Edge of Dickinson may house 600-bed man camp
September 16, 2011 at 7:00 pm in The Dickinson Press
Plans have been submitted for a 600-room crew camp on 64 acres northwest of the intersection of State Avenue and 21st Street. Though officials think the offered plan is solid, some residents think having a crew camp would be a bad idea. Continue Reading
We came to the area in 1978 because of oil. I am greatly disturbed by all the resistance to any housing solutions. People refer to the incoming workers as “it” and “they” like they are lepers. “it has no place here, we don’t want “it” anywhere near our residents. So people in the area do not want workers of any kind? The majority of the people coming up to this area to work are just regular folk, trying to take care of families. Most have been underemployed or plain out of work for months or years. Most have a home in an area where real estate is so depressed, houses are empty, there are no buyers for houses, or their mortgage is bigger than their house ,. The majority are flocking here for an honest days work, and the people in the area are fighting tooth and nail to keep them from trying to keep their family afloat. I have heard them referred to as oil field trash. How come we never hear of rail road trash or teacher trash or walmart trash. When did it become okay to label people as trash just because of the industry in which they work? I am well aware of the challenges a boom of any kind brings to an area. Yes things change, most of us have no idea what it is like to be out of work for months. Our area has been quite well insulated from the rest of the countrys woes. Yes we came here in 1978 to work in the oilfield, we are still here because of the oil field. We are not trash, we became property owners, business owners, employers. We raised our family here, served on church boards and school boards and are volunteers. Working in the oil field is not for everyone, and it is extremely hard work, long hours, and not necessarily big bucks. Many years it is amazing we managed to survive. Instead of fighting against everything, wake up. The oil is here, lets do what we can to ease the transiition and don’t be so quick to label people as trash. The man camps are good temporary housing solutions. People need a place to sleep, and the people proposing the “camp” realize that there is no way enough apartments, houses, hotels can be built quick enough and are also quick to realize that if you overbuild, a community may end up with ghost towns several years down the road. So a man camp, one that is well thought out and financed is an excellent way to ease the housing crunch without expecting the cities to come up with all of the solutions.
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