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That's good to know, I'm looking at SD myself. Let us know what you think after next March, winters can get a little brisk up there. Personally, I like temperatures that are between maybe 45°F and 75°F, with lower levels of humidity, and moderate sun. I wish I could find a site that answers the question, "What region of the U.S. has the most daylight hours for the conditions I described?" - feel free to share. Although, even if it were "Phoenix", I'd probably rule Phoenix out due to the currently-silly housing prices, plus the extreme summer heat.
I saved this link for my "Where to" folder. Don't know if it will help, but here goes.
This is how people operate here. Overly offended at everything, take snide when there was none to begin with, and any negative remark about a local business, brewery, restaurant, or the town itself will result in being called a "prude" or "rude".
It makes zero sense to me.
I was wondering why the SD forum wasn't very busy. Maybe that is why, idk.
I read every post in this thread, and concur with you completely. Very good post. I also am looking into SD as well as a few other places. I wasn't favorably impressed with the obnoxious replies.
Huge reply alert.
TBH, the Jersey-New England bluntness would be looked at as nearly "Trump-like" (not intending to get super political here) and somewhat of a put-off. But the real smucker here is that they won't tell you that. At least not to your face. You can see that in this thread a little bit. You will figure it out eventually when people go out with other co workers instead etc. Very petty and small minded. That's not to say you couldn't acclimate, but it's a square peg essentially.
It's the same reason far-left ideals have flooded into town - not much pushback because "it's not polite". You just end up being forced to "support" their bogus ideals or be faced with a cold shoulder forever. In contrast my new england friends are hilariously blunt about everything including politics and it's refreshing.
From a business/restaurant standpoint we generally harbor participation trophies. I firmly believe if something sucks, it sucks, and if it's good, you support it. I've gotten some real heat for that. Have a varying opinion against a local darling and be prepared to get looked at like you have two heads, or perhaps even shut out completely. This also makes it hard to gauge whether people are being legitimately honest with what you have to offer as a business/artist/whatever or if you are just being locally petted. When you support local JUST to support local, it fosters mediocrity. We are criminals of that here. I believe in being the best you can be to win against ho-hum implementation, and may the best business win. The desire to win and compete for business is nowhere here, it is more of a community support effort - which can be endearing, but also much like your aunt's terrible casseroles that you never tell her about.
I tried to join a craft beer group online here when I first moved back to SF from Nebraska, and I'm a huge fan of New England beer. I got ostracized for posting my favorite beers I was drinking (a common practice) - ostracized because they were not local and it "wasn't fair to local breweries". Are you kidding me. Here's the kicker - it wasn't in the "rules", it was just simply expected. This mentality, I mean... I'd never heard of anything so moronic and petty. Utter small mindedness, so detrimental to real progress here. That's our big crime. To patch things up I offered, palms up, to hang out and drink this beer together just to connect. Hey, bring your locals, I'll show you this awesome Trillium stuff. You'll love it. We'll hang. I'm not a bad dude. But the damage had already been done. Community-sized cold shoulder was in full effect. So I left with my middle fingers up saying, "when Sioux Falls starts making decent beer, I'll start drinking it." That really stirred up the hornet's nest and hey, you asked for it.
I've lived in South Dakota nearly my whole life (born in NE SD, lived both sides of the river). Never figured out why I saw things differently but in my 30s I've realized it's just a way of life here. I've also known a few people from SD who haven't gone anywhere besides Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. They've never felt the need to. Again, endearing, but somewhat ignorant. This falls right in line with the Jersey stereotypes you hear thrown about in this thread.
So things like tropical beaches - "Eh, they're nice in the movies but I'm sure they're just a hassle. Right?", Cajun food - "isn't there a Popeye's or whatever in town?", or breathtaking mountain ranges - "I like my prairie sunsets and I have a wallpaper of mountains on my computer". Yes, I have heard these actual things from Dakotans.
South Dakota has some good things to offer (like our governor, our Bison, and our Mount Rushmore) but the frustrations are quite plentiful. Just remember we're small minded here. We don't get out much, and we haven't seen much of anything generally speaking.
Also be prepared for slow drivers and god-forbid you see a Minnesota plate. I'm not absolutely scratching to leave, but it's been on the table for awhile.
TBH, the Jersey-New England bluntness would be looked at as nearly "Trump-like" (not intending to get super political here) and somewhat of a put-off. But the real smucker here is that they won't tell you that. At least not to your face. You can see that in this thread a little bit. You will figure it out eventually when people go out with other co workers instead etc. Very petty and small minded. That's not to say you couldn't acclimate, but it's a square peg essentially.
It's the same reason far-left ideals have flooded into town - not much pushback because "it's not polite". You just end up being forced to "support" their bogus ideals or be faced with a cold shoulder forever. In contrast my new england friends are hilariously blunt about everything including politics and it's refreshing.
From a business/restaurant standpoint we generally harbor participation trophies. I firmly believe if something sucks, it sucks, and if it's good, you support it. I've gotten some real heat for that. Have a varying opinion against a local darling and be prepared to get looked at like you have two heads, or perhaps even shut out completely. This also makes it hard to gauge whether people are being legitimately honest with what you have to offer as a business/artist/whatever or if you are just being locally petted. When you support local JUST to support local, it fosters mediocrity. We are criminals of that here. I believe in being the best you can be to win against ho-hum implementation, and may the best business win. The desire to win and compete for business is nowhere here, it is more of a community support effort - which can be endearing, but also much like your aunt's terrible casseroles that you never tell her about.
I tried to join a craft beer group online here when I first moved back to SF from Nebraska, and I'm a huge fan of New England beer. I got ostracized for posting my favorite beers I was drinking (a common practice) - ostracized because they were not local and it "wasn't fair to local breweries". Are you kidding me. Here's the kicker - it wasn't in the "rules", it was just simply expected. This mentality, I mean... I'd never heard of anything so moronic and petty. Utter small mindedness, so detrimental to real progress here. That's our big crime. To patch things up I offered, palms up, to hang out and drink this beer together just to connect. Hey, bring your locals, I'll show you this awesome Trillium stuff. You'll love it. We'll hang. I'm not a bad dude. But the damage had already been done. Community-sized cold shoulder was in full effect. So I left with my middle fingers up saying, "when Sioux Falls starts making decent beer, I'll start drinking it." That really stirred up the hornet's nest and hey, you asked for it.
I've lived in South Dakota nearly my whole life (born in NE SD, lived both sides of the river). Never figured out why I saw things differently but in my 30s I've realized it's just a way of life here. I've also known a few people from SD who haven't gone anywhere besides Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Nebraska. They've never felt the need to. Again, endearing, but somewhat ignorant. This falls right in line with the Jersey stereotypes you hear thrown about in this thread.
So things like tropical beaches - "Eh, they're nice in the movies but I'm sure they're just a hassle. Right?", Cajun food - "isn't there a Popeye's or whatever in town?", or breathtaking mountain ranges - "I like my prairie sunsets and I have a wallpaper of mountains on my computer". Yes, I have heard these actual things from Dakotans.
South Dakota has some good things to offer (like our governor, our Bison, and our Mount Rushmore) but the frustrations are quite plentiful. Just remember we're small minded here. We don't get out much, and we haven't seen much of anything generally speaking.
Also be prepared for slow drivers and god-forbid you see a Minnesota plate. I'm not absolutely scratching to leave, but it's been on the table for awhile.
Best of luck.
I saw nothing wrong with the OP's posts. But some of those who replied were rude, I assume to discourage the OP from moving to SD, kind of gaslighting. I lived in Connecticut for 8 yrs back in the 70's, and didn't notice any unusual bluntness. They seemed normal to me. Why beat around the bush, get to the point kind of normal. I liked it. But I don't have the patience for passive aggressive people. Life is too short.
Wow, that beer thing is just goofy. Living on SS only I just drink the cheapest beer I can find. That's all I can afford. I'd rather drink what tastes best to me, whatever it may be. I really like Land Shark, but can't find it out here. The best beer I ever had was at a Homebrewer's Association party up in the mountains west of Boulder, Colorado around 1980. There were bands, skydivers, and everybody brought the homebrew they had made. I didn't like beer before then, but homebrew was nothing like store bought. I became an instant fan. Not being able to be honest, and say what tastes best is nuts. And getting the cold shoulder for it is even worse. I guess they've got to keep everyone in line thinking the same robot things. God forbid you have a different opinion. I hate that.
If they are happy in a certain place I can see not leaving. But checking out other places can also open your horizons. Maybe there is someplace even better. Or make you appreciate your hometown even more. That was one good thing about the draft. People got to see different parts of the world. I was looking to move to a red state, and SD looked good, but now I'm not sure. Do you have anyplace in mind? Or are you just toying with the idea so far?
Thanks for the heads up. And best regards to you too.
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