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We're torn between 2 very different potential living experiences...
Vancouver vs Rapid City
Vancouver: We love the PNW, trees, ferns, moss, access to some of the most beautiful scenery in the U.S! Plus the occasional trip into Portland for fun and crazy!
The apartments and the neighborhoods we're looking at aren't much different from where we live in Orange County. All the conveniences are there. Plus it's close to family.
Rapid City: The Black Hills! Badlands! The bi polar weather! Lol!
All those sweet little towns to hang out in, the wildlife, the smaller town feel, yet still has all the things we'd need. Family far far away! Lol!
Anyone familiar with either or both please chime in!
I love the Black Hills area, and would move up there in a heartbeat if I could get a WFH job and convince my wife.
That being said, the Dakotas can get some really nasty winter storms with heavy snow and bone-chilling temps.
Additionally, once you get out of Rapid it's very rural and pretty isolated. Your closest big city is Sioux Falls (5 hours), and the closest major city is Denver (6 hours).
Vancouver, OTOH, is a stone's throw from Portland and a couple hours from Seattle.
I love the Black Hills area, and would move up there in a heartbeat if I could get a WFH job and convince my wife.
That being said, the Dakotas can get some really nasty winter storms with heavy snow and bone-chilling temps.
Additionally, once you get out of Rapid it's very rural and pretty isolated. Your closest big city is Sioux Falls (5 hours), and the closest major city is Denver (6 hours).
Vancouver, OTOH, is a stone's throw from Portland and a couple hours from Seattle.
Yup! These are the exact issues that bounce around in our heads!
As far as cold, we were just there last week and temps were in the low 20s pretty much with snow on the ground. To me, (So. Cal all my life) this I imagine would be a nice winter day?
Even knowing there'd be blizzards and such, I'd rather deal with that than the hot humid South. My uncle wants us to move near him in Houston! Not for us!
Obtw, just heard from someone in a Facebook group who is moving to Spearfish and it was always her husband's dream to live in The Black Hills! Is it usually a husband thing?
Yup! These are the exact issues that bounce around in our heads!
As far as cold, we were just there last week and temps were in the low 20s pretty much with snow on the ground. To me, (So. Cal all my life) this I imagine would be a nice winter day?
Even knowing there'd be blizzards and such, I'd rather deal with that than the hot humid South. My uncle wants us to move near him in Houston! Not for us!
Obtw, just heard from someone in a Facebook group who is moving to Spearfish and it was always her husband's dream to live in The Black Hills! Is it usually a husband thing?
Highs in the low 20s is a smidge below average for Rapid this time of year.
I lived in DFW for over a decade. I hated life from May/June through September. Summers there are miserably hot and humid, and the scenery is absolute crap.
Maybe it's a husband thing. I just have the memory of a trip from Fort Collins to Deadwood when I was in college etched in my head. We went up one late December afternoon and we were driving through the forest after dark. The snow was hanging off the trees. It was really serene.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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I made a roadtrip up to Rapid in 2018 up from Albuquerque on I-25 then veared off in Wyoming up to into the Black Hills. South Dakota is so below the radar, but I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I loved the scenery around there. I was there in August so the grasslands were peak green and all that rolling terrain on the plains was just something grand with the big skies. I'll always remember it well.
I toured a bison ranch from where I purchase bison meat (which I prefer over beef), so that was the primary reason for heading up there. I hiked Bear Butte (incredible endless vista from the summit) and went horseback riding through the ponderosa pines of the Black Hills. I love horses, and I saw some of the most beautiful ranches and horse properties in that area. I was surprised by how much there was to do there as Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse were the only impressions I had before actually experiencing it.
Rapid has a nice downtown and I loved the properties in the hills to the west of town. Seems to have enough amenities to get one through life. Though it is still quite small and the isolation would probably get to me where I'd be making frequent trips to Denver and that's a pretty long drive.
I'd pick living in the Portland area myself, that would be my first pick of cities on the west coast. Vancouver, WA is a nice choice for having no income tax if your employer is based in WA and there's a lot of newer housing stock. My only hang up is the bridge crossing, it kinda sucks getting to Portland at times. Lots of traffic in that direction on I-5 with that outdated bridge and they still haven't figured out how to get light rail over the Columbia River.
I made a roadtrip up to Rapid in 2018 up from Albuquerque on I-25 then veared off in Wyoming up to into the Black Hills. South Dakota is so below the radar, but I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I loved the scenery around there. I was there in August so the grasslands were peak green and all that rolling terrain on the plains was just something grand with the big skies. I'll always remember it well.
I toured a bison ranch from where I purchase bison meat (which I prefer over beef), so that was the primary reason for heading up there. I hiked Bear Butte (incredible endless vista from the summit) and went horseback riding through the ponderosa pines of the Black Hills. I love horses, and I saw some of the most beautiful ranches and horse properties in that area. I was surprised by how much there was to do there as Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse were the only impressions I had before actually experiencing it.
Rapid has a nice downtown and I loved the properties in the hills to the west of town. Seems to have enough amenities to get one through life. Though it is still quite small and the isolation would probably get to me where I'd be making frequent trips to Denver and that's a pretty long drive.
I'd pick living in the Portland area myself, that would be my first pick of cities on the west coast. Vancouver, WA is a nice choice for having no income tax if your employer is based in WA and there's a lot of newer housing stock. My only hang up is the bridge crossing, it kinda sucks getting to Portland at times. Lots of traffic in that direction on I-5 with that outdated bridge and they still haven't figured out how to get light rail over the Columbia River.
Glad you appreciate how amazing the Black Hills area is!
We'd be living in Vancouver because not only the tax break but it's a little less crazy. Husband would be working from home. We would definately go to Portland once in a while for fun, and the Oregon Coast is so amazing for a weekend away! But dang the wildlife and bike trails and interesting towns etc are tempting! Maybe since now we're not tied to an office we'll need to move to a few different places, lol!
I've been to Rapid City and I live in Washington. I'd take Vancouver easily. Not saying Rapid City is a bad place but I much prefer the Vancouver area. Portland is literally right over the bridge for tax free shopping and whatever else you need and as you know Washington has no income tax. You are also much closer to the coast and of course there is lots nature everywhere close by. Columbia river gorge area is gorgeous and you are right there. Also much prefer the weather out here.
I've been to Rapid City and I live in Washington. I'd take Vancouver easily. Not saying Rapid City is a bad place but I much prefer the Vancouver area. Portland is literally right over the bridge for tax free shopping and whatever else you need and as you know Washington has no income tax. You are also much closer to the coast and of course there is lots nature everywhere close by. Columbia river gorge area is gorgeous and you are right there. Also much prefer the weather out here.
Sigh... I do love the PNW climate.
I think I was a little meh about how much the area reminded me of where we live now in Orange County as far as the suburban life. Which ain't bad at all, mind you, can't really complain. Maybe the allure is that RC is so different!
Rapid City is a fine town, but it is, (as others have mentioned) quite isolated. The nearest big city is Denver, over six hours away via highway. There really are not even any slightly larger areas around Rapid City, (maybe Billings, MT), but you are really in the middle of nowhere. That said, some like that isolation. It does offer a mix of mountains and plains.
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