View Full Version : RFI:Billings MT, Sioux Falls SD, or Sioux City, IA
Got a job opportunity and they gave me three choices for relocation. Billings is my first choice as of now, just due to the proximity to outdoor activities, but the schools seem to suck and it seems to get a little chilly up there. Can you folks provide me and feedback on the three cities? Daily traffic, best school districts, real estate etc
zombiescometh
05-19-20, 03:20
Not sure how accurate sites like these are but looks like a decent overview
Can compare two cities
https://www.bestplaces.net/compare-cities/sioux_falls_sd/billings_mt/overview
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
SomeOtherGuy
05-19-20, 07:59
Billings: cold and windy winters. It's a gritty oil, gas and ranching town, and I imagine it's depressed from the oil/gas bust of the last few months. It wasn't all that nice in good times - other MT towns are a lot nicer. Close to a lot of great places in Wyoming and western MT, but the hour or so around it isn't all that interesting. Montana politics are more complicated than many other western states, and while gun rights are fine, other aspects might vary.
Sioux Falls SD: one of the "big" towns in SD, I haven't spent much time there but it has looked reasonably nice and well-kept on visits. More of a farm and transportation town. Reasonably close to Minneapolis if you want some big city entertainment and shopping (although Mpls has some problems). South Dakota is fairly conservative politically, sometimes to a fault but mostly in ways that I would like.
Sioux City, IA: really nowheresville. Corn corn and more corn, farming, etc. Close to Omaha, NE (yippee). I don't know local politics but Iowa state politics are fairly liberal, much more so than SD (Montana is complicated). You are more likely to encounter restrictive gun laws, zoning, and other nanny-state issues in Iowa than the other two.
If schools are an issue I assume you have kids. I think Billings would be the most difficult of these with kids. If you are/were a single rough bachelor I'd be more inclined to look at Billings. With kids I'd look at Sioux Falls first.
Bestplaces is a good reference, as is the Wikipedia or Infogalactic entry for each one, both city and county. Look at annual weather charts and precip patterns. Look at immigrant population, average education levels and poverty rates. Etc. Of course you'll need to visit the ones you're interested in, but you may be able to screen out one or two with some research.
SomeOtherGuy
05-19-20, 08:00
double tap. need to fix the forum disconnector.
But I'll add: if you have family in the deep south you want to stay in touch with, consider driving distances. Billings is 10 hours farther away than Sioux Falls SD, and 11.5 compared to Sioux City. Flying in/out of smaller cities is expensive and less convenient. You're looking at a doable 2-day drive from the Siouxs to deep south, and 3 days to/from Billings.
Iowa gun laws aren't that bad anymore. Concealed carry is shall issue, we can have suppressors and SBRs. Rural Iowa is red, many/most of the cities are blue--definitely a purple state. Sioux City does have Palmers candy, la Juanitas and Tastee's :)
The public schools in all three locations aren't going to be great. (greatschools.org)
Iowa used to be the standard but that turned into a ski ramp over the last twenty years.
I'd be interested in hearing what some Montana locals think about what's going on in their state. My experience has changed dramatically over the past 25 years. In the 90s, it seemed like Montana folks enjoyed tourism and meeting new people. Now its more like GTFO.
Article dissuading people from moving to Montana after Covid. I didn't realize they called it Boz Angeles. Not good.
https://www.insider.com/should-i-move-to-bozeman-montana-2020-3#bozeman-seems-to-have-the-whole-work-life-balance-thing-down-1
https://www.insider.com/the-post-covid-19-future-for-bozeman-montana-2020-5?utm_source=pocket-newtab
I’d choose SD of those three based on politics and gun laws.
Coal Dragger
05-19-20, 16:52
Billings and Sioux Falls are pretty similar in size and “sprawl”, been to both and based on proximity to outdoor activities Billings is the better bet. Sioux Falls will be a lower cost of living and a lower tax burden since SD has no state income tax, so you get to keep more of your money. MT has no sales tax in comparison but does have income taxes.
I currently live in the Black Hills in western SD, and the jokes about ND and SD really needing to be West Dakota and East Dakota are founded in truth. Crossing the Missouri River changes the politics, landscape, agriculture, and culture.
I would pick Sioux Falls of the three. I am biased because I was born and raised West River, South Dakota, but still.
Montana is going to flip liberal soon, just like Colorado.
Sioux City is a great place to drive through on your way to anywhere else.
All three have ridiculously cold and windy winters compared to the deep south. Watch the movie Fargo and imagine having to turn your back to the wind to breath - it's freaking cold, man.
I drive from North Alabama to a place a bit south of Coal Driver once or twice a year to visit family. It's a fair two-day drive, but Sioux Falls is a couple hundred miles closer.
South Dakota has no income tax, is fairly conservative, and Eastern South Dakota/Western Minnesota is pretty, in its own way.
I would move back to South Dakota if I had the same opportunities there as here, and may well move back when I retire.
Andy
MountainRaven
05-19-20, 20:54
Article dissuading people from moving to Montana after Covid. I didn't realize they called it Boz Angeles. Not good.
https://www.insider.com/should-i-move-to-bozeman-montana-2020-3#bozeman-seems-to-have-the-whole-work-life-balance-thing-down-1
https://www.insider.com/the-post-covid-19-future-for-bozeman-montana-2020-5?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Boz Angeles, Montucky.
I call it Boz Angeles because it's a highway; spread out, disconnected. We also call it that because we like to make unendearing nicknames for other Montana cities.
We also have unendearing nicknames for other cities: Missoula is Zoo Town and Belgrade is Below-grade, for instance.
Montana is going to flip liberal soon, just like Colorado.
https://i.imgur.com/8KTtscB.png
HardToHandle
05-19-20, 21:52
Sioux Falls is a nice place... Mostly.
Have a cousin who teaches in a strongly Hispanic school neighborhood there. They get some big city/outside world issues, but also have been growing even during the economic downturns. I ran into the present Sioux Falls Mayor at a Republican event in Texas last year; you could do much worse. Kind of has a Salt Lake City vibe from 20 years ago, mostly clean, mostly red. Worth a visit.
Sioux City? That is where the Sioux Falls sewage goes (literally). I have done some work there - flying in and out without an overnight is the best choice.
Too bad on the Billings prognosis too.
Thank you for everyone’s input.
It was crunch time and I had to make a decision. We picked Billings, due to the accessibility to outdoor activities available.
As far as Billings itself being a dump, I currently live close to Jackson and I don’t think it could get much worse than Jackson proper, maybe NOLA’s lower 9th is worse but not by much. But once you get out of the proper city it’s nice and live-able. I’m optimistically expecting that of Billings. And also looking forward to in state hunting licenses!
Don’t know about your other choices but Billings would not be on my list. I love Montana but Billings is a gritty town. Many better places to live in Montana.
I work in the Sioux Falls area on a regular basis. I also work north of there, and sometime west of there. I echo the West River vs East being more accurate than North Dakota vs South Dakota. I've done some limited work in Sioux City as well....and I would put it 4th place on this list. IIRC, Sioux Falls has repeatedly been rated one of the better places to raise a family. An hour north is Brookings, also a great place to raise a family. SF is surrounded by several small towns that are likewise set up. Like any other city, it has a rough area or two, but is far better than Sioux City. There is a small but booming Hispanic population that is well received, and Gilberto's on Minnesota Ave makes is a great example of it...it'll raise your standards! Note that South Dakota didn't shut down during this pandemic, and the state is still doing fairly well. No income tax. I don't want to live in a city if I can help it, but if I had to, Sioux Falls or Brookings would be a great place to do it. The hospitals in SF are also good, as I have seen first hand. When I was injured, I "noped" out of the Army's options and had my shoulder fixed in Sioux Falls. The culture is good, the state is conservative, and you have hunting and fishing available to you. There are plenty of great ranges within an hour, several of them being within 30 minutes.
Negative considerations are that it tends to be a bit windy and the land is flat. Like, stand on a tuna can to see all the way to the River. Did I mention windy? I can't speak for Billings, though I enjoyed my one time out to Bozeman for training.
https://i.imgur.com/8KTtscB.png
I honestly hope I am very wrong. Montana is beautiful.
Andy
SomeOtherGuy
05-20-20, 12:55
Kind of has a Salt Lake City vibe from 20 years ago, mostly clean, mostly red. Worth a visit.
Hopefully it doesn't follow SLC's trajectory since then - SLC in 2015 was more like San Francisco, minus natural beauty, than I had ever imagined.
Not saying Sioux Falls will go that way, just that it's way too easy for a good city to be ruined.
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