Tag: Dickinson

Bonanza evidence of city’s biggest problems

Buffet and steakhouse Bonanza, which has been a popular restaurant in Dickinson for 35 years, closed its doors this week due to a lack of staff.

Last week, Dickinson lost one of its oldest restaurants. Not because business was bad. Not because the food was inedible. Not because of a fire or some other act of God. No.

The Bonanza steakhouse and buffet that has been serving customers for 35 years was forced to shut its doors for good Monday because it could only find 11 employees. That wasn’t nearly enough for franchise owner Bob Wade to keep the business running.

The closure of Bonanza should be a wake-up call not only to Dickinson business owners, but to those who set the price of housing. It’s the clearest sign we’ve seen so far that the cost of living in Dickinson is so high, even successful businesses can’t make it unless they pay part-time workers more than $15 an hour.

It’s time to find a balance and help low- and medium-income workers before more businesses — especially restaurants — raise the white flag and lock their doors permanently.

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‘A different route’: Strategic plan in place for state scenic byways

The Old Red/Old Ten Scenic Byway, also known as Highway 10, begins on the east outskirts of Dickinson. It’s the longest scenic byway in the state at 108 miles.

Robin Reynolds owns a small business in Hebron, a southwest North Dakota town along Highway 10 about 2 miles off of Interstate 94.

Like so many other small towns in the state, Hebron has seen busier times.

“When the interstate came in, these small towns emptied out,” Reynolds said.
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Dickinson needs a longterm population solution

Last week, one of my work colleague’s struck up a conversation with a Dickinson newcomer who had recently moved here from Idaho.

The man said he had left an economically depressed area but was doing well here. Still, he had no intention of bringing his family to Dickinson so that he could both work and live here. Why not? It was economically infeasible for him to do so. He was making good money but not enough to find an affordable living situation to make the move work.

So, here the man stays, working hard away from his family and sending most of the money he earns in North Dakota back to his real home. Like so many others, he’s not much more than a visitor to our city and state.

This man’s story shows a reality of what’s really happening in Dickinson and western North Dakota.

Continue reading “Dickinson needs a longterm population solution”

Dickinson needs more events like concert

Gwen Sebastian and her band perform Tuesday evening at the Alive@5 street concert in Dickinson.

I stood on the roof of the old Elks Building in downtown Dickinson on Thursday night and said to someone, “Why don’t we do this more often?”

And I didn’t mean standing on top of one of downtown’s tallest buildings, though the view was pretty great. Of course, I’m talking about the Alive@5 free street concerts by Gwen Sebastian and Outlaw Sippin’, and everything else that went along with it, from the local law enforcement’s National Night Out to the beer gardens outside of The Rock, bouncy castles for the kids and some pretty delicious food vendors on First Avenue West.

Nights like that need to happen more often in Dickinson, and this city is getting to a point where it cannot only make that happen, it has a population that wants to see it happen.

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IN DEVELOPMENT: Dickinson Hills, West Ridge face hurdles while moving forward

For about three years, Brian Hymel has split his time between Dickinson and Salt Lake City. His wife doesn’t really like it, and neither do his children. It’s tough to say goodbye to them every couple weeks when he returns to North Dakota for work, he said.

But unlike many of the people drawn to western North Dakota over the past five years, Hymel isn’t directly connected to oil. Instead, he and his partners are in the process of building areas to serve the people coming to Dickinson because of work related to the Oil Patch.

Their latest project, the 98-acre Dickinson Hills Shopping Center mixed-use development along Interstate 94, is aimed at attracting both new and longtime residents.

Continue reading “IN DEVELOPMENT: Dickinson Hills, West Ridge face hurdles while moving forward”