Howard SD Miner County Question? any insight would be terrific! (Sioux Falls: for sale, house)

[smalltown476]

Hi Everybody
I am hoping people in South Dakota could tell me a little bit about a small town in Miner County called Howard. It is about an hour northwest of Sioux Falls. 60 miles I am told. Is this a nice little town? driveable to Sioux Falls everyday to work? I would imagine you would have to drive 45 miles to Mitchell or an hour to Sioux Falls for work. I would appreciate as much information as possible. Have a great weekend!

[Jammie]

Hi and welcome to the forum! I wasn't sure about the mileage so I checked Mapquest. It's about 70 miles to Sx. Falls and about 45 miles to Mitchell from Howard. We haven't been there for several years. We went through there on a Sunday afternoon drive. It seems to be a nice, clean town.

This is just my personal opinion~I'm not much of a "winter driver" because I've been out in too many snowstorms and on too many icy roads. I personally wouldn't consider driving that distance in So. Dak. or the surrounding states. I live two miles from my employment and it takes me about 8 minutes to get there. That's not unusual in our area of the country.

As far as employment in Howard~the only thing I've ever heard of is the factory there. It has something to do with cards and was supposed to be a nice place to work. I'm not even sure if it's still there though.

Is there a reason that you haven't considered living in Mitchell or Sioux Falls or another town where you'd live near employment?

[smalltown476]

Hi- I didnt see your response till after I sent you a message, but thank you for your imput. City-data.com has it as 63 miles to Sioux Falls. Mapquest has 70 miles. The person trying to sell me the house says 50 miles of course! :-) I will most likely buy somewhere in Lincoln County such as Hurley Davis which is only a 25-30 min drive to Sioux Falls. May I ask which town you live in?

The way I drive it would take about an hour to Sioux Falls from Howard. well I was looking at Sioux Falls but there are quite a good bit of homes for sale within an hour or less from Sioux Falls that are less then $20,000 that are actually cute little homes! :-) I am going to make a cash deal purchase very soon on a home. Would you possibly know of any homes for sale $20,000 and under within an hour of Sioux Falls? I have a couple homes on my list to choice from but I am still looking. Any SD Classifieds that are a hidden secret you know about that many people dont? :-)

[flwsoldier]

Hi,

I don't live in Howard, but my girlfriend does. There is a factory that makes sports cards, and there are a quite a few windmills. I heard something about a new factory that had opened there in town about a month or two ago, but I searched and could not find any of the details. Howard has a decent golf course. You will often see pheasants on the roads leading out of town!

It is possible to make it from Howard to the northwest Sioux Falls city limits in less then an hour since you can go 65MPH on SD-34/US81-S and 75MPH on I-90. There are no red-lights or stop-signs along that route.

There would be more places to work in Madison, South Dakota (20 miles east of Howard). Madison has Lake Herman State Park. The population is greater then Howard, but if it were up to me I'd rather live in Madison just because it's a little closer to Sioux Falls.

[RuralFan]

Just learned about this forum. Great site! Although I seldom post in forums, as a Howard resident, I am compelled to post here. Howard is a great place to live, and it looks like it has a bright future.

It might not be right for Smalltown476 if he/she is looking for a 30 minute drive to SF, but one of the things I like most is that its within an hour's drive of SF, Mitchell, Brookings, and Huron. I love to go do things in each of those places, and there's no place more centrally located in SD.

For a small town, Howard has a ton of jobs. Businesses looking for employees recently have been: Dakota Beef (the largest organic beef company in the country), Energy Maintenance Service (work on wind turbine generators), Knight & Carver (wind turbine blades), and the Good Samaritan Center (nursing home -- looking for nurses).

Great to see that Smalltown is also looking at Hurley and Davis. There's a lot of opportunity out in rural SD.

[snowman1]

Don't forget about the great bars espically the Longbranch

[debey]

malooneys? been there, snowman1?

[sdgoldpanner]

Smalltown,
Are you SURE you want to drive from Howard - Sioux Falls in the winter time?
Whatever you decide, I hope it works out.