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I’m strongly considering moving to the Rapid City area. My family and I will be moving from Grand Rapids, Michigan and we are thinking of settling down in the south hills, somewhere in the vicinity of Hill City.
I’ve been researching everything I can about that area and the Black Hills in general and feel I have as good a grasp as I can in regards to the economics, schools, etc.
What I want to know is the minutia. Please give me some details. How is it…really? Are the schools good? Are the people snobbish? How bad are the tourists in the summer? What is the best thing and worst thing about living in that area? I’m aware of the outdoor activities, but what is it really like?
I’m trying to move to a place where there aren’t so many dadgum people. I don’t want neighbors right next to me, but I also want them close enough so my kids can play with them. We like small towns but not so small that I have a 1/2hour drive because I forgot to pick up milk and toilet paper.
Also, we hunt, so how hard is it to find a place to hunt? Would we be better off buying property and building or buying one of the homes that has some acreage? How busy are the federal lands that might butt up to whatever acreage I own? Is it easy to travel from that area to Rapid City for a daily commute? How about during all of the seasons?
It’s these sort of things that I’m wondering about. Things that can only be discovered from people who live there
I’m strongly considering moving to the Rapid City area. My family and I will be moving from Grand Rapids, Michigan and we are thinking of settling down in the south hills, somewhere in the vicinity of Hill City.
I’ve been researching everything I can about that area and the Black Hills in general and feel I have as good a grasp as I can in regards to the economics, schools, etc.
What I want to know is the minutia. Please give me some details. How is it…really? Are the schools good? Are the people snobbish? How bad are the tourists in the summer? What is the best thing and worst thing about living in that area? I’m aware of the outdoor activities, but what is it really like?
I’m trying to move to a place where there aren’t so many dadgum people. I don’t want neighbors right next to me, but I also want them close enough so my kids can play with them. We like small towns but not so small that I have a 1/2hour drive because I forgot to pick up milk and toilet paper.
Also, we hunt, so how hard is it to find a place to hunt? Would we be better off buying property and building or buying one of the homes that has some acreage? How busy are the federal lands that might butt up to whatever acreage I own? Is it easy to travel from that area to Rapid City for a daily commute? How about during all of the seasons?
It’s these sort of things that I’m wondering about. Things that can only be discovered from people who live there
Thank you so much for any replies.
School are not great. I just got out of them and they are quite a bit nicer here in MN.
You won't have a problem finding a place to hunt.
You should also define what you mean by "small" because most places of the country have a different definition of a "small town" than people in South Dakota.
Driving to Rapid City is usually fairly easy all seasons because we do a decent job plowing the main roads.
Tourists may get on your nerves at times, like during rally week, but they bring in a lot of money to the area. The main time they irritate me is when I'm driving in the hills to go somewhere and I come up on the nice ole van from Minnesota stopped on the highway taking pictures.
I wouldn't suggest moving unless you have a job lined up. Low unemployment does not equal an abundance of jobs. Also, wages are lower here.
But once you define "small" I could probably give you some better suggestions on where to live. And if you have any other questions, just ask!
If you are moving from Grand Rapids to the Black Hills, you are moving from an urban or suburban environment to a rural environment. If you and your spouse were raised in a rural environment, you should not have a problem adapting, however if you were born and raised in an urban/suburban environment, you will be in for a number of shocks once you get here. The differences are primarily in available services and conveniances. A flag in your post in your statement that you don't want to drive 1/2 hour because you forgot toilet paper or milk. My friend, in a rural environment you will have to learn to not forget and to think ahead. My wife and I keep nearly a months supply of everything we need. When we get low on something, we write it down. About once per month or so, we make a shopping trip to Rapid to restock. Hot Springs has most of the perishables, such as milk, on hand so we do not have to do without anything, but it is totaly different from having a conveniance store on every corner. There is very little that is conveniant about rural living.
You also imply that you would like to own "some" land. If that is your goal, give some serious research into the availability and the price of hazard insurance. The Black Hills are in a much drier climate than Michigan and forest/grass fires are a constant hazard.
Most of the Black Hills national forest and the Buffalo Gap national grasslands is leased for grazing or logging. Hunters are generally welcome, especially if they are after Turkeys, Deer, or Elk. There is an overpopulation of Deer and Turkeys. You will have to compete for an Elk permit and only a limited number of Mountain Lions are taken each year. Do not shoot any Black bears, Big Horn sheep, or Mountain Goats.
You mentioned Hill City as a possibility...and convenience. Just be aware that there are NO sizeable stores in the hill towns. There are a couple of gas stations w/convenience stores and the occasional small grocery. If you forgot milk in town, you will pay $5 for it (or more) if you don't want to drive a half hour. The nearest store of any size is in Rapid City, and you will drive 20-25 minutes from Hill City - farther, if you live someplace else. Uncle Harley is right - most of us plan ahead and shop for a month at a time. Buy a big freezer if you don't already have one, and plan on keeping it stocked. Otherwise, you will be driving to Rapid once a week for groceries, because most of us can't afford what the small town grocers charge on a regular basis. The stores make their money off the tourists, and the rest of us plan accordingly...
Personally, I like Hill City. Custer is nice too. However, groceries will be spendy anywhere. More so in the smaller towns. We offset the costs by having a garden, use bountiful basket and Sams Club.
Back to Hill City, jobs are not that common, unless you want to work in the tourist industry, or logging. If you have a job in Rapid it is 26 miles one way. In the winter time if the roads are decent in Rapid they turn to less then fine around Rockerville.
Hermosa is another place to look at. There are some spectacular views, it is 15 miles from Rapid, the roads are usually decent. There is a really good four lane highway.
Rapid and dandy too. It all comes down to preference. The only place I'd say avoid at all costs is Box Elder. Of all the screwed up towns in South Dakota it the top of the list.
Appreciate the responses so far. You bring up some valid points and I am grateful to this point. Please feel free to elaborate in you would be so kind.
I'll try to answer questions as they came up.
When defining small, I guess I'd define it as having a "downtown," that is only a block or two long. Something where people know each other not just by name. Not tiny (I guess that'd be ok though,) but...small.
We're familiar with the need to stock up on items and the price you pay for not planning ahead. Even though we live in the suburbs now, we're from a much more rural area originally. We stock up on items that are on sale whenever we can, and keep a freezer full.
I hadn't considered the cost of fire/hazard insurance. It's just not something that we would have to think about. Thank you very much for the input on that.
I've heard good things about Hermosa but from the pictures I've seen it's still part of the prairie. I think we are looking at actually being in the Hills. Acreage seems difficult to find for a reasonable price, however.
I consistantly see people warning about not moving to Box Elder. Why?
If in the hill towns, how much do the tourists actually interfere with daily life? We're wanting to move out there to be away from so many darn people.
With Hermosa the general rule if you're east of 79 you're on the prairie. West of Highway 79 is in the hills. Where I live I have honestly have the best of both worlds. The sunrises are amazing and the view to the west is outstanding. In 5 minutes west of Hermosa you are in to the hills.
Box Elder is not a very good area. It's not ghetto, but good chunks of it are pretty run down. Also, it wouldn't be a fit for you as it is most definitely in the prairie even though it is a short drive to the hills.
Tourists swarm the hills in the summer, so they would probably get in the way a little. They love to go to the small little downtowns in the hills and walk around. They bring in a lot of traffic to the towns, but also a lot of money. Tourist season runs about Memorial Day through Labor day, so it's not like it's all year. I lived in Rapid though, which always had a lot of people, so I guess the extra people never bothered me too much. Some of the people on here live in those smaller touristy towns, so they could probably give you a better idea.
The Hermosa area is very close to the hills. I wouldn't rule it out.
Hermosa would be your best fit if avoiding as many people as possible is a priority. Just stay west of hwy 79 and you will have plenty of hills & hunting. Hot Springs is another possibility, but there are probably more tourists in Hot Springs than in Hermosa. Custer and north gets pretty jammed in the summer. You may even want to consider parts of eastern Wyoming such as Sun Dance if you don't mind winters that can be a little rough.
Another item that has not been mentioned is the change in climate. I moved to Hot Springs from Wisconsin a couple of years ago and I love the dry climate. However, it is a lot different from Michigan. If you like humidity, you will not like anything west of the Missouri. Droughts are a common occurance in this part of the world. We have clean air though.
I know it's not in the southern hills, but you may want to take a look at Spearfish. We lived there about ten years ago and found it a nice size community with most of the amenities you need for survival. Rapid is a 40 minute drive on interstate for harder to find items. The college there brings a more liberal bent to the community though it is very much a ranching/conservative area too. Some of he best hunting/fishing in the hills, Deadwood 15 minutes away for your gambling jones, decent school though we had no first hand knowledge. The housing is higher than Grand Rapids I'm sure and you need to have your property inspected because there are a lot of fly-by-night contractors in South Dakota and no codes or inspectors. We used to see million dollar houses on lots next to modular homes so the zoning is lax too. I would have stayed there forever, but my wife missed civilization and retail therapy so we moved back to Eden Prairie MN. Would be worth a look to spend a few days in the area.
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