Letter Re: South Dakota as a Retreat Locale

My spouse and I lived in South Dakota for about 18 months in the Sioux Falls area. People might be interested to know that there is only one place other than New York City where the United Nations flag flies on US soil and that is at the EROS Data Center just outside of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. They might also like to know that not everyone in South Dakota welcomes "outsiders" as folks are called who are not of pioneering stock to the area -- of either Norwegian or German ancestry. Once when I was in the checkout line at the local grocery store and minding my own business, a woman two persons behind me observed that I had an out-of-state driver's license. She snipped something about "... if all these outsiders would stopping moving in...". Around our farm land, however, the neighbors were very nice. Not everyone adjusts well to the frequent tornado sirens that would go off. One of our friends moved in from Colorado (he had been an unemployed programmer and got a job in South Dakota) -- his wife couldn't handle the stress. The marriage fell apart she was so terrified of tornados and she returned to Colorado with their children.
The climate was extremely cold, short growing season, and humid. Lots of bugs and more ticks than I have ever encountered in my life. In less than three months time we removed 190 ticks from our pets and those that just seemed to blow into the house. Tick control treatments made our cats very sick. Also there are major problems with a lack of building codes/standards.

Additionally, farming can be difficult in the Dakotas because genetically-modified (GM) crops seem to get special treatments in the courts there. If the GM seeds land on within your crops -- the GM growers apparently gets to block you from selling your entire harvest. - A Former South Dakota Resident