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My husband finally got permission to work remote as long as he has high speed internet so decided to check out Rapid City as well as a few other places.
Rapid City is really nice! We like the smaller town feel, and the fact that it's not a part of a "megalopolis". The people we met were really friendly and we both felt a "good neighbor" vibe.
We spoke to a nice lady in the visitor center that showed us the lay of the land, and also popped into a real estate office where we had a good chat about internet, power outages (not any more of an issue than where we live now really) and areas to be a little more vigilant in regards to crime and local mischief. She also graciously pointed us to a few apartments, and we went to go look at them for the afternoon.
So there were a couple of apartments that we really liked that were in the south part of town, and seems suitable for our needs.
BUT THERE'S ONE THING THAT WE REALLY FOUND PUZZLING!
Many apartments complexes don't have enough carports for the amount of units, but has a lot of open parking. That wouldn't concern me at all except for the fact that Rapid City gets hail pretty consistently. According to one of the agents at the apartment complex, he said this was due to a regulation (in the city? In South Dakota?) that when you build, you are only allowed to build a certain amount of structures for every acre of land. So not only garages, but carports as well, are considered structures because they have "a roof". Therefore, most parking is open and while dings from hail on everyone's car may be a part of the local landscape, he said there was a hailstorm last year that basically destroyed all the cars in the parking lot!
Now it might be rare that golf ball or baseball sized hailstorms occur, but they are known to happen. I was a little shocked about that and he kinda shrugged and said, "well, that's what insurance is for" and said he usually gets a new car every few years. He did admit though that he was a "gearhead" and liked his cars and warned me he may be overstating the risk.
The hail might be a concern to me, but having a regulation about restricting structures that would protect hail damage to cars sounds really really weird to me! (I mean California weird!) I mean how does that even work with insurance?? It sounds like it would be hard to get a policy that included hail damage at all. Are the insurance rates for cars extremely high?
I would shop around for a small house with a garage. Frequently they will rent for about the same amount as an apartment.
I haven't had any hail damage in the 10 yrs or so that I have lived in or near Hot Springs, but hail does happen.
Carry full coverage on your vehicle. Yes, there is a need for certain amount of open space. If you can find a carport or garage.
9 days after buying my first Jeep it was hailed on, in was larked in front of my house. This was in August of 2018. $3,000 damage. I took the money and ran. It is a fact of life around here. That storm took out a transom window in my family room. Another person had a brand new pickup for about six hours before it was hailed on.
Carry full coverage on your vehicle. Yes, there is a need for certain amount of open space.
Totally get not wanting to pave over open space. However, the "open space" I'm seeing at apartment complexes are already paved over. I don't see carports making it look any worse.
Anyway, I could live with dents on my car, but regulations preventing hail damage in an area known for heavy hail storms are very puzzling to me.
Totally get not wanting to pave over open space. However, the "open space" I'm seeing at apartment complexes are already paved over. I don't see carports making it look any worse.
Anyway, I could live with dents on my car, but regulations preventing hail damage in an area known for heavy hail storms are very puzzling to me.
The hail events average about once every three to five years. It usually does a swath and not the whole town. The whole area doesn’t need to be a carport, IMO.
This reminds me of a friend of mine in Arkansas who often says "Thank God for Mississippi!" There's always a place that has it worse. I Googled the phrase "which cities get the most hail" and all kinds of information popped up.
The Insurance Journal has a top ten list and Rapid City doesn't even make the list. So the good news is you're not considering a move to:
1. Tulsa, Okla.
2. Amarillo, Texas
3. Oklahoma City, Okla.
4. Wichita, Kan.
5. Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
6. Arlington, Texas
7. Denver, Colo.
8. Colorado Springs, Colo.
9. Shreveport, La.
10. Kansas City, Kan./Mo.
And the National Insurance Crime Bureau lists these beauties:
The top five states for hail loss claims were Texas (811,381); Colorado (395,025); Nebraska (163,336); Missouri (153,403) and Kansas (146,206).
The top five cities for hail loss claims during that period were San Antonio, Tex. (75,187); Colorado Springs, Colo. (67,920); Omaha, Neb. (52,803); Denver, Colo. (48,357) and Plano, Tex. (42,659).
Best of all, don't a lot of apartment complexes offer reserved carport parking? Make sure you get one of those spaces. While hail storms can happen at any time, they are most common in the afternoon or early evening when you are most likely to be out and about, living life in Glamour City, South Dakota!
With a fairly new Lincoln Town Car, I was caught in a hospital parking lot in central Florida visiting a family member and the worst hail storm of my life pummeled my car. Yes, thousands in damage and it goes to show it can happen anywhere. Now after years of parking my car on the streets of Manhattan, with break-ins and mirrors being ripped off by passing vehicles, I don't get too emotionally attached to vehicles since they drop in value every day as it is.
So I'd say, just enjoy your ride, keep your eyes on the sky and keep your fingers crossed. And as a last resort, contribute to the leasing departments "holiday party fund" and make sure you get that carport assigned to you! Good luck.
The hail events average about once every three to five years. It usually does a swath and not the whole town. The whole area doesn’t need to be a carport, IMO.
Thanks for the perspective... the agent didn't explain it in this way.
This reminds me of a friend of mine in Arkansas who often says "Thank God for Mississippi!" There's always a place that has it worse. I Googled the phrase "which cities get the most hail" and all kinds of information popped up.
The Insurance Journal has a top ten list and Rapid City doesn't even make the list. So the good news is you're not considering a move to:
1. Tulsa, Okla.
2. Amarillo, Texas
3. Oklahoma City, Okla.
4. Wichita, Kan.
5. Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
6. Arlington, Texas
7. Denver, Colo.
8. Colorado Springs, Colo.
9. Shreveport, La.
10. Kansas City, Kan./Mo.
And the National Insurance Crime Bureau lists these beauties:
The top five states for hail loss claims were Texas (811,381); Colorado (395,025); Nebraska (163,336); Missouri (153,403) and Kansas (146,206).
The top five cities for hail loss claims during that period were San Antonio, Tex. (75,187); Colorado Springs, Colo. (67,920); Omaha, Neb. (52,803); Denver, Colo. (48,357) and Plano, Tex. (42,659).
Best of all, don't a lot of apartment complexes offer reserved carport parking? Make sure you get one of those spaces. While hail storms can happen at any time, they are most common in the afternoon or early evening when you are most likely to be out and about, living life in Glamour City, South Dakota!
With a fairly new Lincoln Town Car, I was caught in a hospital parking lot in central Florida visiting a family member and the worst hail storm of my life pummeled my car. Yes, thousands in damage and it goes to show it can happen anywhere. Now after years of parking my car on the streets of Manhattan, with break-ins and mirrors being ripped off by passing vehicles, I don't get too emotionally attached to vehicles since they drop in value every day as it is.
So I'd say, just enjoy your ride, keep your eyes on the sky and keep your fingers crossed. And as a last resort, contribute to the leasing departments "holiday party fund" and make sure you get that carport assigned to you! Good luck.
Oh yes, there are carports for lease and I'd be put on a waiting list. The limited garages have a waiting list of up to a year.
But also thanks for the perspective. The unfamiliarity makes it more nerve wracking. It's like when we have a small earthquake where we live now and we get calls the next day from my husband's family in England asking if we're alright.
I live in RC and believe me, the hail storms are annually & multiple times a season!!!!! There are many new apartment complexes around the city. Google to find them, call each to ask about garages or carports if you are interested. Wind is a regular occurrence here as well and will most likely blow the hail under the carport and onto your car. That being said, in spite of having a three car garage, I was out to lunch 11 years ago in my new car, a hail storm came through and caused over $8,000 in damage. Don't have a high deductible on your car insurance as you will most likely need it at some point.
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He did admit though that he was a "gearhead" and liked his cars and warned me he may be overstating the risk. 
