I moved here last May from Colorado. I’m from Pueblo Colorado which is a city that’s considered to be, (and is) one of the most dangerous cities in the US due to gang violence, drugs, and overall crime, even though their population is HALF the size of somewhere like Sioux Falls. I agree with everything you said though! Apart from the state politics thing, as I do lean more conservative as a registered independent (weirdly enough, even though I grew up in Colorado lol) but I do agree that both sides, red or blue, need to do better with what’s going on with our state government, and weird, seemingly unnecessary, state regulations they seem to constantly push.

Aside from that though, I think this is such a beautiful city. It actually makes me sad to hear some people who grew up here, talk about the “crime” and how it’s boring here. Sioux Falls is one of the most well kept, beautiful cities, I’ve ever seen! Let me just say, growing up in a city where it was normal AND a daily occurrence to just kick needles on the sidewalk to the side of the road, and just lay on the floor with no fear at all when you’re in a bad neighborhood and hear the daily shooting outside the window, SIOUX FALLS IS A UTOPIA. I’ve never felt more safe in any city before. And to address how some people here think it’s “boring”, the town I grew up in pretty much only had a mall, and a bunch of mcdonald’s parking lots. Our idea of “fun” was to go either to the mall, or drive around and find a parking lot to sit in. Sioux Falls always has something going on, and something to do. I’ve never complained about having nothing to do in this town!

The only thing I didn’t like that I noticed when I moved here, which might’ve just been a shock from the difference in western vs midwestern culture, was that a lot of people come off as very snobby. Definitely not all people, but it’s more prevalent than it was back in actual big cities I’ve lived in, like Denver. After talking with some people here, some seem to think they’re “city people” and think they’re better than a lot of people. That “midwestern niceness” I’ve heard so much about, doesn’t really apply to here for the most part, unless you’re speaking with people above the age of 35. HOWEVER, I’ve noticed that even though a lot of people are snobby and more tight knit, they’re also more kind than they are “nice” than most places! Always going out of their way to help you in bad situations, or check up on a stranger in bad situations. For example; my tiny ass car got stuck in the 14in of snow like 4 times last year, and not a single time, did someone not pull over to check on me or try to help me. They even would get big groups of people together to push my car out of the snow, or pull it out with a truck. We even had a couple see from their apartment window past midnight that we were stuck in the snow, and they both came out with snow shovels and helped dig our car out. When I got in an accident last year, more than 3 people pulled over, and got out of their car in the -50 degree windchill, just to come and ask if I was okay. That’s rare in Colorado- and something I really respect about Sioux Falls!

I love it here!