We are looking to escape Nevada (mini california) and have been looking at North Dakota.  Does anyone have any information on the hospitals in the area and if they are requiring the vax??
Are there mask mandates there or not??
Are there areas to avoid, if so where?
We have 4 large dogs so will be looking for a small bit of land.  I don't think we would be very popular with our neighbors if we lived in town with a small yard and close neighbors as our dogs are quite a "talkative" bunch.
Thank you in advance for any information.

I can't speak to every hospital's vax mandates, but ours does not. I'm not aware of any small town hospitals that do.

Areas to avoid: the reservations are obvious. Bottineau isn't on the res, but it's too close for comfort. There are areas of Fargo that are best avoided, mainly the northwest quadrant of the city if you use the interstates as axes. The northeast is also infested with college kids and other low income housing. Move there at your own risk.

If you're considering rural life, people east of the Missouri river tend to be more neighborly than people to the west. Ranchers in the west are very reluctant to welcome outsiders.

If you do move here, do your best to assimilate. There's a lot of gossip in small towns. Please, please never talk about how "we did it back west." We're a friendly people. But we like our own ways.

I'd disagree with this take, obviously around NDSU there's a lot of smaller older homes, many dedicated to off campus rentals, and other low density apartments but the old south side is a mega-apartment jungle. The north side up by Riley's Acres, Highland Park/North River and Edgewood/Longfellow is very nice though the impact of the new Amazon facility is yet to be determined and downtown is high end luxury yuppie condo land with admittedly lower income, older neighborhoods in between in the Horace Mann/Roosevelt areas.  But the new south side is a high density, urban sprawl rat race with mega-apartments plopped right next to high dollar luxury housing developments until you get way down south past 40th Ave.

Western ND has also changed quite a bit over the last decade as the oil boom broadened some previously insular communities.  Williston in particular has done some very intelligent city planning to invest in infrastructure and development that it's intended to be sustainable even during future oil busts.

I have found people west of the river to be great.  You are right though.  They tend to be "out on the fence" with you at first.  

I have been fed like a king at some places and treated with nothing but respect while working at their places.  They only ask that I do good work obviously.  

Other than a few good friends...  I don't miss eastern ND.  

Other than the crime in North Fargo.  Its awesome!  

Unfortunately in the past 3 or so years, The entirety of Fargo (and Moorhead) has gone in the shitter.  Lots of theft and quite a few murders.

Thanks to drugs (meth especially)  and shit bags from the asshole of Minnesota,  and Shitcago.

I used to love that town. Spent a lot of years there.