South Dakota relocate input?

[hithard]

Looking to retire in the next 2 yrs. Need good elementary school and rural setting within half hour of shopping.

Would appreciate your input.

[dangitgriff]

Florida Man recommends finding a house within walking distance to a coat factory. [emoji848][emoji15][emoji3063]

[GhostHawk]

Well my wife is from Brookings so I am little biased.

Souix Falls is your biggest shopping area for that part of the state.

But if your a sportsman I would be looking more up towards Watertown.
Lower population density, lots of great fishing lakes, good waterfowl and deer hunting area. And it is possible to find Pheasants in them thair hills.

Britten SD is a very nice small town about 90 miles from Watertown.
Lake Norden is at your 30 mile range. Looks like 5 or 6 fishable lakes within a couple of miles.

Comes down to how much shopping you need.

Half hour from Souix Falls does not really get you out of the bigger city mindset.
Half hour from Watertown has you out in the country.
Water town has a mall with the usual Herberger's, JC Penney, and Dunham's Sports, we offer an excellent variety of nationally know merchants as well as many specialty stores and boutiques. Plus a large variety of places to eat.

Brookings is a small collage town some 50 minutes north of SF. With a most nice quiet small town feel to it.
But it has a Walmart and a good variety of shopping.

I guess it depends what you are really looking for.

[wildwilly501]

If shopping is a big concern South Dakota may not be the best choice.

[SweetMk]

AND,, expect shopping to have MAJOR changes over the next 18 to 24 months,,
I live in Roanoke VA,, Roanoke has a very large (for the region) shopping mall

When we holiday shopped this mall 5 to 10 years ago,, it was amazing to see the license plates from out of state.
there would be plates from North Carolina, West Virginia,, cars with county tags from 70 to 100 miles west of here.

The shoppers would even spend the night at the hotels, making a weekend of it,,

Now, the holiday shopping should be in full swing, there is no increase in traffic at the mall.
About a week or so ago, the big mall announced it is going bankrupt,,

I am sure South Dakota will see the same closures as we are seeing in Virginia.

What you will see as shopping in South Dakota today,, will become shipping facilities for Amazon in the near future.
The good thing is, when this change occurs, on-line shopping will even be easier.

[richhodg66]

Last year, a job doing what I do opened in Rapid City. If I didn't own two houses and have 25 years built up here along with a pretty good situation and moving being such a night mare, I'd be there now. I love the Black Hills of S.D., and I even think I could handle the Winters now. Lots of National Forest property nearby, decenyt sized city, beautiful country, no state income tax, conservative values on most things. Go for it.

[SweetMk]

What randomly calls you to South Dakota??

I just looked, the temp in Sioux Falls is 20 degrees F

Here in Roanoke VA, it is currently 58 degrees, and yesterday, we played outside ALL afternoon,
with our four grandchildren , it was 68 degrees.

from where I live, down to the NC/SC border, is the best retirement living on the east coast.
This is not just my opinion, it is repeatedly reported by articles on retirement.

You want shopping, schools, medical, and nice living?
move 30 minutes south of the Piedmont Triad or the Research Triangle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedmont_Triad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Triangle

Either location would offer the best retirement living in the USA,, IMHO,,

[BUFFALOW RED]

Oklahoma City area centralized nice climate excellent gun laws friendly people

[richhodg66]

What randomly calls you to South Dakota??

I just looked, the temp in Sioux Falls is 20 degrees F

Here in Roanoke VA, it is currently 58 degrees, and yesterday, we played outside ALL afternoon,
with our four grandchildren , it was 68 degrees.

from where I live, down to the NC/SC border, is the best retirement living on the east coast.
This is not just my opinion, it is repeatedly reported by articles on retirement.

You want shopping, schools, medical, and nice living?
move 30 minutes south of the Piedmont Triad or the Research Triangle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedmont_Triad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Triangle

Either location would offer the best retirement living in the USA,, IMHO,,

Virginia is a communist state, South Dakota is not. That right there would be the biggest difference.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

My brother lived in boxelder he really loved it there

[richhodg66]

The lack of a state income tax is a big plus. The low population density and solid and sane people is another. I think you could do much, much worse for a retirement state.

[jonp]

Don't live there but have been all over it driving a semi and growing up in the far NE cold weather doesn't bother us. Just yesterday the wife said "getting kinda crowded here in NC, might be time to move" and SD was high on the list. For us, finding out where people don't want to go and going there is a big plus. Everyone want's into NC and the SE in general, Florida, Texas etc. It's getting harder and harder to find the small corners where you can be left alone.

Hey, it's got The Corn Palace and Wall Drugs so what else could you want?

[dangitgriff]

Nailed it on the head, jonp! My sentiment exactly, and I have lived in and loved Florida for the last 47 years of my life. I don’t want to leave but I value solitude and freedom of movement over large population densities and climate. Tax-free states are where it’s at. I bet Florida will institute a state tax within 20 years, if not sooner.

[richhodg66]

Don't live there but have been all over it driving a semi and growing up in the far NE cold weather doesn't bother us. Just yesterday the wife said "getting kinda crowded here in NC, might be time to move" and SD was high on the list. For us, finding out where people don't want to go and going there is a big plus. Everyone want's into NC and the SE in general, Florida, Texas etc. It's getting harder and harder to find the small corners where you can be left alone.

Hey, it's got The Corn Palace and Wall Drugs so what else could you want?

Yep, good old "fly over country", that myth keeps a lot of the undesirable riff raff out.

Had to spend a little over a week in N.C. getting my oldest son's life back on track a couple of years ago, couldn't get out of that place fast enough, and I grew up in S.C.

[dangitgriff]

Yep, the east side of the Mississippi River is getting wayyy too crowded, and will only get worse as the decades roll by.

[rbuck351]

I retired from Alaska to Montana four years ago. Eureka is a small town of about 1200 people. Shopping for anything but groceries and hardware is limited and the next town of size is Kalispell (25,000 pop) an hour south. Very conservative area with a Mayberry USA atmosphere. There is a state income tax but no sales tax and property tax is reasonable. No building codes where we live and very few regulations on what you can do on your own land. I have a shooting range in my side yard and two of my neighbors do as well. Deer and turkeys are thick here and two nights ago 5 or 6 elk passed through the front yard. We have all four seasons here and lots of lakes and rivers for fishing. Not a lot of action in Eureka if your used to big city life but that's why we moved here. Not a lot of crime either and if it wasn't for TV, I wouldn't know what BLM or Antifa was. Just one thing is you need to bring your income with you as good paying jobs are few but that makes the cost of living fairly low.

[remy3424]

Nice, retired with elementary aged children (hope that is why you want top be close to a school), seems odd, you must have done well in your occupation, got tied-up with a young gal late in life, raising grand kids, guess it could be many things. What kind of "shopping" are you looking for? Ladies undergarmets, shooting related, groceries?? Rural setting SD, won't been much shopping...google and see what towns have a Walmart. Cell coverage/internet and you have shopping. Guessing you must be a sportman, is why SD....prairie dogs and pheasants should be enough, forget shopping for must have. If you are bring a woman, better vacation in the areas you are consider prior to the move..SD is a world away from Cali...and then there is winter....plan a week get away in January/Febuary to get a taste of that. Good luck.

[Beerd]

rbuck351,
Now ya did it, tell the whole world why don't ya ;)
..

[onceabull]

For my $,Spearfish or Custer would be in the top five for retirement places,(top two in the Dakota's though. )

[wolfwing]

Expect the population to sextuple during the end of July 'til mid Augaust if you are near Rapid City/Sturgis/Spearfish.
Spearfish is about 7000' and is gets cold.

I'd look to the middle of the state like Mitchell or Yankton. The further east you go the more it gets like Minneapolis/Chicago. Limited land on the west due to large Reservations.

[Ateam]

Better get rid of those Komifornia plates right quick in a hurry

[MaryB]

Depending on what you want... Black Hills is more expensive property wise, lot more hunting opportunities, some trout fishing, can gold pan in a few areas... warmer in winter due to a geographical freak area...

Pierre puts you by Lake Oahe and some of the best walleye fishing in the USA... also have p-dogs, pheasants, mule and whitetail deer, coyotes... and a lot of wind! And COLD in winter.

Watertown has shopping so anywhere west of there, puts you on that string of lakes on the west side of Buffalo Ridge so fishing(multi species), pheasant hunting is decent(my family used to spend a week in that area hunting them), winters are windy and cold, deer hunting is decent along the creeks and old farm groves...

I have debated getting out of MN the way things are going... this place is turning commie...

[gpidaho]

I was so impressed with South Dakota when I was there in 2007 for the Sturgis rally. Spearfish canyon and all of the Black Hills country is beautiful. So many historical spots to see and states politics agree with my Idaho upbringing. If it weren't for the blessing of living in Idaho, South Dakota would be a spot I'd consider. Gp

[tinsnips]

If you move there get rid of the plates before you show up trust me I know. I live just north of the Black hills.

[onceabull]

My thinking has been than wintering in Spearfish or Custer wold be softer than Sheridan , Wy....How say those with real knowledge re:this ?

[gkainz]

I grew up in Custer. We had snowmobiles but most of the winters had to trailer them to WY or the northern hills to have enough snow to ride them.
Southern Hills are definitely milder winters than Sheridan WY
Greg

[MrWolf]

Virginia is a communist state, South Dakota is not. That right there would be the biggest difference.

Bingo! Reason why I went a lil further to West Virginia four years ago. I saw it coming and it stunk. Good luck.

[megasupermagnum]

The odd thing about the Dakota's is how big their towns are in proportion to the population. Do not discount towns that seem tiny. The earlier mentioned town of Britton is only a population of 1,334, however, it is as big, if not bigger than my current town in MN of about 3,400. Webster, SD is another rather large town, with a small population of only 1,762. I have no idea why this discrepancy, but it seems unique to SD and ND. I've given some hard thought into South Dakota myself. I really like the area anywhere from Watertown to Hecla (Sand Lake Refuge) to Lake City. Webster is a nice town in the middle. While I would consider work in Aberdeen, that is way to large a city to live anywhere near for me. I came really close to applying for a mortgage on a house west of the Sand Lake Refuge this year. One day I might finally do it. I really think Alaska is the best state in the USA, but South Dakota is a close second. Minnesota is such a great land, with total morons running it. It's a shame, and MN has forest, public land, lakes, rivers, etc. like almost no other state in the nation short of Alaska.

[GhostHawk]

^ Agree. Some of that country in the NE corner of SD is every bit as nice as big chunks of minnesota, but with fewer people, less hunting and fishing pressure.

We considered moving out of Fargo but who would pack all the stuff up? Would take an 18 wheeler or two to empty this house.

My wife just lost her dad in Brooking's to a combination of Parkinson's and Covid. It was a blessing, he's in a better place now.
Cindy's mom is still in Brooking's in an assisted living center. She is terrified to go out. And she is almost blind from macacular
degeneration. Its only 180 miles from us to her but at this stage we hate to go until, unless we have to.