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i have lived in rapid city,camped in mitchell,and spearfish,now live in spearfish. hoping to move again this summer. actually im a nomad. spearfish is college town,but i live on the other side of town from college,so never notice it. plenty of outdoors close by. i have to pick towns with bus service. no car. belle fouche isnt bad. a store there that sells surplus (etc) groc. etc. black hills are fun places to hike and do other things. (ski,snowmobile,etc) lots of deer,antelope. big city park with activities. walmart,kmart. rapid city has good points too, traffic bad. all places have good and bad points. if you are in sd in july during annual motorcycle rally, you will see and hear thousands of motorcycles. rapid city has train running through. good luck.
[quote=Jammie;155905] Since this forum has started, I've actually asked people who weren't from the area their opinion on the friendliness and welcoming they got as newcomers. I don't want to put down small towns since we used to live in a super friendly small town, BUT I understand they aren't always that way.
I agree with this observation. When we first moved from Northern Virginia to So Dakota we went to school for only ONE semester in Faulkton and they were totally awful to us. We ended up moving to Watertown and it was alot better, although some people were still not as friendly as they could have been. Watertown has become alittle more diverse in the last 15 years though so I imagine it would be better for that now. The best area we lived in was Hamlin County just for my Senior year and I developed some great friendships just in that short time. But on the other hand, my brother had some really bad experiences with people that had lived in the town their whole life and not very accepting of people that didn't.
In my opinion it's best to stick to something with at least a few thousand people so there is some diversity.
Hey floridadreamer, will you reply to me. I am wondering why you were not treated well when you moved from Virginia? When you first moved to South Dakota what did you do? Did you say to the people living there that you did things differently in Virginia?
When I was in the sixth grade my Dad was moved from Colorado to Nebraska. At first I was accepted, but I began saying things like it was better in Colorado or we did this and that in Colorado. If I would have not done this my first few years in Nebraska would have been much better. Did your brother have this same attitude that I had as well?
In time I learned that no matter where you go that it is important that if you are new to the area, that thhe people do not have to change their ways to fit you as an individual, you have to adjust to them. So I am just wondering if maybe your brother fell into the same mind set that I had when I first moved.
Now I understand that there are those individuals who no manner what you do will have a chip on their shoulder. Maybe because they are jealous or they are afraid that a new person could be a threat to their personal standing.
Just kind of wondering as I read posting from all over this forum.
Not sure if you decided on a place yet, but might I suggest Marshall, MN. Although it does have a university, I would not consider it a "college town" as the bars downtown dont seem to get too overwhelmed with college students. The college is on the east side of town and most related activities and residents are in that area. I would suggest the downtown area, there are a lot of new things going on their, nice restaurants, several nice appartments, wether your looking for old or newer buildings, and a few college aged kids but nothing overwhelming. There are alot of employment opportunities for a town of 13K. They do have the big box retailers like wal-mart, shopko etc (which personally I hate going to big stores, but will if I must) but you should get by just fine shopping the downtown area.
Hey floridadreamer, will you reply to me. I am wondering why you were not treated well when you moved from Virginia? When you first moved to South Dakota what did you do? Did you say to the people living there that you did things differently in Virginia?
When I was in the sixth grade my Dad was moved from Colorado to Nebraska. At first I was accepted, but I began saying things like it was better in Colorado or we did this and that in Colorado. If I would have not done this my first few years in Nebraska would have been much better. Did your brother have this same attitude that I had as well?
In time I learned that no matter where you go that it is important that if you are new to the area, that thhe people do not have to change their ways to fit you as an individual, you have to adjust to them. So I am just wondering if maybe your brother fell into the same mind set that I had when I first moved.
Now I understand that there are those individuals who no manner what you do will have a chip on their shoulder. Maybe because they are jealous or they are afraid that a new person could be a threat to their personal standing.
Just kind of wondering as I read posting from all over this forum.
Sorry for not responding...I don't check the so dak forum often. We only went to the school for abut 6 weeks and they just never warmed to us to be honest. My brother was happy anywhere that had sports and girls. I might be go along with what you've said, except the principal himself confirmed that it wasn't US, it was THEM.
But yes, IMO, EVERYTHING in Virginia was better except crime and traffic.
Not sure if you decided on a place yet, but might I suggest Marshall, MN. Although it does have a university, I would not consider it a "college town" as the bars downtown dont seem to get too overwhelmed with college students. The college is on the east side of town and most related activities and residents are in that area. I would suggest the downtown area, there are a lot of new things going on their, nice restaurants, several nice appartments, wether your looking for old or newer buildings, and a few college aged kids but nothing overwhelming. There are alot of employment opportunities for a town of 13K. They do have the big box retailers like wal-mart, shopko etc (which personally I hate going to big stores, but will if I must) but you should get by just fine shopping the downtown area.
I agree, though I haven't spend ALOT of time in Marshall I used to drive from Watertown to the cities several times a year and Marshall seems the ideal size to me. If not, I would go with a mid-large town on the west side of so dak
I will say that I do not like Sioux Falls and actually at first thought the whole State was like it. BUT it is not! Where I live in one of the most congested areas of the city 49th and Louise and the people are not as sociable as I would have thought. So just based my whole opinion as that of South Dakota. BUT, decided to take a look around the State and found it more different and more of a positive area than I experienced in SF. Aberdeen is one of the most friendliest groups of people I have ever encountered. They were so interested in chatting and felt like I was one of the family. Great people in Aberdeen. Rapid City was also a good feeling going there. So what did I learn? You can't always judge a book by a few chapters, but by the overall read! Explore!
Why vacation in the Midwest in February, Movingrightalong?
Most likely to find out what's it really like, and if you can take it. In my opinion, you will see what it is really like if you come in February, but its not much of a vacation. I am sure the mindset of Washington State is much different than the midwest ( including SD). I have been through SD on vacation once, and the small towns there tend to be typical small towns, with all that entails, i.e., people aren't always friendly. I am not familiar with the state though, but I would say, it might be a contrast to Washington State.
Confused! We have a choice between Omaha and Rapid City for relocation with the military. We have friends in Omaha that say we should come there, but we currently live in AK and love the outdoors and we camp a lot. We have 3 kids that excel in school and we are afraid that this small town of Rapid City might not offer enough for the kids. Can someone sell me on SD instead of Omaha? Thanks.
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spearfish is college town,but i live on the other side of town from college,so never notice it. plenty of outdoors close by. i have to pick towns with bus service. no car. belle fouche isnt bad. a store there that sells surplus (etc) groc. etc. black hills are fun places to hike and do other things. (ski,snowmobile,etc) lots of deer,antelope. big city park with activities. walmart,kmart. rapid city has good points too, traffic bad. all places have good and bad points. if you are in sd in july during annual motorcycle rally, you will see and hear thousands of motorcycles. rapid city has train running through. good luck.
