I want to live in South Dakota. (Sioux Falls, Rapid City: rent, insurance)
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Fantastic!! Let us know how you turn out. IMHO Deadwood isn't peaceful and quiet. It's quite a booming little town, but I'm sure it's nothing compared to what you're used to. It's interesting to know that there are as many jobs listed in Rapid as there are in San Diego. You may want to check out the Sioux Falls Argus Leader for a huge variety of jobs. Sioux Falls is in southeastern So. Dak. and it's our largest city, something like 135,00-140,000 But I'm with you and I'd check out the Hills area first. It's really pretty there.
LOL! A booming little town! That sounds small enough
The jobs listed here, in my area (We live near the Mexico border), 80% of them require the applicant to be bilingual. I'm not, so the amount of english speaking only jobs are few. I've worked for nothing but Military Contractors since I started working in 1988...Luckily since we only deal with the Government we're not required to speak anything but English. I noticed that there is an Air Force Base near Rapid City, so there must be some sort of Contractors there too. Probably not as many as here, but one thing nice about this industry...They recycle people like crazy. Work at one place, and you get laid off, another place will hire you in a heart beat. It's like a job clique
Yes, we have Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City. It's hit the deletion list the past couple of times, but luckily our senators and congresman have managed to get of off the closure list. It would devastate the economy out there if it closed.
If you think that Sioux Falls has a small population, you should see some of the other towns. Sioux Falls is actually the largest city in the state. When I said Deadwood is booming, I really didn't mean population wise since there's probably under 2,000 people there. They have a lot of events scheduled and a lot of things going for it. When we were there the weekend population went to about 15,000. That's a lot of people in a 2,000 person town.
I've read that some places require you to be bilingual. I'm not aware of any jobs in SD that require that. YET. And hopefully by then, I won't have to worry about job hunting anymore.
I have heard the term several times and always just thought it meant a small geographical area that has a milder climate than the surrounding area. After some searching on the internet, that deffinition may have to suffice because I couldn't find another.
There are a number of places that claim to be in a "banana belt." All of them seem to be in or near a mountainous region. I do know that a mountain range can do strange things to the weather by blocking or stearing winds and weather patterns. This can create very severe weather in one locality, while a few miles away there is a belt of mild weather. A few places that claim to be in a a banana belt are Salida, Colorado, Kalispell, Montana, Brookings, Oregon, Ticino, Switzerland, & Hot Springs, S D.
Uncle Charley, you're right. The banana belt of So. Dak. is in the western part of the state. My guess is that you're right about the Southern Hills being warmer then the Northern Hills. The climate is milder then most of the state. I wouldn't compare it to any of the Southern States for nice climate, but the Hills have days that reach 60 or higher every once in a while during the winter. An awful lot of their daily highs are above freezing. It's the only area of the state that can boast that. Not sure why they call it that since I doubt you really could raise bananas there.
Just like any other state, some small towns have stuck up people. Since we moved to SD from a city of a million, we have lived in 4 small towns and every one has bent over backwards to make us welcome. My son is married to a member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe and they meet very little discrimination. I have a lot of Indian blood too and the problems I run into are with other Indians who don't think I am pure enough, but that's no big deal to me. I also have German ancestry and enjoy being part of those yearly festivities
We live in the center of the state in a town of 300. It is 90 miles to the closest really big stores but the cost of living more than makes up for it. It the local weekly ad papers you will find 2 & 3 BR houses listed from $4,000-12,000. We bought our 4 BR farmhouse with 2 garages 2 years ago, (it was built in 1915) completely furnished for $23,000. It sits on 4 lots and the taxes are very low. I am the sole breadwinner because we are both disabled and we live comfortably on my SSI of $603. a month and even have some money left at the end of the month. It's 10 miles to the closest large store but that's no different than driving across town in a large city to shop.
If you need a lot of money to live on then you need to go to the larger cities, but if you have a degree there are a lot of choices in many of the smaller towns. Health care isn't bad as there are a lot of rural hospitals and the DRs from the big cities come the rural towns on a regular basis to hold clinics.
No matter where you live these days you will find drug problems and gangs too but that is just a fact of life. The sales taxes are lower then Oklahoma and Washington where we lived for awhile, The casinos aren't in every nook and cranny of stores or gas stations like in Nevada.
SO, if you can, take a trip slowly around the state and ask a lot of questions. It's best if you can spend more than just a day or two in each area you like so you can see the life style you need to become adjusted to. I love the snow and cold temperatures here as it helps my MS, the humidity isn't high so I'm not housebound in the summer either.
There are rumors that there are gangs in a couple of the larger cities. Yet others say that it's just "wannabes". That they see gang writings when they get "OUT" in the world and they come back home and copy the writings and markings of gangs in order to be cool. I honestly don't know if they're here or not. Maybe someone else will be able to answer that for us
Sandi, that was such a good post. I'm glad that you like it here. I only wish that the cold would be to my liking. You mentioned the fact that sales tax is less here. Another thing we've got going for us is that we have no state income tax. I understand that's a definite plus.
There are actually gangs in both Sioux Falls and Rapid City. The Crips out of LA have sent people into both cities and finance them so that they can recruit to expand their operation into those cities. So far, they're pretty small, but give them time.
You're right in that most are wannabe's. The problem is the crips don't mark so the markings you see are wannabe's. Once established to the point that they can command with enough people, they'll start marking territory.
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It would devastate the economy out there if it closed.
Banana Belt
I honestly don't know if they're here or not. Maybe someone else will be able to answer that for us
