Over at the Dickinson Press (North Dakota), reporter Amy Dalrymple has been writing a fascinating series titled “Faces of the Boom.” Whereas most of the country (outside of Washington, D.C., at least) is facing economic hardships, prolonged unemployment and housing problems, North Dakota has something of a boom. If you or anyone you know has been out of work in the last couple of years, you’ve probably heard the advice to head there for work.
Many people have and Dalrymple has gotten a ton of interesting stories profiling the changes that the town has seen during this time. She wrote about why hotel owners, based on their experience with a boom during the 1980s, aren’t keen to expand too quickly. She wrote about how some new residents are already getting active in politics. Many of the stories are about how the long hours or long distance from home are wearing on the workers. There have been looks at how one North Dakota native used his Wall Street expertise to gain from oil investments. One guy she profiled is only 20-years-old and his lack of experience meant he had to be super persistent to get work. Another profile was about the women who are living in the temporary housing facilities for oil field workers.
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