Rapid City, SD Reviews

Don't let the name City deceive you. It's a Town!! - 4/3/2024
I have lived in this city for the last three and half years and I can't stand it!! Let me spell it out for you, but to be fair, let me give you the Pros first:

Pros:

1) As a vacationist, you can enjoy the beauty of the Black Hills and nature as in general, on one time visit well planned, it will suffice. Unless you are a Biker and you come for the annual rally.

2) The city of "Presidents" as it is called, it's worth seeing it at least once, but don't think that you are going to be missing out if you don't.

3) I highly recommend visiting the Needle Hwy, it is worth a visit. But keep in mind that if you come closer to the winter, there are going to be areas closed for the season.

4) Due to the size of the area, the First Come First Serve Principle literally applies. So, plan your visit and/or vacation with as much time ahead as possible, even if it's a year ahead, and that's not exaggerating. Because this place always has Read More

Black Hills are beautiful in summer. - 9/29/2021
Unless you made your pension out of state or already bought a home you can't afford to liver there.
Rapid City is gray in winter. Read More

Title - 5/24/2021
I've lived in the city 5 years a loved Read More

update to previous post - 11/21/2020
I forgot to mention in my previous review, we spent quite a bit of time checking grocers in RC, esp organic and clean meats. There are 2 small locally owned organic grocers, quite expensive compared to what we pay in Denver metro. They do have 2 Safeways, that have an organic section, which was mostly comparable to what we are currently paying. For unusual items, we will have to go to the specially organic places. We found zucchini to be 'out of season' in several places, which we found odd as it was June. Pork chops were hard to find, and quinoa can only be found at specially organic grocers .  Read More

small industrial city, Black Hills nearby - 11/21/2020
We visited RC June 2020 for a week for a possible move, have never lived there before, so don't have a comparison to previous times. We found plenty of restaurants (for us) , mostly chain, and downtown more locally owned, but expensive for great food. We would move to the Black Hills outside of RC, prices are not cheap, but less expensive than in CO where we currently live. The town overall is ok, quite a bit of industry scattered around, which is sort of an 'eye sore', but none spitting out tons of pollution nor oil rigs drilling nearby. Parts of the city are very hilly, other parts are flat, the more east part is flatter. We liked the Canyon Lake Park area around Chapel Hill. and Robbinsville Park in the south. They were expanding Omaha St in downtown so, major construction going on, so was chaotic and noisy. It will be better when that is done. We loved the neighborhoods in the foothills outside of RC, you just have to be able to afford them. We did notice a mall , Mt Rushmore Read More

I nice city and area, but used to be better! - 10/24/2020
This used to be a most wonderful city, and in some ways still is, but it has really changed! I lived here for 4-years in the mid 1980s; admittedly this is not the best place to find/maintain a civilian job, but is surely a beautiful area to live! I returned for a visit in 1998 and found the are relatively unchanged, but then I returned again in 2019 and was in for a real shock! What happened?!? Most of the good 'ole restaurants and stores have left; we couldn't even find one really good place to eat! The only restaurant still there that I loved is Great Wall, and it was still good. But so many other great places there used to be- gone! The mall is also now basically a ghost town! The area right outside the Base also changed and was unrecognizable to me. Seems the town grew, but in the wrong ways! I had actually considered returning to live here (now retired) but housing prices are off the charts! Anything under $200K is either a real old shack or no basement! You have to Read More

Isolated, yet cosmopolitan in regional impact. - 5/9/2020
I have lived in this small city for 50 years. Is it perfect...NO! However, you can't find a better place to raise a family. The isolation means fewer problems that plague other towns, and forces this town to do things found in larger cities. Public schools are actually great, with fine science and nation-leading music programs. Boring...perhaps.....if you don't like national parks, gorgeous surroundings, symphony and plays, nice bars, GREAT restaurants, etc.... The worst void is shopping facilities....the amazon effect has really hit here, but locals have no problem traveling to Denver or Minneapolis for a retail weekend. Slow but steady growth, with an ambitious view of its future, on balance, this is a great Read More

24/7 industrial cement plant noise and dirty roads - 12/15/2018
If you don’t mind continual humming noises 24/7 from the industrial cement plant and dusty air roads around town it’s the place for Read More

Not what is Cracked up to be - 5/27/2018
I am stuck here for now. Grant you the scenery is beautiful and not overly populated. Not a city a town. I can from the East Coast. I live in big cities. This is a right to work state that there should tell you all. It is who you know and brown nose on if you get to advance or keep job. They can fire you just because they don't like your shoes. Hard workers in this state are thrown under the bus for lazy workers. If these workers moved to another big city and not here they would be fired. They are slow, and don't know how to work. Hard workers get to do the lazy ones job, oh and don't speak up because that will get you fired if they are friends or brown nosers of the boss. Wages low, you never get ahead. City more worried about tourist then people who live here. Streets are deplorable unless they lead you to a tourist trap. Housing over priced for shacks. People drive horrible. Don't know how they got their license. Aggressive and worst then major city. They would be dead Read More

Nice place to visit, but... - 3/14/2018
I lived in Rapid for a little over a year, but my extended family was from Sturgis. If it weren't for the rally, I'd rather live in Sturgis. Spearfish is also a great option. Rapid though is sketchy. Overall, it's a cute town, but there's more crime than appears on the service. According to national crime statistics, it's more dangerous than Sioux Falls, which is 3 times its size. It's also heavily based on the tourist industry. Meaning there's a considerable influx of people in the summer, which is both good and bad, and it empties out in winter. So in the summer, there's a lot to do between touristy places and the beautiful hills, but there's also wall to wall people and traffic. In winter, there's snow and cold and most tourist spots are closed, but the roads are empty and those tourist spots that are still open have no lines. Good jobs are scarce and even those don't pay as well as other states. Affordable housing is lacking and the homeless population is high. Rapid Read More