Bismarck is going through growing challenges due to rapid increases in population and business.
Mayor John Warford wants to continue to make Bismarck a destination community. He would like people to move to Bismarck, find good jobs and set up a comfortable place to live.
"With our growth we want to grow well but we also want to make sure that we are growing with the quality of life," Warford said. "The quality of life that the Bismarck citizens are used to."
Warford claims throughout his 10 years as mayor Bismarck has steadily grown. Bismarck has a diversified economy which helps create jobs in many sectors, he said.
"My opinion now is that government itself, local government, doesn't really create the jobs. What our role in local government is more of a facilitator," Warford said.
There is a housing shortage in Bismarck due to the great population growth. Warford said this is not a bad challenge to have.
Warford said the housing challenge is twofold issue. He said the inventory of homes for sale is fairly low because the houses are selling on a daily basis. He said secondly the houses are having an increasing value. Warford claims this increasing value is related to the economy.
"Our solution is, again going back to that community development department and engineering and building inspections, is to make sure that as a city if developers, and these are housing developers or multi-housing developers, want to get lots that are available and can build on we want to get these lots through the city pipeline as quickly as possible," Warford said.
Warford said the housing challenge is a concern for the city. He said the first thing a person needs after receiving a job is a home.
