Description

This district is obviously the home to North Dakota State University and its defining characteristic is one of academia. The surrounding community is comprised mainly of middle class homes, apartments, fraternities, and sorority houses. A few small bars and fast food restaurants and strip malls provide consumer services for the area.

This is one of the older areas of town and is starting to deteriorate. The streets are cracking and potholes get more numerous every spring. Many of the streetlights are no longer working and more than one home has been boarded up and abandoned. The only area that is regularly maintained in the district is the university campus, which, while not exactly thriving is keeping its head above water while the surrounding area slowly decays.

Crime is on a steady increase in the area although it has not reached the extremes of the areas of Moscow West or the West Fargo Strip. The most common crimes are drug related and sexual assaults. The Fargo Police Department has tried to crack down several times in the area but each new school year brings fresh victims and perpetrators to the area.

People

The majority of the inhabitants of this area are students and faculty of the university with a smattering of middle-class homes to the east of the campus. The community is young and energetic with the optimism of youth and little concern for the future.

As such, the younger population of the area is not overly concerned with the deterioration of the area as they see themselves as only being here for a couple years before moving on to bigger and better things, little realizing that many of those that live in the small apartment complexes in the area and work at menial jobs were once students that either failed to complete their education or were unable to find careers within their field.

Description

North Moorhead is a middle to lower class community. The southern border is mostly given over to commercial development and is dotted with small, locally owned businesses. This area gives way to lower middle class housing, which in turn becomes upscale housing along the river near the Moorhead country club.

Moorhead is a city in decline and is starting to show in this part of town. Many of the streets are in disrepair. The buildings are old and worn and new construction in this area is rare. The sickly sweet stench from the sugar plant assaults the sense of smell of those new to the area, and the rumble of the trains assaults the sense of hearing.

People

The people of North Moorhead share something in common with their district and that is stagnant decline. Homes and businesses are seldom updated or maintained, the paint peeling from the facades as time takes its toll.

The same goes for the people. They go about their dreary lives, driving used cars held together with spit and bailing wire. The population is getting older as there is nothing here to keep the youth. And those young families that do end up here generally bought their home after its previous residents passed on.

Description

The Osgood development is one of the newer areas of the FM area and caters to homes for ‘new money’ yuppies and their families. The area is a mixture of moderately priced apartment complexes to the north and large residential areas with winding rounds to the south interspersed with an assortment of businesses that appeal to its predominately young and up and coming citizens.

The area is well lit and clean. The lawns neatly manicured as each homeowner tries to keep up or exceed the landscaping efforts of his neighbors. The area has very little in the way of traffic, as most of the people going here live there and work elsewhere in the city. While the arteries feeding into the area are busy the streets of the community are not.

People

The people of Osgood are typically under the age of 40 with well paying jobs in a variety of management positions, at least those that are homeowners. The cars and houses are new and optimism is high, as is arrogance. The people here know they live in a good part of town and often put on airs one would associate from the old money families of Rose Creek

Description

Beautiful large homes in well maintained gated communities are the hallmarks of this district, whose nickname of ‘mansion land’ is well deserved. The Rose Creek neighborhood, which gives the district its name, is home to the old money families of the area and is surrounded by upscale suburban homes and contains the exclusive Rose Creek golf course.

The mansions here range from elegantly designed modern homes on large plots land, to walled estates and even a castle. The lawns and gardens are exquisitely manicured by gardeners who could toil for lifetimes without hopes of ever living here in the home of the modern nobility.

People

The people of Rose Creek proper are the wealthy movers and shakers of the FM area. They maintain a refined, elegant and extravagant life completely oblivious to the decay that is rotting the outskirts of their domain. Dinner parties, wine tasting events and private galas reinforce the opinion that these people are the best, and they know it.

Description

The district of South Fargo is a melting pot of cultures and economic levels. Here one can find lower class apartment communities that are home to immigrants and refugees from eastern Europe, the Middle East, and west Africa mere blocks away from wealthy homes that surround the Blue Mont Lake Development.

This area is home to wealth and promise and poverty and crime. Police patrols are intermediate at best focused mostly on the upscale neighborhoods while those of a less refined quality are left in squalor.

People

The wealthy inhabitants of the area are skilled at ignoring those parts of their neighborhood that are falling to disarray. Whether this is because they truly lack concern or are simply oblivious to the rot that is starting to set in is unknown and probably a combination of the two.

Small ethnic street gangs are beginning to form in the poorer sections of the district and the young scions of the wealthy in acts of rebellion are being seduced by the danger and excitement of this criminal element.

Description

South Moorhead is predominantly residential with middle class housing east of Highway 75 and new, higher class housing west of Highway 75 centered on Riverview Estates Park. The construction here is generally newer and the streets are wide, well lit, and well maintained.

People

The residents of South Moorhead are middle to upper class, upwardly mobile professionals in white collar and management type careers. Violent crime is rare in the area. The people are generally law abiding and quiet.

Description

The dominant feature of the Hub is its numerous warehouses and trucking firms interspersed with light industry. Big rigs rumble in and out of this area carrying a wide variety of goods to and from the area. Numerous rail lines also pass through the area. While the dominant pollution of the Stacks is one of odor, the Hub seems to produce noise in abundance.

There are few residential areas in this district, mostly located along 7^th avenue north and consist primarily of apartments and small homes. The service businesses to be found here mainly cater to travelers, truckers in particular. As such one can find late night fast food joints, cheap hotels and automotive repair shops.

Many of the larger businesses in the area, and even the state maintain numerous warehouses, many of which have their own private security to keep track of who enters the fenced in properties.

People

There is a very small population that actually lives in the area and by night the area is generally deserted with the exceptions of the gas stations and fast food restaurants.

Street crime and violence are rare occurrences as there are other places safer to make a quick buck and many of the security guards have no qualms about getting rough with trespassers, turning over their beaten bodies to the police when they arrive. Rumor has it that the area is extensively controlled by the Italian Mafia, but whether that is because of the mafia’s historic ties to Teamster unions or fact has never been proven

Description

The industrial heart of the FM area is known as the Stacks in reference to the industrial plants that spew dark clouds of toxic gasses into the air and leave a thick coating of grime on anything that spends more than a day in the area. Most of the industrial structures were constructed in the 1950’s and little has been done over the years to keep in a state that anyone would consider well maintained.

The factories are not the only cause of pollution in the area as it is also home to a meat packing plant, which provides an unpleasant smell of animal, manure, and rot in the air to blend with whatever happens to be coming out the massive smoke stacks.

The Sheyenne River’s brown sludge twists through this part of town and is often a dumping ground for waste from the factories and the meat packing plant.

There are few residences in the area, a few low income housing neighborhoods and apartment complexes can be found along the border of Moscow West. The streets are ill maintained and more often than not the streetlights are broken or out of order.

People

The majority of the inhabitants of this area are of eastern European descent, either born from immigrants or immigrants themselves they come for work in the factories, many of which are Russian owned. Most of the people have little in the way of education and many of the young turn to criminal behavior in hopes of getting money and getting ahead. Drug use and alcoholism are the two salves the downtrodden people here have of escaping their bleak lives.

Crime is common in the area and police patrols are basically non-existent. As a result the people here make up a very close-knit community with little trust of outsiders and those that do not share their cultural identity. The cheap doors to cheaper housing are kept securely locked at night and the residents have grown accustomed to turning up the volume on their televisions or radios to better ignore the sounds of gun shots and cries of help. They know better than to get involved in other peoples troubles, they have their own to worry about.

Description

The district of Trollwood seems far removed from the rest of the Fargo / Moorhead area. The fauna is healthier, the colors are brighter, the sky is free of smog and the air untainted by the stench spewed forth from the Stacks and the Hub.

The Red River winds along the eastern border and does not appear as polluted as that farther upstream. Hoary old trees skirt its edges and create deep pockets of shade for the cottages that line the cobblestone streets.

Trollwood gets its name from the performance school of the same name that opens its doors to students from across the country and even around the world. Aside from this school there are numerous small mom and pop stores, coffee shops anFad book sellers, and small art galleries.

People

The residents of Trollwood are comprised of two main demographics: young bohemians and senior citizens living in a strange sort of gestalt. If Fargo has a hippy community, it is found here.

Crime and drug use are low (with the notable exception of marijuana and mushrooms). Street performers can be found on street corners next to small stands selling organic herbs and other garden grown crops.

Description

Two words best describe West Acres, ‘commerce’ and ‘night life’ and this area is the center of both. Located in the middle of the metro area it is home to numerous businesses, strip malls, banks, hotels, night clubs, bars, pubs, restaurants, and the shopping center that gives the area its name. If it’s for sale, it can be found in West Acres.

By day the area is filled with a crush of people going to work or going to make those who work earn their money. The streets are filled with the traffic of people from all over the city looking to spend their hard earned money on their wants, needs, and desires.

This area does not go to sleep early and when the sun sets the area is equally busy but this time it is more an issue of ‘desire’ that brings the people to spend their money. The night clubs come alive as the people strive to forget the troubles of their day and find a little happiness at the bottom of a bottle or the arms of a stranger, or even in a little plastic baggy purchased in a parking lot or darkened back alley.

The West Acres district is not just about commerce as there are numerous apartment complexes in the area and thousands call this area home, from families just starting out to college students living off campus, and everything in between.

People

The population in this district is generally younger than most areas of the city as housing is cheap and plentiful. The added bonus of being at the center of the area’s night life is also a powerful draw.

By day people go about their business, many working hard for the money they will then spend that night on expensive drinks, cheap drinks and anything else that gets them a good time.

Violent crime is rare in the area and police patrols are frequent on the major roads.