needing info on rapid city (renting, motels, live in) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Mab7 · 12-31-2006, 10:44 AM

Hi Jammie,

I guess when I say small town, I mean big enough to find a supermarket, hardware store, pizza, movies, doctor, hospital not too far away... maybe not as small as Mayberry (hahah) but small enough, quaint may be the word. We live in Ocean County NJ and my hubby is a warehouse supervisor and I work as a home health aide or medical assistant/office. We most def want to live in the mountains, not so far out that it takes more than 20 minutes to get into town.. We would look for a home about 300K maybe 350K, on a nice wooded lot. Here in NJ, there are no small towns anymore. We looked in eastern TN in Dunlap, which was too Mayberry and not much of a town at all, and we looked at Crossville which is great if you are retiring, but if you have to work you have to travel about 1.5 hours to Knoxville. We looked in Hendersonville and Waynesville and both are beautiful, but the is a drove of people buying everything up and I really need to have winters... I would love the town to be small enough that people know who you are. what are your thoughts??

Jammie · 12-31-2006, 05:12 PM

Thank you so much for posting more about yourself.

It seems that all areas in SD look for people in the medical field. That's probably one of the few jobs that nearly every town has a vacancy in. You and I have a different opinion of expensive real estate so you'll be fine. You'll be able to find a very nice home or cabin in the Hills for that kind of money. (In my area, nice homes sell for 100,000 or so.)

You may want to check out the Rapid City Journal. It's the second largest city in the state and the largest West River city. I thought you may mean really small towns, but you probably won't be overwhelmed with the size of Rapid. I think the population is about 60,000 or so. It also has several small towns nearby. Also, they have a big hospital there called Rapid City Regional Hospital. (I think) One of the members here, Social Worker, knows about jobs there.

There is also a newspaper out there called the Hill City Prevailer and a few others that I can't remember right now. But if Rapid doesn't feel small enough, here's a list of more towns to check out. Deadwood, (Yup, the one that the show is about)

Sturgis, Hot Springs, Lead, Custer, Hill City, Hot Springs, Keystone, Spearfish. For example, if you just type "Deadwood SD detailed profile" into your search engine, it should bring up quite a bit of info about the town. Also, there is finally a nice group of people who live out there who have joined the forum and hopefully one will come along after the holidays to offer more info.

Mab7 · 12-31-2006, 05:27 PM

thanks Jammie... I had to laugh, my husband told me about Dead Wood too! we watch it. I had no idea it was actual place

Jammie · 12-31-2006, 06:38 PM

Yea, I find it kind of funny, too. We don't watch the show, but it's supposed to be pretty accurate as to the way life was out there at that time. They got a lot of info from people who work in the historical society.

We love to go to Deadwood and it's a very neat little town now. It used to be a bit scuzzy, but they renovated the town when they made gambling legal again and it's really quite pretty. Not sure if they even have a hospital cause I'd guess the population is probably only about 2000 or so.

We were out there in Aug. for their "Kool Deadwood Nights" and it was awesome. They have Bobby Vee and also the Grass Roots there. We were out there with a couple from New Jersey and they were so amazed at Deadwood. It was an outdoor concert with over 10,000 people in attendance and several people were drinking. It amazed our friends that there weren't a bunch of brawls and they were also surprised to see people walking the streets with their glasses of beer.

They set up huge tv screens every couple of blocks and everyone brings their lawn chairs. We're avid rock n roll fans so we made sure we had seats way to the front. It was hard to see so we went on the dance floor up by the bands. Deadwood has events going on nearly all summer. It's a pretty cool place.

ElkHunter · 12-31-2006, 09:35 PM

If you are looking for Mountains, why are you looking at South Dakota? They don't have any. Although, the Black Hills offer a lot, it's very expensive to move into the Hills and jobs are hard to find.

Mab7 · 01-01-2007, 11:23 AM

sorry I don't have enough facts yet, basically I am just starting to seach out and ask questions.... trying to see what my options could be. this is the only way to find out, ask questions...... srry if I sounded foolish..

Jammie · 01-01-2007, 11:29 AM

Mab, you didn't sound foolish at all. They're actually called the "Black Hills", but a lot of people have commented on why they aren't called the "Black Mountains." The name comes from the Sioux language and they called it the Paha Sapa which translates into the Black Hills.

People from different parts of the country do consider them mountains. Harney Peak in the Hills is the highest peak east of the Rockies. I was reading a post from someone down south who said,"Those are mountains. I always thought they were just 800 or 900 foot hills out in the prairie." You just ask away cause you're right~it's the only way one can find things out about other areas.

ElkHunter · 01-01-2007, 07:21 PM

Sorry, I'm the one that sounded foolish. Most times I type faster then I think. What I meant by that is the the Black Hills are a very nice area in that they are mostly hills with trees. When I think of mountains I think of areas that are much taller and very difficult to access because the terrain is so rough. I.E. Tetons, Rockies, etc...

There's very few places in the hills that you can't just walk through. Most places accessable by vehicle. Forest system restricts the roads and use so that there's not trails everywhere giving the hills a more prestine image and keeping it more in the wild.

But, the hills are nice. I lived in the hills for many years and loved every minute of it. The only reason I left is because I when I lived there, SD was a bad state to work in. I drew blue prints so that my company could build homes. I got $1.19 per hour. At the same time, Wyoming was paying laborers $4.50 per hour to start. Go figure. Who's going to stay?

I'm sorry if I sounded condesending, I didn't mean it that way.

BusySocialWorker · 01-02-2007, 08:41 AM

The hills are beautiful... I after living in Denver and the Rockies I would liken them to the foothills of the Rockies (very desirable living area in Colorado). They are of course not tall enough that they have snow tops year round like in Colorado, but they are beautiful... lots of great areas - the needles are great and I would say they are "mountains" but more in the "foothill" range

I would do a search on yahoo or ask.com for some key words to see photos and make up your own mind.... maybe look for needles highway, black hills, harney peak photos and see for yourself!

ElkHunter · 01-02-2007, 10:01 PM

Let's see, a cedar home, not too far from work. Hmmmmm.

What are your ideas? haha That was tongue in cheek. Distance is a revalent thing. I lived 18 miles out of Rapid City. Some would say that it was a waste of gas. I'd say that I had the most beautiful drive every day that a person could ever want.

So distance is relative. You can live in Rapid City for $1000 a month. Or you could live 20 miles out in the hills and have a beautiful drive every day. Rent, $500, gas, $500. Total, $1000 a month. Go figure.

There is scenery within walking distance of wherever you live that will blow your socks off. I know because I had to buy several pair. hahaha

If you can get out of Rapid City and live in the hills, you'll never ever look back and regret it. You just can't beat it.

It's funny, when I became an Eagle Scout. I drove into town, got together with the scout master and he took me out into the mountains and said, "Ok, survive for 1 week and I'll pick you up." He had dropped me off 1/2 mile from my home.