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LifeBelowZero... when you have a town of 12,000 people (Williston) and then it jumps to nearly 15,000 people in the latest census...NOT INCLUDING the nearly 4,000 other people living in mancamps around Williston...which brings the total to around 19,000 people working out of Williston...the new 7,000 people...where did they come from??? Not locally! When you drive around Williston, every other vehicle has Wyoming, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana, Idah, South Dakota, Nebraska, Alberta, ...etc... etc... etc... do the locals go to their "local" license plate store and buy out of state plates to put on their vehichles???Are all of these thousdands of people driving around with out of state license plates just driving around Williston because they don't have jobs and no where to go? Please help me understand...I guess I always thought these thousands of out of state people were actually working here, I didn't realize they were all stuck in Williston with no where to go and just tricked into coming up to Williston for a job...only to be told there are no jobs unless you are local.??? I suppose they are just driving around and around and around confused on what to do and where to go since they don't have any jobs here...unless you are local...ya right! lol
LifeBelowZero... when you have a town of 12,000 people (Williston) and then it jumps to nearly 15,000 people in the latest census...NOT INCLUDING the nearly 4,000 other people living in mancamps around Williston...which brings the total to around 19,000 people working out of Williston...the new 7,000 people...where did they come from??? Not locally! When you drive around Williston, every other vehicle has Wyoming, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana, Idah, South Dakota, Nebraska, Alberta, ...etc... etc... etc... do the locals go to their "local" license plate store and buy out of state plates to put on their vehichles???Are all of these thousdands of people driving around with out of state license plates just driving around Williston because they don't have jobs and no where to go? Please help me understand...I guess I always thought these thousands of out of state people were actually working here, I didn't realize they were all stuck in Williston with no where to go and just tricked into coming up to Williston for a job...only to be told there are no jobs unless you are local.??? I suppose they are just driving around and around and around confused on what to do and where to go since they don't have any jobs here...unless you are local...ya right! lol
Yeah... I didn't realize there was this sort of predatory "fake hiring" practice going on up your way. I guess the whole oil thing is just a joke as well??? Those poor out-of-state victims just driving around with nothing to do and nowhere to go...
I just saw a story in the Minot news about the mckenzie county hospital needing people. I worked in a docotors office back home doing far more that what is needed at the hospital. i have submitted my resume 6 times and never hear anything back. You go into the clinic and there are a bunch of new people there that work 3 other jobs in town and are stressed out wanting a break but because I am not from Watford City I don't get the job. I will not go work at the grocery store when I have the skills and schooling to be in the health care field. i am tired of hearing from places that they are looking for people who have lived out here and know the community. Guess what North Dakota the oil and the jobs are here so deal with it cuz one day you guys will be the minority and then we can treat you like crap. I'm not a bad person because my husband lost his job and we all sacraficed and moved out here. Nobody wanted to come here we had to out of necessity. Don't act like if your family was about to be homeless and there were no jobs that you wouldn't go where there was work. nobody is coming out here to get the north dakotans, we are here for work and for our families. Don't blame us cuz the rent is so high or because there is a well by your house. Blame your neighbor that allowed for it to be drilled or blame the home own that is renting out the homes for so much money cuz chances are you probably went to school with them or are related to them. It's so easy to blame the people from out of state when the issues start with the people out here. I am tired of being called names and denied work cuz I'm one of them. I can sit at home and wait for you to get your head out of your *****, Mckenzie county clinic can't be that hard up when I have applied 6 times and get turned down. If the locals want to work their fingers to the bones and over do them selves cuz they don't want hire out of staters then so be it just don't complain when things slow down and families move away cuz it's not worth it to but up with the crap anymore.
I'm assuming northeastern North Dakota is still not an employment and cultural battleground... right?
I have two college degrees and have taught math for many years... but I'm willing to work doing whatever it takes to get by up there, whether it's "in my field" or not. The nature of the job is not important to me as long as I'm physically able to do it and it keeps me alive. I have very simple requirements to keep me happy. Grocery store work is fine. Hell, I don't care if I'm washing dishes.
Actually... a lot of people aren't renting from them. What's happening is if an owner/landlord can't get what they want from your regular Joe's for the apartment they go to oil companies and rent to them. Oftentimes oil companies will contact the owner or landlord before your average person does.
Granite Peaks is building apartments and their primary goal is to rent to oil companies, not to people. The focus is shifting from renting to families to renting to companies who will pack as many guys into a place as possible and who's #1 priority isn't keeping the place nice.
Inflation is to be expected, landlords and property owners have the right to raise the price of rent - to an extent. At a certain point I believe it becomes abusive and would be considered price gouging. Williston surpassed that point quite some time ago.
I'll use a gallon of milk as an example. In 2008 the average price of a gallon of milk was $2.74. Right now in Williston a gallon of milk is almost $5 a gallon at WalMart, that's an increase of 80% over 3 years. Now let's look at housing. The median gross rent in 2009 in Williston, ND was $468. Finding a place to rent for that amount in Williston no longer exists. Based off of the figures I've seen that number is closer to $2,000 today. That's an increase of over 400% in 2 years. That, in my opinion, is price gouging and the state's Attorney General is doing nothing to protect tenants in this state.
It is called supply and demand, a fundamental concept of economics and the backbone of our market economy. When the price of oil went up, demand increased and likewise oil exploration. If the price of oil goes down (God forbid), so would the demand. The same is true for housing, Williston previously had little demand for housing, thus, there was little development, but now that demand has increased, so have prices. Actually, it is not price gouging, it is simply that you employer (or his boss) CAN afford to pay the $2,000 USD rent that you are not able to (or willing to) pay the owners of those properties. Price gouging would exist only if the supply of housing was available, and the property owners somehow (in collusion together) conspired to artificially raise housing prices. However, this is clearly not the case. There simply is no available supply of housing for the influx of migrant workers. Hopefully this will be settled by winter...
If you like ND, why not live somewhere else in ND & your hubby can have a much shorter commute than from Utah???? There's people living as far away as Jamestown & Fargo who have a family member out in the oilfields.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lisan23
......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..............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.
It is called supply and demand, a fundamental concept of economics and the backbone of our market economy. When the price of oil went up, demand increased and likewise oil exploration. If the price of oil goes down (God forbid), so would the demand. The same is true for housing, Williston previously had little demand for housing, thus, there was little development, but now that demand has increased, so have prices. Actually, it is not price gouging, it is simply that you employer (or his boss) CAN afford to pay the $2,000 USD rent that you are not able to (or willing to) pay the owners of those properties. Price gouging would exist only if the supply of housing was available, and the property owners somehow (in collusion together) conspired to artificially raise housing prices. However, this is clearly not the case. There simply is no available supply of housing for the influx of migrant workers. Hopefully this will be settled by winter...
I understand economics, however the situation isn't as simple as you try and make it. The problem is that your average family is having to compete with Halliburton and other large corporations for housing, corporations can afford to pay more than a family can which makes what is happening unfair. It's not just supply and demand that's driving the price of rent up, but companies who rent places and are willing to pay any price that's listed by the owner.
It is price gouging because the property owners are unfairly increasing the price of rent so that it's only affordable to large corporations, therefore shutting out anyone who actually WANTS to live here. It's bad business and it's screwing over everyone who doesn't get housing with their job.
Even builders that are coming in are looking specifically to rent to oilfield companies, they're not even bothering with people anymore. Granite Peaks apartments that they are building are specifically aimed at being rented to companies, not people. They're not the only ones building with that kind of intent up here.
If you like ND, why not live somewhere else in ND & your hubby can have a much shorter commute than from Utah???? There's people living as far away as Jamestown & Fargo who have a family member out in the oilfields.
If we're going to live that far away we might as well move back to our home state where our family and step son live.
I understand economics, however the situation isn't as simple as you try and make it. The problem is that your average family is having to compete with Halliburton and other large corporations for housing, corporations can afford to pay more than a family can which makes what is happening unfair. It's not just supply and demand that's driving the price of rent up, but companies who rent places and are willing to pay any price that's listed by the owner.
It is price gouging because the property owners are unfairly increasing the price of rent so that it's only affordable to large corporations, therefore shutting out anyone who actually WANTS to live here. It's bad business and it's screwing over everyone who doesn't get housing with their job.
Even builders that are coming in are looking specifically to rent to oilfield companies, they're not even bothering with people anymore. Granite Peaks apartments that they are building are specifically aimed at being rented to companies, not people. They're not the only ones building with that kind of intent up here.
The biggest problem is that people have very short memories. The key to this is that when the boom starts to slack off and these houses become available, people should remember what that landlord did and not rent the houses. Let the houses die. Let them stay on the market for years. Let it become a hindrence to the owner. But, you can bet as soon as the price drops, people will rent.
Years ago Long Beach California was gouging Navy personel. The Navy finally got fed up with it and closed the Long Beach Shipyard. Thousands of sailors with families were transfered to other bases and it put the City of Long Beach in the hurt locker. Stores closed, houses stood empty and abandon.
People should remember and then do that to the stores, landlords, and businessmen/women that have been gouging.
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