South Dakota's largest city...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And in nearby Mitchell, the famous Corn Palace

Sioux Falls has a fantastic riverfront and a nice downtown.  It's what Middletown should aspire to be.

Wow! Never been there. It looks intact, clean and busy. Very nice.

Those Falls are very neat and yes the rest of the town looks very nice. Ahh if Middletown could just believe they could be something like Sioux Falls. That's half the battle.

I like the way these north western towns look. Don't think I would want to live there, tho.

Looks really nice. Restored buildings, riverfront park and some nice new infill.

Nice! SF looks much more lively than the other outpost cities posted here.

I like the way these north western towns look. Don't think I would want to live there, tho.

 

I would. I see no reason to slam Sioux Falls..there are much worse places to live.

 

I have relatives that live down the highway in Sioux City, Iowa - and SF is by far the nicer of the two. SC is nice, but a lot grittier.

 

Sioux Falls reminded me of a non-scenic version of what I imagine Missoula, Montana to be a lot like..which is a place I've always romanticized.

I like the way these north western towns look. Don't think I would want to live there, tho.

I would. I see no reason to slam Sioux Falls..there are much worse places to live.

But what are you going to do?

Joan Jett played the corn Palace a few years ago.

Did anyone catch this?

 

 

15 MPH speed limit and look at the results:narrow lanes, bumpouts, and busy sidewalks where pedestrians cross the street at high frequencies, it's no wonder this main street looks nice and functions well.

 

As far as living there it depends on if you like small cities and the local culture. From a brief glance on google maps they have sushi, jazz, and a wine bar. Outside of Downtown, however, all I see are strip-malls in lieu of neighborhood business districts and Downtown has no coffee shop in a walkable atmosphere: for the closest one you'd have to walk a number blocks down a car-centric strip to a Starbucks drive-thru. Personally I need to live in a city with a healthy coffee shop culture, so between the Dakotas, Sioux Falls being SD and Fargo being ND, Fargo/ND is more my style, though I wouldn't live there either, but I don't see that as taking a cheap shot.

 

Most people, urbanites in particular, just aren't Great Plains people when it comes to living someplace: we want Downtown and then some. I'd like to visit Sioux Falls myself (provided someone were willing to drive there). Now if he said the city isn't even worth stopping in, then I could see taking offense.

^Visiting Rapid City a few years ago, I found the drivers very polite & considerate towards peds.

There were options for the vegetarian, vegan & the gluten free crowd & at the time, a rock & roll string quartet.

Still, that's not enough for me to live there.

I'm with you there, but if you *had* to live there stuff like that makes it more pleasant. Still, I agree that I'd need a good deal more to live way out in the plains.

Better than Fargo, eh?  The only state out in the middle of the mid section that I have an interest in (not treating it like flyover country) is Nebraska.  Lincoln and Omaha seem to offer a lot.

A big plus for me, in my recollections from spending a couple of weeks in that part of the country about fifteen years ago, is the culture of friendliness and hospitality among the people. Their sense of community isn't dependent upon having franchise coffee shops; it centers around long-time locally-owned restaurants where people gather to keep up on gossip and discuss national events. Local festivals and events bring people together to share their talents, the extent of which might surprise some urban easterners who don't expect much sophistication in small rural cities.

 

I think I could be very contented living in some of those places.

Ink, you really get around.  These tours are always great.  Usually I'm pleasantly surprised, as with Duluth.  But I was expecting to see a lot more in SF, with the financial sector they have.