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That is great. I heard about the housing problem. Can't they find housing on the outskirts of town?
According to one of the news stations, even Minot, which is merely on the edge of the oil patch, has a severe housing shortage now. Will all of this lead to an apartment and house-building boom? It seems like talk of high rents and early payoffs should encourage developers to want to hurry up and build. Are city building regulations getting in the way of development?
I believe Minots housing shortage has more to do with the influx of Air Force personal moving in to Minot, since the Minot Air Force has expanded and added more missions. I know some officials from Minot keep trying to create the hype that Minot is the new "oil capital" of North Dakota, but it is not. If you look at JobService ND, there are only around 400 people employed in Ward county(Minot) in the oil and mining extraction business. Companies like Pure Energy, Hess, Key, and now even Halliburton have moved in or will be moving in...so it will grow a little over the next couple years...but they have a LONG ways to go to even catch up to Mountrail , Stark or McKenzie counties for people working in the oil industry. Williams county (Williston) has nearly 5,000. But of course, Minot has trucking firms, etc... that could be considered tied to the oil industry as well. Not saying Minot is not growing and very busy, but I think credit should be given where credit is due...it is the military that is creating the influx of new people to Minot...and this influx is creating a housing shortage in Minot. Oil workers are adding to some of it, as are retired people from smaller towns looking to move to a larger town to retire. Ward county (Minot) LOST a lot of people over the past decade (when the base cut back on missions) but the base has been adding new missions in the past couple years, and many new people moving in to fill those new jobs....many of them are construction.
also...interesting about the Milk prices of nearly $5. a gallon at Williston Wal-mart. I think someone should report this? I believe Milk prices are regulated like other egg and dairy products, and have to stay within a certain price range dictated by the government? Maybe I am wrong, but I believe this began back in the early 90's to control the prices and protect the producers and consumers???? I remember it all started when dairy farmers were dumping their milk because prices were so low, and then the shortage cause Milk prices to rise to ridiculous prices. This went on and on, back and forth until the Agricultural dept stepped in and began regulating the prices to protect both producers and consumers.
also...interesting about the Milk prices of nearly $5. a gallon at Williston Wal-mart. I think someone should report this? I believe Milk prices are regulated like other egg and dairy products, and have to stay within a certain price range dictated by the government? Maybe I am wrong, but I believe this began back in the early 90's to control the prices and protect the producers and consumers???? I remember it all started when dairy farmers were dumping their milk because prices were so low, and then the shortage cause Milk prices to rise to ridiculous prices. This went on and on, back and forth until the Agricultural dept stepped in and began regulating the prices to protect both producers and consumers.
I'll have to look into that, the price of food up here in insane though.
also...interesting about the Milk prices of nearly $5. a gallon at Williston Wal-mart. I think someone should report this?
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Originally Posted by lisan23
I'll have to look into that, the price of food up here in insane though.
And see, that's why I was complaining on the other thread about usury. This is obviously not an issue of supply and demand economics. It doesn't cost any more to produce or send a gallon of milk to Williston as it does to Grand Forks or Denver or Salt Lake City or anywhere else. A gallon of milk here in Utah is about $2.30. I'd assume you guys have cows in North Dakota as well and that they are not an endangered species up there. It's simply people taking advantage of people in Williston. You might be able to blame the housing thing on supply and demand (maybe), but it doesn't work with the price of milk and food. It's simply gouging a captive audience, plain and simple.
Here is what I don't understand. If things are so bad in Williston, why do people still come? Stay away from there if you can't afford the milk and rent. Don't expect cheap rent and food, and crazy high wages.
What is going to be the set government price for rent in Williston? $500, $1000, $2000? Will the government now tell Walmart how much to charge for bread and hamburger too? How much should that be?
IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT STAY AWAY. Kind of like moving to Florida and complaining about the heat and humidity, can't we enact a law about that? OH Yeah don't move to Florida if you don't like heat and humidity.
And to say that rents won't come down is a total joke. If the guy down the street builds a new apartment building and is only charging a $1000 dollars rent, and the apartment building up the street is getting $2000 and sitting empty, the guy with the $2000 apartments will go broke in the long run if he doesn't adjust his price. Supply simply needs to catch up with demand.
And I would imagine that Walmart and the local grocer is having to pay crazy high wages to keep someone from going to work in the oil patch for $80K a year. Versus what they have to pay say in Devils Lake or Jamestown.
In regards to the KMOT story about the homelessness problem in Minot: I saw the story on the news the night it aired (and the next day when they aired it yet again) and I was puzzled by the story of the woman, her boyfriend and her kids who came to Minot and can't find anywhere to live. Why would you pick up and move your children to any city without securing living quarters first? The story left me with more questions than answers. Do the woman and her boyfriend have jobs in Minot? Or did they just pick up and drive to Minot and think that the Minot Housing Authority would house them when they appeared in town? If they aren't working, have they applied for assistance? Too many questions, too few answers. The story does say that they have been staying off and on with friends - surely the friends warned them about the housing crunch in Minot before they arrived (I would hope they would have)? I hope they didn't come to Minot looking for a handout (getting on food stamps, housing assistance, renters assistance, fuel assistance, etc., etc.) It just makes no sense to me that you pack up the kiddies and drive into Minot without a plan - I could be wrong about all my assumptions (and I hope I am) but this story just smells a bit 'off' to me.
In regards to the KMOT story about the homelessness problem in Minot: I saw the story on the news the night it aired (and the next day when they aired it yet again) and I was puzzled by the story of the woman, her boyfriend and her kids who came to Minot and can't find anywhere to live. Why would you pick up and move your children to any city without securing living quarters first? The story left me with more questions than answers. Do the woman and her boyfriend have jobs in Minot? Or did they just pick up and drive to Minot and think that the Minot Housing Authority would house them when they appeared in town? If they aren't working, have they applied for assistance? Too many questions, too few answers. The story does say that they have been staying off and on with friends - surely the friends warned them about the housing crunch in Minot before they arrived (I would hope they would have)? I hope they didn't come to Minot looking for a handout (getting on food stamps, housing assistance, renters assistance, fuel assistance, etc., etc.) It just makes no sense to me that you pack up the kiddies and drive into Minot without a plan - I could be wrong about all my assumptions (and I hope I am) but this story just smells a bit 'off' to me.
Sounds like the "tent city" couple in Williston that showed last summer up to work at Walmart and ended up staying in a tent in Davidson Park. WITH THEIR 4 YEAR OLD CHILD. Some people just don't do their research and are horribly surprised by the housing problem in Western ND.
Here is what I don't understand. If things are so bad in Williston, why do people still come? Stay away from there if you can't afford the milk and rent. Don't expect cheap rent and food, and crazy high wages.
People are coming to work, but they're not actually moving here. That's beyond evident with the threads asking about places to camp or park trailers. Hotels are packed, campers, RV's, and tents are everywhere. People are coming here to work, but they're not establishing themselves as actual residents of North Dakota.
Again, where has anyone stated they want cheap anything? I think the largest complaint is that nothing is affordable (hence why so many people are not actually LIVING here, merely working here). The wages aren't as crazy high as you think, either. You haven't really got a clue what's going on here. The more you post, the more evident that's becoming.
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What is going to be the set government price for rent in Williston? $500, $1000, $2000? Will the government now tell Walmart how much to charge for bread and hamburger too? How much should that be?
They don't set the price, they prevent unreasonable inflation when it comes to the price of housing. They do this by restricting the rate in which rent can be inflated through percentages, not actually setting a cap on the amount that can be charged for rent or for the price of housing. I thought you worked in real estate... how do you not know this? Again, you stated that you don't support unscrupulous deals, if that was so then you wouldn't continue to defend the massive inflation of housing in the area.
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IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT STAY AWAY. Kind of like moving to Florida and complaining about the heat and humidity, can't we enact a law about that? OH Yeah don't move to Florida if you don't like heat and humidity.
As I already stated, people are staying away. Married men aren't moving their families up here, no one is establishing themselves in this town. They're working for the money, but they have no desire to turn North Dakota into their home and it's the landlord and property owners that are doing this. If this was a more affordable place to live then a lot more people would be considering turning this state into their home.
Williston is a nice place, I like Williston and North Dakota a lot. However, because of the cost of living my husband and I are probably going to end up moving back to Utah within the year. He'll continue to work here, but he'll be a resident of Utah.
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And to say that rents won't come down is a total joke. If the guy down the street builds a new apartment building and is only charging a $1000 dollars rent, and the apartment building up the street is getting $2000 and sitting empty, the guy with the $2000 apartments will go broke in the long run if he doesn't adjust his price. Supply simply needs to catch up with demand.
Then please explain Rock Springs, WY. They went through a very similar situation, companies moved in and growth exploded. Rent and the cost of living never went back down.
The laws of supply and demand don't always work in boom towns.
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And I would imagine that Walmart and the local grocer is having to pay crazy high wages to keep someone from going to work in the oil patch for $80K a year. Versus what they have to pay say in Devils Lake or Jamestown.
Yes, WalMart is having to pay higher wages (between $9.40 and $12/hr from what I've seen advertised) as are other grocers. I think that the cost of food here is expensive, that being said if we could find an affordable place to live that was nice we'd stick around. But we can't, so we probably won't.
It's unfortunate too, because both of us really like North Dakota, we think it's a nice state, we've made friends here in Williston, we like small towns and we think this is a great place. Unfortunately, though, I believe that the local and state government has allowed property owners and landlords to abuse the situation and honestly I think the city of Williston is manager very poorly.
We'd like to stay, but financially it's smarter for us to leave and to simply have my husband work here, not live here.
Lisan,
Trust me I know real estate VERY well, but I am not here to discuss my credentials. What we have here is a different philosophies. I am a Laissez-faire type of guy.
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