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What part of SoCal Podo? I am from Oceanside and going home in two weeks.
Mosquitoes in Western SD are pretty much non-existent. The heat is a dry heat and doesn't last for long. It's like the old west....dry and dusty, but Rapid does get its fair share of thunderstorms in the summer. They are a welcome respite and pretty to watch. They don't create any noticeable humidity though.
As far as the social scene,others will have to chime in. Rapid does have a downtown with eateries and catering to its own hipster crowd. It's juts "meh", but that isn't our thing, so take that with a grain of salt.
What part of SoCal Podo? I am from Oceanside and going home in two weeks.
Mosquitoes in Western SD are pretty much non-existent. The heat is a dry heat and doesn't last for long. It's like the old west....dry and dusty, but Rapid does get its fair share of thunderstorms in the summer. They are a welcome respite and pretty to watch. They don't create any noticeable humidity though.
As far as the social scene,others will have to chime in. Rapid does have a downtown with eateries and catering to its own hipster crowd. It's juts "meh", but that isn't our thing, so take that with a grain of salt.
"Rapid City has HUGE bugs, 100% humidity with zero rain, and nothing to do...on top of all of this, it's extremely expensive....think SF Bay Area and you'll have an idea."
Okay, so when you posted this earlier in the thread you were just kidding then? Ha ha, I wasn't quite sure even if I might have thought so after the saying it was expensive like SF, lol! But then someone else followed with agreement, but ok he was probably playing along.
So we're in So. Orange County, and it's sort of a strange thing... there's a part of me that really likes being in the middle between 2 very dynamic cities, (Los Angeles and San Diego) We've been to Comicon many times in SD, Balboa Park is amazing, as well as many other things (I lived in Mission Bay during high school many many moons ago). Also Los Angeles is chock full of things to do as well, we've seen John Williams in concert at the Hollywood Bowl on numerous occasions and the Getty is a great way to spend the day not to mention all the eateries everywhere in LA. BUT we rarely make the drive because of the crowds and the traffic. It's like being in a mosh pit sometimes and then after a brief visit (especially in LA) I want to get out of there! I do love the San Bernardino Mountains of course... (actually lived in Crestline for a few years) but of course the crawl to get there is rough most of the time.
Orange County itself is much less "exciting" of course and hubs and I are really homebodies for the most part. One of the reasons we're thinking of leaving So. Cal though is that our personal favorite thing to do is to take road trips! And although the desert has it's beauty, we much prefer mountains and forests etc. Wherever we land, we want to be in the middle of an area where we could go explore scenic areas within a 2 to 4 hours drive for day trips, half a day's drive for long weekends. In So. Cal there are definitely some interesting areas but as you know it can take 2 hours just to go to LA or SD just from Orange County, and there're only so many times we want to drive though Mojave.... or go to Las Vegas. Actually, another thought we've had is just getting an RV and working from the road. (As long as we get an internet connection.)
Anyway... yeah, looks like we're neighbors. I have a childhood friend who lives in San Diego and we meet for lunch once or twice a year in Oceanside as it's pretty much the halfway point. My older son used to work traffic division at Pendleton. There's a Mexican restaurant there, a little hole in the wall that has some amazing burritos!
Frankly, when I visit the hills I don't remember ever being bit by mosquitos. They're not even close to what we have in the eastern part of the state. You want miserable? Go up to northern Minnesota where they have landing strips for the mosquitos, yet they're not the biggest annoyance. The biting black flies will drive you bonkers.
Yeah, I've heard about those back flies and how the mosquito is Minnesota's state bird, yipes! Same with the Upper Peninsula which is another place I find tempting just because it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen!
Humidity wise, once again, the Black Hills area does not even hold a candle to the humidity that is the eastern 1/3 of the state which is FARM country, not ranch country. However, having been in Florida, our humidity for the approx. 2 months where we get nailed isn't worse than what Florida gets a big share of the year.
Well that's good to know. If the high humidity is only 2 months during the year on average at least there's an end in sight. I have an uncle who often sends us articles on housing prices, jobs and BBQ where he lives in Houston trying to get us to move there, but Houston would be hell for us! I could barely take it there when we visited in March a few years ago!
I understand any weather situation will be a compromise outside of "perfect" So Cal, but there are some environments where I'd have a harder time in. Long term heat and humidity being one of them for sure!
What? humidity in Florida,no way. Currently in NC, some humidity not much. I found SF,RC not having much,in summer when I was there. Bugs? Didn't feel,see then either. Loved SD. And the people as well. Badlands? loved the many prairie dogs. Also loved the bison as my dog was intrigued by them,lol. Too me it seemed that RC was more run down than SF. Take care,peace out. Currently thinking about moving to NV,SD,ID.
One reason for our vacations across the country is to figure out where we would eventually like to retire when we are much older....
We just returned home from visiting the Rapid City area for vacation. We drove I-80 from IL to Cheyenne, and then we drove the interstate north through Spearfish to spend a few days in the Rapid City area (Black Hills, Badlands, Mount Rushmore, etc.). We drove across the entire state, visited the Corn Palace in Mitchell, then then drove through Sioux Falls on the way home.
As some of the other people have written, western South Dakota is a pretty area with nice people. The rolling hills are a nice break from the monotonous, flat, eastern Midwest. The roads are well-maintained and the traffic moved quickly. We never experienced a Florida-style traffic jam. Since the attractions are so spread out, it just seemed to take forever to get to the destinations.
It is one thing to visit an area in the summertime. I could see why people would always want to be outside hiking, camping, or fishing. However, what is western South Dakota like in the winter? What do the natives do for fun outside the summer months? Please don't tell me that they just sit in dirty, noisy sports bars.....
The downside to Rapid City is the lack of quality restaurants. Most of the restaurants are either crappy chains or if they are "independent and local," then they still deserve the crappy chain designation. One example: *cough* Firehouse brewery *cough*. We discovered Sioux Falls has much better dining options and slightly more variety. Is the situation in the Rapid City area slowly changing?
My family members are hockey fans (minor league teams are ok) and enjoy symphony orchestra concerts, theatre, and museums. My sons play hockey (house league) at the local park district during hockey season (October-mid-March). We are also spoiled by Trader Joe's, Costco, a decent Honda dealer, and the occasional (once or twice a year) outlet mall visit. I wonder if western South Dakota will eventually offer these amenities.
One of the locals told me that the Air Force has recently designated the local base near Rapid City as the area for B1 bomber training. Consequently, the Rapid City area is supposed to experience a 600,000-900,000 population gain over the next ten years. Is Rapid City slated to become Denver 2.0?
Why would anyone want to retire in South Dakota? How popular is this option?
Why would anyone want to retire in South Dakota? How popular is this option?
LOTS of people are choosing to retire in SD, mainly because there is no state income tax and other taxation is retiree friendly. Cost of living is low in most places.
It all depends on what you like to do. My advice, based on my own experience searching for a retirement location, is to be realistic about what you enjoy doing, and make sure that wherever you go can provide that for you. Like to fish? There's lots of affordable places in SD where you can make a happy home. Like to camp and hike? You can do that throughout the state, though the Black Hills are probably best. Like to pursue continuing education? SD's Osher Institute program https://www.usd.edu/olli is one of the best in the country.
To me, the only disadvantage of retiring to SD is the weather and the republican dominance in politics (that's lead to some really crazy legislation lately.)
1. Lack of humidity - it's rarely humid but not so dry that my nose bleeds. Summer and fall here is awesome! I can walk in and out of air conditioned buildings in the summer and my glasses don't fog up. Coming from Eastern Nebraska, that is a wonderful thing! Winters can be cold and snowy, but they are also sunny and the snow doesn't stick around for months. We typically get days where temps get into the 50's or 60's. I moved here in the middle of February, and it was 70 degrees.
This was Reply #6 from 2017. Is it still true? I'm looking to relocate here in September from Minnesota and am wondering what the weather is like. I ask because all the things that used to be considered "the norm" for weather here in Minnesota isn't "the norm" anymore.
More specifically:
Are summers really not humid? What's the average summer temp?
How long does winter last? Where I am, we get snow from October through the end of April. 7 months a year is just too long.
How much snowfall have you had per winter over the last few years?
We hardly get a fall/autumn anymore. Maybe a week's worth. How about Rapid City?
I'm excited about relocating to your area. It's my favorite area of the country and close to my other favorite areas! Plus, I fit right in with everything I've read about South Dakota's political and social leanings. It will be a very welcomed change for me compared to the Twin Cities.
This was Reply #6 from 2017. Is it still true? I'm looking to relocate here in September from Minnesota and am wondering what the weather is like. I ask because all the things that used to be considered "the norm" for weather here in Minnesota isn't "the norm" anymore.
More specifically:
Are summers really not humid? What's the average summer temp?
How long does winter last? Where I am, we get snow from October through the end of April. 7 months a year is just too long.
How much snowfall have you had per winter over the last few years?
We hardly get a fall/autumn anymore. Maybe a week's worth. How about Rapid City?
I'm excited about relocating to your area. It's my favorite area of the country and close to my other favorite areas! Plus, I fit right in with everything I've read about South Dakota's political and social leanings. It will be a very welcomed change for me compared to the Twin Cities.
Thanks in advance for the replies.
Hmmmm... To tell you the truth, I've spent most of the past several months in my bedroom trying to regain my wits, but I live 130/150 miles west Rapid City (and have for the past 45 years) and haven't found anywhere that weather is much more to my liking. I'm getting old and just coming out of some kind of crazy mind altering period, but I moved here for work (newspaper publisher) in my 20s and just refuse to leave, even though the job ended a long time ago.
Summers are pretty darn nice. Lots of people visit the area for summer vacations, and I suspect that's partly because the weather is A-OKAY. It's dry and has cool evenings almost every day of the summer. It can get hotter than I'd like and colder than I'd like, but it's seldom midwest hot and humid.
Winters always last too long. Yes, it can last from October through April. But there are normally a lot of nice days in there. January and February can be awful, but you gotta just learn to like it. I used to spend those months skiing and vacationing when I could. Really, January and February are nasty for the most part. The rest isn't bad. (shrugs)
Summers aren't humid; winter lasts from fall to spring; snows come from October through April. Check the weather pages. It's pretty good weather, in my opinion. Now my wife is telling me she's ready for bed and I'd better move it. It's nice weather in a brutal kinda way. I like it.
I grew up East River, but if this virus thing ever clears up hope to be in a decent position for a role in Rapid. Does the banana belt roughly follow any zip code? We were looking in the south/southwest part of town, but potentially looking at the Hills themselves as well. I'm fairly game for anything, but California is the coldest place my wife has ever lived. She's tough, but getting in the mild part may make things easier.
There is no real demarcation in where the temperature changes, usually. West side and up the hill will have more snow. However, there have been events where the chinook winds will hit. It might be 30 above on the west side and east of town six miles at the airport it will be 0 degrees.
I 90 is often the snow line. North of I 90 will have more snow. As you run up the road to the west the amount of snow will increase. Near Blackhawk the S curves on the interstate are the first bench of snow. Then near Piedmont it hits the second shelf and the snow increases. Near the scale on the curves it hit the third bench. The roads conditions usually degrade in those three spots.
Southwest town will be okay. As you head out further, the snow increases.
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I have a childhood friend who lives in San Diego and we meet for lunch once or twice a year in Oceanside as it's pretty much the halfway point. My older son used to work traffic division at Pendleton. There's a Mexican restaurant there, a little hole in the wall that has some amazing burritos!
Winters can be cold and snowy, but they are also sunny and the snow doesn't stick around for months. We typically get days where temps get into the 50's or 60's. I moved here in the middle of February, and it was 70 degrees.
