I Recently read an article in the paper about Dickinson and how the mayor their was elected during the first oil boom in the late 1980" then oil crashed, forcing people out of jobs, and many houses and buildings empty. But, recently within the last year the oil industry in western North Dakota has been really booming which has been reviving or growing cities like Minot, Williston, Stanley, and Dickinson which are some of the bigger cities that have rapidly grown from the massive Bakken oil boom. But the story I read comes from Dickinson where their town went from a recent ghost town to a know thriving boomtown, which came from the first oil boom which left the town very empty afterwords. The whole reason I bring this up is because of all the huge growth in Minot and the surrounding areas. When you look at how the towns are rapidly growing with many businesses and long stay hotels going up the question to me is whats going to happen when this boom is over and Minot has twenty five hotels and a pile of houses with no one living in them. At some point in time in our future this boom will eventually end and I think places like Minot and Williston will be really empty because when the oil boom is over many of the recent job opportunities will leave with the oil, and if their is other jobs still available they will be even harder to come by because of all the people that are going to want to stay. so I guess my prediction is that when this boom ends something needs to be done or are economy in western North Dakota may be in serious trouble in the future.
Well this is interesting. I didn't know this had happened at another time. And by the sounds of it, maybe it isn't a good thing that it did. I don't think people look into the future of post-oil, maybe because they realize this situation or just don't care to, but there have to be some positives that can come out of the end of the oil boom, right? Though no one can really say what will happen to our economy, we could see some perks. For instance, maybe some of the families will stay here because we do have a better rep now, and compared to other states, we might be a safer place to keep a family. Also, the violence that happens regularly would hopefully slow down. This could also pull people in, knowing the workers who cause the violence would be gone and life would be safer. There are always negatives, but we have to try to see the positives.
ReplyDeleteThe prices are probably going to go up even higher on things like rent because the owners need to be able to pay for things so i feel like the town is just going to go down hill. It's going to go downhill fast too, there's not going to be a way to stop it if it ever comes to that.
ReplyDeleteI find this story very interesting. It is crazy how the western side of North Dakota has grown because of the oil. I think it would be interesting if the western side would crumble if the oil would fall. I think the bigger towns would be fine, but some of the smaller towns that have grown because of the oil will struggle. Hopefully everything works out and there isn't a collapse.
ReplyDeleteIt's the nature of the business. They take the oil while they can. It has happened before and it will happen again. I have many friends from Williston, and they have been through this before. Some people stayed after the last oil boom, but most of them left.
ReplyDeleteTowns that are growing rapidly in response to the oil boom is not necessarily a positive thing. There are many issues that arise from situations like this including, inflation of real estate, crime and housing shortages.
Many of the smaller towns will go back to normal after the boom, except for the cosmetic changes. For now, they can enjoy economic prosperity and all the things that come with it, good or bad.