to Western and Northwestern North Dakota. Your husband should be able to find some sort of work in that area if he has blue collar experience and skills. The area is enjoying a huge oil boom. However, housing is in short supply and might be more expensive than what you would expect for a rural area. It would probably be great if you could figure out a way to live in Williston, ND. You might also try Dickinson.

[MikeyToo]

Originally Posted by CookieMonster25

Considering to relocate to North or South Dakota.

My husband and I and our 1 year old son are looking for a nice small quiet town, we would like somewhere where it snows during winter, lots of trees and wildlife. We had been looking into Northern Idaho but after reading a lot of information on crime, violence and sex offenders, we were amazed to see that it had high numbers for the volume of people there. We also saw that there was a meth problem.

Is there racism out there? the reason I ask is because we also saw a very high population of so called nazis and kkk in Idaho, according to the forums there is a lot of racism.

We also wonder how the jobs are out there, everywhere we have been looking is out of jobs.
My husband is a light duty diesel tractor mechanic and is also very good with computers, any job with general labor would be good.

I am a dog groomer and would like to work from home.



Do you guys think North or South Dakota would be a good fit for us?

We would love another dog groomer in our area. We have to drive to Rolla or Minot to get our dog groomed. We live just north of Bottineau, ND (Turtle Mountains- trees and wildlife) a great area to raise a family if you don't have a need to change how people live here. As far as diesel tractor mechanic, this is mainly a farming community, with lots of oil companies on the fringes. You might fit in here. Might at least be worth a try at looking. Many areas of North Dakota still looking for good, honest hard working people. It's just how we still are, I think...) Good luck on your search!!!

[angel1982]

I've been around the Dickinson, ND area for a while now & so far I really like it aside from a few rude employees at a near by town hotel. We have been in search of rental housing here & let me say it's been a nightmare!!! For people interested in buying there seems to be an ok selection to choose from but is much more limited than what I grew up around in SE MN! Price wise it seems you can get an alright deal if you buy but beware rent is ridiculous for what I've found so far! I will be considering buying a property before I'd pay twice as much to rent!
The area is nice, handy to national forest & larger city (Bismark hr & half) lots of entertaining things to do if you like the outdoors especially it seems. Bicycling, hiking, hunting, animal admiring, tourist attractions of many different sorts... so you'd get your tree intake in Roosevelt National Forrest & there are a few little towns around if you prefer a tiny setting. Dickinson is roughly 16000-17000 people. I haven't noticed any sort of racism or anything other than the fact that people here are obviously not used to the traffic here with the oil boom & all. The town does need to work at making adjustments for the increase but it's not so bad that you can't get anywhere when driving. As I stated there is an oil boom here so your husband could likely make his history of tractor mechanics work into a good paying job around here I would suspect, if not seems like there are fields a plenty so there must be tractors around!

Hope I was able to give some useful info, if not sorry for my ramblings!

[Roloff1976]

CookieMonster... I too would check out North Dakota (Williston area) if you are looking for work! Deisel Mechanics are in VERY HIGH demand because of the oil boom in NW North Dakota. Housing is a huge problem though. South Dakota might fit you better if you are looking for milder winters, and Black Hills type of scenery...but if it is good paying jobs and abudnant jobs...head to North Dakota!