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Probably little chance I'll find anyone who has lived in both of these cities or has been to both. But you never know. Can you compare the cities on the usual stuff:
-weather
-outdoor recreation
-scenic quality
-housing affordability and housing stock
-overall vibe, culture, feel
-friendliness of locals
I do know the Spokane MSA is much larger. Just would like to get personal onions on each area. And which area you would choose if you could live in either.
It appears Rapid City gets more winter sunshine and more summer precipitation (which I like...I like a littler summer rain vs. places that are bone dry all summer)
I'm not an expert, but I'll try to help out. I have a friend in Spokane I've visited all of one time, and I've been in Rapid City twice for vacation.
Weather: Both will have hot summers and cold winters, so you have to be okay with extreme temps. Rapid City is in the middle of the country while Spokane is closer to the coast, so Spokane's extremes will be a little more moderated. South Dakota has brutal winters. Winner: Spokane
Outdoor Recreation: In Rapid City, you have the Black Hills and Badlands at your doorstep essentially. Both offer world class recreation. Custer State Park might be my favorite state park in the nation. Spokane doesn't have two gems at its doorstep, but the entire state of Washington is beautiful and full of outdoor recreation. Plus, you're just a few hours from the coast, Mt. Rainier, the Cascades. If you're looking for the better state for outdoor rec, it's Washington. Strictly basing it off of the city, though, Rapid City wins.
Scenic Quality: Neither city is particularly beautiful, so my answer for this would be the same as the previous. Washington as a whole is much more scenic than South Dakota.
Affordability: Both cities are affordable, though the local economies leave something to be desired. Spokane is a mature city while Rapid City is up and coming per se. Rapid will have newer housing, overall. In general, you'll get more bang for your buck in South Dakota.
Culture: Both are fairly conservative places. But Washington is liberal and SD is conservative, in general. Spokane, despite being fairly conservative, is also laidback and feels almost like a bastion for "hippie conservatives," if that makes sense. Rapid City is lowkey, a quiet place for families.
Friendliness: Rapid City for sure. It's typical Midwest. Fairly conservative folk, but they generally are not judgmental. Spokane is a bit more uppity, though the people are still nice overall.
If job hunting isn't an issue, I would pick Spokane. It's a little rough around the edges, but the opportunity to have Washington's outdoor recreation and scenery is too good to pass up. Both are fine places though.
Outdoor Recreation: In Rapid City, you have the Black Hills and Badlands at your doorstep essentially. Both offer world class recreation. Custer State Park might be my favorite state park in the nation. Spokane doesn't have two gems at its doorstep, but the entire state of Washington is beautiful and full of outdoor recreation. Plus, you're just a few hours from the coast, Mt. Rainier, the Cascades. If you're looking for the better state for outdoor rec, it's Washington. Strictly basing it off of the city, though, Rapid City wins.
Spokane has the alpine lakes of North Idaho at its doorstep and that is pretty hard to beat.
One thing about the RC winters though is from my research they are a lot sunnier then Spokanes winters. To me a super dark grey chilly winter can be worse then a sunny but colder winter. It's like Colorado winters vs. WA State winters...bright sunny but cold winters vs. chilly but dark cloudy overcast winters. And I even with that, I don't think Spokanes winter temps are that far off RC. So its not much warmer in winter, but a lot more overcast. From my research, Nov, Dec, Jan in Spokane are just as overcast as Seattle those months.
RC also gets a little more summer rain vs. Spokane which is very dry June-Sept. A little summer rain to keep things moist vs. bone dusty dry can be nice.
I'm wondering which city is more disposed to smokey air from forest fires? Spokane had some bad smokey air weeks this summer from what I hear.
I've been to Spokane but not RC. But I have only been to Spokane in summer.
-weather - Subjective. Rapid City is going to be prone to rapid changes in weather and much colder winters, although it should be sunnier and occasionally warmer during the day. So if you hate cold temps, then Spokane wins out. If you hate gray skies, then RC wins out.
-outdoor recreation
-scenic quality - Spokane by a country mile. Absolutely anything and everything you could want to do from rock climbing to skiing to boating/paddlesports, fishing, hiking, etc. RC is limited to what's available around the black hills - which is definitely beautiful. But Spokane has a bunch of great stuff in it's backyard with unique-in-the-world scenery within 4-5 miles (Glacier NP, North Cascades NP, Cascade Mountains, Mt. Rainier, a lot of British Columbia, and the enormous lakes in North Idaho)
-housing affordability and housing stock - Affordability appears to be similar. Realtor.com says the median listing price is near the same - 210,000 to 218,000. $99 per sq ft in Spokane vs $93 in Rapid City. Stock I don't know enough about. Spokane has a lot of great older houses on the South Hill. It's been a slow-growth city since it's initial boom in the early 1900s, so a lot of the architecture reflects that.
-overall vibe, culture, feel
-friendliness of locals - I can't really speak to compare these.
I'd move to Spokane vs Rapid City just for the larger city. More stores, much bigger/better airport, variety of things to do, etc. on top of the outdoor activities.
One thing about the RC winters though is from my research they are a lot sunnier then Spokanes winters. To me a super dark grey chilly winter can be worse then a sunny but colder winter. It's like Colorado winters vs. WA State winters...bright sunny but cold winters vs. chilly but dark cloudy overcast winters. And I even with that, I don't think Spokanes winter temps are that far off RC. So its not much warmer in winter, but a lot more overcast. From my research, Nov, Dec, Jan in Spokane are just as overcast as Seattle those months.
RC also gets a little more summer rain vs. Spokane which is very dry June-Sept. A little summer rain to keep things moist vs. bone dusty dry can be nice.
I'm wondering which city is more disposed to smokey air from forest fires? Spokane had some bad smokey air weeks this summer from what I hear.
I've been to Spokane but not RC. But I have only been to Spokane in summer.
The winters in Rapid City aren't bad. It's usually pretty sunny outside, and that helps a lot. While it does get extremely cold at times, it commonly will warm up within a few days due to chinook winds. Summers can be very dry, and I feel like most of the precipitation comes in the form of severe thunderstorms.
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