Quote Originally Posted by north woods gal View Post
Oh, Emily, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for the pics and the post. Making me very homesick for a western view, having spent most of my life out west. How was Dickinson? When I was getting set to retire, back in 2010, did detailed research on cities for a place to retire and Dickinson was one of them (lived in eastern ND as a kid, for a time). Pretty flat, there, of course, but having the park close was a big plus. At that time, though, the big oil boom hadn't happened, so Dickinson was a real sleeper as far as cost of living and such. Curious if you saw any signs of the boom affecting the town, being that it is south a ways from the main activity.
Glad you enjoyed the photos. It is truly gorgeous here!

Dickinson has "benefitted" (and I use that term loosely and sarcastically) greatly from the oil/fracking boom. It is just awful. Crowded, full of traffic, signs, construction, lots of new cheap extended-stay motels and ticky-tack apartment buildings have gone up along the interstate corridor. We came first in 2013 and used it as a base for visiting the park, and it was bad enough then with all the construction mess everywhere, but it looked even more built up this time (though we just saw it from the interstate). Hotels there are surprisingly expensive because of demand (we paid about $140/night for a La Quinta back in '13). Yes, it is a boom town, but I sure wouldn't want to live there. Good thing you did not move there right before the boom, though I guess if you'd bought a place you could probably sell at a profit now!