Hi all. My wife has a job offer in Blair (in healthcare), and we are strongly considering making the move from the Sioux Falls area. She would make a little less money but would probably work a lot less. We are in our mid 30s and have a 2 year old with another in the next year or two. Is this a good community for families? For my perspective I like having the proximity of the Omaha job market (human resources, would probably make a little more), and we like small town living but also would like being closer to a city for entertainment/sports/food, etc. She has to be 15 minutes from work, and the housing market there is a little tight. That's one my main concern. $300K gut jobs (yikes) or $700K-1.2M houses with not a lot in-between. But then again we used to live in DT Denver so it could be a lot worse. Would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thanks and GBR.
OT: Potentially relocating to Blair
- Thread starter LasCrucesPoke_rivals
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Are you saying houses in Blair that cost 300K are gut jobs? Cause that doesn't sound right. Makes me think you're living in a killer house now so most anything would be a step down?...but setting that aside Blair is awesome, you will love it, but it isn't really a small town amymore either.
Sounds wild right, but there are. And yeah part of the problem is how spoiled we are where we live now with housing. I know we'll probably never do that well ever again, it was kind of a fluke. In Blair a 4 bed 3 bath new build 2800 sq feet is listing at $477k. Appreciate the small town comment. It's hard to have it all.
Same here. Allen Hills. Not sure I would want to live in Blair proper, but I like living between Omaha and Blair and having a couple of acres to myself. Easy access to both and lower taxes than Douglas county
Yes, we neeeeeed more taxpayers to help fund the hyper-growth. You and your wallet are welcome here in Bennington!
As noted above, there are a number of developments between Blair and Hwy 36 that should keep you within the 15 minute window required by your wife's job.
Of course, there's always a trip out west on Hwy 30 to the Arlington area. Fremont proper might be right at the cutoff for you, but there are also a lot of newer homes on the eastern edge of that community.
Whatever you do, don't go north to Herman. Yikes.
State income tax needs to be considered when you're figuring out the finances of the move. Sioux Falls is a better community IMO. Commuting to Omaha from Blair is a real drag. Lots of bad wrecks on those highways. No way I would move from Sioux Falls to Blair quality of life wise. You'll spend more time in your car if you have to commute.
There isnt a whole lot in Bennington in terms of entertainment. So you'll be driving a lot to get places. I would check out Papillion if I were him. Granted his wife is gonna have a much longer commute.
Agree on Herman/Tekamah. Yuck. Same with Kennard. What a rat hole. I would live in Fremont though. For its size, it has a lot of retail options and not too far from Omaha.
State tax is definitely a factor. I should clarify that I am in a small town an hour south of Sioux Falls without a lot of opportunity. I didn't name the community because it's not very recognizable. So 30 minutes actually sounds pretty nice. Basically we do well and have an awesome house that costs very little, but that's pretty much where the enjoyment ends.
That's old news. They've widened and straightened Hwy 133 / Blair High Road to a divided 4-lane and it has a 70 mph speed limit. Prior to that transition, it was a terribly unsafe road to travel.
If you have a 2 yr old girl, DON'T move to bennington. They're treating females like total dogshit slave athletes there and that lawsuit is gonna fail.
My Mom originally hailed from Viborg. Their "claim to fame" is having an interstate exit sign, even though the town itself is not immediately adjacent to the interstate.
Correct. Bennington is a bedroom community with emerging pockets of retail and support services. Heck, our local drugstore acts as an FFL and carries ammo! GASP!
haha. Cute little town, but yeah. We're about 10 minutes north of Vermillion.
I was in Vermillion two weeks ago for the first time and thought it was a pretty cool little town, curious what some of the people do for a living though that supported some of the home prices there. This sign cracked me up though...
haha, gotta love Leo's. That's a great question. As far as the high income earners you're either a (successful) business owner, farmer, former farmer, doctor, or a higher up at the university (USD). There's not much else. We like the community for the most part, but there's nothing for me unless you want to drive an hour and she's worked to death.
Many of the replies show that people missed the fact that she needs to be 15 minutes from work. Papillion (wtf?) is out, Bennington and Fremont would be tough to pull off in 15 minutes, depends on exactly where her employer is located, the outskirts of those towns could be doable. Ft. Calhoun should be in the conversation.
Everyone I went to college with from Blair was a pretentious *******, so I'd pick another town unless you fit the bill, then yes. Move to Blair.
Kinda agree. Hate to talk anyone , well most people, out of moving to Nebraska but Sioux falls would be a place I would need a pretty good pay raise to leave. Taxes being one of them
At first I thought you were nuts. Then I looked at homes for sale on Zillow. The housing market there is clearly ridiculous:
Blair Housing
People will pay extravagant amounts to not live in the blue pothole that is the big "O".
At first I thought you were nuts. Then I looked at homes for sale on Zillow. The housing market there is clearly ridiculous:
Blair Housing
I looked at the same Zillow right after I read the OP's reply to me and was stunned. I just don't get it...but at least I admit it 
What is the deal there? Red light runners? I've seen quite a few accidents there the past 3 years. Typically someone getting clipped in the front or rear quarter panel.
Very few homes for sale in Blair right now, like everywhere else I guess. Two things I don't like about Blair are when ConAgra is ramped up. Smells like they're burning dog food. The other is that tractor trailers have to drive directly through town. That gets old.
At first I thought you were nuts. Then I looked at homes for sale on Zillow. The housing market there is clearly ridiculous:
Blair Housing
I wouldn’t do it, Sioux Falls is such a nicer place to be than outside of Omahole. I travel to Sioux Falls to do stuff like shop vs going to Omaha anymore.
People "timing" the red and green lights. If one of them is off.....
I tell all my daughters to act like it's yellow turning red even if it's green at that corner. WAY more semis using 133 now too.
Unfortunately youre right. I doubt Ill be in Omaha much longer. It's going the way of Chicago, Denver, Portland, and other big leftist cities.
The red light at 36 is fairly normal, but the red light where 133 crosses State St is way too slow. It stays yellow forever. You can be several hundred yards out and no you'll be fine getting through the intersection. Maybe that is messing people up at 36.
Hope youre right. But Biden won Omaha by 12 points, Riots were awful this summer, and I wouldnt be surprised if Jean Stothert is soundly beaten in the mayoral election based on how Biden trounced Trump here. Paypal, Facebook, Google, and other tech companies are importing tech workers here en masse. Only a matter of time before Omaha craters imo.