Living outside of Sioux Falls? (Lake City: estate, car, retire)

[Chris19]

Great post, martinmaxwell. Welcome to the forum and it is good to have another Sioux Falls person on board. I too am from the Sioux Falls area. I have spent most of my life in the Sioux Falls area with the exception for living in Vermillion for five years and Pierre for a year and moved back to the Sioux Falls area due to it being a great place to live and work. I have a couple of friends who were from West Central. They give me a hard time since I am a Lennox Oriole.

I agree that Sioux Falls is a great place, especially with the satellite communities and people. Many good people. The Sioux Falls is a safe, clean, and affordable area to live in when compared to a number of other metros.

The city has decent shopping and will get better in the next few years with the construction of two outdoor shopping centers in the eastern part of Sioux Falls and will eventually be a second shopping hub in Sioux Falls. It will be a welcome addition to Sioux Falls.

The city is growing, but at a healthy and managable rate. It has bright, promising future.

[LuckyDuck63]

Man, everyone here is so helpful - it's kind of how America used to be! I just can't thank you enough for all of the tips, shared knowledge and general friendliness.

Garo - I had to laugh at your comment about not being "from here" - that's a BIG deal here in Mt. Juliet. My grandmother (another yankee) used to say "A mule makes a big fuss about its ancestors having been horses"...so I just assume the locals are mules. I've made some good friends, but I'll never be able to accept some of the things that are acceptable around here....racism,etc. I know that it's everywhere, but I'd rather live somewhere that it's not the standard. Even growing up in Alaska, where there's a division between Eskimo/Indian and white - it wasn't a hatred thing, it was cultural and there was respect for each other. I just don't get it down here.

As for the parks and outdoor activities, that sounds right up our alley! Being from Alaska, I'm all about a day spent hiking, fishing or just enjoying the great outdoors. We love to camp. In fact, I have friends from Alaska that visit South Dakota for pheasant hunting. I'm not a hunter, but I don't mind drowning a worm or two. I keep checking the weather (specifically humidity) in the Sioux Falls area and it looks heavenly - especially compared to our 95 degrees with 95% humidity. Ugh. We'll be there in September - I'm crossing my fingers for good weather.

I keep browsing real estate pages and I have to admit that I'm excited about what I'm finding. In a perfect world we'll be able to find a 3 bedroom, 2 bath on an acre or two and not have to sell a kidney for it. If I end up living "in town" I'd rather it be in one of the smaller places outside Sioux Falls. As long as I've got high speed internet, I'm good to go. Any problems in that area? I love the thought of being within a half hour of all that Sioux Falls offers (I do love theater...say, does Garrison Keillor ever visit? ) but living a small town life. I'm already so impressed with the South Dakotans here that have been so kind - I think we've found our home.

[Jammie]

Well, then come on home!!! I've read a bit about how it is for outsiders in your area. I really don't think you'll find that here~at least I hope not.

Not sure if we covered this or not, but you'll love some of the Parks around here. Falls Park is my favorite, but Newton Hills and Palisades are nice, too. They're great for hiking. And remember, you're only going to be a half day away from the Hills. They have a lot of nice areas for going for walks out there. Spearfish Canyon is a beautiful spot to take a walk.

And as for internet service~I live an hour west of Sx. Falls and mine is fine. I have not heard of anyone in the southern part of the state having problems with it. We really don't have representation from the northern part of our state so I'm not sure about them.

[MJ1986]

Thanks for the kind words, LuckyDuck! Are there any specific areas you were looking at?

High speed internet shouldn't be a problem. Many of the small towns offer it through Midcontinent or Knology. If you had a question about a specific area, just go to their website. They will tell you which towns have it.

[Chris19]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck63

Man, everyone here is so helpful - it's kind of how America used to be! I just can't thank you enough for all of the tips, shared knowledge and general friendliness.

Garo - I had to laugh at your comment about not being "from here" - that's a BIG deal here in Mt. Juliet. My grandmother (another yankee) used to say "A mule makes a big fuss about its ancestors having been horses"...so I just assume the locals are mules. I've made some good friends, but I'll never be able to accept some of the things that are acceptable around here....racism,etc. I know that it's everywhere, but I'd rather live somewhere that it's not the standard. Even growing up in Alaska, where there's a division between Eskimo/Indian and white - it wasn't a hatred thing, it was cultural and there was respect for each other. I just don't get it down here.

As for the parks and outdoor activities, that sounds right up our alley! Being from Alaska, I'm all about a day spent hiking, fishing or just enjoying the great outdoors. We love to camp. In fact, I have friends from Alaska that visit South Dakota for pheasant hunting. I'm not a hunter, but I don't mind drowning a worm or two. I keep checking the weather (specifically humidity) in the Sioux Falls area and it looks heavenly - especially compared to our 95 degrees with 95% humidity. Ugh. We'll be there in September - I'm crossing my fingers for good weather.

I keep browsing real estate pages and I have to admit that I'm excited about what I'm finding. In a perfect world we'll be able to find a 3 bedroom, 2 bath on an acre or two and not have to sell a kidney for it. If I end up living "in town" I'd rather it be in one of the smaller places outside Sioux Falls. As long as I've got high speed internet, I'm good to go. Any problems in that area? I love the thought of being within a half hour of all that Sioux Falls offers (I do love theater...say, does Garrison Keillor ever visit? ) but living a small town life. I'm already so impressed with the South Dakotans here that have been so kind - I think we've found our home.

There are a number of smaller towns around Sioux Falls that area great places to live. Small towns with originality and not as suburbanized include Lennox (2,100 people, 15 miles away), Canton (3200 people, 18 miles away), Dell Rapids (3200 people, 15 miles away) , Garretson (1000 people, 20-25 miles away) , Baltic (900 people, 10 miles away), Hartford (2100 people, 8 miles away), Humboldt (500 people, 15 miles away), Chancellor (300 people, 20 miles away), and others not mentioned and most are growing at a steady rate, but not as fast the the next few cities. Tea (3500 people, 3 miles SW), Harrisburg (3,000 people, 2.5 miles S), Crooks (1100 people, 5 miles NW), and Brandon (8000 plus people and 3 miles E) are growing towns near Sioux Falls with lots of newer houses.

Many of the smaller towns around Sioux Falls have good school districts and do not have the larger atmosphere where some kids may get lost in the shuffle.

Places such as Canton, Lennox, Garretson, and Dell Rapids have older homes with character and a few fixer-uppers with potential. Canton has some beautiful older homes.

[midwestquilter]

I would love to move up to Sioux Falls area and be in the midwest again but my hubby said he didn't want to move back up in the cold again. I guess the most I can hope for is when we retire we can spend some of our summers back there and go to some of the county fairs and such and do the camping thing again. It would help if I liked where we lived a little bit better. I am happy for you though and I wish you much happiness!

[Robert755]

I lived in the Sioux Falls area for 12 years. It's a great place. Sioux Falls has great entertainment, shopping and places to eat. I lived in several small towns. My suggestion, since you will be renting, is to take the time to really stay in the town where you may want to live. Small towns have many clicks and you will want to find one that you will be comfortable with. You can't tell by just talking casually to the people. You need to experience it. These small towns have close family, religous, and personal ties. I found that the towns may have one or two churches. Since many activities revolve around the church, if you aren't a member, you aren't accepted. In a small town everything is everyone elses business. Once you buy a place it's harder to move. Rent something and see how you like it on a day to day basis. The people are great, the area is clean and nice. If you take the time to check what you are getting into you will really enjoy. As for me, I don't miss the winters!

[Jammie]

Robert, I agree. There are several nice small towns in our state, but many of them have the "outsiders aren't one of us" mentality. It is something to be cautious of.

Just wanted to welcome you to the forum and I'm curious what state you live in now. I don't like our winters either.

[Robert755]

East of Los Angeles, not far from the point where the earthquake hit today.

[Chris19]

Some of the small towns have a clickiness to them and even there are some larger towns have that attitude to a certain extent. Some are worse than others. The town I live in has a degree of that, but is better than what it was 20 years ago. Tea was bad in that regard until 15 years ago due to a big influx of new residents moving to the area. The town has become more progressive and open to newcomers. The towns closer to Sioux Falls such as Harrisburg, Brandon, and Tea are not as bad on the small town cliquiness, but still have a degree of small town feel with the close proximity to Sioux Falls.