If you're getting close to the point where you're thinking about retiring - is
Rapid City and the Black Hills, a good place to retire?
Should you retire in the Black Hills?
Hey everybody it’s Tristan Emond with mindful living realty right here
in Rapid City, South Dakota, the gateway to the Black Hills.
We've got eight points to talk about here, about whether or not this area
might be good for you to retire in or not.
So let's get going with the first one,
which is probably the most obvious one, and that is weather.
We're up here in the north.
It gets cold. We have snow. It gets icy.
So it's different than a lot of your more popular retirement spots,
such as Arizona, Texas and Florida.
The weather here is never boring.
It's 40 degrees one day, 20 the next.
But you do get all four seasons.
We have beautiful springs and beautiful falls.
And the summer isn't as hot as some of those places down south.
And when it comes to the winter,
there are services and options around to help you deal with that.
You can buy a townhome that has the snow removal options
that they take care of the snow removal for you.
You can get a Lyft or taxi to take you wherever you need to go
throughout the Rapid area.
But if the winter just isn't something you want to deal with, you can do
what a lot of people do in that area, and that is Snowbird.
Arizona ends up being a very popular place
for Rapid Citians to Snowbird for the month of January through March
because there's a nonstop flight on Allegiant from here to Arizona.
Make sure you check out the other videos
I've done on this channel about the weather
so you have a full picture of what to expect when it comes to South Dakota
and it's weather.
If you are thinking about retiring, the impact on the pocketbook
has a huge factor in where you might end up.
So let's talk about the cost of living in the Rapid City and Black Hills area.
Now, as you know, prices have gone up.
Things have changed dramatically from where things have been in 2019.
Housing prices are up 30%.
And as you know, eggs are, what, $8 - $9 a dozen is just nuts.
So the affordability of Rapid City
now is considerably different than it was three or four years ago.
Now, if you do a Google search for cost of living calculators, you'll be able
to see the difference between Rapid City and whatever area that you're from.
Typically what I found is if you're coming from a metropolitan area,
if you're coming from a very busy area along the coast, chances are
it'll be a lot cheaper to live in the Rapid City area
than on some of the bigger areas.
However, if you have coming from other areas of the Midwest,
you'll find that Rapid City is little more expensive than what you're used to.
But a benefit of South Dakota is the tax situation.
There are no state income taxes, and from what I've been able to research,
there are no taxes on your retirement and your pension funds.
However, that doesn't mean that there aren't any taxes at all.
Our property taxes...they’re not the cheapest in the nation.
In fact, we're about number 35 of the top 50 states
for the most expensive property taxes.
And everything here is sales taxed.
Your services, your goods, everything with a 4.5% state sales
tax and usually a 2% city tax, depending on the city that you're in.
Housing in the Rapid City Black Hills area may also be a challenge for you.
With the recent uptick in prices, it's hard to find anything under $300,000.
We have very few 55 plus housing communities
and a whole lot of split levels.
So a lot of stairs everywhere.
And we don't have a lot of like sprawling ranch style homes with 2000 square foot
all on one level.
There are a number of townhome/condominium options,
but single family definitely rules the day in Rapid City, South Dakota.
There are also a number of retirement communities
and assisted living centers in the Rapid City area.
Places like WestHills Village and the Good Samaritan Society have multiple options.
Whether you need just assisted living or 24 seven for care.
Now hang on.
I know I'm sounding very negative.
Bad weather, expensive housing.
But let's get into a number of positive reasons
why retiring in the Black Hills area might be great for you.
The first one of these is health care options.
We've got about 150 to 200 mile radius around Rapid City
where everybody in these areas comes to Rapid City
for their shopping, entertainment and health care.
So we've got a very strong health care system in Rapid City.
This is headlined by the Monument health system.
The Monument health system is connected with the Mayo Clinic,
and there are clinics and offices and hospitals all over the Black Hills.
Over the past few years, we've had a huge expansion
to the parking lot, emergency room, heart and health center,
making the hospital even more viable for all of your needs.
There's also the Rapid City
Medical Center system of care, which is separate from Monument Health.
They have a variety of clinics, family health care, and even some urgent cares
on top of that.
There's a physician owned Black Hills Surgery Center,
which also includes a couple of urgent cares and an imaging center.
And then there's a whole array of additional private doctors.
Ear, nose and throat guys, chiropractors, massage therapists.
The list goes on and on, even to a number of alternative health therapies.
No matter what your health need is in Rapid City,
you'll probably find some specialty someone to be able to help you.
I have heard there have been a few times
where they had to fly to Sioux Falls or Denver for some specialties.
But generally speaking, you'll find what you need in the Rapid City area.
For veterans, there are also health options for you in our area.
Rapid City has a VA clinic, and there's a V.A.
hospital in Sturgis, South Dakota, and Hot Springs, South Dakota.
About a year ago, I helped a couple move from to Rapid City, from Arizona,
and they had some very specific health challenges.
I talked with them a few months later about their transition, and they have been
very happy with the medical center here in Rapid City
and even the VA center in the Rapid City area.
Now, let's talk about the activities.
And the number one activity on this list is the Black Hills.
If you love the outdoors, there's so much to do out in the Black Hills.
In half an hour, you could be hiking down a trail, fishing on Rapid Creek,
floating on a lake, cross-country skiing down a groomed trail,
or just simply taking a drive and enjoying all the scenery.
There are a number of flatter,
easier trails around the Black Hills area if hiking up huge inclines isn’t for you.
As a side note, with the Black Hills in your back door
that gives the grandkids a reason to come visit.
Even if you're in Rapid City, there are numerous activities and things to do.
The bike path runs nine miles from one side of the city to the other.
There's more fishing along Rapid Creek, right in town,
and there are a number of hiking trails and bike paths still within city limits,
even though it feels like you're in the hills.
Plus, there's the Rapid City Recreational Center,
which includes an indoor pool with numerous water classes,
racquetball courts and it hosts a number of fitness classes.
If the arts is your thing,
Rapid City has everything you need from the downtown museums to concerts
at the Civic Center,
plays at the Seraphim Theater, festivals on Main Street Square, symphonies
at the Rapid City Performing Arts Center, or just enjoying the art downtown,
whether it be Art Alley or a number of the murals walking around town.
In addition to these things, every spring and fall Rapid City has a community
education guide where you can learn to dance, join a hiking group,
learn about birdwatching in the Black Hills, learn
about the history of the Black Hills, and, of course, numerous arts and crafts.
If golf is your thing.
Rapid City and the Black Hills have numerous golf courses,
whether it's the nine hole executive course downtown Rapid City,
the public Meadowbrook Golf Course
in Rapid City, or the award winning Southern Hills Golf course in Hot
Springs, you'll be able to find somewhere to keep that score in line.
Finally, there are numerous volunteer
and civic organizations that you could join, whether it's the Boys and Girls
Club, Meals on Wheels, the Lions Club or United Way.
If giving back to the community is something that you love to do,
you can find it in the Rapid City and the Black Hills area.
The next thing that you'll love
about Rapid City and the Black Hills are the unique restaurants and foods.
Downtown is the best place in Rapid City to go for restaurants.
Check out Talley's Silver Spoon, DelMonico Grill for steaks, the Firehouse Brewery
for American food and burgers.
And there's even a place called the Mudhole,
which apparently has great biscuits and gravy.
Even in the Black Hills, there are some amazing restaurants.
There's the Alpine Inn in Hill City,
Roma's Italian in Spearfish and Black Hills Burger and Bun in Custer.
Just make sure that you get there early enough
because you're probably going to wait in line.
There's some pretty fantastic restaurants.
Plus, you find adequate grocery stores in the area.
Every town will have its own grocery store.
Plus, you've got a couple of Safeway and Family Fares here in Rapid City.
On top of that, we've got numerous health and supplement food stores, as well as
Breadroot Co-op, which is your local, organic and local food store.
Plus, there are many, many food table options, farmer's markets
and so many other ways to get some great food in the Rapid City
and Black Hills area.
However, if you're looking for Trader Joe's or Whole Foods,
those stores probably won't be coming to the area anytime soon.
As I mentioned before, regarding the trade
radius, that also means Rapid City is the shopping place.
I heard someone mentioned it this way and it's about accurate.
We have a little bit of everything, but not a lot of anything.
So places like Rushmore Crossing
have Target and Sam's Club, Michael's and more of your chain restaurants
and stores.
Downtown Rapid City has unique local stores
such as Who's Hobby, a number of unique clothing stores, and Prairie
Edge, where you can view and buy Native American art and gifts.
On the West Side of town there's Baken Park,
which is your West Side location for grocery stores, hardware stores,
general services, auto parts, Walgreens and many other things like that.
Many people find that in the Rapid City and Black Hills area,
you've got a high quality of life.
The air is usually clean and clear.
Our winters really aren't as bad as some other places that have winter,
and South Dakota makes it a little bit easier to live
fewer regulations, a little more of a live and let live attitude.
And you'll find a small town
America feel - even in Rapid City which has about 80,000 people by now.
Plus, you've got Midwestern hospitality friendly people and plenty of dog lovers.
If you love your pets, there are plenty of pet
orientated businesses in the Rapid City and the Black Hills area,
as well as leash free dog parks.
There are four of those around the Rapid City area.
And then let's talk about travel in the Rapid City area.
Most of the people I've talked to about travel
in the Rapid City and Black Hills area have said you guys have no traffic.
Aside from when we have hundreds of thousands of bikers here
during the Sturgis rally, typically our traffic around the area isn't too bad.
It does get a little heavier
during tourist season, especially in the tourist heavy areas.
But in general, you can get where you need to go in a decent amount of time.
However, if you want to go somewhere else, it's about a five hour drive
to get anywhere.
It's 5 hours to Sioux Falls, 5 hours to Bismarck, North Dakota, 5 hours
to Billings, Montana, and about 6 hours, 7 hours down to Denver, Colorado.
Many people love the small Rapid City airport
that you can get in and out relatively easy.
But because it's just a regional airport, all you're doing is getting to a hub
through you're flying
to Denver or Minneapolis or Salt Lake City and then going from there.
So flying in and out of Rapid City can be relatively expensive
and not necessarily the easiest way to travel.
However, we do have Allegiant Airlines, which is a discount airline that travels
nonstop to Las Vegas and Mesa, Arizona.
So what do you think?
Is Rapid City and the Black Hills a place for you to retire?
Let me know in the comments below.
Any other questions or thought forms you might have about the area?
And don't forget to watch this video and this playlist for more information
about the area. Thanks so much for watching.
Have an amazing day. And remember, #LOVEWHEREYOULIVE