Updates
November 30, 2012: for lack of a better place for this story, I will link it here -- an open letter from the President of Wal-Mart West, who speaks highly of his associates. If the link breaks in the future, which I assume it will at some point, try googling "San Francisco Chronicle our workers over their jobs Wal-Mart."
Original Post
A former Willistonite, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Wisconsin, visits Williston once or twice yearly. He writes:
I had once thought that my family’s description of the boom had been a bit hyperbolic; in fact, it may have been charitable. I discovered a Walmart so disheveled it appeared that there had been a natural disaster in the area. Friendly faces and greetings seemed missing from the sidewalks of the town I had grown up in. Yet the most disheartening change was story after story of native retirees being forced to sell or move out of a place they could no longer afford. When rent in Williston exceeds the price of a flat in Manhattan, something is horribly amiss. It is not just a travesty; it suggests an ensuing tragedy.He concludes:
The seemingly casual disregard for roots is ultimately the problem posed by an oil boom. A rapid surge in transient workers is not by nature family oriented. Some families have made the move and at least intend to establish roots, and God bless them. But in the long-run civilization is not built on man camps; ghost towns are.My hunch: this will all take care of itself over time. Change is difficult for some. The man-camps are necessary for the workers required during the surge; at some point the surge will level off, and then decline. The man-camp facilities are temporary and will disappear. It would be much worse to over-build permanent facilities and end up with boarded-up neighborhoods. Williston over-built with permanent structures in the last boom and it took years to get out from that. There are many stories of smaller towns who almost went bankrupt, some did go bankrupt, by overbuilding permanent structures in previous booms. The man-camps are an innovative way to manage a surge in workers. It sure beats tents and campers. The man-camps will disappear. Williston will be bigger and stronger than ever five years from now. It ain't gonna be a ghost town. It will take 30 years to drill the Bakken wells, and then another 75 years of continued production. (See analysis of the Bakken at the sidebar at the right.) And that's just the Bakken.
I respect Mrs. Dionne’s discovery of “peace of mind” — something we all cherish. But when this fragile life comes to an end, one’s ultimate goal is rather to rest in peace. This was the goal of so many old-timers who cultivated the Upper Missouri Valley, and it came with a life well spent. Their “peace of mind” was that someone would one day, hopefully, visit their gravesite. Prosperity does not ensure posterity. Posterity is what the “old-timers” gave us. The question for many of us, then, is what do we give in return.
Speaking of hyperbole: I visit the Wal-Mart regularly. To describe it as if it had been hit by a natural disaster is over the top. If one wants to see a Wal-Mart that appears to have been hit by a natural disaster, visit a Wal-Mart during the week prior to leading up to a hurricane. The Williston Wal-Mart appears to be doing quite well considering the volume of folks served and the constant problem of keeping employees. My hat is off to all those Wal-Mart workers for doing what they do to keep up with all of us.
This is the paradox of "gentrification". A few cities like New York City and San Fracisco-Oakland still have rent controls from World War II but a lot of this does not necessarily help those in need.
ReplyDeleteHere in Minneapolis rents are skyrocketing.I bought my house 25 years ago (today is 25th anniversary of closing) and it's paid for. I figure that if I was going to rent my house today it would cost $1000 to $1200 more than it cost me owning it free and clear. If I was renting I would have to move.
My "bungalow community" near downtown is ironically in high demand because a lot of "baby boomers" who work downtown now have all their children graduated from the public schools so the suburbs are now a millstone to them.
I was thinking of this the other day. Almost all modern US cities started out as boomtowns. A lot of boomtowns decline or die but some evolve with time into regular cities. Minneapolis has the nick name "Mill City" because it was one the grain milling capital of the world due to a waterfall downtown and an easy way for railroads to get up from river level, cross the Mississippi with two very short bridges and have a railroad follow the continental divide all the way into central North Dakota with no significant bridges needed.
These are all minor points today.
You are correct about overbuilding and debt. The
Bakken boom does appear to have "legs" but these are "famous last words".
Greg, you've articulated the situation exactly right, about modern US cities starting out as boom towns. You and I are old enough to have seen the process or heard about the process. The op-ed was written by a younger individual who has a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteI am going to do a longer piece on this, but after looking at the Kiewit subdivision which will have about 2,500 units, I am beginning to think the housing situation in Williston will be resolved by the end of 2013. If not, folks have seriously underestimated how much work there is for folks here.