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But it always fun to hear how my parents talk like 20 is cold in January.... when after a long cold break it is almost like short sleeve weather. Granted I am bias in that I love the cold.
Dan
lol. How true that is. I'm not as hard core as you. I do remember wearing a t-shirt when it would get back up into the 30's and was sunny.
I have heard a lot about the oil field industry in ND. I would like to know if it is all its cracked up to be? I am from MI and would like to know if its going to be worth re locating?
I'm gald you like what you see about our state! It always makes me happy to hear that, ND really IS a great place to be.
Now, lets talk about the cold. Yes, it gets cold here. Very cold, and very much below zero. I would suggest you give yourself 2 years, committ 2 years to Fargo (or another city in ND you choose) and *if* at the end of 2 two years feel the same - then you are definately a north dakotan at heart! If not...then, well, you tried it!
I say 2 years because some winters are milder or more strong, or more wet or more this or that then others, 2 years means you'll experiece the gambit of our summers/winters/springs and falls.
With ALL of that said - I HATE it when the first thing people bring up out ND is 'its cold', yea well...whats new?
You wont be walking around the city for hours and freezing to death, you will get out of car and go into a warm building. Leave the warm building and go into your car, leave your car and go into your warm home. Once a week or so you will have to stand in the cold to pump gas.
Don't worry, I think you can handle it
*tip* get a car starter installed - then you will always be getting into a warm car too!
DO, however, be prepaired to spend a lot of time indoors. Are you the type of person who can be happy with that, or do you need to be active and outdoors a lot?
If you do need to be active and outdoors on a regular basis you might find a bit of a challenge here, but challenge doesn't mean impossible! We still have snowmobiling, skiiing, snowshoeing trails and whatnot.
Good luck in whatever decisions you make when the time comes - hope you make it to Fargo sometime!
Summers in ND are much warmer and more humid than most people would expect. But they're not unbearable like places such as Texas and Florida. They're very pleasant actually.
ok so this forum has pretty much sold me on how great north dakota is. I'm only a junior in college but nd is definately becoming more of a winner. So could someone tell me the pros and cons of living in fargo, nd? Who are the major employers( i will be working in human resource mangement) is there any racism or discrimination issues (i'm a african american female) what are the "bad" parts of town in fargo? Anything you can give me. I'm looking to move somewhere where i can settle down and raise a family. I'm not the type of person who likes to constantly relocate. If i move to fargo it would be permanent. So feedback!
i am an african american woman and i was born and raised in aurora colorado. I went to fargo in 2001 with my now ex-husband (white male). Fargo is the most racist city that i have ever been to. Never in my life have i ever experienced that amount of racism. My daughter (now 7) and i were treated like second class citizens. There are not many black people there at all, and the ones who are there are dying to leave. After 6 years of that hell me & my daughter came back home to colorado where i we are residing right now. I would rather be homeless living in a cardboard box here in colorado then a mansion in fargo. Nothing and i do mean nothing will ever make me move back there. I'm begging you, please don't go. Me and my daughter are still trying to get over the hell we went through. Everytime it starts to snow here in colorado, she gets horrible flashbacks of north daota. I've been back home for almost 3years now and the nightmares just stopped.
i am an african american woman and i was born and raised in aurora colorado. I went to fargo in 2001 with my now ex-husband (white male). Fargo is the most racist city that i have ever been to. Never in my life have i ever experienced that amount of racism. My daughter (now 7) and i were treated like second class citizens. There are not many black people there at all, and the ones who are there are dying to leave. After 6 years of that hell me & my daughter came back home to colorado where i we are residing right now. I would rather be homeless living in a cardboard box here in colorado then a mansion in fargo. Nothing and i do mean nothing will ever make me move back there. I'm begging you, please don't go. Me and my daughter are still trying to get over the hell we went through. Everytime it starts to snow here in colorado, she gets horrible flashbacks of north daota. I've been back home for almost 3years now and the nightmares just stopped.
I'm not entirely partial to North Dakota (I'm a liberal larger-city child at heart), and not to call you a liar or anything, but I kinda have my doubts on your post. firstly, you joined just today to claim that fargo is awful and posted no where else. And if your daughter is 7 now, that means you left when she was... 4-5ish. that's too young by ND standards to go to kindergarten so I'm wondering if it was the daycares or the other children that were treating her so awfully that it left her with terrors of ND snow. Then there is the issue that considering your daughter is 7, I'm presuming you to be about 25-30, and the majority of african-americans I know (I work with many) are about that age and LIKE living here because its peaceful and close-knit. Once again, I'm not saying you're a liar, but I think there is more to the story than you are telling.
As someone who doesn't like living here, I'll be fair. Other than the topic of cold, ND really is a matter of preference. Its small towns (fargo is the biggest at a whopping 96,000 or so) so if you socialize, you tend to know everyone and there is little crime. The majority are kinda conservative and love their church and hunting. People are kinda passive/aggressive about everything because they care what people think about them, but that also makes them polite. the landscape is mind-bogglingly flat, but it does make for amazing sunsets. Housing is cheap, but wages are low so it evens out. There's a lot of pride in the culture of the area, but because of that, a lot of outside culture kinda gets overlooked. Fargo is trying to work on that. Its still rather insular and you'll either love it or hate it. Jobs are more plentiful here than elsewhere in the USA currently, but most of the jobs are in service or manual labor and if you want an HR job, you'd better land one in advance or you'll be spending a loooooong time as a cashier while you try to outdo the competition just to get your foot in the door somewhere.
So yeah, I think that's a pretty fair assessment. If the above sounds good to you, I'd say go for it. Racism isn't so much a problem as is the kind of person you are. If you're friendly and don't "rock the boat" much, almost everyone will give you a chance.
yeah, not sure what you experienced, but as someone with a permanent tan year round, I haven't had issues, and after growing up in the south, I am sure I could spot them pretty quick.
Yeah its sounds like she had more of a personal problem with Fargo than anything else. Not a believable post IMO.
I agree with Maude's post....but to me a metro of 180,000 is quite big hard to think of it has a small town. I have moved around in the years climbinb up the job ladder and have lived in very small towns (pop under 2000) to metro areas (Detroit area) and I fail to see any big differences among most folks. There are those that are insecure and want to make you feel worthless and themselves great....those that reach out and say hello...those that dont want to...it is all what you make of it. I havent had any less of a problem with meeting people here than in the south or eastcoast.
North Dakota is definitely a great place to live, and most people here that I've encountered over the past 13 years or so have been friendly and accepting of all types of people. Maude's post about racism in Fargo really surprised me, as I know maybe one person out of the countless I've met that I would call truly racist - and he has plenty of other issues to boot. Yeah, North Dakotans can be a bit close minded and initially abrasive to people from out of state or the community, but I think that if you are a genuine person and are kind to those you meet, it's pretty easy to fit in.
As far as winters go, it can get a bit chilly, but I think people make too big of a deal about the weather. Like DoriKate said, you typically never have to spend any amount of time outside in the cold anyway, as you'll be moving from one warm building or vehicle to the next throughout the day. Driving can be a bit strenuous after the first serious snowfall and ice coat, but if you're cautious and don't drive like a jerk it's pretty simple to make it through.
Personally, my cons with the state have to do with its landscape. I really prefer hills and trees like you'd see in the Turtle Mountains north of Bottineau, and most of our state is extremely flat, brown, and boring. We do have some wicked sunsets and beautiful clear skies day and night, but I'd like a little more variety in the terrain. More rain would be nice too, but that's just something I enjoy.
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If not...then, well, you tried it!
They're very pleasant actually.
Don't go to fargo north dakota!!!!!!
