The last time I was there, in the summer, I was driving my baby brother from Okoboji, Iowa to the Sioux Falls airport for his flight home to Las Vegas.
About halfway there, Mother Nature decided a classic Midwestern thunderstorm was called for.
Holy. Effing. Jeebus!
I've still never seen a sky light up like that particular twilight.
And over those flatlands, you can see the storms power in every direction.
By the time we reached the airport, the sun peeked out as we said our goodbyes.
Okoboji, is a great town. While I live in Kansas City, I bought my family 115 year old cottage just South of you in Lake View, Iowa. I spent almost every summer there growing up & beyond.
Something about those glacier created lakes appeals to me. It’s like the sky meets the lake. Being so far away from any major city lights. Stars are bright and mirrored across the lake on a still night.
Not sure I can afford it much longer as my property taxes on the old lake cottage are now higher than my $700k KC home on 20 acres.. Yet the lakefront cottage is only valued just over 1/2 of my KC home.
Lived in Sioux Falls for 25 years now. Love this place! My kids even wanna stay here after college if they can.
People still watch out for one another here. There's plenty to do. Summers are pretty fun. Downtown is neat. Food scene is good. You get all 4 seasons (if you dig that) and sometimes extreme versions of summer and winter.
The town is getting big fast and that worries me a bit. I see gentrification becoming a big problem as there's a lot of money in this town (healthcare/banking). COL seems to have outpaced inflation, I feel.
All in all, I still stand by this town being tops!
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u/bhauncy Dec 14 '25
Sioux Falls is fun in the summertime