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Friday... Big deadline day for me so not a lot of time.
601... you are absolutely correct! We are enthusiastic and thankfully so. If we're not turned on in the initial stages, we'd never make it through the long slog to come. Having said that, I agree with a number of your comments. Renting makes perfect sense and I usually make the same recommendation to others. Real estate has been very good to us. Only once did I almost lose my shirt in Florida properties during the 2008 crash, but even then we were able to rent out our properties to others, so it worked out. We are only beginning the process and it may not come to pass. It's a big, beautiful world out there, right? However, I strongly believe, whether we make the move to SD or not, the cultural zeitgeist is swinging in your direction. I think an economic boom is coming to SW SD and it's always best to get in early.
This thread is NOT about me being a culture warrior, which BTW, I don't see myself as. Your mentioning several bills in the SD house and senate are well worth addressing though. Thanks for the eye-opener. It's tragic. Apparently, life in Rapid City, according to Rep. Randolph, must be at its zenith in every way, which might indicate a limited imagination. Is there prosperity at every turn? No domestic abuse? Zero unemployment? No drug abuse? All the children receiving a first rate education? Amazing racial harmony? Nothing else needs addressing that they need to focus on the definition of marriage? Why instead don't they focus on out-of-wedlock births? Or the rising crime rates? Or does he think there so many homosexuals rampaging throughout Rapid City that they pose an existential threat? The sentiment reminds me of some of the impoverished, despotic, oppressive, corrupt and morally bankrupt countries in Africa that use Gays as a scapegoat. There, they beat and imprison us before seizing our possessions and getting rich off of our suffering. What part of "Equal" isn't understood?
The truth is the US Supreme Court, after 200+ years of American history, finally declared we are fully human. They declared that we, like all humans, are worthy of life's greatest of all blessings, to have a family. Like everyone else, we want to raise our children, care for our parents, and nurture our community. The downside of a Trump re-election is that the Supreme Court will swing more conservative, opening the door for the haters to take away our rights to marry. We're always ready to leave the country to protect our family, should it come to that. A damned shame after having served my country that it could come to that. Hopefully, people like Randolph who seek to divide us will be swept out of office. Hopefully, he'll get to work and make a difference on things that matter. I don't know the man or what's in his heart, so I'll stop here. It just seems wrong-headed.
Lastly, I want to thank you for your sentiment at the end of your post. My boys are excited! My youngest wants to wear his cowboy hat when we walk down Broadway or take our walks through Central Park. "But I WANNA be a Rancher!" he says. My other son goes with the flow, as he spends too much time on video games and lives for tennis, which he can do in RC. My youngest daughter likes gardening and taking care of her rabbits, so she thinks she's ready as well, though we know those interests change as they grow. We spend a fair amount of time outside the bubble of Manhattan. My concern is my teenage daughter. She may be too mature and her eyes too open to absorb the transition easily. In the last year she proclaimed herself a "Rockefeller Republican" and now she thinks Sanders is the Messiah. I hope it's a phase, but the influence in her school atmosphere is partly the reason for the transition. A good portion of her classmates get picked up by limousine at the end of the day and I shake my head. Hopefully next month she'll come around to something else to focus on. I try to reinforce that it's capitalism and hard work that provides choices and opportunity in life -- not having things handed to you.
601, Dick and SD --
Thanks for the comments and perspective.
I'm a "Can Do" kinda man. I tend to think not "who is going to let me." No.. the question is who is going to stop me. (Ayn Rand)
My husband on the other hand is a "glass half empty" sort. He's the ol' balls and chain, but he's the other half and the better half so we're a good balance. My Scottish temper gets me in trouble, he calms everything down.
Unfortunately, moving up the timetable won't work due to commitments.
So for now, we'll take it one step at a time.
Unless circumstances (like the spike in violent crime) here become too dire or there's a Black Swan event like a global pandemic (which yesterday in the subway, people were hacking up a lung from coughing and facial masks are starting to appear)... But yeah, we're pretty psyched about making a change. And I appreciate all of you who participated here. We teach our kids that variety is the spice of life and that being exposed to life in the plains will show them that good people are in the Heartland and everywhere, if we just take the time to seek them out. We all learn through life experiences and truthfully I expected more negativity so thanks SD for being so classy and welcoming.
Last edited by RainbowFamilyRedWhite&Blu; 01-31-2020 at 10:45 AM..
Reason: clarification.
Have you looked at Omaha? It is a tech(ish) town. Somewhat progressive. It holds some of the Midwest down home values. That might be better suited to your partner’s taste. I like that area. But it lacks the mountains that I need. It wouldn’t be near the shock of going from a town of 8 million to a community of 100,000 people.
Hey, Like you, we need the mountains. Actually, water -or- mountains. Omaha may be nice for all I know, it's just too darned flat for me.
Another plus for outsiders who are considering Rapid City, is that it's smack dab in the middle of everything, in its own way. It's 6 hours to Miami. It's 4 hours, 42 minutes to Palm Springs and only 5 hours to get back to New York City. Heck, it takes that long to get from NYC to Washington, DC by train, so in all these examples, its good to be "centrally located." Heck someone on here, likes to go to the opera in Seattle and even that's less than 5 hours away.
Also, unless you're trying to get rid of us, 100,000 is plenty big. We're not "elitists," ok? But like a lot of Manhattanites, we have a country place where we go to decompress 2 or 3 times a month. We're heading out within the hour for Super Bowl weekend. Our country village is great! It's under 10,000 friendly, wonderful people. We co-sponsor the village Christmas festivities and it's a near perfect slice of life. Best of all there's a train right into Penn Station come Tuesday morning. Crime is nearly non-existent and truth be told, I might miss this more than New York City itself.
So 100,000??? That's the big-time! I'd love to cajole Trader Joe's into opening a supermarket. I'd love to have a city club (that's like a country club in the city) and a gay bar for the occasional date nights out. But will be thrilled to find a great coffee shop, a bakery with scones or bagels, a Barnes and Noble or otherwise independent bookstore and a public library that is proactive in presenting programs to encourage reading for the kids.
Call me spoiled but I don't think it's too much to ask for and if it doesn't exist, do what Americans do best. Build it ourselves.
Well, I wish you and your family well and hope that you will share your experiences with your move to SD with us here on City-Data. Please keep posting as time progresses! You may have noticed that only 6 or 7 of us post with any regularity, so we will welcome your voice in our community.
You might consider Sioux Falls as an option. The city is larger than Rapid City and has more going for it culturally and economically. Lots of jobs in Sioux Falls.
You might consider Sioux Falls as an option. The city is larger than Rapid City and has more going for it culturally and economically. Lots of jobs in Sioux Falls.
What's the appropriate age to allow your kids to have a phone? Our 13 year old was being left out of activities by "friends" because they couldn't call her or text, so at 13, we acquiesced. Now we try to set good examples which means no screen time after 7pm and weekends are family time. So I wasn't blowing anyone off by not responding, just getting a few minutes while everyone is otherwise busy.
TEAK --- you said, "You might consider Sioux Falls as an option. The city is larger than Rapid City and has more going for it culturally and economically. Lots of jobs in Sioux Falls." So I want to ask you, do you think Rapid City would be open to more stuff culturally and economically? More cultural events, more artistic venues and more higher paying jobs? I'm not being sarcastic. Maybe people like it all fine just as it is. Sioux Falls looks nice, but it just doesn't cut it, thanks for suggesting though.
Hey 601 ---
I've liked City-Data for years. Have y'all gone on to look at the stats and graphs? Great data on all sorts of places. This is my first forum though. This would have been a bust if a handful of you hadn't reached out and participated, so I'm appreciative of that. Can it really be that there are hundreds of people who have looked in on this chat but not chipped in their two cents?! It seems hard to believe. Maybe City-Data bumps up the numbers so newbie's like me don't think they're shouting into a vacuum.
I'd be glad to keep y'all updated, though I get this 6th sense that some might want this thread to go away, haha! My better half yelled at me for sharing too much personal stuff about our kids and it never occurred to me. It's anonymous, right? When we walk through downtown Rapid City, we'll blend right in. We don't strut around like peacocks, nah, just like any other family. And I'm sure there are all kinds of families, Gay or non-Gay, who are moving into town. So yeah, 601, I'll keep y'all posted if you'd like. Thanks for asking.
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