Sioux Falls or Rapid City?

[BusySocialWorker]

I have lived on both sides of the states. I would choose Rapid any day . Reason being - MUCH BETTER WEATHER - the humidity is much lower, more mild winters, snow melts quickly and there are fewer bugs in the summer... I love being able to sit outside in the summer and no be eaten alive

[ehenningsen]

If you are choosing between these two places, then you are a lucky fellow..

Both Rapid City and Sioux Falls have reasons for a high quality of life, and are both in locations that are consistantly reviewed as a few of the top places to live in america..

Sioux Falls is rapidly approaching mid-sized city status by growing 30% a decade even at its 230,000 population size, and rapid city is a smaller city in some of the most beautiful country in america..

And if your one of the lucky few, and could do it, you would have a home in both locations

But, at the same time choosing one or the other is a tough one.. as I make recommendations all the time to people for either location. Even if they never make a mention of the two places, I always mention Rapid City as a top dog city for beautiful country and having far above average amendities for a smaller city, and recommend Sioux Falls as one of the fastest growing cities, heck in america! And despite its 230,000 people that will hit 400,000 before their kid graduates, but is already at that size in amendities and progressive thinking..

I love Omaha, and is my home.. but both Rapid City and Sioux Falls have hit my recommended cities list, and I make recommendations all the time..

Recommendable places:
Omaha/Lincoln
Des Moines
Iowa City
Ames
Oklahoma City
Denver
Minneapolis
Kansas City (border line, some situations its here, and other situations it lies in other categories)
Sioux Falls, SD
Charlotte, NC
Raleigh
Richmond
Austin
San Antonio
Santa Fe (situational)
Columbus, GA
Rapid City
Columbus
Portland, Maine
Portland, Ore
Boise
Grand Rapids, MI
Madison, WI
Indianapolis
Anchorage, AK
Fargo (say all you want, this town is very underrated)
Seattle (wavering only because of how it is way too market dependant, seattle is an unbelievable mover during the good times, and a desperate market in the down times, if somebody was to move somewhere based off a dependable economy, this would absolutely NOT make that list)
Pensacola, FL


Large cities: Chicago, New York, Houston, Boston

Not Recommended:
Most of California, Florida, southeast and southwest (if not retiring)
Of course: Detroit, DC itself (rest of metro is a great one), New Jersey, Connecticut (unless your filthy rich), Kentucky (minus Louisville which is okay), Tulsa, Wichita..
El Paso
Albuquerque
Phoenix (a once rising star, rose too fast and is hydroplaning.. trust me on this)
Las Vegas (see Phoenix, I actually lived here.. puke..)
New Orleans
Baton Rouge
Shreveport
Jackson, mi
Birmingham, al
Cleveland
Youngstown, OH
Dayton, OH
Toledo, OH
Philadelphia
Buffalo
Syracuse
Rochester
Worcestor
Columbia, WV
Sioux City, Ia (last few years, i think the city is starting to spark)
Dubuque, IA


Not Recommeneded Large Cities: Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami

From okay to good cities not listed:
San Francisco
San Diego
Dallas
Fayetteville
Little Rock
Myrtle Beatch, SC
Wilmington, DE
Charleston, SC
Memphis, TN
Mobile, AL
Norfolk-Newport News-Virginia Beach
Peoria, IL
Cinciniatti
Pittsburg, OH (say what you want, they are on a verg of a major turnaround)
Reno, NV
Tuscon, AZ
San Francisco Bay (Would be highly recommendable, but market prices are too unstable and too high, if somebody was filthy rich, this would be one of the very very top cities I'd recommend to them)
Providence, RI
Scranton-Wilkes Barre
Manchester, VT
Springfield, Mo
Columbia, Mo
Springield, Il
Honolulu
Bakersfield, CA
Great Falls, MT
Billings, MT
Missoula, MT
Cedar Rapids (Like Sioux City, but larger.. A spark is starting to ignite the city)
Quad Cities, IA (Come on, how can you not grow? )
Nashville (borderline top city, right now is on the downswing, but hey..)
Tri-cities, Ne (Grand Island, Kearney, and Hastings.. about 200,000 people it is a borderline major market area and probably shouldn't be on this list, however, because I live in Nebraska I feel obliged to say something)
Cheyenne, WY
Casper, WY
Salt Lake City
Knoxville, TN
Jacksonville, FL
Tampa, FL
St Louis (most of the country don't realize that this city is starting a pretty impressive turnaround)


This list is compiled on economy, safety for individuals and families, things to do, and even some points given on beauty of the area...

If a city is not listed, it is because there was no major sticking points to it, and it probably is somewhere in the middle of the major american cities that is not recommendable to everyone, nor is it something you want to warn anybody about.

[DannyBanany]

Ehenningsen, that is a very great list. I like how places that people tend to overlook are actually some of the best places to live. If I was not from SD it would be a very difficult decision for me to choose between Rapid City and Sioux Falls, but like Busy said, Rapid City just has such a great climate and the mountains are just plain beautiful. I'd miss all that in Sioux Falls.

I often joke, "If only Sioux Falls was where Rapid City is, then that city would have the best of both worlds."

[MJ1986]

haha Awesome Danny! And I agree, that is a good, extensive list Ehenningsen.

[Chris19]

ehinningsen, the list was interesting. I may question a couple of cities. I have been to Wichita a few times and found good areas there. Yes, it may look dirty, more so on the north part on Interstate 135 coming in from Salina, but there are some very nice areas of Wichita too (northeastern part comes to my mind). Also, I would put Columbia, MO in a desirable category with the college there and it being a nice city with low crime. If I moved out of South Dakota, Columbia, MO would be one of the towns I would look at.

These cities would be good to add to your lists (pretty good ones), based on my experiences going through and/or stopping in them and knowing a little background on each of the cities.

Some of the cities that should be on the desirable list should be Lawrence, KS (nice city and home of my beloved Jayhawks); Columbia, MO; Colorado Springs; Denver; Stillwater, OK; Bend, OR; Twin Falls, ID; Missoula, MT; Rochester, MN; and Charlottesville, VA.

OK cities to consider: Bloomington-Normal, IL; Evansville, IN; Lexington, KY; Salt Lake City/Provo/Orem, UT; Salina, KS; Joplin, MO; and Clarksville, TN.

Not so good cities: Pueblo, CO (reminds me of Sioux City); Yakima, WA; Idaho Falls, ID; Topeka, KS; Waco, TX; Jackson, MS; Binghamton, NY; and Flint, MI.

Sioux Falls and Rapid City are both good cities, but I think Sioux Falls would win out with proximity to a number of larger cities and with economy and ease of finding a good-paying job (sorry, DannyBanany). Rapid would win out on scenery and outdoors stuff.

I live near Sioux Falls and find it handy to go to Omaha, KC, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Des Moines if need be or for a change in scenery. I sometimes wander down to Sioux City, but the city has been improving its dump image since the late 1990s.

[amberr]

my dads side of the family lives in rapid and i love it there. its not too big but not too small and while its still a bigger town i still feel safe staying there, i just a fw wks ago stayed with my great grandma who doesn't even lock her doors or shut her windows she feels so safe. Housing costs there are pretty cheap. and rapids close to alot of other places, sturgis, mt. rushmore, deadwood, and a ton of wild life parks and places to camp. im not really sure about what rapid has for medical facilities though..

[Jammie]

If RC still has Rapid City Regional Hospital, it has a good rep.

[tg031]

I have lived in both Rapid City and Sioux Falls both in my life and would highly recommend Sioux Falls over Rapid. Sioux Falls has so much more in my opinion...better healthcare, better education, more and better restaurants and shopping, etc. If you feel like getting away for a bit...Sioux Falls is close to Minneapolis, KC, Omaha, Lincoln, Des Moines, and Fargo. About the only thing Rapid is somewhat close to is Denver. Jobs are also more plentiful and higher paying in Sioux Falls than Rapid. Rapid is kind of a minimum wage town. Plus Sioux Falls has cheaper housing and rent. Some of the down parts of Sioux Falls compared to Rapid though is it is humid in the summer and Rapid has alot more mild winters. Rapid has the hills close too and are a great place to go recreate in. Sioux Falls is flat but does have a few lakes around it. Ultimately they are both great towns but my personal opinion favors Sioux Falls. If you decide to move to Sioux Falls though...I'd recommend not moving to N. Minnesota Ave. area or up by the state pen. because that is near the meat packing plant and the smells from there can be extremely unpleasent.

[Chris19]

The north Minnesota Ave. and State Penn areas are the dumpy areas of Sioux Falls and are areas where there much of the city's rif-raf is. Has been a less desirable part of the city, even when my parents were growing up (although the times were different then as opposed to now). I would stay south of 12 St. for sure within the boundaries of I-29 to I-229 to the east. East of I-229 and West of I-29 in the northern areas of Sioux Falls are decent areas, some with new developments.

Most other areas of Sioux Falls are decent places to live.

[ashnat]

IMO, Sioux Falls is better. BUT there is a huge retired population in Rapid because of the Black Hills. For those retired with nothing to do, the Black Hills keep them entertained.