Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I ran across this today.... a WDAY TV (Fargo) part 1 report of the downturn in oil prices and impacts on Williston. I have never been to Williston, so I personally cannot comment on its accuracy or not. But worthwhile I believe
I was there two weeks ago and it's dead, real dead. If oil stays this low I can see major problems ahead. I would also say that Dickinson is even more dead.
Thanks for sharing the video. I've been admiring this fascinating story since reading of the Williston explosion in a National Geographic artical a few years back. I check back in here every once in a while to see what times are like now in Williston, and I find it so interesting what has come of this town, once a tiny town, to one bursting at the seams, to one that now has hundreds of apartments & hotel rooms that are vacant. I hope things rebound in Williston soon.
Interesting that Home Depot is closing. It's also interesting that they never saw the potential in building an actual full line store. Aren't they building a large new shopping center in Williston? I would put that on hold indefinitely if it were me.
I suspect that the low oil prices are only temporary and that at some point in the future, perhaps 5 years from now, they'll start rising again. The world's population is only continuing to expand and everyone wants to burn fossil fuels and live the good life, and there's only so much oil in the world to go around.
I suspect that the low oil prices are only temporary and that at some point in the future, perhaps 5 years from now, they'll start rising again. The world's population is only continuing to expand and everyone wants to burn fossil fuels and live the good life, and there's only so much oil in the world to go around.
Good points. The price of oil wont stay low forever.
Good points. The price of oil wont stay low forever.
Theoretically, the world could turn to green, renewable energy sources and stop burning fossil fuels, but I don't foresee that happening anytime soon. There's just too much poverty and overpopulation in the world for people to give up using the natural resource that provides the best energy-return-on-investment and the negative costs are an externality that will be paid by future generations.
Interesting that Home Depot is closing. It's also interesting that they never saw the potential in building an actual full line store. Aren't they building a large new shopping center in Williston? I would put that on hold indefinitely if it were me.
That Home Depot was never really a store in the first place. It was a store front, however if you wanted anything they had to have it brought in from other locations across the state. When Menards opened, no one bothered with them anymore and you can't blame them. Menards gets a fair amount of traffic and seems to be doing pretty well. I went in there today in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, they had several checkout stands open and each of them had at least 1-2 people in line.
Most building seems to be on hold. There's a sign on the road out to Menards about new apartments that would be finished in 2015, however they were never even started. Personally, I'm fine with that. The shopping center hasn't been finished either, they're struggling to find retailers that will invest here. Also something I can understand with how things are right now.
We still have a lot more now than we did several years ago. The schools are still bursting, my daughters school had a record high number of students this year. People may be leaving, but people are also moving in.
Oil is not actually low. It is at its normal price. Perhaps even a little high. The high price when had in the past was due to market manipulation. Not normal market forces of Supply and demand.
Fortunately for Williston, they didnt build all that much or get into big debt governmentally like places such as Gillette and Casper did. Gillette is looking at big hurt along with the rest of NE Wyoming. At least Casper brought in a lot of industry. Unfortunately much is coal and oil based but perhaps some of it can survive.
I hear you can't get a hotel room in Casper around August 17, 2017.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.