South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Downtown Sioux Falls

Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls

Found on FB, (H/T – Zach DeBoer)

l3wis 6Comments

“There’s no parking downtown! You have to walk so far from your parking spot to get to the store you’re looking for!” How many times have your heard (or said) this? South Dakotans love (and NEED) to be able to park directly in front of the store they’re shopping at. When there isn’t a nice open space on Phillips Avenue it’s “Bah There’s no parking down here!” (God forbid hey use the completely empty and free after 5pm parking ramps).

I never hear the same complaint about shopping at the Empire Mall. It’s the same concept! Park in one location, then walk a short distance to go to multiple stores conveniently located next to each other. Director ofDowntown Sioux Falls Inc. and urban design advocate, Joe Batcheller, made this very handy map showing how the two locations (downtown and the mall) compare. The red outline is the mall’s parking lot and the yellow shape is the mall’s footprint. I thought seeing the two overlaid like this was interesting and a great way to illustrate the discrepancy for people who ‘hate parking downtown’ but love shopping at the mall. Check it:

14671210_10207856014627123_7230831964588709484_n

Art Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls

I applaud the generosity of the private donors towards the Arc of Dreams, kind of.

l3wis 11Comments

image001

If you squint your eyes a little bit, it kind of looks like a Trojan Horse

I will admit, I was skeptical when the organizers of this project said they would raise all the money privately (I still am a little).

The project is being funded by private donors, with a goal of $1.25 Million. Schiller says they are at $1.17 Million right now.

It’s not that I don’t think the money is here in our community, it’s just that taxpayers have been down this road before. I have pressured Sculpture Walk organizers over the years to become more independent, they have been listening. There is also the logistics of the project. Talking to engineers and others in the art world who have been around large sculpture projects before I have a couple of concerns.

1. Since the large structure does not connect in the middle, there could be issues with it’s weight when it comes to high winds and counter balance.

2. The quartzite that has to be drilled through in order to create that counter balance could become very costly.

I have put city officials on notice that if any trouble arises and we the taxpayers have to chip in, that they proceed with caution. Think Trojan horse. While this is a great gift to the city, remember since it is sitting on city property, we have a great responsibility to maintain it. Where will that money come from? The sky? It would be like your dying uncle giving you his classic Ferrari.

We took a gift from Mr. Fawick back in the early 70’s and the city has been reluctant many times to keep him around, even throwing David in a storage lot for several years because they didn’t have the money to put him back up. I would be curious what the city is budgeting each year for maintenance of such a large piece of public art?

I also take issue with this statement;

Supporters have high hopes this new, massive piece of artwork will bring more than just tourists to the downtown area.

“The new awareness will truly advance economic development, workforce development in so many ways for so many years,” said Schiller.

Um . . . how will it do that? Sure it will promote more tourism to downtown, but we already have a great tourist attraction downtown, and it’s not Minerva’s or the Statue of David (Though he is my favorite DT).

When I watch press conferences like this, I often shake my head when our city leaders make ridiculous statements like this.

But at the end of day, I do Thank You . . . kind of.

Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Parks and Rec

What do you think of a public property smoking ban?

l3wis 4Comments

Once again, department heads are ‘playing god’ and proposing ordinances without the input of the city’s legislative branch, the city council. Instead they put together some pretty presentations and try to push it through.

Presentation Doc: smoking-pres

Ordinance Doc: smoking-ord

I’m kind of on the fence on this one. While I supported the smoking ban in bars due to the health of workers, I question making a ‘legal product’ OUTSIDE in public spaces illegal or even enforceable. No question smoking kills more people in America then anything. I have often wondered then ‘Why not just make tobacco products illegal all together?’ instead of piddling with more laws limiting a legal product.

While we will hear several arguments about not being allowed to smoke outside the EC and in public parks, the big kicker will be at downtown patios. Businesses currently buy a special permit to have those patios, it is city property (public property). From what I can tell two downtown business owners allow smoking on their patios, Stogeez and Lucky’s. While Lucky’s doesn’t have a special state permit to allow smoking inside their establishment, Stogeez does. But will they be allowed to use that special permit to allow smoking on their patio that is city owned public property?

City Property. All property owned, leased, or operated by the city, including but not limited to all city parks; city golf courses; city buildings; any ticket, boarding, and waiting areas of any public transit depots; public parking strip; and any public sidewalks abutting any city property.

Section 3. That the Code of Ordinances of Sioux Falls, SD, are hereby amended by adding a section to be numbered 92.211 to read:

§ 92.211 Prohibited Conduct.

That the use of tobacco products and electronic smoking devices is hereby prohibited on any city property.

I’m sure we will be hearing from Stogeez owner, Tim Kant on this one.

Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls

Is it time to change the parking structure of Downtown Sioux Falls?

l3wis 3Comments

When I travel, I try to make it to downtowns to see how their parking is setup for visitors. This is what I found on my last trip.

In Rapid City, they allow 3 hours free parking on their main street. I talked to downtown gallery owner Joe Lowe about it (we mostly talked politics :) and he said that they do monitor it, and you can move your car after 3 hours if you want more time.

In Deadwood I walked from my hotel, but it seemed there was plenty of public parking available for free in flat lots.

In Cody, WY I didn’t see a time limit on the main drag (Sheridan Ave?) and NO parking meters.

In Fort Collins there was 2 hours free parking in the Downtown area, plus 2 hour free flat lots.

While downtown Sioux Falls does allow free parking on Main Avenue, Phillips Avenue does charge on the meters from 9-5, weekdays. I have often argued if we want even more activity downtown we should remove the parking meters on Phillips Avenue from 14th to 6th Street, leave them everywhere else, and still charge for the ramps. I think the Phillips Avenue parking should be a 2 hour time limit, and monitored.

We consistently hear that since the parking system is an enterprise fund, we need the revenue to support it. I think with the possibility of a new ramp, and all the other ramps available and side street meters we could easily afford to give FREE parking on Phillips to visitors. The economic boost would be worth it. I would even implore we charge additional property taxes to Phillips Avenue businesses to offset the meter loss.

I am just baffled how I can visit four other Midwestern communities who have figured out free parking for their visitors, but for some reason this boomtown can’t.

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