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Hello all,
I have an interview scheduled with the hospital in Custer so I'm wanting to get some information about the town. I have read all of the posts on here regarding Custer, but I would love to hear from anyone familiar with the area. We have 3 school age children so any information regarding the schools would be fantastic. How easy/hard would it be to find a rental house? Things to do for kids in the area? Sports like youth soccer and softball? Anyone familiar with working for regional health? Etc, etc, etc. Thanks in advance for your help. It has been a dream of ours for years to retire in the Black Hills area, so we are very excited about the possibility of landing the job and making our dream a reality.
I got the JOB So now we REALLY need information on Custer or Hill City and surrounding areas Move is tentatively scheduled for mid July and we are scrambling to find a rental and start packing! Exciting times
Last edited by thehelferfamily; 05-23-2013 at 07:57 PM..
For whatever reasons, we do not seem to have a lot of posters anymore. I live a few miles south of Custer in Hot Springs. It should not be hard to find a rental house in Custer. Your best bet would be to contact a local realtor. There is plenty for the kids to do. Hopefully someone from Custer will post something more specific.
Thanks for your reply uncleharley I chatted with a few realtors today and our biggest challenge will be finding a long term rental during the peak of tourist season! It isn't impossible but we may have to squeeze our family of 5 with a fat dog into a small house/apartment until we are ready to buy in about a year. Thanks again for the reply and hopefully someone else will chime in with info
I don't really know a ton about Custer, but I'll take a stab at a few things. First, the public school is fine and normal for SD, but SD schools aren't the greatest by any means. I don't really know about any private schools there.
Custer is located in the hills so there is plenty to do. You could go to Hot Springs and hang out down there, or go to Sylvan Lake and hike the trails around there.
I really have 0 clue on the sports in Custer. I know someone pretty well that works with Regional in Rapid City. I can't guarantee Custer would be the same, but I could ask them some specific questions to see if they could help.
Welcome to South Dakota! Congratulations on the new job. I grew up in the Black Hills and have a cousin and aunt that live in Hill City and a sister-in-law that lives in Custer. I know nothing about the school there, however, my cousin is a teacher in Hill City. Absolutely beautiful area with great, friendly folks.
There is so much to do in relation to outdoor activities, that you will have a difficult time trying to fit everything in. Hill City is more centrally located in the Hills, so access to the lakes, boating, swimming, picnic's, and such are much easier. That doesn't mean that Custer is that far away, only about 15 minutes on a lazy day. Of the two, I like Hill City a little better. Not real sure I can pin point exactly why because they are that close. I think Hill City has a little better selection of food. Seems like it's a little better laid out and easier to get around. Of course, Custer has the park just to the North East and being that close you'll want to get an annual pass to the parks so you can visit any time you have free time.
The schools in South Dakota. I kind of have to disagree with RCO1 in that South Dakota is probably the worst for teachers pay. To me, that means that if a teacher is willing to accept that pay, she/he really must love their job, because they're not in it for the pay. I went to school in Rapid City and I think the schools there, and the teachers (except a couple who were just plain burnt out) were pretty darn good. I do know that my cousin loves her work and wouldn't leave for anything. Her husband loves it in Hill City and even commutes to Rapid City for his work. I have seen so many people on here recommend NOT commuting that far, but he has done it for 20 years and has no complaints.
I think you have made a wonderful choice and you will love it in the Hills, no matter if you choose Custer, Hill City, or even a high rise apartment in Pringle. Sorry, just kidding about the highrise. You'll catch on to that joke when you get there.
Thanks for the replies RC01 and ElkHunter!! We are actually thinking about living in Hill City and just commute into Custer for my job. We are discovering that long term rentals are REALLY hard to find especially during peak tourist season We have a few realtors scouting out possiblities for us and the hospital is also keeping their ears open. I think I remember reading a thread on here not to long ago regarding property taxes in the hills....according to the posts the taxes are REALLY high?!? I'm sure we will find out all the information when we get ready to buy but for now we will rent for a year, get to know the area, and decide what community to settle down in and buy/build. Thanks again for your help!
Welcome to the Black Hills! My hubby and I retired here 7 years ago and love the seasons with the exception of the long and brutally cold winter. We are thinking of relocating to WA state to be closer to our daughter. Our daughter used to work at Rapid City Regional as an RN, but went into another medical field for more money. Custer Regional pays even less and is all about the politics. I'm not sure what state you are coming from but I have found that people in this area are very much concerned about your income, your husbands income, what did you do with the profits from the house you sold, why would you buy your child a car, I think you get the idea. Don't get me wrong there are very nice people here, just beware. For that reason it has been extremely hard to find truly good friends. I can't tell you anything about the school system other than a few years ago I applied as a sub-teacher, they do hire people with no college whatsoever to sub teach. School here in Custer is Mon-Thurs only which is nice, but day care is hard to come by and is kinda pricey for the pay in this area, YMCA $650ish for one child. Rental housing is hard to come by also, even by getting the weekly newspaper, by the time you call, it's already gone regardless of the time of the year. A realtor looking for a rental for you is a great idea on your part. Hill City is a nice little town that is also close to Custer. Good luck to you and your family!
Thanks Moose007 for the info. We are leaning towards Hill City to find a house, but rentals are even harder to locate there than in Custer. I'm sure every hospital, just like any large corporation, has issues with "politics" including Custer. That said, we will make the best of it....sometimes it's just in the attitude and how we approach things. My husband grew up in a small town and also knows about the "everybody wants to know everything about you" kind of mentality, but we also want to know our neighbors and get involved in our community. Very hard to do in a larger city. We are making the move with eyes wide open and positive attitudes about the new adventure so I know we will be fine. Good luck in your move to WA state...that is where we are fleeing from, but we have never been big city people. Even our smaller eastern WA town is getting too big for this country family Thanks again for your input!
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Thanks in advance for your help. It has been a dream of ours for years to retire in the Black Hills area, so we are very excited about the possibility of landing the job and making our dream a reality. 
Sorry, just kidding about the highrise. You'll catch on to that joke when you get there.
