Rapid Valley (Rapid City, Box Elder: neighborhoods, school, subdivision)

[DannyBanany]

That would probably be the new city-bypass. It connects I-90 to the Hearltand Expressway. Rapid Valley has grown a lot in the past few years and continues to grow.

[egg man]

We have lots of population centers in SD that are not municipal. Consider the dozens of Hutterite colonies in our state. They all have more people living there than a good deal of our towns. Yet, they're not cities. And then we have incorporated lots of little towns like Farmer that are a hand full of people but are a *real* city. Go figure.

[DannyBanany]

Summerset is South Dakota's newest town. It was founded in 2005, I think. Many people regret incorporating their town because taxes often double and they have to pay for services that they previously got for free. That's still the case with Summerset.

[egg man]

OK
I'll bite.
Where is this hamlet?

[DannyBanany]

Originally Posted by egg man

OK
I'll bite.
Where is this hamlet?

Are you asking where Summerset is? It's in Meade County about 10 minutes out of Rapid City. They used to rely on Piedmont plows, fire engines, ambulances, and police. Now that they are their own town they have to fend for themselves and it's biting them in the butt. They also found out the hard way how expensive it was to organize a city council.

Now they kinda wish that they didn't incorporate.

[Chris19]

Unincorporated area such as Rapid Valley may be more feasible in Western South Dakota than in Eastern South Dakota where there are the counties and cities, towns, and township governments (underneath town governments). With most of East River, it seems as though there is city and town and country with few exceptions (lakehomes, acreage developments near Sioux Falls/Aberdeen/Pierre/Vermillion/Yankton).

Danny, I understand your point, but I think that places such as Rapid Valley and Summerset and others with conetrations of popluation should be incorporated areas to provide organized services. I am old fashioned in that regard. Cities are often better able to handle and manage growth than letting things go unchecked in the unincorporated areas. I think that the planning in Rapid along with Pennington and Meade counties (by my observations) is more laxed than Minnehaha/Lincoln counties. Minnehaha and Lincoln counties have comprehensive plans and most communities within 20 miles of Sioux Falls have their own comprehensive plans and have joint jurisdiction with the counties regarding building of homes within a couple mile radius of city boundaries.

In Lincoln and Minnehaha counties, housing eligibilities outside of city limits are limited to limit sprawl outside of city limits of communities such as Sioux Falls, Brandon, and Tea and shift the growth to the incorporated communities, which are better equipped to handle and manage growth in an orderly manner. Developments outside of city limits in Lincoln county went wild in the 1990s and are limited due to drainage problems and septic tank problems in a number of these communties.

To have a bunch of acreages and developments pop up unchecked out in the country will eventually push up taxes and would not be as effiecient as having planned and directed growth. That is where the comprehensive plans come in and the county and city (in joint jurisdiction areas near a city) look at requests for building permits in unincorporated areas and determine if the request is OK or not.

I personally am for that. If I was going to build a house, I would build in Tea, Harrisburg, or Lennox instead of out in the country and would be willing to pay the higher taxes to have water, sewer, and the roads taken cared of as opposed to having to deal with the pains of septic tanks and having a long driveway to clean off.

[DannyBanany]

I couldn't agree more Chris. I think that so much lax development and a lack of a structured plan ultimately leads to more problems. Rapid Valley is mostly several housing developments connected to Highway 44 and Highway 79 (Heartland Expressway). If you look at where Rapid City and Rapid Valley connect, it is kind of dishoveled and has no structure. You can definately tell where the line divides. That may be part of why Rapid City's roads are so much more complicated than most other cities.

Major cities also have census designated areas. Like I said before, Highlands Ranch is probably the largest. It's just 15 miles south of Denver. It's quite huge too.

[mycelestialstar]

Originally Posted by Chris19

Better put up a post office, fire department, police department, and city hall buildings with a few schools and a business district. Then you have a town.

We here in Rapid Valley do have a fire department, 2 schools and a post office (okay it's in our new grocery store, but it is a PO), we have our own water district, a bank and several other businesses on hwy 44. There was at one time plans for a Junior High, wish that would happen soon. I wish we were a city, as we rarely see a snow plow on our street (with very steep hills) and we have no street lights. The lights are there but not on! We love the neighborhood we live in but there are so many down sides. My youngest wont get to go to preschool as I would have to drive across town--stay at home mom and so we have one income. My oldest when the time comes will have to be bused a ways for JR high and am not thrilled with the high school possibilites--NOT that there is anything wrong with Central or Stevens, just the way I see it being for my child. So we are faced with the question of leaving the Valley when it is time for JR high/High School. Anyone elses opinion on schools would be appreciated. We are actually two streets away from them going to school in Box Elder, if only we knew that when we moved here!!

[DannyBanany]

Hello mycelestialstar!

It's nice to have another Rapid Citian join the forum!
I did not know that Rapid Valley had any of the problem you mentioned. I know a few people who live out there and they just love it. They say that their snow is removed right away while Rapid City's take all day. They also like the schools, but they have elementary kids and they go to the new elementary school, Valley View. It must all just depend on which part of Rapid Valley you live in. It sure is getting big out there!

Welcome to the forum!

[Chris19]

DannyBanany, I see that KELO and Rapid City Journal have articles relating to the buidling activity of Box Elder and there are plans for more homes to go up in the area. It sounds like the Rapid Valley and Box Elder areas are popular areas for people to move to. Do you have more insight into Box Elder?