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I am interested in prospective retirement locations in SE SD. Interested in actual retirees comments and others. The size of the community is not a factor to me. Desire reasonable real estate/availability of rentals, low crime, acceptance of outsiders. Weather is not a factor since I now live in Minneapolis area.
I'll be interested to hear responses also, as we'd like very much to move to S.D as well. We are retired too & currently in Kansas. Weather not a factor for me either as I was born/raised in Montana. In addition to what shakman said, i'd especially like to know which towns/cities have friendly pet/livestock ordinance, as I have a mini horse & handful of pet chickens.
I moved to SE SD for retirement a little over 2 years ago. Although I visited several different towns around the state in my search, for me it came down to either Brookings or Vermillion because of my strong interest in lifelong learning. I ended up with a small acreage in between Yankton and Vermillion, and I LOVE it!!! I really, really do - it's wonderful here.
There is no state income tax here, but property tax rates can seem high. My property taxes here are much higher than they were in the rural areas of MN in which I've lived. Other than property taxes, though, SE SD seems very inexpensive to me.
One advantage of SE SD is that you're a close drive to the amenities of the larger cities of Sioux Falls and Sioux City without having to contend with any of the disadvantages of city life. Omaha is also an easy drive from here, and Mpls/St.Paul (which I call The Terrible Cities) are only 5ish hours away.
There are lots of different types of towns, depending on what you're looking for. Be aware that most of the towns are quite small. Areas closest to the Big Sioux or Missouri Rivers have more trees and are a little more hilly so are less affected by hard winds than the flatter areas further west.
Here's some info on the few towns I've gotten to know:
Beresford seems to have become a bedroom community for Sioux Falls. There is the old part of town and a new part with new housing. It is right up against 29.
Canton is another small town becoming a bedroom community for SF. I think another poster frequently on this forum could discuss Canton more than I can.
Centerville is an easy commute to Sioux Falls and has a regionally famous bakery and a community theater. The school system is said to be good, and the town really, really wants young families to move to town to put more kids in the schools there. Housing is very affordable. There is a super nice house in town for sale for only $109,000, and I so want it! But I'm controlling myself - I don't need another house. But it's cuuute!
Dakota Dunes is essentially a suburb of Sioux City, and has some quite expensive new homes.
Elk Point is becoming a bedroom community for Sioux City. There's a great Mexican Restaurant in town! Downtown seems active. There's the old part of town then a new home subdivision on the south side.
Freeman is the home of the annual Schmekfest festival, which is very fun. This is a region settled by Germans from Russia, and there are many Mennonites and Hutterites in the area. There are some super nice old houses in Freeman.
Gayville and Mission Hill are traditional small farming towns that are fighting off some corporate owned concentrated animal feeding operations - gigantic hog confinements. Hopefully county government in that area will look forward to the long term survival of independent family farmers and economic health of these two small towns instead of caving to immediate money from out of state owned corporations. But as long as this issue is up in the air it might not be a good idea to choose to buy a home in or near either of these towns, because once a CAFO goes in the air quality will significantly go down. Gayville is known for live music (mostly country and folk, but some mild rock) concerts at the newly renovated Gayville Hall - these are really fun! There's also a group that regularly plays mah jong.
Good Earth State Park is very pretty with lots of interesting birds and other wildlife. The little towns nearby would be pretty places to live and also within an easy commute of Sioux Falls.
Lennox has a couple of car dealerships that I've visited. Town seemed healthy.
Vermillion is the most perfect town in America! Because it is the home of the University of South Dakota there are a ton of things to do, ranging from museums to concerts to sports events to live theater to some really good restaurants to a new swimming pool and a recently renovated movie theater that shows first run movies. There's hiking and fishing and boating in and around the Missouri River, too. Schools are great. There is an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute for people over 50, and for under $200 a year you can attend a variety of interesting OLLI classes 7 months out of the year. The town has good health care services, with a hospital associated with the Sanford system. The wealthier people have homes by the river in the Burbank area or up on the bluff near the golf course. There are a lot of apartments and duplexes and townhouses that are affordable, but fewer affordable single family homes. Vermillion is just about the only stronghold of Democrats/Progressives/Liberals in the state - if you're a big fan of t-Rump you might not enjoy a big social life in Vermillion.
Volin is an interesting little oasis - on the tree filled old bluffs of the old course of the MO river. It has been populated by artists in recent years.
Yankton is an interesting mix of old and new, not-so-nice and nice. It is the oldest town in the area, and has some interesting old buildings and homes. The river area is home of summer concerts and Riverboat Days, which is one of the biggest festivals I've ever attended! Yankton also has a nice arts center. Mt. Marty college is historic and pretty, and the federal prison grounds are surprisingly pretty (it used to be the campus of Yankton College). An old hospital building is being renovated into a new museum which should open in a year or so - it should be really nice! Yankton is also the main shopping area for the region, so Broadway st./hwy 81 is a strip of stores of every variety - kind of ugly, but necessary. There are some really nice neighborhoods in Yankton, but also a slightly gritty area in the near north. There are stories of drug problems in that part of town. Yankton has a good hospital affiliated with the Avera health care system. What else, hmmmm - there is a Hutterite colony nearby.
the above is just IMHO, of course.
As for having chickens and so on, you'll have to contact the various county and city governments to ask. If you want an acreage you'll be a county resident rather than city/town, so I would imagine you could have most types of livestock.
And re crime, except for Sioux Falls, crime in the above mentioned places is pretty low. Vermillion has drunk college student crimes, while Yankton supposedly has more drug related crimes. Anyone interested should look up the stats themselves - I'm no expert. I don't worry about crime at all here, though.
Of course, some people will want to think about the big city of Sioux Falls for retirement. Others who post in the SD forum know more about it than I do - I just go up to shop or attend plays/concerts or OLLI classes a few times a year. Yes, there is an Osher institute via Augustana college - people who join SD's Osher can take classes in Brookings, SF, or Vermillion no matter where they live - just one more thing to love about South Dakota! (I didn't mention Brookings here since it seems mid-state rather than SE to me, but it's a really nice town, too!)
Well, that was probably more than anyone wanted to know! If someone has any specific questions, feel free to DM me.
Last edited by 601halfdozen0theother; 10-20-2017 at 01:29 AM..
"Desire reasonable real estate/availability of rentals, low crime, acceptance of outsiders."
What do you feel is "reasonable" and what size do you want?
What crime rate is low to you? Most parts of S D will have a lower crime rate than Minneapolis, but some small towns have been affected by Meth and other drug problems.
Acceptance of outsiders???? This question comes up frequently from people who are considering moving. I always wonder why they feel they won't be accepted. My experiance has been that most of S D is very friendly, but if one chooses a newer area, nearly everyone will be a transplant from somewhere so they will usually be accepting.
Oh, also - when you're looking for real estate in this area, don't just look at realtor.com or zillow or other real estate sites - they don't have all of the listings in this area at all. Instead, google "realtors near (whatever town interests you)" and look at their individual websites and listings. You'll see many more listings than are available on the big national websites. That's how I found my property.
Though I would not pick SE South Dakota as a retirement spot, if I did I'd probably pick Brandon. It's a bedroom community for Sioux Falls and it's close to a number of scenic areas to visit, such as the recreation area just west of town, the Palisades, and Lake Alvin, among others, and it has, in my opinion, the best Chinese buffet in the state if you like chicken. (I've tried almost all of them except way up in Aberdeen) It's a clean, safe, growing community a hop and skip to Sioux Falls.
Thanks for the replies, especially 601 for the time and effort. I agree that SE SD is not my or other peoples favorite retirement spot ( the Black Hills might be), but it does alleviate the remoteness issue and health care is top notch. I like the ability to more easily get to Minneapolis, Sioux Falls, Sioux City and Omaha.
Well, several people in this area HAVE said to me, after they've found out that I moved here for retirement, "We're glad you're here, now don't mention us to anyone else!" They want their communities to maintain their current size and character. I tell them not to worry, the weather and politics scare most people away from SD .
it's probably best, then, if most people don't have SE SD on their radar .
This area is definitely not for anyone afraid of rural life, weather extremes, and (mostly) regressive politics. And there definitely aren't any mountains in SE SD. But the river region and prairies are beautiful in their own ways.
But I'm not supposed to talk about it. So: "Nothing to see here, move right along. Oooo, there's something shiny in the distance! What's that? Go see!"
Milleflower, I just read another post of yours on a different thread, and you said there that you really dislike the humidity in Kansas.
The humidity in SE SD is WORSE than it is in eastern Kansas - I've lived both places. The humidity here in July is so unbearable I'm already planning to rent a place back in MN for at least a month next summer.
If you hate summer humidity, you really need to look West River for your ideal home.
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