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Hi! I'm from San Francisco, California, and am considering making a move to South Dakota.
Everything in San Francisco is pretty much unfortunately closed by government order, and will (shamelessly!) admit I do miss the "comforts" of the world. Would anyone know of a good city or town in South Dakota that has
Good "buffets" -- will admit I do have quite an appetite! Don't care what buffet is (Indian/Chinese/American/etc...) as long as it's open and operational!
Gyms with nice "amenities" -- like pools, hot tubs, steam rooms, saunas, etc. I've enjoyed those at the YMCA and other gym locations (which, of course, in San Francisco are all closed down!)
I work as a software engineer (programmer) and my occupation is, basically, all virtual. So, I would be one of those "work-from-home" guys.
So far I'm researching the following cities:
Sioux Falls -- looks like the largest city in South Dakota
Rapid City -- looks like the largest city in western South Dakota
Spearfish -- online I'm always reading nice things about it!
*Edit: it would be great if the area also has things like
Shooting ranges -- well I'm far from a firearms expert but it would be nice to try it out! (Probably like a rental for like an hour or so)
Nightlife -- not necessarily college-age, but would be great if there are some bars/clubs around with a more 20-30's/40's age crowd.
Not too heavy on the mask regulations -- here in San Francisco, if walk around outside without a mask (or "chin-strapped" mask) the people on your path will literally go out of their way to try to walk 6-15 feet "around" you. Sometimes walking off the sidewalk into car traffic too!
From one Northern California resident thinking of moving to SD to another, don't bring your woke, progressive, social justice warrior, virtue signaling, high tax loving, battery powered driving, safe space needing, beta male snowflake crying, men in dresses, Dr.Suess canceling, hormone blockers for children, liberal bull crap to a state that is doing just fine without all of the above mentioned garbage that is making this state a national laughing stock.
Now, with all of that said. It needs to be known that not all us Californians are liberal snowflakes. There's a reason many of us are leaving this high tax, homeless riddled hell hole, and it's not to turn your state into another Commiefornia. Give us a chance, we might surprise you.
Bringing your $300,000 California wages to South Dakota where a similar job here pays under $95,000 will make you very unpopular and fast FYI. Also don’t come here hating on the governor on social media like so many other liberals that moved here. Just food for thought
Geesh, I wish my California based techie husband made 300K!
Well, maybe if we were in San Francisco
To the OP...Hubby went remote right before Covid hit. He worked in Irvine, Ca. another very expensive area, and as renters it was hard to get ahead. His company gave him the green light to move out of state January of 2020. We didn't have time for extensive hunting because our lease was coming up, but took a week for a road trip to check out a few places we were interested in including Reno, Nev., Vancouver, Wa., Missoula, Mt., Rapid City, and Provo, Utah. It came down to a coin toss between Vancouver and Rapid City, with Vancouver winning out partly because of being a little closer to family. We moved at the end of March, right when the lockdowns hit! Doh!
Anyway, we do love the area we're in for the most part, but I think my hubby and I would have been very happy in South Dakota as well. We're truly homebody types, and like local diners more than fancy restaurants, (although we went to really lovely place for dinner in downtown Rapid when we visited) and lean a little right of center. We've breezed through lockdown, lol, cause we keep to ourselves and like to hike. I would imagine Lockdown is much harder for single people, especially if they are more extroverted.
From your post I'd agree with others that you might want to look into an area that's a little more metropolitan. One thing about Rapid, is that it's sort of isolated from other bigger cites, and I was told by someone who's from there (in real life) that that the winters can be very quiet, then tourist season hits and boom! The crowds are everywhere! Saw them ourselves when we visited when summer was just getting started. (I'm thinking both those points would be different on the east side? Not sure.)
"I was told by someone who's from there (in real life) that that the winters can be very quiet, then tourist season hits and boom! The crowds are everywhere! Saw them ourselves when we visited when summer was just getting started. (I'm thinking both those points would be different on the east side? Not sure.)"
South side maybe, but anything that is close to the expressway will have tourists in the summer and other seasons. Just not as many in other seasons. Just picture the Sturgis Ralley when 500,000 people arrive and the total permanent population of the Black Hills is less than 200,000.
Hey, how different is the populace between Sioux Falls and Rapid City? Is it true that West-River has a slower and more relaxed pace of life, friendlier folks, and is more conservative?
I'm pretty familiar with Rapid City and Spearfish. My in-laws are in Piedmont and our son graduated from the SD School of Mines and Technology. These towns are so, so, so completely different than the S.F. area that if you grew up anywhere like there the adjustment will really take some time. Unless you really integrate into your new community and make strong new bonds, connections and friends, likely you will be moving to the Denver metro, Minneapolis, K.C., Boise, etc., or back to S.F. after a couple winters. The island fever/isolation as mentioned above is real, and a real problem if you have moved from a mega city to a town of ~60,000 people in Rapid City and ~12,000 in Spearfish. When the main shopping is Wal-Mart, Target, Sams Club and Safeway and not much else (yes Cabela's and Scheels too). No Whole Foods or Trader Joes, or much like it. Yes, Amazon is a few clicks away with delivery in a few days, but that isn't very social. Rapid City and Spearfish are not foodie towns, so you'll likely find a couple restaurants you like and that's it, over and over again. The next town larger than Rapid City is across the state in Sioux Falls. Denver is 6 hours away by car, or a $300 flight. Fights out of Rapid only go to Denver, SLC, and Minneapolis for connections, and no discount airlines. Concerts and theater are slim pickings, and there are no major pro or college sports teams.
You won't be making new work friends when you work from home, so where do you meet people that like the things you do or want to do? You'd better be a pretty overt extrovert. Once you find your favorite couple restaurants and bars there isn't much else, or easy opportunities to meet new people in these small towns. Online dating is the most likely way. I guess after a few months of classes at your gym people may notice you and be open to connecting/conversing, etc. There are a couple running clubs in Rapid, maybe a shooting club at one of the ranges.
Not that Rapid and Spearfish are all bad and hard to adjust to, but you have to really think about the changes you'll face. What did you do pre-covid on the weekends in S.F.? Are those things you did for fun available in South Dakota? Is your goal to fish, hunt, shoot, hike, camp, rock hound/prospect, play golf, train for a marathon, mountain bike, motocross, ATV trail riding, etc., then you will find like people doing a lot of those things frequently and in time you can probably integrate yourself into these groups of people.
The above advice would apply to many northern cities in the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. The thought of wanting "to be away from it all" and an easier and less stressful life than the Mega cities is a good thought, but a tough reality.
I'm pretty familiar with Rapid City and Spearfish. My in-laws are in Piedmont and our son graduated from the SD School of Mines and Technology. These towns are so, so, so completely different than the S.F. area that if you grew up anywhere like there the adjustment will really take some time. Unless you really integrate into your new community and make strong new bonds, connections and friends, likely you will be moving to the Denver metro, Minneapolis, K.C., Boise, etc., or back to S.F. after a couple winters. The island fever/isolation as mentioned above is real, and a real problem if you have moved from a mega city to a town of ~60,000 people in Rapid City and ~12,000 in Spearfish. When the main shopping is Wal-Mart, Target, Sams Club and Safeway and not much else (yes Cabela's and Scheels too). No Whole Foods or Trader Joes, or much like it. Yes, Amazon is a few clicks away with delivery in a few days, but that isn't very social. Rapid City and Spearfish are not foodie towns, so you'll likely find a couple restaurants you like and that's it, over and over again. The next town larger than Rapid City is across the state in Sioux Falls. Denver is 6 hours away by car, or a $300 flight. Fights out of Rapid only go to Denver, SLC, and Minneapolis for connections, and no discount airlines. Concerts and theater are slim pickings, and there are no major pro or college sports teams.
You won't be making new work friends when you work from home, so where do you meet people that like the things you do or want to do? You'd better be a pretty overt extrovert. Once you find your favorite couple restaurants and bars there isn't much else, or easy opportunities to meet new people in these small towns. Online dating is the most likely way. I guess after a few months of classes at your gym people may notice you and be open to connecting/conversing, etc. There are a couple running clubs in Rapid, maybe a shooting club at one of the ranges.
Not that Rapid and Spearfish are all bad and hard to adjust to, but you have to really think about the changes you'll face. What did you do pre-covid on the weekends in S.F.? Are those things you did for fun available in South Dakota? Is your goal to fish, hunt, shoot, hike, camp, rock hound/prospect, play golf, train for a marathon, mountain bike, motocross, ATV trail riding, etc., then you will find like people doing a lot of those things frequently and in time you can probably integrate yourself into these groups of people.
The above advice would apply to many northern cities in the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. The thought of wanting "to be away from it all" and an easier and less stressful life than the Mega cities is a good thought, but a tough reality.
You bring up great points. My wife and I are young retirees. The things we thought we would be doing didn’t happen. So if a town has a few gyms and outdoors activities we fit in. We get our fill of fine dining and “culture” when we travel. Low tax bite and affordable housing are important to us.
This just in Fort Dodge Iowa has several mid size homes for sale still in the $150,000 to $200,000 range a real bargain. It’s the ultimate steal Californians and others alike.
From one Northern California resident thinking of moving to SD to another, don't bring your woke, progressive, social justice warrior, virtue signaling, high tax loving, battery powered driving, safe space needing, beta male snowflake crying, men in dresses, Dr.Suess canceling, hormone blockers for children, liberal bull crap to a state that is doing just fine without all of the above mentioned garbage that is making this state a national laughing stock.
Now, with all of that said. It needs to be known that not all us Californians are liberal snowflakes. There's a reason many of us are leaving this high tax, homeless riddled hell hole, and it's not to turn your state into another Commiefornia. Give us a chance, we might surprise you.
And from another FAR northern Californian! Leaving behind those ideas is exactly the point of why we are leaving...
We chose Pierre to move to. Mostly due to the job offer received, but we like the size of the town (bigger than our CA town) and there seems to be plenty of water activities which is important to us. From what we've read crime is low, parks are clean and enough restaurants to keep us happy. Not having to hunt under playground equipment for condoms and dirty needles will save hours of my life. Housing seems to be tight there but we are patient and have somewhere to stay in the interim.
Excited to start this new chapter somewhere that shares our values, early next month!
Good luck finding your place. Rapid City and Spearfish are beautiful, we'll probably end up that way someday but for now we are just glad to get out of here!
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