Ranking of Dakota Cities (living, cost, state, better)

[NDFan]

How would you rank the four largest cities in North Dakota (Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot), as well as the two largest in South Dakota (Sioux Falls, Rapid City) in the following categories?

1) Cost of Living
2) Job opportunities
3) Outdoor activities
4) Things to do
5) Weather
6) Restaurants/bar scenes (maybe can be separated out?)
7) Most interesting/quirky feel

[TheBeagleLady]

Originally Posted by NDFan

How would you rank the four largest cities in North Dakota (Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot), as well as the two largest in South Dakota (Sioux Falls, Rapid City) in the following categories?

1) Cost of Living
2) Job opportunities
3) Outdoor activities
4) Things to do
5) Weather
6) Restaurants/bar scenes (maybe can be separated out?)
7) Most interesting/quirky feel

South Dakota:

1) Cost of Living - Sioux Falls, Rapid City is more expensive than you'd think.
2) Job opportunities - Sioux Falls
3) Outdoor activities - No contest...Rapid City
4) Things to do - a bit subjective, but I prefer Rapid City because of the outdoor activities and the Black Hills/Badlands
5) Weather - Rapid City
6) Restaurants/bar scenes (maybe can be separated out?) - Sioux Falls, it just has more
7) Most interesting/quirky feel - Rapid City

[lovecrowds]

I have only been Sioux Falls (visited several times) and Fargo (resided there temporarily in 2004). I have done some research on Rapid City and Bismarck.

Cost of Living:

Fargo is more affordable for renters. It's a tie for home owners.

Fargo/Moorhead has alot of older apartment buildings with very low rents under $500 a month. Sioux Falls rents start out quite a bit more than Fargo.

Home prices seem to be about the same. Sioux Falls and Fargo are actually quite a bit more than Omaha, Wichita, OKC and property taxes are in the moderate range.

Fargo's less expensive, older housing areas tend to be less expensive than Sioux Falls. Seems as though newer areas tend to more in Fargo than Sioux Falls.

Job opportunities:

Sioux Falls has an extremely high job growth rate, but they seem to be more sensitive to the national economy.

Fargo has 0 job growth year over year, but supposedly population growth has fallen and the unemployment rate is so low at 2% it's hard to grow employment numbers.

Bismarck seems slow and steady. One of the most recession proof places in America. Seems like the most affluent per-capita

https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/...xfalls_msa.htm

https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/nd_fargo_msa.htm

https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/nd_bismarck_msa.htm

https://www.bls.gov/regions/midwest/...idcity_msa.htm

Outdoors: Rapid City in a landslide in my opinion. Sioux Falls has nice parks and is hilly. Bismarck supposedly has decent park system. Fargo has good parks and recreation programs but other than that doesn't stand out.

Things to do: Fargo is very, very vibrant for it's size. Sioux Falls seemed much quieter when I was there. Fargo has a college-city mentality, Sioux Falls is very family-centric.

Weather: Rapid City has the mildest winters by far, much less humidity. Sioux Falls and Fargo are in a valley so the winters are extremely cold but sunny and the snow tally isn't much compared to much of the country. Sioux Falls seems to be a bit warmer in the summer but summers are excellent in all four with the exception of heat waves that last a few days at most.

Fargo has one of the most active nightlife for a city of it's size due to the large universities in the area. Sioux Falls seems much quieter.

Overall, I would prefer Fargo over Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls is an excellent city that offers alot for a place of its's size but Fargo is a very fun and active city for the population it has.

[theurbanfiles]

How would you rank the four largest cities in North Dakota (Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot), as well as the two largest in South Dakota (Sioux Falls, Rapid City) in the following categories?

1) Cost of Living: Fargo
2) Job opportunities: Not Sure
3) Outdoor activities: Rapid City
4) Things to do: Fargo/Rapid City are tied (Sioux Falls and Bismarck aren't bad either though)
5) Weather: From what I understand, Rapid City
6) Restaurants/bar scenes (maybe can be separated out?): Fargo
7) Most interesting/quirky feel: Not quite sure... Sioux Falls looks to actually have the prettiest immediate downtown, that said I think I'd lean towards either Fargo or Rapid City depending on what I determine most important to me (proximity to natural landscapes (Badlands/Black Hills right there)/west/climate, or what I perceive as more character filled urbanity, connectivity to other metros (around the same distance I am now to Miami 3.5 hrs., I would be to Minneapolis and Winnipeg, which are very arguably both Top 10 metros for urbanity in each of their respective countries, and perceived additional opportunity, to work a uni job, etc.)

[NDFan]

I don't know Rapid City as well as the others, but here is my take...

#1: CoL: Collectively, all are higher than people would think, but I agree with Fargo and Sioux Falls being better than the others. Grand Forks rentals are about 20% higher cost-wize than Fargo for a similar apartment I think.

#2 Job Opportunities: I'd argue Sioux Falls probably, but all are pretty good (I think Rapid City is somewhat less good than the rest collectively).

#3 Outdoor activities: Rapid City wins easily, with Bismarck being in a distant 2nd place; gets fuzzier from here (Fargo city parks are nice, but Grand Forks is 25 minutes from Turtle River which is one of the nicer state parks in ND).

#4 Things to do: Fargo easily for city types of things; Rapid City for outdoorsy things.

#5 Weather: Rapid City overall although it can get a bit hot in the summer. All listed cities have good summers though by a national standard with Grand Forks and Fargo having the mildest. Bismarck tends to get a bit less snow anecdotally than the eastern part of the state and tends to have more "up and down" in the winter. It does get 90+ days a good deal more often than Fargo and Grand Forks though (I'd guess 50-75%more often).

#6 Restaurant/Bar Scenes: For restaurants Sioux Falls. For bars Fargo (second for restaurants)

#7 Most interesting/quirky feel: Rapid City easily (Fargo has lots of stuff but does not have an interesting feel IMO). Bismarck maybe in distant second place here.

General comments on a few:

Fargo: Has a large-ish feel for the actual size that it is. Feels considerably larger than the others (I'd argue including Sioux Falls) and feels in really nice shape overall. Actually one of the nicer cities of its size in the U.S. Downtown has been building up, but still could be a bit more and is not at its potential. Lindenwood Park is pretty nice and you aren't too far from some of the nicer MN state parks.

Sioux Falls: Feels about its size; has a pretty downtown, but is quite small. Not as nice outside of downtown comparing to Fargo outside of immediate downtown area. Bit less urban feeling than Fargo IMO, but differences are fairly small. Has surprisingly robust restaurant scene with some high-ish end places, and the landscape right there is nice. Feels less well-off at the street level compared with Fargo.

Rapid City: Has a pretty neat vibe, but haven't been there much. In the Black Hills general area which is awesome. Can get chinooks and/or warmups in winter that most of the rest of SD and ND don't go (western ND gets a little but is further from the mountains, so they tend to be weak by the time they get there). Don't know much else.

Bismarck: Always thought of it as blah but was there this past summer for several days. Feels kind of small, but has a nice downtown for its size. Lots of restaurants/bars, etc. Feels surprisingly urban right in downtown with a decent number of people on the streets. Downtown probably has too many things going on for the size of the area. Landscape is nicer than one would think with rolling hills right in the immediate vicinity. Has decent mix of restaurants and places to go to (both higher end and lower end). Economy in Bismarck is also pretty incredible.

Minot: Don't know well but think it feels a bit bigger than its size. Feels bigger than Grand Forks and is a bit more densely populated.Like Bismarck, sits in gently rolling hills. Can't speak to restaurant or downtown scene really but seems pretty small downtown (only been once).

Grand Forks: In a sense, feels bigger than its size, but is lacking amenities many cites of its size have. Very much a college town so downtown feels deserted on weekdays, and in summer more generally (weekdays or weekends). Feels completely empty when semesters are out, which is kind of odd feeling as it doesn't feel like that much of a college town either. Has really nice parks in the general vicinity and the university area is kind of pretty. Downtown is very small and is so-so in terms of numbers of people (nicer than Minot's but behind the others in varying degrees).

[Turnerbro]

1. Rapid City
2. Sioux Falls
3. Fargo
4. Bismark
5. Brookings

Rapid City is easily my favorite in part because of its location.