Reviews & Comments
Rapid City, SD
I nice city and area, but used to be better! -
10/24/2020This 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 get well into the mid $200K and up to find anything truly decent; even condos are high! Yet when you look at listings you see all these places selling like crazy too, so I don't know who has all the money! (job pay is low). All I can say is wow. I consider myself upper-middle class and can honestly say I'd have trouble affording living here now. (the 80's were a different story). I know it's a few years ago, but in 1986-1987 I was paying $235/MO rent including all utilities (1-bedrm. apt. on SE side off North St.) As far as people saying it's such a harsh climate, I thought it was mild compared to Wisconsin. I would say Rapid City weather is fast changing, but not that brutal. There are many breaks in winter with substantial warm-ups and snow rarely stays on the ground for long. There is the occasional bad blizzard, usually in the spring (but not every year) and occasional baseball-sized hail in summer which is why auto insurance rates are high there, but other than that many wonderful beautiful days to enjoy (for that matter, every place has its weather problems too). The people always seemed more friendly than not, and the town had a relaxed down-to-earth atmosphere. The only real minus I could ever see was there aren't any other cities of any size nearby. For anyone really considering living here who isn't from here, I would recommend spending about a week here first so you can really see for yourself.
Wausau, WI
Wausau is an armpit community -
7/5/2016Beautiful area geographically but beneath that beauty are some of the most overly conservative, unfriendly, judgemental people anywhere. Very hard to make friends here especially if you're not from here or if you're single. I've lived here most of my life and still find the area very unwelcoming. It is strictly a family-orientated community; if you're single you'll be assumed to be gay/homosexual. If you are in a family situation you'll probably do alright.