Moving from Baltimore, MD to Grand Forks ND (Grand Forks AFB: rent, crime rate)

[kotoi]

Hello maybe someone out there can give me a hand.

I am a 21 year old Fire Protection Engineer/ Sprinkler Designer and i am falling in love with a young women in the United States Air Force. She is currently stationed in Grand Forks AFB in ND and i am looking to move up there to be with her. Due to the rural nature of the area i am having trouble finding other Fire Protection agencys to hire me. On the east coast Sprinkler Designers with 2 year 3D AutoCad Experince are so rare i get offered a new job every other week up and down the east coast. I have no problems with the move or even where I am moving to i am just worried I will not be able to find a job in my current field. Any suggestions?

[kaoskingnd]

Greetings:
Having lived in Grand Forks for 9 years I will tell you the blatant truth, the only reason this place exsists is,sugar beets, the University, old people dieing and leaving property to illeducated drunks, a bunch of poorly run managment companies hired by the same drunks and wanna be yuppies that stole most of the properties after the flood.

Bars that previously closed at 1:00 A.M. but now close at 12:30 even though the time has been moved up till 2:00 because during the week it's a lifeless cold barren place.
The Airforce base is basicly gutted, one hole in the wall drunk pallace outside the gate, no live music ....
Bad roads...rusty cars...rednecks living in farm houses with no running water but brand new trucks...no mountains 75 miles to the nearest lake and it is as dirty as the river, Osha and the epa don't bother with most of the farmers so they perfer to dump toxic waste in a hole and bury it...Last month a guy was beat to death outside a bar
I'm glad your bringing a female, the ones around here are generaly either broken or being repaired (pharacologicaly) or they are 18-25 and have never been out of North Dakota Minn area...but they are convinced they are world travelers....I was a graduate T.A. here I know....some other people on this forum mentioned pretentious...yes, two faced and abhore anyone that has a educated opinion...they watch the news and figure they are political scientists...
The good thing is you can work 2 or 3 8 dollar an hour gigs and sleep all winter ....
I came here for the same reason you did, Airforce girl (Wife), within a month she was deployed, beware....

[Corbay]

While I am not a resident of G.F., I have been there several times. I think you will find that what kaos has posted is either a complete fabrication, or is extremely exaggerated.

Also give Dakota Fire Protection a call @ 1710 North Washington Street, Grand Forks ND 58203, 701-772-6631 Maybe they are looking for someone OR know of someone else who could use your skills.

Good luck.

[kotoi]

wow mixed feelings here. I have cold called every Fire Protection agency in the area and nada. So I will have to go another route for employment. I saw the other posts on jobs and they were very helpful. But thanks for scaring the Sh*t out of me Kaos.

[kaoskingnd]

And why would I lie? I have lived here for 8 years, I am not fabricating anything. The employment opertunities are few and far between....if your not a resident why would assume to have the information to make a critical evaluation? You visited....for how long?
After the 97 flood the town was decimated and sacked and anyone that had enough money and was not attached left. The Air base no longer has missles, it is a refueling wing, it has a very small BX, PX, that's It know I lived there I know. What is left is generaly people who have lived here there entire lives.
Nepotism is a way of life here. There are basicly five places to work, Wallmart, several factories (simplot, sugar beat plant, potatoes plant),Airbase or a farm or the University. Oh and look at the Grand Forks paper, it's called "The Herald" and you will see I am not BS'N about the drunks, DWI's, assults, albiet it is nothing compared to McCord Airbase or Lakewood Wa but atleast there you can run away to the mountains or a lake or the ocean for the weekend.

Sorry did not mean to scare you but it's the truth, my wife had a choice San Antonio or here....should have went there. Baltimore MD is a cool place was there two years ago for a conferece, it's kinda neat to be able to see such ethnicly and economicly deverse population, but it scared the hell out of me.

[FrederickW]

Originally Posted by kaoskingnd

Greetings:
Having lived in Grand Forks for 9 years I will tell you the blatant truth, the only reason this place exsists is,sugar beets, the University, old people dieing and leaving property to illeducated drunks, a bunch of poorly run managment companies hired by the same drunks and wanna be yuppies that stole most of the properties after the flood.

Bars that previously closed at 1:00 A.M. but now close at 12:30 even though the time has been moved up till 2:00 because during the week it's a lifeless cold barren place.
The Airforce base is basicly gutted, one hole in the wall drunk pallace outside the gate, no live music ....
Bad roads...rusty cars...rednecks living in farm houses with no running water but brand new trucks...no mountains 75 miles to the nearest lake and it is as dirty as the river, Osha and the epa don't bother with most of the farmers so they perfer to dump toxic waste in a hole and bury it...Last month a guy was beat to death outside a bar
I'm glad your bringing a female, the ones around here are generaly either broken or being repaired (pharacologicaly) or they are 18-25 and have never been out of North Dakota Minn area...but they are convinced they are world travelers....I was a graduate T.A. here I know....some other people on this forum mentioned pretentious...yes, two faced and abhore anyone that has a educated opinion...they watch the news and figure they are political scientists...
The good thing is you can work 2 or 3 8 dollar an hour gigs and sleep all winter ....
I came here for the same reason you did, Airforce girl (Wife), within a month she was deployed, beware....

For the record, the geography of much of Minnesota has very little in common with North Dakota.

[MsFreud]

Awesome- you just scared the crap out of me. We are FIGMO for GFAFB, and have RNLT Aug 15. It's a controlled 5 year tour. We are at Ramstein now, and have been for 6 years, so yeah- time for a change- AAFES sucks, and I can't wait to call up a utility company and not face a language barrier.
From Las Vegas, PCS to Phx, then here. Live on base here, so USA Bubble kind of thing. Got anything good to say about the place? Other than DeCA I won't be shopping on base (I am the admin of AAFESsucks dot com) The rent seems very high there- mortgages are cheaper than renting... How's base housing? The new units I mean. I know he will be having to deploy, what's the rotation schedule like for TDYs?

Wow- now I am freaking out all over again. Shoot me a PM with info.

[Vettrock]

I grew up in Grand Forks, lived there for 18 years, but I'm in Stuttgart Germany now. There are advantages and disavantage. I personally don't plan on going back there as mostly because of the job situation. However, the school system is good, the crime rate is low, and the people are generally pretty friendly and helpful. There isn't a whole lot there, so the recreationaly activities probably aren't what you are used to if you are coming form a large city.

[prairiewoman]

Originally Posted by kaoskingnd

And why would I lie? I have lived here for 8 years, I am not fabricating anything. The employment opertunities are few and far between....

What is left is generaly people who have lived here there entire lives.

Nepotism is a way of life here.

There are basicly five places to work, Wallmart, several factories (simplot, sugar beat plant, potatoes plant),Airbase or a farm or the University.

Unfortunately, I must agree with this. Our family is looking to leave Grand Forks. It's not your degree or what you know, but who you know in GF, and if you don't know the 'right' people, you're on your own. Residential housing is outrageous as are property taxes. It should be criminal.

I haven't seen too many problems with drunks, though, and on the plus side, there is very little crime. Great place to raise a family if you can afford to live here and are willing to 'move' in the right circles to find a job (the GF version of networking). My favorite part of GF is that it's easy to get around in. Our short 3-months summers are second to none, but our long winters are life-threatening. Last winter someone died 20 feet from their door because they froze in the wind. It wasn't even snowing.

If you KNOW you are going to have a good job, plan on spending $200 K for an average home and about $4000 in property taxes. You will spend more money in heating bills, but save money on gas with our short commutes.

[Roloff1976]

Huh??? I've been to Grand Forks many times, but have never lived there. But I would say YES...some of the descriptions given ARE fabricated. Believe me, there are more places to work then the 5 listed. From what the one poster has described...Wal-mart is the only place to shop also (since it is one of only 5 places to work) they have a nice mall with plenty of national chain stores, restaraunts, etc... I'm guessing since the poster is not from the area, and came only to follow his girlfriend in the air force, his feelings for Grand Forks are less then fond...but believe me, this community is NOT the community I have visited many times.