Westward...................No!

[along-for-the-ride]

I thought this article about modern day pioneers quite interesting:

Florida family gives up on small-town North Dakota

By JAMES MacPHERSON, Associated Press Writer James Macpherson, Associated Press Writer

Mon Feb 15, 7:55 pm ET



HAZELTON, N.D. – A tiny North Dakota town's promise of cash and free land lured only one family from out of state. Now, Michael and Jeanette Tristani and their 12-year-old twins are trying to move from the town without a traffic light back to Miami.

Tired of crime, traffic, hurricanes and the high cost of living in Florida, the Tristanis moved four years ago to Hazelton, a dwindling town of about 240 that has attempted to attract young families to stay on the map.

Michael Tristani, 42, said at the time the 1,800-mile move was "an answer to our prayers."

"We don't have to look over our shoulder to see who's going to rob us, or jump out of the bushes to attack us," Tristani said. "Taxes are low, the cost of living is low and the kids enjoy school."

But the family also found a cliquey community that treated them like outsiders. "For my wife, it's been a culture shock," he said.

Rural communities across the Great Plains, fighting a decades-long population decline, are trying a variety of ways to attract outsiders. But the Tristanis show how the efforts can fail even at a time when many people are desperate.

"It's been quite an experience, 50-50 at best," Tristani said. "It hasn't been easy. No one really wants new people here."

The Hazelton Development Corp., formed by a determined group of citizens, began running ads in 2005 offering families up to two free lots and up to $20,000 toward home purchases. Businesses were offered free lots and up to $50,000 for setting up shop in the town.

Besides cash and free land, Hazelton had little else to offer except elbow room. Surrounded by flat farm land and livestock, the century-old town boasts three churches, a bank, a grain elevator and a bar.

Like many small towns across rural America, the once thriving farming community began shrinking as residents moved on or passed away.

Tom Weiser, one of the city leaders behind the project to lure new residents, said Hazelton had hundreds of inquiries from around the world when the community's proposal made headlines across the country. Several families from other states visited the town but only the Tristanis made the commitment to move.

"Not everybody fits in in a small town," said Weiser, who works as a baker at Wal-Mart in Bismarck, about 45 miles away.

Hay bales, a gas station and a graveyard greet visitors as they roll into Hazelton off the state highway.

Michael Tristani came from his native Florida wearing gold necklaces and a Rolex and driving a Lexus. He proved as foreign as a flamingo in a place where pickups, farm caps and flannel shirts are de rigueur.

"People thought I was a drug dealer," he said.

Tristani said he was prepared for Hazelton's bitter winters — when wind chills can reach 50-degrees below zero and snow drifts are measured in feet — but not the small-town drama.

"People prejudge you without getting to know you," Jeanette Tristani said.

The couple bought a house built by students at an American Indian college in Bismarck. The home was moved to town and put on two lots donated by the city. The Tristanis bought a third lot and were later given $15,000.

Tristani, a former grocery worker, and his wife, a former real estate agent, opened a bistro and coffee shop. But within weeks of moving to the city, the couple petitioned for a restraining order against the owners of another coffee shop. The Tristanis allege one of the owners drove by their house yelling obscenities and threatened to damage the family's new home.

"He appears to be out of control," The Tristanis wrote in court papers. "At times, it's difficult to understand the rest of the words he's using on my family due to his uproar."

Both businesses are now shuttered.

After his bistro failed, Michael Tristani said he began buying old houses in Bismarck, fixing them up and reselling them to earn money. Jeanette, 44, lost her job last year at a call center in nearby Linton when the business failed.

The Tristanis say the family enjoys spending time together and has little to do with the locals. They relish trips to a Wal-Mart in Bismarck.

The couple's home in Hazelton has been on the market since August, though the for-sale sign has been covered with snow for weeks.

School Superintendent Brandt Dick said losing the Tristani twins, a boy and a girl in the seventh grade, would be a blow to the shrinking enrollment.

Dick said there are 72 students enrolled at the local high school, and that the number is expected to fall to 31 in four years.

"We are declining in numbers and will continue to decline unless something changes," he said.

Bev Voller, a member of the nonprofit development group, said the incentives were funded largely through private money, much of it from "an anonymous donor."

But, she says, "the cash thing is over now."

Kim Preston, a spokeswoman for the rural advocacy group Center for Rural Affairs, based in Lyons, Neb., said the offer of free land to lure new residents to wilting towns is a phenomenon that started in the past decade.

But the small communities that have had success are near larger communities, she said.

"For it to work, it needs to be no more than a 30-minute commute," she said.

It's a 45-minute drive from Hazelton to Bismarck — in good weather. And the weather is often bad.

Jeanette said the main reason she wants to move back to the Miami area is to care for her elderly parents. Michael said he couldn't convince his wife's parents to join them in Hazelton.

"The cold weather has them freaked," he said.

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Have you ever "relocated" across the country and found yourself as a modern day pioneer? If so, what was your experince like?

[LarsMac]

North Dakota is the one state I have yet to visit.

From what I hear, it is a very large football field, with no grandstand.

The wind doesn't stop there, because there is nothing to get in its way.

As for relocating. We have moved 8 times on the 30 years we have been together.

Every place is different, and you have to be adaptable.

The most common phrase we have heard is, "Y'all not from around here, are you?"

[along-for-the-ride]

Thanks for your input, Lars.

I have also moved several times in my lifetime so far. It is an adjustment. I always have to check the new area out and see what's close by as far as employment availibility, stores, churches, schools, hospitals, etc. Can I walk to these places if I have to? Do I have neighbors? I've always given "the natives" time to get to know me. I'm friendly...but not pushy. Making a new place feel like home is a challenge. It's always been kind of adventure to me.

As to the article, the move would appeal to me only because ND is very close to my children and grandchildren. I'm not sure Hubby and I could take the frigid temps at this stage of our lives.

[LarsMac]

I was just reading in Sunday's paper that ND has a homeless problem this winter.

Seems the word got out this summer that ND was least impacted by the recession, so a bunch of folks traveled there looking for work.

Now they are stuck, with no job, no money, and no place to live.

I'm not sure I would go to ND if I had a job waiting for me, much less in hopes of finding one when I got there.

Nothing against the people. I am sure they are very nice. It's just that if I am gonna face the prospects of homelessness, I'd rather be some place like Hawaii.

[Nomad]

2 really positive things regarding ND come to mind.



1. If you are travelling through ND there is no greater feeling than when you get to the other side.



2. You can pee on the side of the road virtually anywhere.

[fuzzywuzzy]

The worst thing in the world is getting used to small town grape vines, cliques, and 'old ways' that have worked for generations. You have to be stronger than they are .....................and that's all there is to it. I understand their problem , been there done that. Weirdly enough I'm stil here 11 years later :-2 Oh my god!!! I've become the children of the corn ..they sucked me in.



Hay bales, a gas station and a graveyard greet visitors as they roll into Hazelton off the state highway.


Theyy have a graveyard?....sheesh some people got everything. What are they complaining about?:yh_rotfl

[along-for-the-ride]

Hey Lars, Nomie and Fuzzy! Glad you stopped by.



What gets me is the declaration, "In a small town, everybody knows everybody else." This may have been true a hundred years ago, but I don't believe it's true today. Yeah, there are the cliques......folks who grew up together and socialize together. But they don't make up the total population of a small town. If you are new to town, or not in the same economic bracket or go to the same church or live in a certain neighborhood, they don't know you. Most of them don't want to really know you. They relish the "security" of their inner circle. It's a shame...but that's the way it is. So you have go about your business of living your life and making your own friendships.



PS. I've heard that Hawaii is a very expensive place to live.

[Amythest]

I have relocated across my country but every experience was positive.

I did travel from BC, across the northern states, in a graffiti'd Van, with my Mountain bike racked on the front, and chose various small towns to visit or stay overnight.

One place was Salem North Dakota. I was wonderign what a "Salem" in ND would be like.

I did find the people pretty reserved and judgmental ( when i ate a a greasy spoon diner) Maybe they had a chip on their shoulder due to the town name. Seeing me pull in. "Oh there's another one of those weirdos lookin' fer witches!":yh_rotfl

Here is the Towns claim to fame. Salem Sue. The Worlds Largest (fake) Cow

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/369 ... 40c5_o.jpg

[along-for-the-ride]

Hey Amythest!

Now, I myself would not like to "pull up stakes" and move. I have had to do this often enough so far in my lifetime. Three times I moved from the States to Germany. (Ex-hubby was in the military.)

Now, if I do have to relocate, I would like to already know what the new place and area will be like. Maybe an unreasonable request?

[Amythest]

along-for-the-ride;1291766 wrote: Hey Amythest!

Now, I myself would not like to "pull up stakes" and move. I have had to do this often enough so far in my lifetime. Three times I moved from the States to Germany. (Ex-hubby was in the military.)

Now, if I do have to relocate, I would like to already know what the new place and area will be like. Maybe an unreasonable request?


If i had the means right now i would head back to BC or ( after brushing up on my french) to Quebec. Places I know.

The lifestyle and cultural feel are more my pace. I lived in both places and life was so much less stressful.

However this is 25 yrs later and the country and I have changed ALOT!

I also feel uncomfortable about relocating to a foreign place due to the present world social economic atmosphere and I'm not wealthy!( nice protective buffer) Having a set job placement would help but I don't think I fit in that bracket. All my relatives are in Holland.

Moving around is always more romantic and tolerable for some when young i think?

[along-for-the-ride]

Here is a link to a website with the stories of various pioneer and immigrant women:

Notable Women Ancestors - Pioneer Women



Very interesting stories.

[along-for-the-ride]

Here's yet another link to some poems that pay homage to our pioneers:

The Pioneer Book Of Poems