BamaVol

I say go for it. Being the restless sort, I've lived dozens of places .... And never got stuck somewhere I no longer wanted to live. It's a perfect size for me; big enough to offer a little of everything without too much congestion. The weather would be a dealbreaker as far as I'm concerned, however, so know before you go, if you can handle the winters (or one of them before you change your mind).

DenverBrian

He'll do it whether you like it or not.

davie355

Climate? My undergrad (in Chicago) was full of California transplants, including my freshman roommate who had never used an umbrella, never seen snow fall, and never experienced a temperature below 50 degrees. He lived a productive undergrad life and is now in med school -- still in Chicago!

Isolation? Sioux Falls has TV, Internet, and 4G LTE. The rest is up to you. Shut-ins feel isolated even in Manhattan.

DenverBrian

Ikea? Whole Foods? Trader Joes? Forever 21?

(I know these Millennials...I'm hip...I'm cool...)

TheBOSman

Sioux Falls has natural food co-ops. And, most major supermarket stores now include organic options. Even Walmart has many organic options across their stores now.

uastarflyer

^


OP - never confuse having a career with having a life. Choose wisely.

WIRunner

Yeah, there's farms. You get it from a farm.

andyh64000

Assuming you don't have school aged kids...do it! Life is a collection of experiences. You might love it and you might hate it but in any event you will be better for it.

RustyC

Don't forget Wall Drug That general part of the country is known for being richer than most in job opportunities because the weather scares people away, especially the winters.

Heck, I've had to redeem miles for my trips there (RAP and FAR starting points) because paid tickets weren't reasonable, and for the longest time it was also hard to get an unlimited-mileage rental car (which is why FAR got picked over BIS).

The Internet has done much as far as the isolation factor goes, and Amazon and eBay get more than their share of orders from that part of the country. OTOH, things like concert tours might only get as close as MSP, if that (OMA only if lucky), and pro sports are similarly far. But the area is known for having some of the best fitness because people are eager to get outside after the winter and because schools are small enough that a greater % of students are needed to participate in team sports, whereas in Atlanta and elsewhere you've got 1,000-student schools where people know they're not varsity team material by 8th grade.

Tom Brokaw also was from that state, and they still make fun of him tripping over L sounds on the Stepahnie Miller show (e.g. Vili Faalau).

sonofzeus

Forest Gump called. He wants his box of chocolates back.

FliesWay2Much

It's not what it sounds like! I'm talking about the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS). This is where the bulk of LANDSAT imagery is analyzed and stored. There are many world-class scientists who work there and have spent the bulk of their careers in Sioux Falls.

brendog

Deleted

pinniped

I would personally prefer it over Atlanta. Would be an easy decision. But I don't know how attached you are/were to Atlanta...

I've spent a grand total of 12 hours there. Roadtrip through, overnight at a Marriott, onward in the morning towards northern MN. (Their Marriotts are all low categories! Yay! ) Seems like a pleasant enough place in the scope of smallish upper Midwestern towns. The drive made me want to go back and turn west for a proper South Dakota roadtrip. One of these days...

I would think your overall quality of life could significantly improve, especially if you like the outdoors. I'm not sure how much "mainline" service SUX really gets: if you travel a ton for work, you would certainly be adding a lot of connections to your life instead of nonstop DL flights everywhere from ATL. On the plus side, if you are deeply in bed with DL, I'm guessing that MSP would be your logical connecting point to most of the rest of the world.

If I had an opportunity to move to another decent-sized city with a large airport, St. Paul would be right at the top of my list. Although you're 230 miles away from the Twin Cities, it is indeed a fantastic place to spend a weekend (or longer).

DenverBrian

And that's irrelevant, since this is FSD, not SUX. @:-)

FSD shows about 15 departures a day on the big three - UA, DL, and AA - plus a single F9 departure. Connections to ORD, MSP, DEN and DFW. Almost all regional jets.

pinniped

So...maybe 2-3 mainline flights a day, total? One to Denver on F9 and (from a brief search) two to MSP on DL?

It wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me, but I can see where someone coming from one of the largest megahubs of all might take some time getting used to it.