since housing is scarce in western North Dakota, what's the second best option?

I have lived in NoDak. Matter of Fact, I grew up in Fargo/Moorhead. Granted that's on the MN/ND border.

I have also driven truck around ND. Lot of anhydrous and grain from out west back to Minneapolis. Matter of fact, I have relatives south of Dickinson.

I looked at getting a job out in the oil fields. Did it also in the 90's during the first oil rush too.

This time around conditions are much worse for workers. Last time, the towns accepted them in, they built housing for them, made plans for the long term. Then the price of oil dropped and they got stuck holding the whole tax bag on a lot of property that nobody wanted.

They aren't going to let that happen again.

I found a regional job driving truck that's giving me better situation than the oil fields were any day as far as I am concerned.

We have a local company that sells RV's. They are getting used ones in and sight unseen, they are getting sold to people in Bakken.

Another company makes living shacks that get hauled out there. Looking at those, you'd be better off getting a Conex box and renovating it to live in.

Go live the block gold rush. Ya might learn something.

 

If you're coming to cali better have oil field experience if you want to work in the oil patch. It looks like things are starting to open up i was reading a ad for crewman for Nabors for i think even that needed a year of oil field experience. I had to go texas but if you look hard enough you can find it. Aeroteck is offering 10$ an hour with 1-2 years experience for roustabout work WTF??

 

What type of work are you looking for? I have been up here since Mar 1 and I am in company housing (man-camp), the size of a small dorm room. One person to a room. Most of the research for jobs can be done online. I applied, was interviewed and hired online, before I ever set foot in ND.

 

I just left Williston north Dakota a month ago. If u don't know somebody that knows someone its hard to get on. Try a company call rockpile energy they just started doing Frac work. They have man camps work 2 weeks on week off good money. Can fly home for less than 500 round trip to southeast us for the money u can make there if u get on. Rockpile is in dickenson which is where next oil boom is headed there bout three hrs from Williston town ain't close there lot of open land. Whole lot

 

Also if u got family rockpile is building condo type town houses for family really nice company hate things didn't work out for me there.

 

OI have a nephew who works for an engineering company. He gets sent to Wyoming, Colorado, and was recently in ND. He didn't like it up there. Paid 800 a month for a place to park a gooseneck rv. And had to tow it out once a week to an rv dump. The site he was at didn't have hookups at that price. Then he told me how dangerous some of the roads are out there. Narrow, muddy, and as crowded as Denver rush hour. Not a matter of if you have a wreck, but when. And if you are a truck driver, in most cases, you can't get oilfield housing because drivers are usually independently contracted. You may be a company driver, but your company is contracted. Anyway, he couldn't wait to get back to the gasfields in Wyoming.

 

I live in ND, I run through the western part of the state alot, I have friends that went out there to work. The stories are not myths. House is non existant, Spots to park RVs are non existant. People were parking int he Walmart lot, people trying to live out of a pickup bed with a topper on it. They are building apartments at a record pace, they are pulling in portable camps at record pace but the problem still exists.

You might be fine over the summer months, just be prepaired to sweat alot lot but come winter, conditions can get very harsh out there. -30 degree temps, winds blowing a constant 20-30 mph. Not fun with out a nice warm place to park your behind.

 

scarce housing? if i were you i would keep it WAY real and go there, find a nice piece of land and build my own house, this way its new construction, you have exactly what you want and cheaper than buying an overpriced home, and if the city comes and gives you crap about your house being built on the land you didnt buy just say ######### i got here first. thats it!!

 

The latest news in the Williston Herald, May 24, is that the city passed a law to make it illegal to live in a recreational vehicle within city limits. Goes into effect in Aug. 2012. Full story in next Fri. paper. This follows the Chambers demand that camping be stopped near their office, and the local WalMart enacting a ban on overnight parking. It appears the locals have gone hostile, see more below.

Feb. 9, 2012 Williston WalMart no longer allows anyone to park overnight. The police are under orders to tow anyone who does, and there will be security guard patrols. LINK HERE TO NEWS STORY


Also, the Williston Chamber says the "Vagrants & RVs" must go. Here is a quote from that article, which BTW seems to sum up the feeling over at the Williston WalMart also, ""They (the vagrants) are out there in their lawn chairs hooting and hollering at whoever comes passing by." LINK HERE TO NEWS STORY

And now comes news that 29 apartments are being forcibly evicted. Some quotes from that article, "Williston is my hometown and I feel locals are being pushed out by oil companies," one tenant said. "Tenants are irate about the situation. Most of them wanted to comment on the evictions, but wished to be unnamed for fear of retribution from the landlord. Some were concerned they could even lose their jobs if they complained openly." LINK HERE TO NEWS STORY

I apprecitate those who have posted good solid info on this thread, as I am here to learn about Williston because I have been considering looking for oil field work there. I have 12 years as a Class A driver with all endorsements, and 8 years working drilling rigs in CO, WY, & UT. I have been in the boom towns, and have seen how rough it can be when the locals go hostile toward newcomers and especially oil workers. My memories of Evanston, WY in the early 80s.... well, I think the city PD busted more skulls than Harley Davidson.

So it appears that one had better have the job offer before going, and it better include housing, but I am learning that most of the time the employeres idea of housing is cramping 5 or more men into a camp trailer; that's tough in any climate but pretty extreme in a NoDak winter IMO. I'm just sayin'.