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I am tire kicking different places to live. I live in Maine, I love Maine, but believe it or not, Maine is expensive, the rents are cheap, but what we pay for gasoline and fuel for heat is way higher than the national average.
What I like about Maine:
The community spirit, small town stuff. The town drunk or felon attends church and in the congregation is the school principal or lawyer
Never ending four wheel trails.
Purple skies in winter.
Multiculturalism French is a 2nd language, nearly, I am very close to the Canadian boarder.
Spring bursting with beauty.
What I don't like:
I am "from away" and eyed with suspicion.
Lack of job opportunities.
Paying nearly $2.54 a gallon for gasoline.
Paying $2.48 a gallon for heating fuel.
Businesses come and go.
Paying taxes on old cars.
Currently I work as a home health aide, I do hospice and skilled care, love it, but my company is very unorganized. I drove 30 miles for no reason, yes, I was paid, but still, really?
I do have a basic bachelors degree in social work. I enjoy working with elders.
What's life like in South Dakota? My dear daughter drove through on a road trip, she said South Dakota is very beautiful.
What are the employment opportunities?
How are the folks? Are they materialistic or "down home"?
Of course what is the culture in South Dakota? How is the food?
South Dakota is like two states and two cultures in one -- "East River" and "West River". East of the Missouri River is typical midwest farmland; west of the river is more of a mountain west culture with vast grasslands/prairies, highlighted by the Black Hills on the far west end. You got farmers to the east and ranchers to the west, and that difference can be seen in the business community as well -- more relaxed and informal in the west. The weather seems to be a bit milder in the west too, drier air with cooler summers and warmer winters.
I'll let those who actually live in South Dakota answer the rest of your questions. It's been a long time since I lived in SD, and that was only a 6-month stint.
[quote=FlowerPower00;46988447]I am tire kicking different places to live. I live in Maine, I love Maine, but believe it or not, Maine is expensive, the rents are cheap, but what we pay for gasoline and fuel for heat is way higher than the national average.
What I like about Maine: I spent a summer in college working in Maine. (Sebago, Bridgton, Fryeburg-didn't get north of Lewiston) My work takes me to South Dakota on a regular basis.
The community spirit, small town stuff. The town drunk or felon attends church and in the congregation is the school principal or lawyer Same in most South Dakota towns.
Never ending four wheel trails. If you mean four-wheelers (quads), South Dakota is very four-wheeler friendly. You can go street legal and get a license plate, then ride anywhere except the Interstates. Most off-road wheeler riding is in the Black Hills, and you get a special permit for that. Its not expensive. I know people in SD who commute on their wheeler or even ride from town to town.
Purple skies in winter.
Multiculturalism French is a 2nd language, nearly, I am very close to the Canadian boarder. Lakota might be a second language. Multiculturalism is mostly cowboy/farmer or First Nations (Sioux Indian tribes)
Spring bursting with beauty. Sometimes it is literally bursting-thunderstorms and big hail can happen in the spring. Farm fields and the Black Hills get very green. Sometimes they stay that way into July.
What I don't like:
I am "from away" and eyed with suspicion. Nah. Only in the "middle" part of the state will most people be natives. In Sioux Falls and Brookings have plenty of transplants, and in the Black Hills, half the people are "from away"
Lack of job opportunities. Mostly no shortage of job opportunities-low unemployment, but also kind of low wages. In your field, I think you could find a good situation easy. I think state website is JobsSD.
Paying nearly $2.54 a gallon for gasoline. It's cheaper in South Dakota.
Paying $2.48 a gallon for heating fuel. Not much heating oil, if that's what you mean. If you live in town, you will be on electric and natural gas. If you live out of town, you will be on rural electric and maybe propane. Propane goes up and down, but it's not as expensive as heating oil.
Businesses come and go. Most of South Dakota, I would say businesses are pretty stable.
Paying taxes on old cars. South Dakota registration/license fees are low. Car insurance is also low.
Currently I work as a home health aide, I do hospice and skilled care, love it, but my company is very unorganized. I drove 30 miles for no reason, yes, I was paid, but still, really?
I do have a basic bachelors degree in social work. I enjoy working with elders.
What's life like in South Dakota? My dear daughter drove through on a road trip, she said South Dakota is very beautiful. As WyoNewk mentioned, outside of Sioux Falls, it's mostly farmer/cowboy and it is distinctly western west of the Missouri. Rodeos, school sports, maybe church activities, some people go to the casinos up in Deadwood. People do outdoor stuff like hunting, fishing, hiking. Distances are further, and if you live outside of a larger town, you wind up going to the larger towns. Winter is less snow than northern Maine, but there's wind and travel can be difficult. Your daughter might have liked the wide open spaces-SD is lots of prairie and plains, so it is not as wooded as Maine, but there are nice hills and woods in the Black Hills area. (Lots of tourists, too) Trees and lakes in the eastern side.
What are the employment opportunities? Low unemployment. Wages are low, but cost of living is low overall. No state income tax. House prices vary by area. Recently rated 3rd best state for retirement.
How are the folks? Are they materialistic or "down home"? Mostly friendly and down to earth.
Of course what is the culture in South Dakota? How is the food? If you like chicken fried steak with mashed tatas, corn and a biscuit, or you like buffalo burgers, you're good. If you look for sushi or tofu
saute it will be harder to find. Just for fun you might also google "Wall Drug" it's a cultural landmark.
As fate would have it, I live in SD but will possibly be moving to Maine in a few years. My wife was born and raised in Whitefield and most of her family still lives in Maine. I've never lived there but have spent a fair amount of time visiting so could probably share some insights.
First, I'll address what you don't like about Maine and how it compares to SD.
South Dakota is probably a bit more inclusive of outsiders and not quite as suspicious of those from away as Mainers are. There are more people moving too SD than ME, especially in Rapid and Sioux Falls. That said, there is definitely a bit of an old boys club feel, especially in local politics.
There are definitely more job opportunities here than in Maine. My ssister in law moved here from Augusta a couple years ago because she could not find anything more that part time employment. She easily found several jobs in retail here and now works full time as a bank teller with full benefits. And she just has a high school degree. Jobs are easy to find here, but often don't pay that well unless you have an advanced degree.
Gas is cheaper here than in ME but not by much. It's around $2.20/gallon in Rapid right now. We don't have heating oil, it's mostly natural gas and the rates are cheap. My heating bills for a 1600 square foot house top out at around $100/month in the winter. Electricity rates in Penington county are expensive however. Black Hills Power is the monoply and I pay $100/month even in winter without AC. Peak summer months are $200/month.
Car taxes - you pay a one time excise tax on a vehicle when you purchase it but after that yearly registration is around $50 year. And there are no inspections. Definitely better than ME in that regards.
Now was for what you do like about Maine
Community spirit - I think SD has a similar sense of community spirit but I can't comment on the smaller towns here as I haven't lived in them. Rapid does have a certain sense of civic pride though.
There is outstanding four wheeling in the Black Hills National forests. You do need to purchase an OHV permit to use many of the trails. You cannot drive your vehicle "off-road" though. You must stay on established roads and trails. Also keep in mind that SD does not have the same trespass laws as ME. You cannot trespass on private property even if it is unposted.
Multiculturalism - This is a tough one to tackle. SD has a large Native American presence, however there is fairly open hostility and racism against this minority. Many white South Dakotans will deny this but it is absolutely true. Other than the American Indian population, this state is about as caucasian and homogeneous as they come.
It is extremely conservative, and not in a mind you're own business Maine sort of way. A perfect example is cannabis laws. Maine's recent recreational cannabis legislation is an example. In South Dakota, you can be charged with a felony crime, merely for having cannabis in your system. So you can go to CO for the weekend and legally consume. Come back to SD and get pulled over or arrested a week later. The test your urine or blood and find cannabis, there's a "possession by ingestion charge". No other state in the country has that law with a felony charge.
In general, South Dakota is a great place to live if you enjoy the outdoors. The wide open spaces and lack of crowding are incredible. It's not quite as cheap as booster make it out to be, especially if you're a property owner. The lack of income tax means that revenue has to be generate through property and sales taxes. Groceries are also more expensive than they were in places like KY, FL and NM where I lived previously.
Also, the schools are terrible due to the lack of an income tax. Not sure if that is an issue for you. I''m fairly sure Maine is int he top 15-20 states nationwide and SD is consistently in the bottom 5.
Purple skies in winter - I'm not sure exactly what you mean by this but SD has some amazing skies and vistas. Sunsets over the prairie can be spectacular. And there are some incredible lighting shows int he summer as well.
Spring here is gorgeous, although we can get some pretty epic blizards. But SD in general has a wonderful four season climate.
Chops00 did a pretty great overview except that the schools are not terrible. Way too broad of a generalization. Some schools might be bad sure but I've raised three kids in the public schools here in Sioux Falls and they have been just fine.
Chops00 did a pretty great overview except that the schools are not terrible. Way too broad of a generalization. Some schools might be bad sure but I've raised three kids in the public schools here in Sioux Falls and they have been just fine.
You're right, the school are not universally terrible and I apologize for that blanket statement. I'm fortunate enough that my kids are in some of the best school districts in Rapid. That said, housing costs significantly more to get your children in those districts. And attracting and retaining the most talented teachers is challenging when teacher pay is among the lowest in the nation. It's necessary to do some careful research when selecting which district you will be in. And when the legislature is considering a bills that would allow creationism to be taught in school under the guise of "alternate scientific theory", it makes me cringe.
You're right, the school are not universally terrible and I apologize for that blanket statement. I'm fortunate enough that my kids are in some of the best school districts in Rapid. That said, housing costs significantly more to get your children in those districts. And attracting and retaining the most talented teachers is challenging when teacher pay is among the lowest in the nation. It's necessary to do some careful research when selecting which district you will be in. And when the legislature is considering a bills that would allow creationism to be taught in school under the guise of "alternate scientific theory", it makes me cringe.
My friends in Rapid would agree with you. If you can afford it, you either buy into a costlier neighborhood to get in a better school or you pay for a parochial school. That is not how it is in Sioux Falls as the public schools seem to be good enough for everybody. Like I said, my experience has been that the public schools are just fine here in SF. Perhaps a subject for another forum, but I don't have a problem with offering the theory of creationism together with the theory of evolution. Actually, I wish this subject was just left to the parents.
The SD legislature is broken though and I just roll my eyes when I see what kind of bullcrap they are looking at. They are "backwards" and don't represent the attitudes or beliefs of most people in this state. I'm too busy raising kids and trying to make a living to really pay much attention to them. As is the case for most working parents I think.
The only good thing they've done is to raise teacher pay by 8% in last year's session with the .5% sales tax addition.
I can only add that the climate is considerably different in S D than in Maine. I was stationed at Dow AFB near Bangor for 3.5 yrs and now live south of Hot Springs in S D. You get a lot more snow in the winter in Maine than in S D. The summers are also a lot drier than Maine especially west of the Missouri. I love the dry climate, but there are people that prefer more rain and humidity rather than dust. If you happen to locate somewhere out on the prairie, you will also find that the wind can be annoying. Most of the locals will find a hill and build on the east, S/E side away from the wind but i have seen transplants build a house on the crest of a hill for the view. The view might be gorgeous, but you will want to have a roofer in your family or learn the trade yourself.
Really good comments and feedback to the OP's questions. But I think the OP doesn't really give a crap and has moved on to another state or city and hasn't really even looked at our excellent opinions.
Cool stuff folks. I'm at a point in my life where I'm looking for a summer haunt. Everything I have read makes me want to take a peek at SD. Like most folks, when one mentions SD the big block theory comes to mind. By that I mean, SD is part of that big block of states that read charming but become off limits for living due to winters.
Most view SD as interchangeable with ND, NE, Wy, and IA. What's the difference outside of the license plate? I say that jokingly but, you get the idea. I grew up in Northern Ohio and while winter wasn't hell, you could see it from there. Capiche? It was wet, cold, and neeeever ended. November to April......yuck. I got tired of kicking stalactites off the wheel wells only to be met with salty rust beneath where the stalactites once held...sigh.....chuck holes in the asphalt that would rock your world/jaw with little notice and sometimes, entirely without. We are talking cold. January highs in the teens, lows in the single digits or below. Cuts From scraaaaaping the windshield would congeal instantly.....no one ever put ice on a bruise or burn, they just went outside for awhile or, until the swelling subsided.....Wouldn't see your shadow for weeks due to a lack of sun. We called it...the Moscow effect. I suspect the winters are brutal there albeit, sunny. There is hope....
Sooooo, I live in the southeast and as I left a building this evening, stepped outside on to peachtree street (gee, guess where I reside?) and stepped towards the "public transit train staion known as MARTA" and dodged the homeless, scam artists, and a guy urinating in the pavilion near the train station, I said to myself, "self, there has to something better than this"
Enter the mental break I seek. I want to decompress somewhere in the summer where there are things to do, where walking armed is more due to four legged predators than those with two, with friendly people absent of CNN agendas and pointless arguments. Basically some place where the stress and 1.75 hour commutes, each way, each day, can be forgotten if only for a little while.
Enter SD. Maybe ID, I don't know, just some place starkly beautiful, peaceful and exponentially less crowded. A place where one urinates outdoors only because they are in the middle of nowhere and not due to an alcoholic rush downtown for thousands to experience. A place where I can forget carrying a karambit in a sheath under dress clothes with a 9mm or .380 tucked neatly away for "just in case". Called, "mass transit tamers" by some or, "coaching tools" by others it would simply be nice not to "load up" every day for a change or while you are going to breakfast with a paper and time on your hands for a change....Decisions move from buffalo bore, BVAC, or double tap or one magazine or two? to the wall street journal or the rag dejour in SD while dressing?
I'm exhausted...
So, we are roughly 1,200-1,590 miles apart and I ask you, if you were me, outside of an insane asylum, where would be the best place to go in SD for a month or two in say the jun-aug timeframe and WHY?
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) Trees and lakes in the eastern side.
