Rapid City

Rapid City is a great place to live! We recently had a meeting with mayor Alan Hanks, in which he verified what I still believe – Rapid City is one of the best places in the country. The Black Hills are beautiful and inspiring regardless of the economy; however, we do have a good economy.

While we have not been immune to economic realities, we are a bit insulated. Some economic statistics: tax revenues did have an increase in 2008 (close to 6% for sales taxes, over 4.5% for the Bed & Breakfast tax, and almost 2% for the BID taxes), and unemployment rates around 4% are some of the lowest in the country. Other indicators include our local Wal-Mart store being the number two store in their chain and Wal-Mart is looking to build a second store. They believe even with a second store, the original store will remain in the top ten. We also had a great turnout at our recent Stock Show with good sales.

Our community is proud to have the new area at the Civic Center. Our economy is strong to have sellout crowds for Rush hockey games, and two recent concert announcements generated sellout ticket sales in very short order. The new arena has a viewing screen larger than the one in the Metrodome, and the Civic Center actually has more parking than the Coors Field in Denver (only ours is free).

We aren’t the only ones who think this is a great place – we were listed as the #2 city to “Live and Play in the Central US, and National Geographic included us in their list of places to retire.

If you would like more information about our community, please email me at carol@PropertyByReferral.com.