Finding A Place To Live In Belfield - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Finding A Place To Live In Belfield

It's no news that North Dakota is booming when it comes to oil, but finding a place to live in some communities is a nightmare.

Belfield was a small, quiet town.

But the oil boom has made it noisier, population, 1,000.

"During the school year last year we enrolled 70 some new students,"Superintendent of Belfield Schools Darrel Remington said.

The people the oil has brought, need homes the oil has taken away.

"$600 a month will get you a piece of dirt with some scoria on it and power and water and sewer, and it's all good, it's living the dream," Thomas Mattson said.

Mattson moved here from Washington 16 months ago to work for MBI, and while he along with others working for the oil companies may be taking home a healthy paycheck, the expense to live out here, is hefty too.

"For what I paid for my house back home, a four bedroom house, you can't even get into probably a one bedroom up here," Mattson said.

But something is being done to help with the housing problem, 12 unit town homes will soon be built on this land and they'll be relatively affordable, at least for Belfield.

"For a two bedroom unit will go rent for $825 to $850 a month," John Phillips with Lutheran Social Services Housing said.

Those aren't the only new complexes going up, these condos also are offering more options for people to live.

"They're starting at $135,000 going up to $155,000 for the three bedrooms, 135 for the two bedrooms," Scott Rysewyk said.

Because those moving to North Dakota from across the country want a place to call home, for themselves and for their families.

"The biggest thing I think I've noticed since I've been here that chases people away is the fact that you can't have your family here a lot of the time because you can't afford it," Mattson said.

So with the help of more affordable housing coming to the area, soon some new neighbors may be moving in, calling Belfield home.

Remington says since classroom sizes have always been small in the school district, there has been room to add kids to classrooms --- so there hasn't yet been a need to hire more teachers.