Maybe they will come to the conclusion we need to send thousands of more dollars to Poops former(?) ad agency to tell people how to ignore the homeless problem. Maybe more 0% interest rates for wealthy historical homeowners is the answer? I think some of those Queen Anne and Victorians could hold quite a few transients.
I guess this is a good thing? But you have to wonder what kind of crap is going on between City Hall and Tzadik?
Recently Sioux Falls Business did this article about apartment availability.
If you go to my zip code, the average 1-bedroom apartment is $970 a month. You would have to make at least $38,000 a year or around $18 an hour to afford this (30% of income).
I heard a rumor recently that 70% of job listings in Sioux Falls pay $15 or less.
It seems in Sioux Falls we have affordability issues with all kinds of things like groceries, housing, and childcare. Maybe Sioux Falls doesn’t have an affordability issue, maybe it has a wage issue?
But don’t bother our local leadership with that issue, because they will tell us that wages should be determined by the FREE market, you know, the FREE market in South Dakota that allows business owning legislators to take government handouts, or that same FREE market that creates special tax districts so developers can buy skywalks and public art, or the millions and millions we give away for parking ramps that will be obsolete within 10-20 years.
While our local governments are quick to throw money at the top and hope it trickles down to the rest of us, they really need to put their foot where the sun doesn’t shine and get businesses to pay living wages, then things like buying a home or even a loaf of bread are a lot less challenging in our community.
The city council has the power and authority to pass policies that would help wage earners in our community, for example, an ordinance that requires all businesses advertising for employment within city limits list their starting wage, or raising the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour or more.
When we talk about the affordability of our city, it really comes down to what our employers are willing to pay and little else because all this talk about affordability is just a smoke screen to what our real problem is, CRAPPY WAGES!
I was just thinking about this the other day . . . and for me and the good pastor, Sioux Falls City Councilor, Rich Merkouris, to have the same inquisitive thoughts, it was a little eerie.
During the informational Rich asked our housing specialist, Logan Penfield, what was going on with the North Brandon project and Logan responded by saying he wasn’t sure and had to get back to Rich.
Seems a bit odd doesn’t it?
Councilor Merkouris just stepped into the vice chair leadership position a few weeks ago. So now with a few weeks of insider baseball under his belt he seemed to pull this question from the sky . . .
. . . and after doing a long presentation on a housing action plan you would think Mr. Penfield would have the answer to that question on the tip of his tongue. But Mr. Penfield has experience in good old Washington, a place where it is best to ignore the hard questions.
I was thinking about the project because after all the fanfare you would have thought there would have been a ribbon cutting already with dirt moving? Instead a staffer from the administration (who is in charge of projects like this) hands over a big fat I don’t know with a shoulder shrug.
While the administration may think it is Sioux Falls ONE it is more like Sioux Falls IDK.
It seems the numbers for residential housing are way down, and developers are pushing towards building apartments;
The most noticeable drop is in new housing construction, which totaled $34.6 million, or 77 single-family homes, through April. Last year, it was $98.2 million, or 281 homes, and in 2021 it was $110.8 million, or 321 homes.
What is even more shocking is how the average price of a home in Sioux Falls is $100k more in just one year; 2021 ($345K) 2022 ($350K) 2023 ($450K). With an average mortgage rate of $4,000 a month. Real affordable? Huh? You would have to have a yearly household income of around $150k to afford this.
It is becoming more and more expensive to own a home in Sioux Falls.
l3wis