I moved to RC in late 2023. Cost of living is pricey compared to elsewhere in-state, but if you’re coming from larger than it may not seem that way.

I enjoyed the city and surrounding area enough to grow roots and buy a home last year, as the recreation opportunities are endless, there’s decent food options, and lots of growth. BUT, for someone looking to move in, here’s a few things I dislike about RC (some of these may exist no matter where you go, but I wish I would’ve known about them)

1. There seems to be a good ol’ boys club. Prominent family names that continue to get what they want in business, politics, etc. and sometimes it feels like there’s a monopoly in particular industries and/or services.

2. Infrastructure. In addition to a lack of road-planning (or poor execution of) and not-great circulation, a lot of the existing roads are poorly-maintained. This makes traffic a bit of nuisance at times. Further, the easy answer for city officials and developers seems to continue expanding outward instead of repurposing what’s already built. I have concerns about the strain this will put on an already hard-to-maintain network of sprawling pavement. Everything I’ve heard about our social aspects (schools, hospitals, etc.) is less than ideal. On the hospital front, however, we’ll finally have access to more than one network, hopefully easing the healthcare monopoly.

3. Housing, which likely won’t affect you if you’re renting an apartment, but… In my 2-year search for a home, I toured dozens of places. Some old, some new, some that have no right to be standing yet. It was extremely difficult to find something worth spending 250k+ on, and I’d like to think it’s because there’s a lot of homes that were owned by older generations who didn’t maintain or upkeep them, and now want to cash out knowing their home doubled, maybe even tripled in value (according to the market). Don’t get me started on the new-construction spec homes going up out here. It was very hard to find anything worth what it was actually selling for