Moving to and living in Williston question?

[fishfry]

Hello All, New member here long time lurker and reader. Looking for some advice and feedback. So here is my deal I am living in the eastern half of the state right now Devils Lake. I got a job opportunity out in Williston that would increase my salary a good amount. The job isn't directly tied to oil drilling and it is with a bigger well established company so that should all be good. I haven't been out west in quite long time so my question to the people you live out there and work out there often is it as bad as we hear over here or has the slow down helped out? How is the housing and rental market? Is travel and going out still a cluster F?
I know I would probably give up some fishing but hopefully get more mulie opportunities.
Is it worth it?
Thanks

 

[sweeney]

No mule deer hunting sucks

 

[wales]

fishing as good if not better. Hunting all around better except for maybe geese. It's not a cluster anymore-plenty of good bars & eateries. expect to pay more in rent, but good deals if you shop around. Travel is a little congested from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM. Good town now.

 

[fj40]

Williston is a lot different than it used to be but all in all, a decent place to live. The boom is not gone like most believe, it has, however, slowed considerably and local infrastructure , like police, fire, schools, have caught up in order to deal with the activity. Apartments were over built and you can find good deals on nice units. There are quite a few houses on the market, unfortunately, prices are still high. Gas, milk, beer, etc are a little higher, also. And, you won't be giving up any fishing. Lake Sak close to town has been hot the last few years. Welcome to town.

 

[Migrator Man]

Williston is not so bad of a town now. It is not a crazy boom town anymore. Rent is not as crazy as before but definitely not as cheap as Devils Lake. Rent is similar to Dickinson and Minot so it's not much different than the other big towns. Williston also has a good amount of big town amenities such as menards, sportsmans warehouse, Walmart, etc.

Hunting opportunities are pretty good but just depends what you are hunting for. You can find a little bit of everything around there with MT very close. Fishing is phenomenal on the river and upper Sak all year round.

Congrats on the job

 

[BrokenBackJack]

First post so welcome FishFry!

 

[LBrandt]

Welcome aboard and good luck with your new job.

 

[eyexer]

they pretty much covered it

 

[Brian Renville]

Welcome! Good luck with the new gig.

 

[Mort]

As far as the shit show oil boom, thats pretty much died out., still activity, just not stupid nuts like it was. 37 yr resident here, PM me if you want to learn more, but Welcome to willyvile!!

 

[fishfry]

Thanks everyone!! So its probably not as bad as some of the stories a guy hears or it has cooled down from the boom. Anything a guy should keep an eye open to as parts of town to live in or stay away from? I am thinking I will rent for a little bit to get used to everything then maybe look at buying.
Thanks again good info has help a lot.

 

[628977]

Single females are like unicorns.

 

[jdfisherman]

Moved to Williston 5.5 yrs ago with the family from the Twin Cities. We came in during the boom so we didn't know anything pre-boom so we just assumed that's the way Williston was. Much quieter now, but certainly not dead. Like fj40 said a lot of money has been spent in the area to get the infrastructure up to date so now Williston is a town big enough to handle all the people here. We really have no complaints. There aren't any really seedy areas in town that I'm aware of, although some areas with a lot of apartments can be a little busy and noisy.

 

[fishfry]

Single females are like unicorns.

They just take up time that can be spent hunting or fishing;:;rofl This is a negative but it seems like a lot of towns in ND are like this or I just am not looking in the right spots.

 

[eyexer]

tons of women here now. and many are single. no worries there. unless your hung like a field mouse

 

[ItemB]

tons of women here now. and many are single. no worries there. unless your hung like a field mouse

You shouldn't advertise this on the interweb or you will start seeing more white framed sunglassed bros showing up. But then again the field mouse point needs to taken in in this scenario. ;:;rofl

 

[Sum1]

Thats a big deal to up and move like that. I'd seriously go spend a week out there just to get a feel for the town. I worked there this summer for about three weeks and thought it was a crap hole. Honest opinion. A lot of outsiders have moved into this town and it no longer had that ND feel. JMO

 

[raider]

i've been in and out of williston for the past 27 years, and it's always been viewed as the red headed stepchild of nd... this is not the docker, wing tip, or silver spoon capital of nd... this is a blue collar, carhartt, steel toe capital of the oil patch, surrounded by some of the best hunting and fishing the midwest has to offer... i've experienced booms all over the country, and this is not much different... reno in the mid 80"s - northern minnesota in the late 80's - northern colorado in the early 90's - billings mt in the mid 90's - gillete wy in the early 2000's... dr's and lawyers don't build infrastructure, which is needed most in any boom town... like it or not, blue collar people come to the boom towns to build these things... it is what it is, and some cannot see past that - that's where a lot of the criticism comes in... you probably wouldn't go to a huge infrastructure project in bismarck, fargo, or grand forks to pick a son in law, but here (with the scope and breadth of the projects), that's all people notice... also realize that a lot of the people in the hotels and apartments don't really want to b here - they r doing what they have to do to keep the family fed and bills paid back home... many of them are in a tough spot, and taking 1 for the team so to speak by working 100+ hours per week and being away from their families for extended periods of time... i like it here - it fits me... work hard and play hard is kinda how i was raised in the eastern part of the state...good luck whatever your decision is...

 

[Stinger]

Fishing has been awful good the last 3 weeks within 15 miles of town. Williston is not as bad as everyone in the East talks about. There are a lot of younger people in town and exciting opportunities if you know how to work.

 

[Migrator Man]

Thats a big deal to up and move like that. I'd seriously go spend a week out there just to get a feel for the town. I worked there this summer for about three weeks and thought it was a crap hole. Honest opinion. A lot of outsiders have moved into this town and it no longer had that ND feel. JMO

Can't really compare a small town atmosphere like Devils Lake to I bigger town like Williston. Jamestown, Minot, Williston, and Dickinson are all about the same. None of them are on the level of Fargo, Bismarck, or even Grand Forks.

- - - Updated - - -

Fishing has been awful good the last 3 weeks within 15 miles of town. Williston is not as bad as everyone in the East talks about. There are a lot of younger people in town and exciting opportunities if you know how to work.

I knew I should have been fishing out there!