Least Favorite SD Town (Sioux Falls, Rapid City: mobile home, to buy, schools)

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by Dan Castello

Mobridge - a former girlfriend was from Mobridge and on the occasions I visited, I always found a sense of despair in the town. When I mentioned it to her, she responded, "You think it's depressing and you're just visiting? Most of these people will spend their whole lives here and never leave. You would be depressed if you were in their situation."

That's kind of funny. I grew up with people that felt that way about everything being flat. I'm not that way. The whole time I lived in flat country, I loved it. I could use binoc's and see if my cousin was home and he lived about 8 miles away. haha

But I moved to the mountains. 15 minutes from my house and I'm at 13,000 ft. I love the mountains but could move back to Hand county in a heart beat. The mountains are serene but lonely. The flats have their charm and they have neighbors. If anybody has gotten anything out of my posts, they know I have a thing about Neighbors. You gotta have them to survive, period. A person without neighbors is a lonely sole.

The Indians used to say you could see for three days. What they meant was, if you could see a structure or trees. It would take you three days to walk there. They were right. haha

At least in Mobridge you have two things. The river, and some of the best Rodeo Stock ever raised in the US. Krokow and Sutten have furnished rodeo stock for almost EVERY national finals. They have stock at more rodeo's than any other stock producer in the US. Some of the best horse sales are out of Mobridge. Ask anybody in South Dakota that raises horses and they've been to the horse sales in Mobridge. Been to many of them myself.

[marmac]

least favorite SD town?

Sisseton

[DannyBanany]

Now I like mountains, but I don't know if I could live in them. I get clausterphobic and lonely when I'm up in the Rockies too long. I like to look at the mountains from a distance. It's just so dramatic and beautiful. I think that's why I like the Colorado Front Range and Rapid City so much.

[Chris19]

Some of my least favorite towns are in Central South Daktoa. I forgot to mention that my dislikes for these towns may be attibuted to a lack of trees and remoteness relative to other communities of comparable size. I like to have my green grass and a fair amount of leafy trees. If I moved outside of South Dakota, I would move to Omaha area, eastern Iowa, Missouri (Columbia, Springfield, or western parts of St. Louis metro would be my top picks), eastern Kansas (a few more trees than South Dakota), Kentucky (in a town of 10,000 plus), or Indiana. Heck, I would even consider Tennessee. Yes, I will have to tolerate the humidity and other things such as snakes, spiders, etc. in some locales and may pick up a Southern accent over time in certain locales. I like these areas due to them being green places with trees and having a number of areas/towns with neat older homes and downtown districts with old brick buildings that are 2 or more stories high (and ornate).

Speaking of Missouri and Tennessee, I can never get enough of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and Graceland in Memphis. I have been there several times and love to take pictures. I framed a picture of the Gateway Arch and have dozens more pictures. I love Elvis music and memorablia, although he was before my time. I like the hilly, wooded terrain that exists in both states.

Thinking of the different places makes me want to make a trip south (Alabama, Mississippi, Lousiana, Missouri, etc.) now instead of next summer. Shucks.

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by DannyBanany

Now I like mountains, but I don't know if I could live in them. I get clausterphobic and lonely when I'm up in the Rockies too long. I like to look at the mountains from a distance. It's just so dramatic and beautiful. I think that's why I like the Colorado Front Range and Rapid City so much.

Danny, I know exactly how you feel. I go up to my mountains and kind of feel like I'm the only sumbitch that thought of it. I get real lonely. But then I get a feeling like I'm finally free of mans burdens. I'll still take my mountain passes where the elks bugle. The deer grunt and clash horns. But buddy, I feel for you, I know where you are coming from. But I'll still take my mountains. Next month. All is done. I'm going home.

[pikie]

Our experience in your great state is limited, but for us, we found Chamberlain, SD inhospitable and depressed; however, every other encounter we had (in multiple towns) in your state -- was great! No disrepect to the Chamberlain natives, but we weren't impressed. Virtually all of our encounters were positive; I find Dakotans, Western North Carolinans (Asheville),Eastern Tennesseans (Johnson City) -- to be the friendliest folks in the whole country. I can back that up by the fact that I have lived and worked in 8 states. Furthermore, I have visited all of the lower 48.

As far as the mountain debate, I've seen "every" major mountain range in the entire contiguous U.S., and the Black Hills --to me --are the most "unique" mountains, particularly, the Needles (pinnacles,pillars,spires) region.

[Chris19]

I have stopped many times in Oacoma when I lived in Pierre and coming back from Sioux Falls or Vermilllion. I received excellent service 95% of the time and the people were very friendly.

Even though I have somewhat of a negative impression of Ft. Pierre (more from a socioeconomic and aesthetic stances), I know that there are are few people that are great and ones I would be excited to come across when I head up there for a visit in the future.

From my experiences, areas of Michigan, Idaho, and Maryland were ones where the people seemed distant to me. I had very good experiences in Indiana, Illinois (southern), Wisconsin, Kentucky, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. Some of the friendliest people I have come across were from Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, and Texas. Many other areas are good too. Most people are basically good people, but there are a few bad apples and crabs mixed in (and may give a group of people a bad rap).

[MJ1986]

Pikie, I'm surprised by your experience in Chamberlain. But I appreciate your honesty.
When were you in South Dakota? What towns did you visit?

[rjl78]

Aberdeen... I hate that town. No good places to eat. I detest that town. Thank good all my collage friends moved away from there. I hated making the trip to go to their weddings. I dread going up there to pickup concrete precast items.

[pikie]

MJ,

Our last visit was June of 2008. We visited Mitchell, Kadoka,Wall,Murdo,Hot Springs,Custer,Lead,Hill City,Keystone,Spearfish,Sturgis,Rapid City,Deadwood,Buffalo Gap, and everywhere else in between. Everywhere we went, we liked, except for Chamberlain. I'm sure if I spent more time there, maybe my impression would change, but the first impressions weren't good.

We also drove through Pine Ridge on our way to Hot Springs. After seeing a desecrated road sign that said "whites out" in spray paint, and getting a few dirty looks, I handed the keys over to my wife, who looks Native American herself, and I hid behind the privacy glass in the back with my son. That was scary! We took the gravel roads through Pine Ridge and it took us almost 2 hours to get out of there.We had no cell phone signal either and a Pennsylvania license plate -- to complicate our feelings of vulnerability. Although, we didn't "directly" interact with anyone, we were scared, particularly with all the crime in that area. It was a mistake, that I would never make again. I thought it would be a "cultural experience" for us, but we never felt so unsafe in our lives, and my wife and I have lived in/near some dangerous places--including a Third World country. I would imagine a breakdown on those roads (Pine Ridge), particularly for a lone woman could be catastrophic.That's what we get -- for being dumb tourists . I should've checked with you guys first before driving through there.

I guess anywhere on Pine Ridge, would be on my "Worst" list unless we are talking "off reservations".