Dickinson`s Future | Video

Alex Hagan | 11/15/2012

Dickinson is growing and it won`t stop anytime soon. The big question for those who live and work there is, "How will the growth take place?" There are plenty of needs that go along with the population growth, and finding out how to address those issues is the problem.

Increasing traffic, more housing and bolstering city services. Those are just a few issues that plague the Queen City. As city leaders continue to address those needs, residents who have lived in Dickinson before the boom know there is much to be done.

"Build more housing, especially more low income housing because the houses there, the rent is very high," said resident Diedra White.

"With just so many people here, new people coming here, it`s pretty hard to fill all the slots and get everything going with everyone going into the field and in the oil fields," said resident Brooks Hondl.

Karmas Lee and Jackson has been working with the city to come up with some estimates in order to predict how much building is going to be needed. More than $900 million in infrastructure will be needed to accommodate a population of more than 40,000 people by the year 2035.

"That`s based on about 35,000 more wells being drilled and not only the energy sector jobs, but what all the other jobs that spin off of that. The hotels, retail, service, all the other commercial development, just the construction jobs," said Bob Shannon with Kadrmas Lee and Jackson.

Its not just engineers that city planners need help from. They are also asking residents to provide input on what they think should be done.

"People are frustrated with traffic congestion, maybe there`s more trucks they see on the road, so we do have a truck route planned that would limit where the trucks can go in town," Shannon said.

But in order to address the issues, the city will need help from the state.

"There also needs to be a big pitch from the North Dakota legislative that Dickinson`s not alone," Shannon said.

Residents have mixed feelings on how the city is coping.

"Population is growing really fast so as far as the things that they`re doing, I think they`re keeping up," said resident Michael Kuntz.

"They`re a little slow still. I mean there`s a lot of sewer problems, water problems, electrical problems since we`re hooking up so many new houses, new buildings now," Hondl said.

Right now there are lots of problems, but not many solutions and something needs to be done to address those concerns in the near future, if population estimates are correct.

For more information on Dickinson`s comprehensive and transportation plans, go to dickinsonplan.com/.

　

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