All I know about the town of Fargo is what I saw in the Cohen Brothers movie of the same name, which actually mostly took place in Minnesota. But the response to Red River flooding has been truly impressive. Citizens actually working with the National Guard to put up dikes, instead of twiddling their thumbs waiting for FEMA to show up. This "can-do" attitude is refreshing for America at a time when Wall Street is cozying up with DC to extort more taxpayer dollars for their failed enterprises and states that spent themselves into oblivion are begging Washington (see California).
To explain this mentality, the NY Times had an article a few months back about why the recession wasn't hurting North Dakota:
North Dakota’s cheery circumstance — which economic analysts are quick to warn is showing clear signs that it, too, may be in jeopardy — can be explained by an odd collection of factors: a recent surge in oil production that catapulted the state to fifth-largest producer in the nation; a mostly strong year for farmers (agriculture is the state’s biggest business); and a conservative, steady, never-fancy culture that has nurtured fewer sudden booms of wealth like those seen elsewhere (“Our banks don’t do those goofy loans,” Mr. Theel said) and also fewer tumultuous slumps.
