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I moved to Mitchell, SD one year ago. We have lived and travelled all over the United States in small towns are large cities like Los Angeles and Dallas. I have a finance background and when the economy crashed in 2006, I began looking for a more affordable option than Los Angeles. I also have spent a big chunk of my childhood and adult life in Omaha which is equally midwest and nearby. We chose South Dakota for the financial advantages of home buyer tax credits, no state income tax, low property and sales taxes. What looks good on paper is not necessarily effective in practice. Our intention was to open a retail business but it became immediately clear that that would be a losing proposition. Building codes are non-existent. We had signed a lease so we decided to stick it out a year and just see if our thoughts changed. They only intensified.
The illegal drug use, meth is prevalent, is off the charts! They say "we have a drug problem". I say, "they have a drug culture" and everything that comes with that - sex trafficking, prostitution, disease, and constant crime. I lived in downtown Los Angeles for ten years and it pales in comparison to Mitchell, SD in terms of drug use per capita.
I had hopes of having some intelligent conversation with new friends and neighbors. Not a chance. We are greeted rudely in every store, and with every person we pass which was really shocking because we had spent three summers up here before making this a permanent move and people were very friendly until we moved here. I have literally left stores I was trying to shop in crying because people are so mean and rude. They don't like outsiders. They do seem to have a significant population of developmentally disabled adults, who are actually some of the friendliest and most intelligent people we do encounter, but it has led us to wonder if they have married their siblings and cousins for so many generations that it's given rise to the issue.
In practical matters, fruits and vegetables are expensive when they are available ($3 per avocado in winter and $6 for a pound of cherries). For a large portion of winter they are virtually non-existent or you will wind up throwing half of what you buy away because it was rotten before you got home with it. It's virtually impossible to buy gas that is not mixed with at least 10% ethanol which can make for murderous repair charges on your vehicle - which is how we got stranded here in the first place.
Jobs (the numerous articles on the abundance of jobs and the good economy brought us here) are available to "Locals Only". Thirty years accounting experience and I am checking groceries for $8/hour part time because the accounting offices prefer to hire local high school students. Many job applications will not accept your university credentials if you did not graduate from a university in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, or Nebraska. I'm not kidding!
In terms of safety and a quaint small town. HA! At our first address we found out we were living next to three wanted felons - one for murder and arson, one for violent sexual assault of a child, one for a long list of things. We moved and then a few months later that building was raided for a meth lab and the rest of our neighbors were arrested. At our new address - meth lab, sex trafficking, drug trafficking conveniently located next to the high school.
After a year of this my assessment is that South Dakota has probably long been a culture of sex and drug trafficking. The long history of luring hunters up here from all over the world and Strugis give rise to that. The local women priss around in their pink camouflage hunting gear during mating season. The recent oil boom out west and up north seem to have only intensified all of the unsavory things that South Dakota really is. I think if you have any moral character, anything productive to offer, are a literate, intelligent, contributing, law abiding member of society, South Dakota is NOT for you! It's definitely not for me!
I moved to Mitchell, SD one year ago. We have lived and travelled all over the United States in small towns are large cities like Los Angeles and Dallas. I have a finance background and when the economy crashed in 2006, I began looking for a more affordable option than Los Angeles. I also have spent a big chunk of my childhood and adult life in Omaha which is equally midwest and nearby. We chose South Dakota for the financial advantages of home buyer tax credits, no state income tax, low property and sales taxes. What looks good on paper is not necessarily effective in practice. Our intention was to open a retail business but it became immediately clear that that would be a losing proposition. Building codes are non-existent. We had signed a lease so we decided to stick it out a year and just see if our thoughts changed. They only intensified.
The illegal drug use, meth is prevalent, is off the charts! They say "we have a drug problem". I say, "they have a drug culture" and everything that comes with that - sex trafficking, prostitution, disease, and constant crime. I lived in downtown Los Angeles for ten years and it pales in comparison to Mitchell, SD in terms of drug use per capita.
I had hopes of having some intelligent conversation with new friends and neighbors. Not a chance. We are greeted rudely in every store, and with every person we pass which was really shocking because we had spent three summers up here before making this a permanent move and people were very friendly until we moved here. I have literally left stores I was trying to shop in crying because people are so mean and rude. They don't like outsiders. They do seem to have a significant population of developmentally disabled adults, who are actually some of the friendliest and most intelligent people we do encounter, but it has led us to wonder if they have married their siblings and cousins for so many generations that it's given rise to the issue.
In practical matters, fruits and vegetables are expensive when they are available ($3 per avocado in winter and $6 for a pound of cherries). For a large portion of winter they are virtually non-existent or you will wind up throwing half of what you buy away because it was rotten before you got home with it. It's virtually impossible to buy gas that is not mixed with at least 10% ethanol which can make for murderous repair charges on your vehicle - which is how we got stranded here in the first place.
Jobs (the numerous articles on the abundance of jobs and the good economy brought us here) are available to "Locals Only". Thirty years accounting experience and I am checking groceries for $8/hour part time because the accounting offices prefer to hire local high school students. Many job applications will not accept your university credentials if you did not graduate from a university in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, or Nebraska. I'm not kidding!
In terms of safety and a quaint small town. HA! At our first address we found out we were living next to three wanted felons - one for murder and arson, one for violent sexual assault of a child, one for a long list of things. We moved and then a few months later that building was raided for a meth lab and the rest of our neighbors were arrested. At our new address - meth lab, sex trafficking, drug trafficking conveniently located next to the high school.
After a year of this my assessment is that South Dakota has probably long been a culture of sex and drug trafficking. The long history of luring hunters up here from all over the world and Strugis give rise to that. The local women priss around in their pink camouflage hunting gear during mating season. The recent oil boom out west and up north seem to have only intensified all of the unsavory things that South Dakota really is. I think if you have any moral character, anything productive to offer, are a literate, intelligent, contributing, law abiding member of society, South Dakota is NOT for you! It's definitely not for me!
It appears, with th hundreds of thousands of members that visit this forum every day, that you are the odds ball out. We've litterly had thousands of users that didn't see what you have supposedly seen... and I am one of them. You see, I come from Eastern South Dakota and I am here to tell you that Mitchell and South Dakota are simply not how you have painted them. There are places that are not for ever6body. There are also places that no matter how nice the place is, some folks just won't fit because those folks just won't fit anywhere. They find fault, or will make up fault where none exists, just to point a finger so people won't look at them. If Mitchell was so bad, what did you do to correct it? Did you report the method labs? Were your "felon" neighbors causing problems or did you rehash old records after they paid their debt to society? Were you on the jury so that you knew first hand what they did or didn't do? Did you get involved with your community or did you hide and shutter in your shack while the world passed you by?
I find it hard to believe that South Dakota was so rancid, but you chose to remain for ad long as you did. Its too bad you moved away. South Dakota could use more folks like you.
I moved to Mitchell, SD one year ago. We have lived and travelled all over the United States in small towns are large cities like Los Angeles and Dallas. I have a finance background and when the economy crashed in 2006, I began looking for a more affordable option than Los Angeles. I also have spent a big chunk of my childhood and adult life in Omaha which is equally midwest and nearby. We chose South Dakota for the financial advantages of home buyer tax credits, no state income tax, low property and sales taxes. What looks good on paper is not necessarily effective in practice. Our intention was to open a retail business but it became immediately clear that that would be a losing proposition. Building codes are non-existent. We had signed a lease so we decided to stick it out a year and just see if our thoughts changed. They only intensified.
The illegal drug use, meth is prevalent, is off the charts! They say "we have a drug problem". I say, "they have a drug culture" and everything that comes with that - sex trafficking, prostitution, disease, and constant crime. I lived in downtown Los Angeles for ten years and it pales in comparison to Mitchell, SD in terms of drug use per capita.
I had hopes of having some intelligent conversation with new friends and neighbors. Not a chance. We are greeted rudely in every store, and with every person we pass which was really shocking because we had spent three summers up here before making this a permanent move and people were very friendly until we moved here. I have literally left stores I was trying to shop in crying because people are so mean and rude. They don't like outsiders. They do seem to have a significant population of developmentally disabled adults, who are actually some of the friendliest and most intelligent people we do encounter, but it has led us to wonder if they have married their siblings and cousins for so many generations that it's given rise to the issue.
In practical matters, fruits and vegetables are expensive when they are available ($3 per avocado in winter and $6 for a pound of cherries). For a large portion of winter they are virtually non-existent or you will wind up throwing half of what you buy away because it was rotten before you got home with it. It's virtually impossible to buy gas that is not mixed with at least 10% ethanol which can make for murderous repair charges on your vehicle - which is how we got stranded here in the first place.
Jobs (the numerous articles on the abundance of jobs and the good economy brought us here) are available to "Locals Only". Thirty years accounting experience and I am checking groceries for $8/hour part time because the accounting offices prefer to hire local high school students. Many job applications will not accept your university credentials if you did not graduate from a university in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, or Nebraska. I'm not kidding!
In terms of safety and a quaint small town. HA! At our first address we found out we were living next to three wanted felons - one for murder and arson, one for violent sexual assault of a child, one for a long list of things. We moved and then a few months later that building was raided for a meth lab and the rest of our neighbors were arrested. At our new address - meth lab, sex trafficking, drug trafficking conveniently located next to the high school.
After a year of this my assessment is that South Dakota has probably long been a culture of sex and drug trafficking. The long history of luring hunters up here from all over the world and Strugis give rise to that. The local women priss around in their pink camouflage hunting gear during mating season. The recent oil boom out west and up north seem to have only intensified all of the unsavory things that South Dakota really is. I think if you have any moral character, anything productive to offer, are a literate, intelligent, contributing, law abiding member of society, South Dakota is NOT for you! It's definitely not for me!
What a pile of crap. Did you get a good laugh writing this fiction. Anyone reading this drivel and believing even 10% of it is a fool. Nice first ever post. Now you can go back and hide under your bridge.
i have hunted and really enjoyed south dakota even got my springer out of chamberlin it's were i've hunted many time's am starting to look into retirement 7 year's from now and am considering chamberlin / mitchell area's im a 30 year diesel field service mechanic power generation,equipment,truck's, born raised in Ca,san francisco bay area been here my whole life and can't wait to get out of here,please a little info on the mitchell area thank's
i have hunted and really enjoyed south dakota even got my springer out of chamberlin it's were i've hunted many time's am starting to look into retirement 7 year's from now and am considering chamberlin / mitchell area's im a 30 year diesel field service mechanic power generation,equipment,truck's, born raised in Ca,san francisco bay area been here my whole life and can't wait to get out of here,please a little info on the mitchell area thank's
I am not a fan of Mitchell. However, they do have a Cabelas there. That is dandy for me. It might be fine for a retired guy. Enough activities and halfway between Sioux Falls and Chamberlain. If I was big into hunting, I'd also invest in a fishing boat and hang out in Chamberlain.
I know this is a little farther than you are looking, but, just in case you expand your area of interest, don't move to the SE corner of the state unless you love BATS!
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