The Dallas/Fort Worth area has mixed blessings with the Barnett Shale gas field. On the pro side, the DFW has not been hurt as badly as most of the nation during this economic downturn. Also, real estate has not dropped too badly.
Luckily, we sold our property a couple of years ago at the peak. We drove through our old neighborhood the other day and found NO houses for sale in the entire subdivision.
The downside of the gas field boom is that many of the rural roads are being beat to death by the heavy equipment being moved to the fields. This is the typical view of a gas rig.
We’ve even seen them drilling in McDonalds parking lots.
The noise is extreme and if it is in a residential area, the din continues 24/7 until the project is complete. In Grand Prairie, a suburb of Dallas, we noticed that the companies are trying to ease the irritation by building sound dampening structures around the rig.
You can see the houses in the background above. I bet they don’t get the best sleep. That is unless they own the mineral rights. In Texas, usually the original farming family maintains the rights. So, at least they sleep well.
The side facing away from the houses is open.