Learn me: Sioux Falls, South Dakota

SWMBO visited her sisters in Sioux Falls over the weekend and now wants to move up there to be closer to family once she finishes school in a couple of years. I'm a born and raised Ohioan (ah-hia-an) so I can't even begin to conceive of what it's like up there besides cold and flat. We're not tied down where we're at now and don't really have much family around to speak of so the move itself would be relatively simple.

Anyone here familiar with the area? How's the car scene, how are the people, how bad are the winters, etc?

SD is a neat state. I transplanted there for a while in the 80s when I did my engineering degree in Brookings. It was certainly a culture shock for a person who thought a city of 300,000 was a small town.

It does get cold. Sometimes really cold. But then, winter is winter and you need to dress for it regardless so I dont recall that it was any worse than London Ontario where I live now.

You will forget what a traffic jam is.

Once the locals decide that they are not going to shoot you, they will adopt you as a member of their family.

Even in Sioux Falls and Rapid City, everybody is from a really small town somewhere.

Rapid is the pearl of the state in my mind.

If you like to hunt and fish or just into guns, you will be in paradise.

Politically, even the Democrats are Republicans, they just don't know it.

The car scene is mostly Hot Rods and muscle cars since anything resembling a curve is rare unless you are in the hills of Rapid. Lots of farmers with tools and skills to build some powerfull cars. No lack of bikes mostly cruisers. Sturgis is worth seeing once.

Get used to driving a lot since everything is far away. The good news is that the speed limit on interstates is now 80mph.

SD comes in two flavours. East River and West River; "West River" is not an actual river name, its a state of mind.

Sioux Falls has a really, really great Harley dealer. It's worth seeing. We usually stop in there for free coffee and donuts on the way to Sturgis.

What NoHome said.

Sioux Falls is tiny.

Enough cold and snow to actually justify the lifted truck on winter tires.

I was mostly surprised at the tension between Native Americans and European Americans. Rather seriously spooky.

Car scene seemed very subdued.

Food choice is small.

There's actually some sort of weather line that goes across the state just north of Sioux Falls, so the weather in town and from there south is markedly different from the weather up here north of there. The winter will be much like OH, but with more wind.

Not a huge import scene, but plenty of muscle and older hot rods. Lots of cruiser bikes, not a lot of sport bikes.

We don't talk about distance in miles here, usually minutes or hours. As long as you keep that in mind for your comparisons it's not much different than anywhere else. I live 100 miles from Sioux Falls right now but it is under an hour and a half, and Omaha is just over three hours from Sioux Falls. Minneapolis and Kansas City are 5 hours and you can get anything in either city.

The worst school in Sioux Falls is likely better than the best in wherever you live. Plenty of opportunities, resources, and drop out rates in low single digit percentages.

And if things go as planned I'll be only 70 miles away soon, with all the shop you would need.

Appreciate the info. SWMBO and I both grew up in a town of 2,000 so we're pretty used to that. I figured it would be pretty right leaning. I'd say we're both pretty liberal but once again, growing up in a small town we're used to a conservative slant. We'd definitely stick to the Sioux Falls area as that's where her family lives.

Good to hear about the schools. We have a 6 year old and a soon to be 4 year old so there's plenty of schooling to be done. Do they use tire chains in the winter around there? A quick search says they get around twice as much snow as where we are right now.

You can use tire chains or studded snows in winter months, but I've only ever actually needed 4wd a couple dozen times in the last 5 winters even up here, and then only because I have to get to work or the other guy can't go home. For regular people if you don't have to be there right away the roads will be clear enough for almost any car by 10am.

Old farmers just want to be left alone, which is really a more libertarian slant than conventional conservative. Fiscally conservative, socially whatever you want as long as you don't bother the neighbors.

Sounds kinda nice, 'ceptin' for the cold part...I've become allergic to sub-freezing temps after almost 20 yrs in the warm & humid southern parts.