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Looking for a small town around SF. Here is what we would like. Recommendations?
A. Warmer weather. Meaning, I read south of Sioux falls is warmer. True?
B. Lower utlities.
C. Newer house.
D. Places to shop at and eat. Mexican food is a plus
We like Brookings. But, I read there are warmer places and cities/Towns with more stores and restaurants. Were in our 50s. Not into the bar scene. MUst be a safe city per stats.
Thanks!
Last edited by Guardian7081; 09-02-2020 at 05:51 PM..
Looking for a small town around SF. Here is what we would like. Recommendations?
A. Warmer weather. Meaning, I read south of Sioux falls is warmer. True?
B. Lower utlities.
C. Newer house.
D. Places to shop at and eat. Mexican food is a plus
We like Brookings. But, I read there are warmer places and cities/Towns with more stores and restaurants. Were in our 50s. Not into the bar scene. MUst be a safe city per stats.
Thanks!
Harrisburg and Tea are south of Sioux Falls. Dakota Dunes is an upscale area north of Sioux City, IA. The temperatures differences south of Sioux Falls are not very substantial, generally 3-5 degrees at most. All of South Dakota is open prairie country, meaning nothing stops arctic air masses in the winter.
Climate data for Vermillion shows about 3-5 degrees warmer than Sioux Falls and about 20% less snow on average.
Vermillion with University of South Dakota should have some shopping but I dunno how much / details. Yelp says it had 34 restaurants / 2 Mexican (before virus interuption).
Harrisburg and Tea are south of Sioux Falls. Dakota Dunes is an upscale area north of Sioux City, IA. The temperatures differences south of Sioux Falls are not very substantial, generally 3-5 degrees at most. All of South Dakota is open prairie country, meaning nothing stops arctic air masses in the winter.
Harrisburg is a hot mess right now. Property taxes are going through the roof as they're building a new school about every 2-3 years. There are now 9 separate school buildings spread throughout the district. Water rates are the highest in the state as they're paying Sioux Falls for treatment since their lagoon is way over maxed out AND they're now building their own water treatment plant (which they obviously need now). Traffic between SF & Harrisburg is absolutely choked although it will get a little better when Minnesota Ave. is completed. Yet, it will still be very congested. Also, for a town now over 7,000 population and building new houses rapidly it has the commercial footprint of a town of 2,000.
Needless to say, this is the one town I wouldn't move to.
Of the towns in close proximity to Sioux Falls, I'd recommend Tea, Brandon, or Dell Rapids. Another nice little community having it's own school and decent commercial for it's size is Garretson. Home prices there will be a little less than the other 3 towns I mentioned.
All the small towns in eastern SD are going to be relatively safe AND relatively cold in the winter.
Harrisburg is a hot mess right now. Property taxes are going through the roof as they're building a new school about every 2-3 years. There are now 9 separate school buildings spread throughout the district. Water rates are the highest in the state as they're paying Sioux Falls for treatment since their lagoon is way over maxed out AND they're now building their own water treatment plant (which they obviously need now). Traffic between SF & Harrisburg is absolutely choked although it will get a little better when Minnesota Ave. is completed. Yet, it will still be very congested. Also, for a town now over 7,000 population and building new houses rapidly it has the commercial footprint of a town of 2,000.
Needless to say, this is the one town I wouldn't move to.
Of the towns in close proximity to Sioux Falls, I'd recommend Tea, Brandon, or Dell Rapids. Another nice little community having it's own school and decent commercial for it's size is Garretson. Home prices there will be a little less than the other 3 towns I mentioned.
All the small towns in eastern SD are going to be relatively safe AND relatively cold in the winter.
Good question forgot to ask. What are property taxes there?
Thanks
Harrisburg is a hot mess right now. Property taxes are going through the roof as they're building a new school about every 2-3 years. There are now 9 separate school buildings spread throughout the district. Water rates are the highest in the state as they're paying Sioux Falls for treatment since their lagoon is way over maxed out AND they're now building their own water treatment plant (which they obviously need now). Traffic between SF & Harrisburg is absolutely choked although it will get a little better when Minnesota Ave. is completed. Yet, it will still be very congested. Also, for a town now over 7,000 population and building new houses rapidly it has the commercial footprint of a town of 2,000.
Needless to say, this is the one town I wouldn't move to.
Of the towns in close proximity to Sioux Falls, I'd recommend Tea, Brandon, or Dell Rapids. Another nice little community having it's own school and decent commercial for it's size is Garretson. Home prices there will be a little less than the other 3 towns I mentioned.
All the small towns in eastern SD are going to be relatively safe AND relatively cold in the winter.
Brandon seemed like a nice town when I was traveling through so a good suggestion. I would agree that Harrisburg seems completely overwhelmed, that's likely a result of the massive population growth from a sizable city into a town that doesn't have the infrastructure to deal with it.
Good question forgot to ask. What are property taxes there?
Thanks
Higher than Sioux Falls for a comparable house. It never used to be this way until the last 5 years. It doesn't seem to slow the growth down though. There's a tiny little 2 block area that you can say are higher end houses. Nearly everything else being built there can be considered starter homes, yet they're still priced in the $ 225,000 to $ 300,000 range. Many of the houses now being built in the newest two developments don't even have basements. A lot of these houses do have usable triple stall garages as long as you own 3 Kia's.
Higher than Sioux Falls for a comparable house. It never used to be this way until the last 5 years. It doesn't seem to slow the growth down though. There's a tiny little 2 block area that you can say are higher end houses. Nearly everything else being built there can be considered starter homes, yet they're still priced in the $ 225,000 to $ 300,000 range. Many of the houses now being built in the newest two developments don't even have basements. A lot of these houses do have usable triple stall garages as long as you own 3 Kia's.
I am wanting a basement and those single garage are worthless. lol
Looking for a small town around SF. Here is what we would like. Recommendations?
A. Warmer weather. Meaning, I read south of Sioux falls is warmer. True?
B. Lower utlities.
C. Newer house.
D. Places to shop at and eat. Mexican food is a plus
We like Brookings. But, I read there are warmer places and cities/Towns with more stores and restaurants. Were in our 50s. Not into the bar scene. MUst be a safe city per stats.
Thanks!
Is your employment situation relevant? As in do you need to be within commutable distance to Sioux Falls?
The "small town" appeal of places like Tea, Brandon, Harrisburg, and even Hartford is totally lost on me. I'm not saying they're bad places or that there aren't a lot of nice people and homes there. Or even that I would never live in any of them. But when you're a few miles from SF's city limits and all of the towns are full of people that moved out of Sioux Falls proper, then what's the difference? These towns basically had a couple hundred people until they became bedroom communities/suburbs in the 1960s-1980s. I suppose there's less violence and drugs than in the core of SF but the difference between these communities and the outer edges of town are probably negligible.
Weather won't be radically different anywhere close by. Shopping and eating options may be limited. Dell Rapids and Garretson were mentioned. You could also look into Madison, Beresford, Salem, Lennox, or maybe even Mitchell.
Many of the houses now being built in the newest two developments don't even have basements.
I have noticed this in Sioux Falls also. What gives? Cost cutting I suppose.
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Recommendations? 
