Moving to SD (Rapid City, Pine Ridge, Oglala: new home, employment, college)

[teiane]

Ok, I've never done this before, but I am posting so I can feel less nervous about moving to South Dakota...

I already have a job. I found out on Monday that I am being offered a job teaching college at the Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Reservation. I am THRILLED with this opportunity, and also incredibly excited because I lived in Missoula, Montana for two years, before moving to my current location, Houston. I am so happy about returning to a place like SD, but I also know the realities...both the good and bad of rural living.

I'm now wondering the best choices for me, as there are a number of factors that will be difficult for me...I'm 32, and single, highly educated (I have a Ph.D.) and on top of that, gay. So, while I'm thrilled at this job, I'm not sure the safest place for me to live, or the best way to go about finding housing in SD. The one suggestion my new place of employment is to live in Rapid City and commute the 70ish miles to the college...is this crazy?? After doing some research on the Internet, to me, it seems the best place for me to find housing (I have dog and a cat), and to feel not so isolated b/c of my sexual orientation, might just be to make the over hour commute to the rez...I just don't really know.

I am feeling nervous about the honesty of this post, but I don't want to move and change my entire life without getting some honest answers back. I'm incredibly happy about the opportunity to move back to a place I think I will love. Smaller town living, friendlier people, and a job that will mean the world to me...just reading these posts made me feel better than I have since realizing what a massive change I'm about to undertake...

THANKS for reading and any answers that may come!!

[elfyum]

Don't know anything about SD other than it seems like a great place! I'm sure our friend Jammie will chime in here - she is City Data's resident South Dakotan! Just wanted to wish you the best of everything & hope that your new home & job are all you want them to be!

[Jammie]

Hi Elfy, thank you.

Teiane, welcome to South Dakota!!! We're glad to have you here.

First of all, you may be happier in Rapid since Pine Ridge is the poorest place in the U.S. It's sort of run down, but the people are nice there.If you're white and live in Pine Ridge, you'll definitely be a minority race. But one thing you have to remember is that we can get some AWFUL winters. Our last two have been nice and this one appears that it'll be nice, too. But the Hills area can get many feet of snow at one time and it could be a pretty rough trip to get back and forth to work.

I think you did a nice job in your post and you seem like such a nice, upfront person. But you've got to know something about our area. I had a friend who was openly gay. He went to a rodeo and was nearly beaten to death by some wannabee cowboys. He survived, but was brain damaged and never was able to function properly again. He passed on about a year after the beating. There are more horror stories and you may even have heard about the incident in Wyo. a few years ago. A gay man was dragged and tortured and hung on a fence post to die. By no means do I want to portray our state or neighboring Wyo. as being closed minded, but I want you to know there are a few pretty closed minded people concerning gays. Please be VERY careful if you get into some of the smaller towns and the ranching/rodeo/cowboy areas.

Sorry about the last paragraph, I just want you to be safe and know this in advance. Oh and be sure to bring WARM clothing. Good luck to you and let us know how you're doing. I don't think we have anyone here from the Pine Ridge area so you can let us know what's going on over there.

[uncleharley]

The commute you are talking about is not your normal expressway. Most of it will be on two lane paved highway that you should be able to average 50 MPH or so. Not much more. It is also very sparsely populated, so if something does go wrong, you will probably have to deal with it alone.
An option to consider for your residence would be Chadron, Nebraska. I think it may be closer than Rapid City and at least some of the road will be more heavily traveled. Chadron is large enough to have big box shopping and a college. It isn't Houston, but it is more than the rural communities between it and Rapid City.

Good Luck,
uh

[uncleharley]

My feeling is that if you got along all right in Missoula, you will be fine in either Rapid City or Chadron.

uh