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Sorry, I don't. I did a bit of a search and didn't come up with much. If you'd like to search, the spelling is actually ~Hartford. It may make a bit of a difference. But it's actually quite a small town and the only internet pics that may be available would be pics that locals took. You could try "Virtual Tourist" or "Webshots" or one of those type of sites to see if anything is available.
Jammie - thanks for laughing with us and not at us. If you spent a year in Nashville, you'd feel our pain.
GARO - Let's see if I can address everything at once -
We're currently living in a lovely community just outside Nashville called Mount Juliet. It's got everything we want/need, unfortunately it is filled with Tennesseans. I guess that sounds mean, but if you're not born to the South then it's hard to swallow. Too redneck for me. My husband grew up down in West Palm Beach, FL, but moved to Alaska (wild hair) and became a state trooper up there. I'm from a small town outside of Fairbanks, and we lived all over Alaska while he was with the troopers. Isolation doesn't bother me - but I do enjoy a nice, small town. My husband now works from home for McKesson and flys out to client sites every other week - the airport in Sioux Falls would be more than adequate for his needs. No problem there. I worked for Northwest Airlines, but hung up my wings when I started raising kids. For the last ten years I've worked for our local school district. I can always sub in the local schools or just retire. I like the idea of retiring. Our youngest just completed his first year in college, so we're actively looking for "our spot". We're really drawn to South Dakota for a number of reasons. We like the fact that it's not a crowded state (40th in population?) we LOVE the fact that there's no state income tax. I'm a history buff and could really sink my teeth into all of the local history. I think that Sioux Falls has a pretty good minor league baseball team which makes for nice summer evenings,too. I think we could be happy around Sioux Falls, I love wide open spaces and prairie. We could take enough weekend jaunts to the Black Hills and all that to keep us happy. I'm 44 and I want to find a place that we can fall in love with and stay there. Everything that I've read about South Dakota and its people has impressed me. I've subscribed to South Dakota magazine and love it...it's great. We have booked a flight for September 19th into Sioux Falls, and will only have three or four days to explore. I'm so excited. We've been taking little scouting trips to different places and so far, none of them felt like home. We both have a very good feeling about South Dakota. Garo, I'm counting on you to keep me posted as I"m guessing that you'll reside in South Dakota before I do. I suggest that we keep in touch though, then once a year we can have a "Survivors of Tennessee" party and we'll point our bums south and moon Nashville.
Sioux Falls is an area that is clean, afforable, progressive, and has enough to do if you like the outdoors and do not require too much high-priced entertainment of the larger cities.
Regarding things to do, there are a number of state parks within a good hour or two drive of Sioux Falls that are good to look at. If you buy a state park sticker, you can visit these parks and ones across the state (including Custer State Park and Angostura Reservoir in the Black Hills region). I will list a few of my favorites.
Newton Hills- 25 miles south of Sioux Falls. This area has trees, hiking trails, and is a quiet and peaceful place. A fun place to go camping. A mini forest.
Palisades- 20 miles northeast of Sioux Falls. This park runs along the Big Sioux River. The parks has quite a few trees near the river and has pink Sioux Quartzite cliffs and rocks. A nice place to fish and camp.
Lewis and Clark- 70-80 miles SW of Sioux Falls and a few miles west of Yankton. This is a fairly big state recreation area along the Missouri River that has a lot of campsites (both on it and the federal campground nearby). It is near the Gavins Point Dam and has a big lake behind the dam. A person can hike, fish, camp, swim and do a lot of things there. The bluffs on the Nebraska side are neat to look at. There are some campsites on the hillier Nebraska side.
Walker's Point, 50 miles NW of Sioux Falls along Lake Madison. This is a great place to camp. Lake Madison is a nice place to fish and hike. Lake Herman is not too far away.
These state parks and others are fun to spend a weekend or even a day in. The Missouri River is an hour away near Vermillion and Yankton and have some scenic areas along it and more scenic drives along the Nebraska side (especially south of Vermillion on Nebraska 12). The Missouri River meanders its way to Chamberlain and Pierre, a couple hours west of Sioux Falls. The Missouri River near Vermillion is thickly forested near it and the Missouri River near Chamberlain and Pierre have more grassy bluffs. Either way, there is plenty to see and do along the river.
If you like the outdoors, there are plenty of areas to go to in South Dakota.
I'm familiar with Mt Juliet enough to know of it but never really been there. But I completely understand what your saying about some of the southern ways. I was born here and spent all but 5 years here but still get considered an outsider because I dont talk with a twang, enjoy Larry the Cable Guy, sport rebel flags or mainly because I spent 5 years in FL. A co-worker actually tells people..."Well, he's from Florida..." as a explaination of my personlity. Interesting to say the least. At least you live around Nashville and get some cultured people...try living in RURAL West TN! Brutal. What gets me and my wife more than anything is the way people just stare through you if they dont know you. It's like they are trying to figure out who your related too and if they should be nice to you or not. Kind of funny but annoying. It was VERY refreshing on our trip to never get stared through'd the entire time. Everyone is either super nice or will just mind there own business. My kind of people.
I think you guys will really like SF by the sounds of it. What little time we spent there on our trip was really nice. You are going to love how spaced out it feels compared to Nashville and the traffic/driving ability is so MUCH better.
I will be contacting a people through what I hope to be my new job this week and we'll see which city offers the best job. It's basically between SF, Rapid City and Bismarck, ND. If something is available immediately then I will be moving very soon. If not, I'll transfer through my current job next summer. Either way, it's only a matter of time.
Sioux Falls is easy-going regarding accents, etc. Most people are accepting. There are a few people from points further north and east who have a Fargo/Minnesota accent. The city has some immigrants that have accents of their own. Also, there are a few Southern transplants. I actually do not mind having a mix here, keeps things interesting.
I can remember in eighth grade of a substitute teacher who was new to the Sioux Falls area. She was from Northern Texas and had a strong twang to her voice. Many of classmate are curious but thought that the accent was interesting and neat.
Hello to everyone and to Garo and LuckyDuck63. Even though this is one of my first posts I thought I would share some of my knowledge about Sioux Falls. After living here 23 years and growing up...I love it. Just the other day I was riding my bicycle around the city and looking for houses to potentially buy. I never thought I would stay here, but I may end up doing what I never expected.
On to the specifics...I actually grew up 10 miles west of Sioux Falls and 5 miles south of Hartford. So I went to West Central and let me tell you. It was the greatest place to grow up in the world. The larger city of Sioux Falls was within a 15 minute drive and school was within 5 minutes or less depending on the speed of the car! We lived on about 14 acres and a paved road. It made a difference. I am partial to Sioux Falls of course, but here are some other great aspects of the city.
1. Colleges/schools. The city has two private colleges in its center and a tech school and many other higher education options. Augustana College and the University of Sioux Falls are the two at the center of the city. I loved attending Augustana (Augie). Smaller school with a great faculty and atmosphere. I'm sure the same is to be said about USF.
2. Downtown. The downtown section of Sioux Falls is enjoying a revitalization in recent years. Tons of new businesses and fun places to go in the evening. Little wine bars, a beer bar that specializes in imported beers. Plus the sculpture walk. This is a yearly tour of sculptures placed around the downtown area and attracts lots of people. There are some pretty decent sculptures down here.
3. People. Obviously you know people are friendly, but I love working as a bartender at a winebar downtown because I get to talk to many people from tons of different places.
4. Satellite Communities. (Hartford, Tea, Harrisburg, Brandon, Dell Rapids, Baltic etc...) all of these smaller towns are perfect for families. Plus I have to say that West Central excels at other things besides sports. Someone earlier mentioned the various state parks around Sioux Falls, visit them. My brother goes almost every weekend and kayaks the Big Sioux River often as well.
5. Attractions. South Dakota Symphony, Washington Pavillion, proposed events center, The Orpheum Theater, High Schools with Arts programs. Semi Pro teams that are fairly good. I mean going to a Stampede game is tons of fun.
Sioux Falls is great and I enjoy visiting my parents house still in the country. After going to a concert at the Pavillion we sit outside downtown and get something to drink and enjoy the cool air. Or head to their house by Wall Lake and listen to nature. It's something that I don't think I could ever live without.
These are just a few of the reasons I love this area.
But I love Rapid City too, though I like Spearfish more. I hope this wasn't too redundent and gave you another opinion about the area.
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Lovin' you guys!!
Our youngest just completed his first year in college, so we're actively looking for "our spot". We're really drawn to South Dakota for a number of reasons. We like the fact that it's not a crowded state (40th in population?) we LOVE the fact that there's no state income tax. I'm a history buff and could really sink my teeth into all of the local history. I think that Sioux Falls has a pretty good minor league baseball team which makes for nice summer evenings,too. I think we could be happy around Sioux Falls, I love wide open spaces and prairie. We could take enough weekend jaunts to the Black Hills and all that to keep us happy. I'm 44 and I want to find a place that we can fall in love with and stay there. Everything that I've read about South Dakota and its people has impressed me. I've subscribed to South Dakota magazine and love it...it's great. We have booked a flight for September 19th into Sioux Falls, and will only have three or four days to explore. I'm so excited. We've been taking little scouting trips to different places and so far, none of them felt like home. We both have a very good feeling about South Dakota. Garo, I'm counting on you to keep me posted as I"m guessing that you'll reside in South Dakota before I do. I suggest that we keep in touch though, then once a year we can have a "Survivors of Tennessee" party and we'll point our bums south and moon Nashville. 
