Info on Mitchell (Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Spearfish: real estate, apartments, to rent)

[akelley]

jammie or anyone who knows anything about Mitchell, SD
My husband has a job interview in Mitchell, Is this a town we would want to move to and raise a family? I read one bad posting about Mitchell. Are there things for the kids to do as they get older and is there a really bad drug problem as he stated?

[Jammie]

Kelley, Mitchell is very safe. We had a spike in crime during the summer, but that has pretty much come to an end.

Mitchell, South Dakota (SD) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders

If you check out the crime rate chart on the site above, you'll see that we are well below the average. You can find some pics of Mitchell on the "Picture forum". Most of them are on Page 1, I believe.

Good luck to your husband with his interview and if there is anything we can help you with, don't be afraid to ask.

[akelley]

well I read a post about a lot of drugs and there not being a whole lot for kids to do. the man even went as far as saying he wish he had never moved there. do you have kids and how do they like it? how are the schools?

[Jammie]

The schools are good and I've seen links on here for checking them out, but don't know where they are right now. It's kind of hard for me to judge Mitchell cause I've always lived in this area. It's always been our "big town". We've lived IN Mitchell for several years now. Personally, I like it here. MOST of the people are friendly, we have a very low unemployment rate, the schools are good and there is a LOT to do here. The ONLY problem I have with Mitchell is that winter is VERY hard for me, personally. (I'm the official winter weather whiner for the Dakotas)

We have a roller blading park that they just finished a couple of years ago. We have a bowling alley. We have a movie theatre that shows several movies at a time in different areas. We have a drive in theatre that was closed for a few years when they went out of style, but re-opened several years ago.

If your children are in to sports, this is the town for them. There are signs around town that show how many years they had won the championships in sports. Basketball is king here. Mike Miller was born and raised here and has done well in the sport's world. He's in the pros now. The Hoffman twins did very well and were excelling at their college in Tx. There are several more who have done quite well out in the "real world" where sports is concerned. They also have volleyball, football, swimming, etc. There used to be a pool in Middle School where lessons were given. The last I heard they were going to close it up and I don't know where they go now. We have a Y program where children can go after school so they don't have to go home alone. I believe they're open until 6 pm. We have the Mitchell Rec Center that has a pool, a gym, exercise equipment, etc. We have summer softball and baseball teams and that's a pretty big thing for the athletic people around here.

If your children are sports challenged like myself, we have school plays and cheerleading and band and chorus. Our show choir is fantastic and has won many awards, as has our band. Color guard is something else that many young people seem to enjoy. We have Linda Fetrl's dance classes here and many young people enjoy that and they do so well. We have the Pepsi-Cola Theatre of the arts. It's in the old balloon museum across from the Corn Palace. They have excellent plays there and are always looking for people to help out or to act in them.

I don't know what age your children are, but there is plenty of summer or part time employment here for them. Our north McDonald's went retro a few years ago. Burger King, Kmart, Shopko, the Corn Palace gift shop and concessions, Dairy Queen, etc. are always looking for students for employees. We have many summer jobs for any child who wants one.

We have the new aquatic center that just opened two years ago. It is a huge pool with several slides and my favorite-the SPRAY PARK.

The Corn Palace itself~we only have the Festival one week a year, but there are many sporting events and other shows there. My favorite is the rock n roll concerts that are held there occasionally. Makes me feel young again.

We have Mitchell Lake, which I personally don't swim in, but it's nice for boating or just relaxing on the beach.

If you're spiritual, we have many churches in our town along with Bible School, Sunday School, adult classes, etc. You've got a huge choice of any main stream religion.

As far as the drug problem is concerned, our crime rate shows this is not true. Don't get me wrong. There ARE people here who do drugs and they are often caught. We have an excellent police dept. and sheriff's dept. They are on top of things. When you travel through our state, you will see signs of a Trooper warning people to not cross our state with drugs. Of course, many dealers think it's a joke and MANY are caught here. Our law enforcement is vigilant and we have little of the crooked politics you hear about in some areas of the country. There HAVE been meth labs found out in the country and have been shut down. I'm not going to tell you that drugs don't exist here cause that would be very misleading. BUT it is one of the safest areas of the country to live in and raise a family.

[DannyBanany]

I think that the reason the drug rate is somewhat high is because people are constantly caught trying to cross the state with it. I-90 has a reputation for drug trafficking, but South Dakota has a reputation for catching them.

The drug problems in South Dakota are NOTHING compared to anywhere else, and that even includes Nebraska (Omaha).

[akelley]

well thanks for the information, We have always lived in Memphis, Tn which has a hugh crime rate and everyone has drugs around here. That is part of the reason we are looking to get out of here. We want to raise our kids in a safe, small, and friendly town. Mitchell maybe what we are looking for but it is still far from home. My husband has his job interview on the phone on monday and then if they are interested in him they will fly him in, so he can take a look around then. I have been looking at housing and I looked in the newspaper, here if it says rent based on income that usually means it is in a bad part of town and/or proverty stricken. What area of town should we look to rent a house in?

[Jammie]

It doesn't really matter. We aren't big enough to have a slum area or a high crime area. My only recommendation is not to live in the trailer court on West 2nd St. It's nasty over there. Other then that~anything will work.

Our population used to be just under 15,000, but the latest reports show we're over 17,000 now. It's not a small town to South Dakotans. We're the fifth largest city in the state. This will be like living in a different world for you.

Our local newspaper is the Daily Republic if you want to check out housing or apartments. If you have anymore questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[akelley]

Thank You for the information. My husbands interview over the phone is today and then we will know if he will be traveling there for a face to face interview. Where is the closest airport?

[DannyBanany]

Sioux Falls' airport is about an hour from Mitchell. That is where you will most likely be flying into. Sioux Falls is South Dakota's largest city with a population of about 150,000.

Good Luck!

[fasby]

Hello all,I am from North Carolina and a CPA and i want to move to SD in the very near future. How is Rapid City? I have an aunt in Spearfish and she loves it. As far as crime and drugs, believe me here in NC it is rampant. In Greensboro, NC where I live we just had our 31ist murder yesterday and drugs are taking over. Air pollution is also terrible here.Any info on Rapid City would be greatly appreciated.