Rapid City Description

Rapid City is a safe place to live under the topic of air quality. In the perimeters of the Main Street Square, many precautions are taken to ensure good air quality. Many signs are posted near the Main Street Square fountain area stating “no smoking.” In addition, smoke stacks are located near the parking ramp, where there is not a heavy flow of pedestrian traffic. Rapid City is situated at the bottom of the Black Hills in a valley; this location does allow smoke to accumulate if there is a wild fire. Often times, wild fires from areas such as, Washington, Oregon, and Montana will send smoke above the Black Hills depending on the direction of the wind. This problem is short-term and goes away when the wind changes direction. Another potential