South Dakota and North Dakota... what distinguishes these two from eachother? (Fargo: houses, live)

[valene1992]

Hi, I'm just wondering what distinguishes ND FROM SD?
SD I heard gived you more of a country feel?? It's like a small town region...
Are the houses affordable in ND? how is the economy? and communities??

[ebitdadada]

One is better than the other: The one that does not play host to a "Corn Palace." Seriously, who builds buildings out of Corn?

[roundball]

35 views and I can't believe no one has said this yet.

South Dakota sucks and North Dakota blows.

[Sweet_November]

Originally Posted by roundball

South Dakota sucks and North Dakota blows.

Is that true?

[roundball]

I alway thought it had to do with ND being windy. Maybe I've been wrong all these years.

[Jammie]

South Dakota: Corn Palace Photos

This is a description of the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. As you can see, the building is redecorated yearly with colorful grains and sorghum. The building is a solid structure with deco as the site will tell you. If you're interested in more pics of it, you're welcome to check out the South Dakota "Picture" sticky.

[jwmn]

I don't think there's that much of a difference between North and South Dakota. I actually think there's more of a difference between east and west than there is between north and south. Eastern South Dakota is very much like eastern North Dakota, and western South Dakota is very much like western North Dakota.

Both east and west are very much rural, with mostly small towns. The eastern Dakotas, though, are a little more populated, and the largest cities - Fargo and Sioux Falls - are on the eastern edges of the states.

The eastern Dakotas are pretty flat with lots of productive farmland, while the western Dakotas are hillier, more scenic (especially with the Badlands and Black Hills), more rugged, if you will, and more remote.

Houses are affordable, even in the larger cities. I guess the economy is doing alright. Agriculture is doing pretty good right now due to high commodity prices, and there's an oil boom out in western North Dakota. The larger cities like Fargo, Sioux Falls, and Bismarck are obviously going to have more job opportunities.

[Jammie]

JWMN, that's a very good post. I couldn't agree with you more. There are many more similarities between the two states then differences.

I don't know if this is actually a good question to ask, Valene. Maybe you could be a bit more specific in what you'd like to know. It appears that you've asked this in other areas where the states are neighbors and it only leads to hard feelings. So if you have specific questions about the differences, please just list them.

[MJ1986]

The Corn Palace is not built entirely out of corn. The outside and interiors are decorated with corn. It's fascinating to see...and they redecorate it every year. They use it for basketball games, arts and crafts shows, etc.

South Dakota is slightly more populated... The western part of the Dakotas are more hilly/higher elevated... the eastern parts are more prairie/flat. Other than that, I can't think of any other difference...

[Dan Castello]

The differences in geography and population are minimal. However, according to posts from the ND and SD boards it seems as though more people question whether they would feel welcomed in North Dakota. And a number of ND residents and former ND residents seem to tell people that they may not be all that welcome, or that it at least will take a period of time. For example, see the Fessenden, ND thread. I'm not going to provide another link for it since I don't believe that it is bad as it was described but it also isn't an isolated thread. There are a number of others that appear to convey the same opinion.

You just don't see that kind of response to similar questions on the SD board and it has certainly never been my experience back when I lived in SD. I don't how to explain the disparity in attitudes and opinions but when you read both boards the difference jumps out.