And having 2nd thoughts, lol.
A friend stopped by my office yesterday.... he works at one of the local grocery stores. He said, the oil boom people have already started arriving. Those that can afford it are buying houses, and the stores have been packed with people stocking up (because you can't survive out here without having a pantry stocked - it's been known to snow in July and August!)
And THEN, he began to tell me about the horror stories. About the increase in crime in North Dakota... About people recently arrested for driving vehicles filled with drugs, about the increase in prostitution, break ins, etc., and then there's the last missing person whose body was found near the oil fields that I already knew about. She went jogging, was grabbed right off the street a block from her house...
Ok, there are some reality checks here... I used to do special events for the City of Deadwood years ago... during my training, one of the classes I had to take was for problems. How to prepare for terrorist attacks.... I'm sure you're thinking terrorist attacks in a small western town of 1500 people? But yep, as they said in the beginning of the class, highways bring in people... all kinds of people from all over the place.
And, we get the RALLY every August. 500,000 people come to Sturgis (a town of 5000), and the overflow comes up here, just 17 miles away on the interstate... the real estate offices over the years have devised a system of checks to weed out the drug dealers, etc. So, IF I decide to do any renting, I could go through these offices and have the checks done just like we do with the Rally.
And that murder... one of the suspects was from here (in Rapid City). Crime can happen ANYWHERE, at any time.
So for now, I'm going to wait and think about this some more. The whole thought of packing my house up is less than appealing, AND I've got dogs coming for most of the summer anyways. I'll keep you guys posted... LATER!
And THEN, he began to tell me about the horror stories. About the increase in crime in North Dakota... About people recently arrested for driving vehicles filled with drugs, about the increase in prostitution, break ins, etc., and then there's the last missing person whose body was found near the oil fields that I already knew about. She went jogging, was grabbed right off the street a block from her house...
Ok, there are some reality checks here... I used to do special events for the City of Deadwood years ago... during my training, one of the classes I had to take was for problems. How to prepare for terrorist attacks.... I'm sure you're thinking terrorist attacks in a small western town of 1500 people? But yep, as they said in the beginning of the class, highways bring in people... all kinds of people from all over the place.
And, we get the RALLY every August. 500,000 people come to Sturgis (a town of 5000), and the overflow comes up here, just 17 miles away on the interstate... the real estate offices over the years have devised a system of checks to weed out the drug dealers, etc. So, IF I decide to do any renting, I could go through these offices and have the checks done just like we do with the Rally.
And that murder... one of the suspects was from here (in Rapid City). Crime can happen ANYWHERE, at any time.
So for now, I'm going to wait and think about this some more. The whole thought of packing my house up is less than appealing, AND I've got dogs coming for most of the summer anyways. I'll keep you guys posted... LATER!
Replies
I\'m glad you are thinking about this and not leaping right in. The ones that bring families are okay but then you have the ones that are transient. Some of the polo people in this area are not much better.
When I owned one of the bars we had a pipline crew coming through. No families and the guys were bused to the job and taken back to their rooms at night. Most of them were okay but there are always those few who take those jobs for a reason. They send money home and party every night.
My ex was in town working out of his local union. He was working wherever his union had a job. No responsibilities, not telling anyone he had a wife (getting a divorce) and in the bars every night so you would think he was single. He was only 23.
My first H was offshore oilfield. I spent some time down around Morgan City and when they came off the rigs they weren\'t always the nicest people to know.
There are a lot of good people working those jobs but you need to be careful when you live by yourself. You do not want to rent out rooms and live at your house.