What is there to do in North Dakota? (Fargo, Minot: foreclosures, insurance)

[Jammie]

Kwill, welcome to the forum. It's always nice to see another positive poster here. We were just at your airport a day ago. We already felt like we were nearly home when we got there and it was such a relief.

IMHO the people up there do all of the same things we do down here. It's what you make of it~there's ALWAYS something to do.

Bet some of the No. Dak. towns have these things~same as my So. Dak. town has~

1. boating

2. waterparks and swimming pools

3. hunting and fishing (for the sports enthusiasts~not me though

4. theatres that present plays

5. schools with CHRISTMAS programs, autumn concerts and spring concerts along with football games, basketball games, etc.

6. churches with social activities

7. dance classes

8. yoga

9. colleges that have plays and concerts and sporting events

10. bowling alleys

11. hiking and jogging paths where you can breathe CLEAN air

12. arenas with concerts

13. dances

14. YMCAs with activities and pools for winter

15. movie theatres

16. state fairs

17. Fourth of July celebrations

18. Christmas parades

19. zoos

20. Good clean air and water. No REAL traffic jams like in some other areas of the country.

Hope this helps.

[traveler73]

I grew up in historic Hudson, NY, just south of Albany in the area that most people call upstate NY. The Hudson River valley and the Catskill Mountains really do have a beauty that is unique and gorgeous. There is so much history in the area as well.

But please don't judge all New Yorkers by the negative comments of a few. Some New Yorkers have sort of "Texas pride" thing I guess, but a bit snobbier.

Yes, NY does have a lot to offer.....but so does N Dakota.

My mother grew up near Bismarck before moving to NY. I've been visiting family in ND since I was 5. My parents now live in Dickinson. And they don't lock the back door at night, that blows me away!

A few years ago I took a good job opportunity in Bismarck. While I wasn't a fan of the below zero temps and wind, I had my share of good fun. The Missouri River was great, the sandbar parties on pontoon boats were awesome. And most of the women in ND look amazing!

Not once did a person react negatively when finding out I was from NY. In fact, most thought I was crazy for wanting to live in ND. It's like they thought ND had nothing to offer outsiders. Some would say NY has so much more of everything. My answer was, yes, NY does have more......crime, taxes, cost of living that is out of control, traffic, overpopulation, pollution, etc.

ND is a great place to raise a family. There are still traditional values. Even bars close at 1 am! (Fargo might be 2 now.) On Saturday night at Midnight, all 24 hour businesses close until Noon on Sunday so their employees can go to church, and it's a state law! Put it this way, there are far worse places that a person could live.

Anyway, I am proud to say I grew up in NY, but I'm also proud to say lived in ND. I'm now in the Black Hills of SD for another job opportunity. ND is a beautiful state with much to offer. Some people just can't see it and you really can't fault them for that.

[stormchasing_is_life]

High School Sports are a major part of everyone in this state's lives. It seems strange, but you see half the community at a girls basketball game against the rivals from 30 miles south of you and on the opposite side of the gym is half their community. Its sad to say but a lot of people drink when they are bored around here. Its not that theres nothing to do but many kids think that its cool and fun. We have cable and technology. We do not ride horses or live in teepees. yes, we even have electricity. (A joke on the part of someone who once aske my mom those questions).

Oh an one more thing...Not to be naggy-ish but Jammie, why do you type No. Dak. instead of ND or north dakota? Just a thought i had while scrolling through the posts. Back in the day i think that was standard but hey. Just a comment. I like to keep things positive!

And for all you north dakotans who think they hate this state and cant wait to get out? Leave. You will find out that everywhere else has problems too. But I just dont want to hear your complaining when the smog and traffic in Chicago or NYC drives you mad

[Jammie]

Hi Stormchasing and welcome to the forum.

Sometimes I type SD or ND, but often it's No. Dak. or So. Dak. I started school in 1960 and that's the abbreviations that were used at that time. I know they've shortened them through the years, but old habits are just hard to break. It's nothing dergatory and I never thought about it before~NO. Dak. I'll make an effort at just using the current abbreviations for it.

[MikeyToo]

Originally Posted by Jammie

Hi Stormchasing and welcome to the forum.

Sometimes I type SD or ND, but often it's No. Dak. or So. Dak. I started school in 1960 and that's the abbreviations that were used at that time. I know they've shortened them through the years, but old habits are just hard to break. It's nothing dergatory and I never thought about it before~NO. Dak. I'll make an effort at just using the current abbreviations for it.

Jammie: Do a google search on NoDak and SoDak. The term is still extensively used throughout the Dakotas. I still say NoDak and SoDak myself. I had an uncle that drove a car in the Minot NoDak race club(which still exists today). Ahh! To Reminisce..

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by MikeyToo

Jammie: Do a google search on NoDak and SoDak. The term is still extensively used throughout the Dakotas. I still say NoDak and SoDak myself. I had an uncle that drove a car in the Minot NoDak race club(which still exists today). Ahh! To Reminisce..

Thank you, Mikey. It's comforting to know that we didn't learn it "wrong" in school.

[SCGranny]

I. Can't. Wait.

I am a 'rural' person. I have raised chickens and horses, and have hunted and fished and canoed and kayacked and X-country-skied on vacations. I moved to my present town 23 years ago, bought a house, raised the kids. It started out idyllic - and then everyone started moving South. We call em "snowbirds" - those folks tired of snow and big city woes and traffic and crime. So what did they do - they came down here and brought it all (except the snow) with them. I can't hunt - too many housing developments and people whine when a woman carries a gun in her pickup truck rack. I can't have chickens - the noise bothers people. I can't have horses - do you know that some people actually think horse manure stinks? People 'round here think I'm scary or 'too country' cause I grow my own organic vegetables in my greenhouse and yard, and can make my own ceramic tile and put it up on a wall or down on a floor, too! The city tried to pass an ordinance saying that you could only have grass/plantings of a certain height in your front yard, so I had my yard declared a National Wildlife Habitat so they can't stop me from growing the English Roses, 150 types of daylilies, and all of the other fruit and flowering bushes and trees.

I'm not going to argue, I'm just going to move! And ND sounds like just what we are looking for. But... but... my brother worked in the oil industry there for awhile, and he says that the growing seasons are too short, that ya'll can't really grow anything because the soil is shallow and the subsoil is volcanic ash, that most of the towns he was in were all about drinking (he's Mormon, we emphatically are not - ahem).

I have lived around Norweigian/German-descent people before, and I can polka and down mugs of beer like nobody's business, but are they really more standoffish in ND? (Not that it matters much - most folk just come up to us and ask us to talk because they think we have a funny accent. That usually breaks the ice.)

I have found that most 'local' people are a little self-protective at first - and sometimes for good reason. Not all new people are wonderful neighbors; some hear that this neighborhood or that town can be moved to and taken advantage of, and some people like to move a lot so that no one knows they are abusing their spouses or children, so it is never a good idea to be completely open-hearted.

So - do ya'll have bears? What kind? Moose? Elk? A lot of them? Can you hunt them? (I won't hunt a mountain lion unless he thinks my critters are meals.) Wolves? Coyote packs? A lot of them? (I like them, especially the howling, as long as they are not hunting my critters, too.) Owls? What kinds? Bats? Possums? Badgers (I've never seen one!)? Beavers? I know you have deer, gophers, and pheasant. What sort of snakes do ya'll have? (We have every one but one found in North America, so fewer would be nice.)

I hope whatever (small small) town I choose to live by has a bar with karaoke - it is my secret evil indulgence... Or maybe I need to just crank up my machine in the barn and start one! LOL

Ya'll don't have a bunch of miserable money-grubbing developers coming in and laying waste to the place and advertising the heck out of your State so that no one can afford to live there any more, do you? I don't think I can take going thru this again.

Per the NoDak - I looked up NoDak Mound cause I was looking at a piece of property that had one for septic and didn't know what it was. So it stands for something that was invented in North Dakota. A pretty kewl idea I might add, and something to be proud of. After all, if you can't dispose of waste efficiently, you might as well be nomads.

[cynk]

I just popped into this forum randomly and it made me wish I was back in the midwest. I'm from outside Chicago and been living in NYC and Los Angeles for 8 years and can't seem to get to Fargo fast enough. I visited a year ago and was hooked after meeting the friendly people and seeing the great quality of life

...I don't know why but I got addicted to the fast food pizza chain up there called Pizza Patrol. It delivers and hits the spot after taking a friendly cab home after a night downtown.

[TravisW]

Originally Posted by SCGranny

I. Can't. Wait.

I am a 'rural' person. I have raised chickens and horses, and have hunted and fished and canoed and kayacked and X-country-skied on vacations. I moved to my present town 23 years ago, bought a house, raised the kids. It started out idyllic - and then everyone started moving South. We call em "snowbirds" - those folks tired of snow and big city woes and traffic and crime. So what did they do - they came down here and brought it all (except the snow) with them. I can't hunt - too many housing developments and people whine when a woman carries a gun in her pickup truck rack. I can't have chickens - the noise bothers people. I can't have horses - do you know that some people actually think horse manure stinks? People 'round here think I'm scary or 'too country' cause I grow my own organic vegetables in my greenhouse and yard, and can make my own ceramic tile and put it up on a wall or down on a floor, too! The city tried to pass an ordinance saying that you could only have grass/plantings of a certain height in your front yard, so I had my yard declared a National Wildlife Habitat so they can't stop me from growing the English Roses, 150 types of daylilies, and all of the other fruit and flowering bushes and trees.

I'm not going to argue, I'm just going to move! And ND sounds like just what we are looking for. But... but... my brother worked in the oil industry there for awhile, and he says that the growing seasons are too short, that ya'll can't really grow anything because the soil is shallow and the subsoil is volcanic ash, that most of the towns he was in were all about drinking (he's Mormon, we emphatically are not - ahem)..

North Dakota is America's number one Durum Wheat producer (by far). The growing season isn't too terribly short--growing up, our garden had tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, corn, peas, lettuce, salsify, rhubarb, onions, beets, and whatever else. East of the Missouri (the further east, the better) the better the soil gets.

Originally Posted by SCGranny

I have lived around Norweigian/German-descent people before, and I can polka and down mugs of beer like nobody's business, but are they really more standoffish in ND? (Not that it matters much - most folk just come up to us and ask us to talk because they think we have a funny accent. That usually breaks the ice.).

People in ND tend to be less gregarious than in some southern locales. That being said, the southern accent is quite the icebreaker--especially in small towns. North Dakota communities tend to be pretty tightly-knit. Many people in ND communities are grandchildren or great-grandchildren of the immigrant who founded them, so they have a vested interest in sustaining their towns. I wouldn't say that ND people are standoffish, but they tend to socialize with people that they know.

Originally Posted by SCGranny

I have found that most 'local' people are a little self-protective at first - and sometimes for good reason. Not all new people are wonderful neighbors; some hear that this neighborhood or that town can be moved to and taken advantage of, and some people like to move a lot so that no one knows they are abusing their spouses or children, so it is never a good idea to be completely open-hearted.

True. My hometown (Maddock, ND) had FBI and DEA do a raid on a trailer house a few years back after some "new people" moved into town.

Originally Posted by SCGranny

So - do ya'll have bears? What kind? Moose? Elk? A lot of them? Can you hunt them? (I won't hunt a mountain lion unless he thinks my critters are meals.) Wolves? Coyote packs? A lot of them? (I like them, especially the howling, as long as they are not hunting my critters, too.) Owls? What kinds? Bats? Possums? Badgers (I've never seen one!)? Beavers? I know you have deer, gophers, and pheasant. What sort of snakes do ya'll have? (We have every one but one found in North America, so fewer would be nice.)

No bears, occasional Moose (more in the northern part), and I don't know that there are any Elk around. Sometimes, mountain lions will prowl through, but that's pretty rare. Wolves are likewise very rare. Coyotes are plentiful, and need to be shot. We have some hoot owls, a few bats, no possums, and remarkably angry badgers. We have beavers, deer, gophers, and pheasants. As for snakes, there are some rattlesnakes west of the Missouri. Aside from that, there are some bull snakes and garter snakes.

Originally Posted by SCGranny

I hope whatever (small small) town I choose to live by has a bar with karaoke - it is my secret evil indulgence... Or maybe I need to just crank up my machine in the barn and start one! LOL.

Karaoke is fairly common.

Originally Posted by SCGranny

Ya'll don't have a bunch of miserable money-grubbing developers coming in and laying waste to the place and advertising the heck out of your State so that no one can afford to live there any more, do you? I don't think I can take going thru this again.

House prices are pretty low in ND.

[SCGranny]

Thank you, Travis! I appreciate the information very much.

I greenhouse a lot of my plant starts, but I was worried about short-term growing seasons.

I was sort of hoping for bear, moose, and elk, but that isn't a problem if the area doesn't have them... probably safer for both me and the critters. ;-> Yes, I agree coyotes need to be shot... they are everywhere now and pretty damaging to livestock. Possums are almost petlike around here, so I won't miss them. Garter snakes are fine! I would love to get away from the omnipresent copperheads, rattlers, water moccasins, and trade them for bulls. I wouldn't mind the occasional rattler - the problem is that here, if you kill one, 20 show up to the funeral!

So if you are on property out of town, can you hunt on your own property with few (the usual seasonal, night, etc) restrictions?

Glad to hear that karaoke is big. And I understand completely about the local hesitation to embrace newcomers... I pretty much make my own way in the world, and don't like people who are automatically friendly... makes me nervous; i.e., what do they want?

Thanks for the info about Maddock, that's one of the areas we're looking.