Thinking of relocating from Houston to Sioux Falls

[Not_Giving_Up]

Any advice (yes, I know it's quite colder there than here).

[tilsammans]

1. Hi! I'm relocating to Sioux Falls . . .

. . . but from the Northeast.

Yes, SFSD DUers, we'd love to get your advice! Thanks!

:hi:

[existentialist]

2. For starters

You might want to read my August 25 post on Garrison Keillor's article, or his entire article if you choose.


Sioux Falls is the largest city in South Dakota, and I understand is growing. Its population may be up to 150,000 now for all I know. It is over 300 road miles from me and I haven't been there for over a year.

I have always liked Sioux Falls.


(I don't know what more to say--what do you want to know?)

[tilsammans]

3. Thanks, wicasa!

I did read the Keillor article, and I enjoyed it very much.

I'm engaged to a great guy who hails from Sioux Falls, and I'll be moving there next year. This past spring, I visited SD for a few days and had a fun time. We traveled from SF to Rapid and back again.

I'm a true-blue liberal -- always have been. People have asked me how I feel about moving to a "red" state. My impressions were that it wasn't really all *that* red. After all, SD gave us George McGovern, for whom I cast my very first vote in 1972.

At present, I'm in a blue state, but in a solidly Republican area. I'm very used to Repugs, unfortunately. I'd be interested in your personal thoughts about the political climate in SD.

Thanks! :toast:

[sarahlee]

4. A fellow Texan here

Born in Pasadena and lived in Houston and the Hill Country most of my childhood and then Dallas for 20 of my adult years. Moved to SD in 1992.

I always hated cold so this was a strange move for me, but I learned you adapt pretty quickly. And frankly, the winters of the past four or so years have been so mild, winter wound up not being much of a deal.

The hardest thing for me to get used to was that there were fewer people in the entire state than in a suburb of Dallas. :) Which, for me, is a good thing. But there are no malls like you know them, no Galleria.

Nice thing about Sioux Falls is the proimity to Minneapolis for those times you really want a big city fix. I live in the middle of the state so it is Minneapolis or Denver for me - thus I generally don't make those trips since I get back to Dallas and San Antonio once or twice a year. (parents and grandkids require that trip). I always buy used cars, so I wait until I go back to Texas to buy because there is just so much more choice in one Texas city than this entire state.

Having lived a lot of my life a hundred miles west of San Antonio in a rural setting, the distances never bothered me - I mean I left Dallas to get away from people.

Good luck!

[agates]

5. Late reply...

I live in Sioux Falls. What can I help you with? Neighborhoods, schools, shopping areas, job market, health care, anything? PM if you'd like.

Sioux Falls is a pretty purple town. It is growing and becoming more racially diverse but is still fairly homogeneous. Housing is reasonable. Wages are moderate to low, but someone is making a lot of money judging by the new homes being built on the south side of town. Unemployment is usually quite low. Did you know that Sioux Falls has the highest percentage of working mothers in the country?

Yes, the winters can be nasty, but once you're used to it, it is kind of a calm feeling to be "snowed in" during a blizzard and know that you don't "have" to do anything other than be with your family until the snow and wind stops and the roads are open.