Here are the RAW comments not formatted if you want to read all 600 of them. I will warn you, there are a couple of racist comments (I wonder if they realize that they know who makes the comments?)
Streets were the NUMBER one topic folks discussed. While most comments were negative, over half offered specific solutions. So that was nice to see. But the most negative topic was homelessness. Folks ain’t happy about it. There was also a lot of negative comments about law enforcement and how they investigate and prosecute crimes.
Here are the results and some select comments (this is a work in progress, so I will update with more comments);
TRAFFIC, STREETS, SNOW REMOVAL: 91 COMMENTS
Snow removal is horrible in this city. How many accidents have happened because of the poor snow removal in the city of Sioux Falls. My guess is many!!!
(Well one day last year there was over 100 in one day because they decided to not salt the streets. Cost us millions in higher insurance premiums and deductibles. The person in charge of street maintenance should have been fired on the spot, problem is he was probably taking direction from Poops).
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More efficient snow removal in neighborhoods. The main roads are great – but it doesn’t help if we can’t get there because the snow hasn’t been plowed on the side streets. I’ve missed work because the city didn’t come to plow my neighborhood for days.
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Better roads and better co-ordination in road closures. Come-on, I can almost not get to work. just one more closure and we can succeed in thwarting my trip to work.
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City is growing too fast for the streets to handle. I’ve lived here over 40 years, and traffic has never been this bad. Street construction projects seem to take a lifetime to finish. Why not focus on one or two instead of having 20 different areas under construction for months at a time? When arterial streets are closed, secondary routes become packed with cars way too easily with no other routes available. Public transit is bad. Treatment of homeless is bad.
AFFORDABILITY, HOUSING, TAXES, GROCERIES, HEALTHCARE, CHILDCARE: 86 COMMENTS
SF is purple politically, not red. Don’t let Pierre and the Republicans drive the agenda or you will anger half of your residents. Please acknowledge that the economy is horrible and figure out how to lower taxes especially property taxes. They are ridiculously high.
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invest in early childhood development and legitimate affordable housing. currently it is roughly $200/week per child for all day dare in sioux falls, and low income housing starts at $900/mo. neither of these are affordable, or sustainable. single parents in sioux falls are putting themselves in debt, just to ensure they have a roof over their kids head. this is with a well paying job and degree.
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Omg. Real estate taxes are insanely HIGH. Omg! STOP building rec / paths / parks / pools. STOP and get taxes in control – retired being forced out. NO we dont want pay rehab prisoners. Why should SF be stuck with paying for criminals. Living SF has huge expenses for prison. Give bus tickets to warm states down south to vagrants – tired of paying taxes while they get all free – health housing utilities etc etc middle class only ones paying for all.
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Focus on MORE income based options for HOUSING, GYM opportunities (as a single mom the healthiest thing I could do for my children and myself is set an example and go work out HOWEVER, no gym is affordable with childcare, the quality is poor and my children fear going there or it’s simply not offered! Again, even affording it is outrageous, utilities, entertainment, transportation, CHILDCARE. Focus on more of a southern charm feel/look in the city. I used to find people kind and warm (grew up here) now it’s distant and cold. Every man for himself. No one chatting anymore. No sense of community pride. More fish fry events, jazz fest, more feats for families to have options to enjoy themselves, focus on Christmas extravaganza’s (horse drawn carriage rides, hot chocolate, markets, hot chocolate stands. Draw people in. It can be very boring and lonely here. Especially in the winter. When you look at our COL compared to even some nice beach cities it’s not much better then there and their schools are rated higher.
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I just want to be able to own a home and support my family. Feels like a dream that’s getting further and further away. We need affordable houses.. not housing. Nobody wants to build a life in an apartment or a town home.
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Give mid to lower income people a property tax reduction. Right now the property is taxes are so high that it is becoming prohibitive for the elderly to keep their homes. Maintaining a home is far less expensive than the high rents in Sioux Falls.
POLICE, CRIME, CODE ENFORCEMENT: 81 COMMENTS
More police, more Republicans
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Remove all illegal immigrants from our city! Vote out the Democrats.
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Make the Chief dress accordingly rather than trying to be a hipster. The job requires dignity.
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Locally recreate Julian’s “Broken Window” campaign around “Noise abatement”-particularly focus on Motorcycles & Loud Diesel pickups with custom exhausts.
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At minimum assign hourly bike law enforcement patrol TEAMS along the downtown river system and neighborhood river recreation areas M-F 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 4 pm to 6 pm. Weekends 8 am to 5 pm. Similar to downtown Denver the river is a great access to all things downtown for all residence. High pedestrian traffic times and homeless coming and going from there outdoor resting places. Homeless are living along the river, panhandling, increased belgerent interactions with pedestrians. Uptick in volume being pushed out of downtown into bordering neighborhood park areas. Increasingly feeling feeling very unsafe for all bike path recreationers.
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Enforce our laws. The police chief recently made a presentation bragging about saving money not arresting people. They are putting the burden on the individual which is wrong. Fire Thum
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Get rid of the illegals so the jobs their stealing can actually go to Americans. Also stop catering to the Alphabet mafia in this town.
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Get rid of the poor, weird people, and quit charging parking on weekends, and make property payments even.
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Get the drifters and beggers out of town.
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Hire more law enforcement that actually enforce traffic violations, theft and property damage. Crimes that are currently looked at as not “serious enough” to pursue. Even when identifying information has been provided.
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Hire more on the police force, i had my car broken into this past march, heard from a detective one time and never heard from again. I get other crimes happen that are more severe but it feels like the rapid growth of the city in such a short time led to not staffing enough detectives and i almost never see SFPD in the southeast corner of the city at all.
PLANNING, ZONING: 79 COMMENTS
Please be mindful of development for development’s sake and short term gain. Changes made to the land now affect the area for generations to come.
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Sioux Falls City government could improve Sioux Falls by elevating the standards or benchmarks for growth – developers could design and build more intentionally to improve affordability, walkability, and sustainability in terms of utilities (ie. solar on large commercial or residential buildings, geothermal instead of split systems, and higher quality building materials). Many of these standards exist already in the international building code.
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Change neighborhood build model from large apartment complexes, townhomes/twin homes, single family homes to higher end homes. Allow nice neighborhoods to stand alone without being surrounded by massive apartment complexes and townhomes. Sioux Falls is a nice town, but not a beautiful town. Places like Des Moines sidewalks, medians, roadways are much cleaner and nicer appearing with boulevards. Fargo is far ahead of Sioux Falls with respect to indoor recreation (including ice sheets) complexes under the city parks department. SF needs to expand indoor recreation opportunities including ice.
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I love that the city is a welcoming place for people of all backgrounds. However, I’m concerned that in the city’s desire to be welcoming, we’re giving a free pass to individuals who do not want to follow our laws or community standards. This is a dangerous precedent to set and it creates inherent inequities in our community. No person should be given more liberties or allowed to disregard our laws simply because it is not their “custom.” We are the community of Sioux Falls. We need to set shared expectations and have accountability for all community members if we want to preserve the things that make this community wonderful.
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I keep requesting a downtown bar dance hall playing country music and getting couples out dancing, etc. Arizona, Texas, Nashville have these fun bars, open rooftop dining, unique and needed for young couples, drinking age….liven up these bars in town besides food.
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I encourage city leadership to pause large-scale expansion and instead prioritize maintaining quality of life, community cohesion, and local culture. Growth for growth’s sake is not progress—it risks turning our town into another anonymous suburb with traffic, noise, and rising costs. Please focus on preserving what already works: safe neighborhoods, accessible public spaces, and genuine community connection. The goal shouldn’t be to become “bigger,” but to remain a place worth belonging to. Our family chose to live here because of the small-town character, sense of community, and slower pace that define the Midwest. However, the city’s ongoing push for growth and development is rapidly eroding the very qualities that make this place special.
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Curb side trash is a disaster. Every Tuesday in my neighborhood it is common to see bins blown over in our frequent windy weather and trash is blown all over the neighborhood
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Find a way to get rid of the Smithfood Stink in the air!
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Focus developments on outlying neighborhoods instead of most focus on the core (ie: downtown). There are other areas that need to have investments made around town, but residents are not always the loudest because they feel their voices don’t matter.
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Focus less on business development and more on social services. Stop running the city as a business and run it as a community. The two are incompatible.
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Help reduce all the apartments and townhomes taking over. It makes me sad to see less green space everyday. Also feel so unsafe driving, I’ve never seen so many accidents. Please help Sioux Falls be more conservative…democrat cities are full of problems (our family fled from one). And help bring a Trader Joe’s!
GOVERNMENT, TRANSPARENCY: 74 COMMENTS
Requesting that the City Council take a closer look at the city’s organizational structure, particularly within upper management. There appears to be an excessive hierarchy and unnecessary layers of management that do not contribute to the efficient operation of several departments, including Parks and Recreation and Human Resources. Streamlining leadership could not only improve communication, accountability, and overall effectiveness, but also result in meaningful cost savings that could be redirected toward other much-needed community resources.
(This was one of the best comments, I have been listening to Mayoral candidates and waiting for one of them to present a layoff plan of mid-management (one of them says they have a plan). We could save the city millions every year if we cut the dead weight. Ironically when a private business needs to make financial cuts the first place they go is cutting labor. If Poops is running the city like a business, why not look a labor cuts? Seems pretty simple to me.)
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One thing? Get rid of TenHaken. That **** has turned the city into a business which inherently makes it something people have to buy into rather than service it should. Government should serve the people.
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‘Actively collaborate with residents. There are a lot of experts that could be activated but that means the city must come to the table in good faith. We want to help so the city needs to do its best to provide the platform and then just get out of the way.’
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Listen to the little people. Stop taking money from Denny Sanford and listen to the actual people who live here full time and actually pay taxes.
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Honestly, I can’t think of anything. Continue just as it has done in the 33 years that we’ve lived here; have a strategic plan, listen to the public input and change as needed.
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Have a backbone and stand against National politics / recommendations. Follow Science not Politics!
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‘As a resident invested in the future of our community, I would like to offer a suggestion to help improve city government operations and public engagement.
1. More Strategic Use of Tax Dollars, encourage the city to continue evaluating how tax dollars are allocated, with a focus on maximizing impact and transparency. Prioritizing essential services, infrastructure maintenance, and community programs—while minimizing administrative overhead—can help ensure that public funds are used efficiently and equitably.
2. Enhanced Public Awareness and Involvement Opportunities. Many residents are unaware of when and how they can participate in city planning or decision-making. I recommend a more robust and accessible marketing strategy to promote public meetings, surveys, and initiatives like Shape Sioux Falls. This could include: Regular updates via social media and local news outlets. Clear signage in public spaces. Email newsletters or text alerts for those who opt in. Partnerships with local organizations to spread the word.’
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Extremely well-paid city employees, in contrast to those who are not, should be proactively involved in improving Sioux Falls streets, for example. Calling in street repairs, snow and water drainage blockages, and litter, etc. Don’t they also drive these streets?
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Get a different mayor, the mayor for last number of years has just let SF go downwards
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Get a mayor who will listen to average person not just rich people
HOMELESSNESS, PANHANDLING, SHELTERS: 70 COMMENTS
Require any person or group bringing people to town to be personally responsible for housing, feeding, employment, child care and medical care so the existing residents aren’t forced to pay for it.
(Sure, and everyone should get a free bowl of ice cream on Fridays to!)
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‘Address the crime and homelessness problems. I pay my taxes… but sometimes do not feel comfortable letting my kids use the public park (Lyon Park) in our neighborhood because there are always homeless people hanging out. This should be addressed. I have also called the city to report a streetlight out… no return call and no repair. I live on 1st Ave and seems like the street cleaners do not prioritize cleaning in our neighborhood. These are services that I pay for with tax dollars. Why can’t I benefit from the money that I pay?’
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Mayor should stop his war on homelessness and support orgs instead
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‘At present, I am concerned about the upcoming city mayoral election outcome. Ten Haken has been great, I pray we do not go backwards. Addressing the the panhandling situation, it has gotten better, but we cannot let up.’
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Deport homeless to place of origin. Eliminate panhandling and transport those who do to neighborhoods of the grandchildren of THOSE who support this activity. Hold churches and organizations that subsidize these ‘blights’ on society responsible for the actions of those they bring into the community and continue to support.
DIVERSITY, ARTS, CULTURE, INCLUSIVENESS: 40 COMMENTS
Stop bringing in foreign people. Shut down Lutheran Social Services. Stop catering to the gay community. Support the churches and family organizations. Stop schools teaching children it’s normal to be gay or change their sex. Clean up this city.
(I guess they let Klansman take the survey)
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Make more of an effort to support those who are not straight white cis men. There’s a mentality of love and caring for marginalized groups but more like it’s an obligation than work intention.
CITY INFRASTRUCTURE: 31 COMMENTS
I wish we had more “3rd spaces”. Places that you don’t have to pay money or very much money at least to just exist. Like a library! I wish there was more places in Sioux Falls for me to sit and work on stuff, or read a book, or just sit and people watch.
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Quit acting like a small town and get in the real world
PARKS: 27 COMMENTS
Create and finance the equivalent of a Central Park, 800 acres, with plenty of green space, gardens, walkways, picnic areas and NOT on the interstates (the down side of the bike and walking trails are that they’re all along the interstates, which makes them noisy with air pollution).
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: 18 COMMENTS
AIRPORT: 1 COMMENT