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We are a Norwegian family moving to USA soon and have heard good things about North Dakota. We want to live in a small, safe town in a rural area, but not too far from a small city center. And, off course, we can not live without snow.
How are the people in N.D.? The cost of living? Education?
How is living in North Dakota comparing to living in California?
My experience has been that people in North Dakota aren't generally much different from people in Norway. Of course, about 1/3rd of the ND population is Norwegian descent, so that's not too surprising.
Cost of living in North Dakota is definitely a lot lower than in Norway. Property taxes are probably the biggest complaint that people have. Education is pretty good. Probably the biggest difficulty in rural areas is having enough teachers and students, so over the past 20 years many schools have closed and the students have merged into other schools. There are a number of colleges besides the two main Universities, and most people either continue past high school to either college or to a trade school.
Winter in North Dakota is generally colder and drier than in Norway (and windier). When you are used to winter, it's not too bad. The dry air keeps the cold from seeming so cold. The wind can get rough. If you move to North Dakota, you'll learn our unofficial state slogan "I hate wind".
How big of a city center are you looking for? Where in Norway do you come from? The Fargo metro area is the biggest city in the state. It is a little bit bigger than Trondheim.
We are a Norwegian family moving to USA soon and have heard good things about North Dakota. We want to live in a small, safe town in a rural area, but not too far from a small city center. And, off course, we can not live without snow.
How are the people in N.D.? The cost of living? Education?
How is living in North Dakota comparing to living in California?
If you like snow, these are probably the places for you (X-country skiing) that normally have snow for an extended time (western ND snow often has a number of melts in the winter):
Bottineau - Lake Metigoshe, woods, Turtle "Mountains"
Walhalla - Pembina gorge
Larimore area - Turtle River State park
Lisbon - Sheyenne River valley
In those towns, housing would be very inexpensive (much less than Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot etc)
Check on the education in each town. Bottineau has a junior college, so it probably has very good education resources.
Valley City would be another good town. We're under 7000 people, but the attitudes feel like a much smaller town. (For example: 2 weeks ago an elderly lady went missing. A single long blast on the fire whistle means turn on the radio for an important announcement of some sort. They blew the fire whistle at 6:18 PM and the radio announced the police wanted to organize groups to do a foot search of the area, and to meet at the clinic parking lot in 10 minutes. Over 250 people dropped what they were doing or postponed supper & showed up!)
We are 45 minutes from Fargo (60 miles, but 75 mph speed limit on the interstate).
We are in the Sheyenne Valley National Scenic By-Way, so it's a pretty area.
We're on the North Country Trail (hiking & Xcountry skiing).
There is down hill skiing (fairly small operation) 45 min away at Fort Ransom and a much larger setup at Detroit Lakes, MN about 1 3/4 hours east of here, or if you want to take off for a weekend of skiing, there's LOTS of places all over MN, or make it a long weekend & head for Montana.
If the boat is already hooked up & the truck loaded, we can have the boat in the water up at the lake in 20 minutes.
We have VCSU - Valley City State University.
There are several assorted industries in town (everything from a software company to farm equipment assembly) that seem to be pretty stable for jobs, as well as many people commute to Fargo for other jobs.
I have lived here in valley city for 26 years and love it here, raised 3 kids here, like the former post, it is near major medical and great shopping, If you have a large family there will be a huge house for sale in late july, early august, near the college and an elementary school , as we will be down sizing , but staying in valley city. If this interests you, let me know
The cost of living is very low compared to other parts of the U.S. Excellent place to raise children, fencing on the property in sthis mall town are not necessary. I have met several families in the last 6 years that have relocated from large cities to North Dakota and are very happy. Currently, there are families looking for new housing in Hazelton, ND. Children bicycle everywhere without concern. There is NO crime, streets are clean and beautiful. Teachers at the public school which is only 1/2 blk away are very focused on the children's education. They welcome families from larger cities to participate in the city commission, or school board if you're interested. Eventually, your neighbor will bring you fresh oven baked buns to your door. I don't know what else to tell you. But I can say there is a nice newer home which is hard to come by in Hazelton up for sale due to job relo. The family is very sad they are forced to leave but they may be considering (I heard thru the grapevine) seller financing, lease, or lease option, etc. Contact #701-782-4495. Best of Luck to you and your family and Welcome to North Dakota!
Norway99 - no one has mentioned California - so I'll fill you in a bit. We are moving from California to North Dakota (Medina) in October.
California has been my home state since I was 19 years old and I have always loved it. My husband lost his job (which we thought was very secure) a week ago. If you drive around many neighborhoods you will see abandoned homes - people just couldn't make the mortage and gave them up.
The government is cutting all services - so if you have no safety net you are in trouble.
The crime rate is terrible, gang shootings aren't unheard of. Car theft, illegal immigration, et al - it's here and it's terrible. 2 people leave California for every person who comes to California.
Medina means clean air, people who aren't afraid to open their doors, a clean & healthy life. My husband took his retirement and we're going to start packing our life up and getting back to the good life.
Afterlight we are so excited about moving to Medina, and we're hoping to make lots of new friends when we get there. Hopefully we'll be there before Halloween!
We're so sick of California - there are things we'll miss I'm sure - but I'm sure we'll figure out how to adapt.
Fanciesmom: let u know what you think about Medina. I drive by there often but haven't had a chance to swing by the town and look around. I want to really try that rib place that htey advertise on the highway that is located there. Most i ever heard of Medina unfortunately was the whole Gordon Kahl incident.
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