James O’Felon is an entrepreneur who has lived all over the world. He and his wife moved from Washington State to Fargo, North Dakota in 2021. O’Felon said he likes the Midwest region because of its strong community.
This told essay is based on a conversation with James O’Felon, a 34-year-old entrepreneur who moved from Aberdeen, Washington, to Fargo, North Dakota in 2021.
The population of the Fargo-Moorhead region, home to about 261,000 people, has grown significantly in recent years and is expected to reach 340,000 people, an increase of nearly 35%, by 2045, according to the Fargo-Moorhead Economic Development Corporation. has been done.
My family is a little strange. I am the eldest of eight children and grew up in a very sheltered and religiously minded family. I spent most of my childhood in Washington State, just outside of Vancouver and across the river from Portland. When I was 17, my dad got a job in Texas, so we moved south.
After that, we made a conscious decision to leave America as a family. We chose Ireland because at the time it was the last English-speaking country where abortion was not allowed. We wanted to support that.
I loved Ireland. The weather, the people, the history, the language, the food, the music, the pace of life, the cities, the way they are designed – they are all very communal.
But after four years in Ireland, he returned to Washington in 2012 due to some personal issues. I met my wife in Aberdeen and we married in 2018.
But we knew we weren’t going to stay in Washington forever. We were experiencing some health issues, which were ultimately caused by mold allergies. We are biologically incompatible with mold and realized how damp and moldy the Northwest is. We couldn’t live there.
We wanted to find a permanent home, so in 2019 we started researching potential locations.
We tried to be intentional about where we ended up. We narrowed it down to a few locations with favorable economic and regulatory aspects and a positive culture.
Then we visited Fargo and knew this was the place. We officially moved in May 2021.
O’Felon said she loves Fargo’s small-town center and big-city energy. Getty Images
Fargo is very startup friendly
I’m a serial entrepreneur. You can’t stop starting something, whether it’s nonprofit or for-profit. Currently, I am primarily focused on my nonprofit and helping people create change within their communities.
I am also a freelance coach for career performance, communication, networking, and burnout prevention.
The community support here in Fargo has been amazing. It was very important when I was trying to launch my coaching business. Building the network required large metro centers, but it also required a regulatory environment conducive to small business startups.
Fargo is a great place for small business startups, and a big part of that is because of the community. People realize that we need to support each other. Being an entrepreneur is mentally challenging and comes with risks. Having the people around you cheering you on and pushing you is extremely valuable.
The support of this community is unmatched anywhere else I’ve lived. You can make friends with anyone when you go out on the town.
We are definitely putting down roots here. We wanted our great-grandchildren to live here too, so we started looking for a place to buy.
We found a beautiful house. I am on the HOA board. North Dakota offers many benefits and assistance for first-time homebuyers.
In Washington, I lived in a studio apartment. Here in Fargo, we paid about the same price for a two-bedroom apartment with twice the square footage just outside of downtown.
It’s one of the best places in the country when it comes to the ratio of low cost of living to high-paying jobs. The quality of life is high. There are many employment opportunities here.
Winters in Fargo are notoriously harsh. Daniel Barry/Getty Images
Fargo is my favorite place I’ve ever lived.
I love Fargo. This is my favorite place of all the places I’ve lived, because all of my favorite people are here. I have better friends here than I have ever met in my life. My favorite part is the community.
The first time I drove to Fargo, it felt like coming home. There’s something very welcoming about the size of the city. Although it is a lively downtown area, it still retains the atmosphere of a downtown area. I feel very safe and welcomed.
With the help of new friends from church, we were soon able to move into an apartment. We had met the pastor when we first got to Fargo and he called the parish and they all came to help us.
It’s a university town, so it’s full of youthful energy and idealism. It also borders the blue state of Minnesota. In other words, Fargo is truly a purple city. There are many different ways of thinking and opinions. People actually have conversations, which is great.
One thing we expected to have to adjust to was the weather. We made sure to do all the preparations. We replaced the car battery and bought the right type of tires.
The first year there we had a really tough winter. But it was fun. I scooped up the snow from the terrace, put it in the bathtub, and took an ice bath. The cold weather actually translates into the quality of the community here. People help each other because we are all in this together.
Fargo is growing rapidly. One of the issues we’re grappling with is where to put everyone. We don’t want prices to go up or spread out so far that people can’t commute. The city is trying to balance the small-town core we love with the larger-town main body.
As a burnout coach, I know that the silver bullet is community. We need to be able to truly connect with those around us. Loneliness kills us. So it’s a luxury to have people you can trust here in Fargo.
I think people who value community should watch Fargo. It’s a wonderful place.
