“This sure beats the heck out of the Ramen noodles and cardboard sandwich I had for dinner last night.”
While Mayor Huether likes to brag about Building Permits and Low Unemployment, our cafeterias in our schools are turning into The Banquet;
Almost half the children in elementary school in Sioux Falls signed up for free or reduced lunch last year, an alarming jump of 5 percentage points and about double the rate of suburban districts.
(In 2012 there was approximately 23,000 students in SF. You are basically looking at about 11,000 students getting free or reduced lunches).
That can’t be right!? We have low unemployment and developers building like crazy. The fact is, that while businesses in our community are enjoying climbing out of this recession, they are not passing that good fortune unto their employees;
“It does seem like we’re seeing more million dollar-plus houses, and seeing more pressure on The Banquet, St. Francis House, rental housing assistance,†Nesiba said. “They’re growing simultaneously. It’s an interesting contradiction.â€
Come on Professor Nesiba, don’t you believe in ‘trickle down economics’? If all these peeps in Sioux Falls are making so much money, shouldn’t it be coming our way? And here’s the kicker, stats I have been searching for;
For school board members, the increase in poverty figures shines a light on low wages in the region. South Dakota Division of Labor statistics show that half the workforce in the four-county Sioux Falls Metropolitan Area earns less than $15 an hour — about $31,000 per year.
Now think about that. It is about what I earn in a year. I’m single, have no debt (car paid for) and after refinancing my house, I pay about half for my mortgage compared to what friends of mine pay for rent for a two bedroom apartment. I invest about $200 a month, save about $200 a month and spend about $200 a month on entertainment (vices). Now take that wage and support a family of three on it. It’s ludicrous, and virtually impossible, especially with how high rent is in Sioux Falls;
The availability of affordable housing probably contributes to the poverty gap between the city and the suburbs, Nesiba said. Young people and families just starting out are more likely to live in the city, Nesiba said. “There is still a shortage of affordable housing in Sioux Falls, but there are more lower-income families that end up living here rather than in Tea, Brandon or in Lincoln County, because the jobs are here,†Nesiba added. “We have a very low unemployment rate, but there are so many people that are working lower-wage jobs, and a higher number of people working two or more jobs.â€
This is why I have said over and over again, that I only support TIF’s for affordable housing, and smaller apartment owners that want to fix up their units. When we hand out TIF’s to luxury hotels, retail giants and condos, not only are we sending a bad message, we are taking money out of the county and school district’s coffers. You know, the guys who educate and protect our community.
Sioux Falls, and South Dakota is run amuck in corporate welfare, that not only takes away from public services, it offers NO accountability to the ones receiving it (a promise of better paying jobs – NOT more jobs). But when you have a former subprime credit card huckster running the city and Pierre looking more like Watergate every day, what do you expect?
Yup. And it’s going to keep getting worse. The economic stratification is already plain as day to anyone who wants to see it. But for a few choice pockets of old money near McKennan Park and the zoo, the bourgeois have all skipped south of 229, where all the new construction is in the Harrisburg School District. Harrisburg certainly doesn’t have the capacity at present but I won’t be surprised when 10-20 years from now the families down there between 229 and 69th that can’t afford O’Gorman are open enrolling their kids into Harrisburg and out of Sioux Falls.
The Harrisburg School District is going to be the refuge of Sioux Falls’ landed gentry, those who need to live *near* Sioux Falls for work but couldn’t bear to live *in* Sioux Falls. Huge homes, all kinds of retail expansion when SD 100 is complete – their superintendent will look like Scrooge McDuck in the money bin. While Sioux Falls starts to crumble, they are going to be drowning in high-dollar new construction. So not only will they get awesome schools, they’ll get them at mill rates that’ll make the Sioux Falls School District blush.
And then what? You’ll hear the cries from south of 69th that you hear in privileged white suburbs all across America – the schools in Sioux Falls aren’t our problem. Let the poors and the minorities figure it out on their own. And while we’re at it, let’s continue to ensure there’s no bus service down here. We don’t want *those* people coming down here to work.
If you ever wanted to know why I goof on the SON crowd so much, it’s because they are the leading edge of this nonsense; awash in white, upper middle class privilege but thinking they’re all Joe and Jane Everyman.
All for one, one for all? Not in Sioux Falls.
A whole lot of envy and hyperbole Hornman. I see you have 0 answers to the problem.
I went to the same schools and had all the same opportunities as you. But I’m the bad guy for choosing not to live north of 229. Hmm. I could have purchased a new home for and put in some sweat equity or buy an older house in the center of town at the same price per square foot cost. Tough decision.
Lets rewind to what I have posted with facts in previous posts. Get an education, get a job, get married and then have children is the sure bet to staying out of poverty. How bout a breakdown of people who followed this plan below and above the 229 line? Choices have consequences.
As I have said before. If your serious about changing this problem, then get involved. Demand no more TIFS for commercial property, only for revitalization of the residential core. Why are the southsiders questioning the cities decisions—-Because their engaged to whats going on around them.
As far as the “sending south side kids to Harrisburg” there are no Sioux Falls schools on the south side. The SF school district should have placed a school at 57th and Western. The majority don’t have time to schlep our kids back into the city core each day, BECAUSE WE HAVE FULL TIME JOBS IN ORDER TO PAY FOR OUR SO CALLED MANSIONS.
Another result of poverty;
http://www.argusleader.com/article/20131229/NEWS/312290012/FBI-Violent-crime-doubles-South-Dakota
Ha ha, “city core”! So much road rage comes spilling down the hill from the platinum-level mountain folk each morning, it’s almost as if they need to buy in somewhere just to have a commute in the G-Class! Love it!
Now research where a majority of that violent crime happened. Who wants to live in the middle of that.
Get an education, get a job, get married and then have children is the sure bet to staying out of poverty.
So you really believe an education is the magic pill for solving poverty? Imagine higher education available for all with reasonable student loan rates and tuition not sky high and out of reach. Would quadrupling college degrees in SF change the number of kids that qualify for free and reduced school lunches? NO. All it would mean is free and reduced meals for kids with parents with a degree.
Who wants to live in the middle of that.
At the current pace, you will be. As the story alludes too, slowly, more and more people are slipping from the middle class to the working poor. In the not to distant future the working poor will be just a stones throw from your doorstep. At what point do the working poor say enough is enough?
Is your bunker properly protected?
“Jobs jobs jobs!!!” in Sioux Falls is deceiving. I came to Sioux Falls a couple of years ago with my (now ex) when she got a promotion in her job. We visited and asked around and everyone was pretty optimistic about the job market in town and the economy as a whole. So I figured, “OK, let’s give this town a try! This could be fun!” I got to town and could never find any kind of decent work. I would talk with recruiters in the Sioux Falls area and they almost had this sad, hopeless, gloomy tone when I would talk with them, like I was some kind of outcast. Here I’ve been a lifelong IT guy with a background in training and user experience. The jobs I found paid fast-food wages… for a guy with a degree! It seems like all of the “Jobs jobs jobs!” currently in supply in Sioux Falls are targeted towards people with a HS diploma or GED, with entry-level skills, who expect to make not much more than minimum wage. Have a degree? You can go into one of a few stereotypical entry level jobs in a bank. Not to knock SD but the percentage of residents who have a college degree (or more) skews less than in surrounding states. Accordingly the job market reflects that.
I had had enough (and my ex was frustrated with me) and we eventually decided it was time for me to come home. I came back to Minneapolis and all of a sudden my phone was ringing off the hook. Crazy enough I ended up at my old job at a large implanted medical device firm… with about a 10% raise from when I had last worked there!
Sioux Falls is a GREAT place to go into business right now – low costs, low taxes, low labor costs (unfortunately for the workers). To find a job though? I wouldn’t do it again unless I showed up with some amazing offer. But it seems every job in Sioux Falls automatically pays less than anywhere else, sometimes significantly less than the different in cost of living between a larger market. Not worth it. If I had the money to start a business someday I’d consider coming back. I see a pent-up demand for a lot of stuff in Sioux Falls, things that in larger cities are easy to come by.
Did I enjoy Sioux Falls? Yes! I did! I met a lot of characters and had some experiences in business and in the community that I may never have had elsewhere. I wanted to make it my success story. Had things worked out I may have settled down there and had a family. But it didn’t happen. My hopes for Sioux Falls and SD in general are still high! But so far I can’t write home about it yet.
“Get an education, get a job, get married and then have children is the sure bet to staying out of poverty.” And then move to another state to find a good paying job. See Mughtar’s comments for further explanation.
Although I don’t understand how having children is a sure bet to stay out of poverty. See Sunday Argus for that story.
Another companion piece in the argus today on page 4b. Could not find it online, but did find it elsewhere. Turns out this article was first published in the Chicago Tribune 19 days ago. Way to stay on top of it argus.
In other breaking news, lately is in training again.
http://newsok.com/clarence-page-why-the-right-should-support-boosting-minimum-wage/article/3913850
It’s so much fun provoking the bourgeois into trying to defend their lifestyle as *not* exceptional. It’s that culturally-enforced Lutheran humility that forces rich people here to argue that they aren’t actually well-off. Love it. A laugh a minute.
I didn’t grow up here, LJL, so I probably went to better schools than you. That is, if you stuck around here, since it’s really not hard to find better schools than those in this state. And there’s no envy here; unlike charlatans like you who seem to think you earned everything you got, I’m humble (and aware) enough to recognize that everything I have is the result of someone giving me an opportunity. You should try gratitude sometime. There’s a lot of fulfillment to find in life when you stop thinking that you’re responsible for or that you deserve every good thing that happens to you.
Poverty isn’t really a moral problem. It’s an economic problem. It’s about a lack of affordable housing, a lack of quality education, and ultimately, a lack of decent economic opportunities for most people in Sioux Falls. And who’s responsible for that last part? Mostly the people who are too busy stroking themselves for creating the world’s lousiest jobs.
Get involved? I do it all the time. I mentor at-risk kids, I volunteer with community organizations, I donate to causes that help struggling families. I’m a pretty good citizen as it goes.
And you’re losing people like me because, as Muqhtar noted, you can be a college graduate here and your opportunities are for squat. There is no middle class here; just worker bees and their overlords. And like Muqhtar, I too am bound for the Twin Cities, except in my case, my salary is going up by about 70%. Makes it real easy to leave. Oh, and FWIW, I live south of 229 too, but in that multi-family housing you guys use as a buffer to hide yourselves from reality. But you can keep stroking yourself over the belief that only you have a full-time job, only you worked hard, blah blah blah blah blah. That’s what most upper middle-class white people do. Eau de Privilege. We all know the fragrance.
Finally, LJL, you don’t have to schlep your kids anywhere. Last I checked, the Sioux Falls School District will send buses to pick up your kids for the low, low price of free. Unless your sheltered kids are too good to ride the bus…
Funny the amount of people who’ve left for Mn and won’t come back because of the pay. I guess the state income tax in Mn isn’t that bad.
KSFY had a piece last week that the homeless & working poor are double from 2010. Uh, that’s when Huether became king. Say that fellas. I’ve recently done research from scant city stats. Planning has attacked the area 10 blocks radius of Minnesota & 10th. Also, 8th Railroad area. It’s looking like there will be more new crack condos development. Also, it’s evident city leaders are going after private mini-storage enterprise so Lloyd gets the monopoly. They’re so obvious. It’d be fair if some of the general population could invest. I’m tired of paying taxes to make a few developers and Huethers rich.
I Never said I went to college. I was never given an inheritance or a family business. I worked hard and educated myself to help grow a business. As I have pointed out on this blog before (including statistics) Sioux Falls has a much higher drop put rate than the surrounding burbs.
Never said having children will keep you out of poverty. Having children after you are married and after you finish your education and after you have a job will statistically keep you out of poverty. Having children young puts you at a huge disadvantage. Don’t have children and you are almost ensured to be kept out of poverty.
Hornyguy, Your first 2 paragraphs show just how repugnant you are;there was no need to read on. You have no idea who I am, what I do or how I got here, therefore you must be projecting your self worth onto a keyboard. Is hate your only emotion when you visit this blog? Real classy dropping religion in your first 2 sentences. Do yourself a favor and research how much low income HUD funded properties there are on the south side. Hint- A lot
Since your civility is a bit relaxed, I’ll take 1 shot at some low hanging fruit I read in that first 2 paragraphs. Hornyguy If your blessing from others and out of state education was so good, why do you live in the center of the city? Sorry, it’s just too obvious by your postings that a newspaper article was not the spark that lit your class warfare vomit. You really do need help if your posting is truly how you feel about others.
Muqthar, I know of 4 entry level engineering 50k jobs that have been unfilled for the last 5 months. No one applies because no one thinks they have the ability.
You can’t deny, too many people are too happy with little effort for little reward. Unfortunately kids are often the ones that suffer the worst. And Sioux Falls has the most programs for these types of people.
My bunker is very well protected. I’m right wing nutcase remember, clinging to my guns and religion. Theres is no way in hell I will raise my children in a neighborhood or a city where crime jeopardizes our future. Our city needs to look hard at what is not being done in the center of this city to stop vicious crime. I would start with closing a 12th street liquor store and investigate the activities of a group home near it.
Because Luthern’s were the target of a hate filled post (FYI, I’m not one) I will post a link to a group that has been doing great work with the low income within Sioux Falls. I heard they provide prom dresses complete with alterations for youth regardless of where you live. And located right here in the heart of the evil South Side.
http://kingofglorysf.org/news/2013/5/2/kings-kloset-set-for-may-distribution.html#.UsA-WPuiLkd
OOPPS. Here is that link.
Operation prom dress
http://www.lhbcsf.org/
“Since your civility is a bit relaxed, I’ll take 1 shot at some low hanging fruit I read in that first 2 paragraphs. Hornyguy If your blessing from others and out of state education was so good, why do you live in the center of the city?”
I don’t. I explained that in my comment. Maybe you should read before you write?
But wow, talk about a jackassed broadside against the majority of this city… “If your blessing from others and out of state education was so good, why do you live in the center of the city?”
Classy words, dude. Maybe get that printed on a window cling and slap it in the back of your 5-series BMW.
Also, the irony of a south side church recycling prom dresses is delightful. Kids in this town are food insecure and the bourgeois idea of charity is giving the poors their cast-off princess gowns. I suppose these are the same people that send their kids on mission trips to Latin America to paint buildings for poor people so their kids can write about it on their college essays.
While the “suburban build-out” continues for the high dollar homes – don’t think that will bode well for the cities of Tea or Harrisburg. All those folks will be building in “Rural Residential” communities – outside of any city limits. And while they will depend on the ctiies and towns to provide them with ambulance services, fire and police protection, parks, recreational programs, libraries, stores, entertainment and so on, they will contribute very little in tax dollars to them.
What we see happening here is a mini version of what has happened to Detroit. Suburban flight for the top level of the “earners” leaving behind massive amounts of crumbling infrastructure for the less-well-off to maintain on their low-income backs. These folks are not interested in behaving in ways that are of benefit to anyone but themselves. They are all “property rights” and low tax focused “libertarians”. They got theirs – screw everyone else.
“There is no middle class here; just worker bees and their overlords.”
If those are my only options, I’m starting to wonder which one I am. I don’t own my own business or anything, but I must admit I would enjoy being able to print “Overload” on my business cards.
You should, because you ‘overload’ us with your monumental comments.
But according to KELO, everything is just Rosy:
http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/the-year-in-business/?id=157978
“You should, because you ‘overload’ us with your monumental comments.”
Ha! Although that term is probably more fitting, what I meant to say was that I would enjoy printing the term “Overlord” on my business cards. If I was that powerful, I’d also pay a minon to follow me around with a boombox above his head playing a continual loop of Imperial Death March.
Maybe ‘boombox’ is too old school. I suppose I could upgrade to one of those new fangled bluetooth speaker thingamabobs.
As to the original comment by hg, I think perhaps what he meant to say was the middle class is shrinking as opposed to what is suggested by his words (that there is no middle class). There most certainly is a middle class, but not unlike the rest of the nation, it is losing members to the other classes. The gap between rich and poor (or the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ if you prefer that language) is growing at a rapid pace and it is far from only a local problem.
Baahaaaa.
Ranting about a city you don’t even live in.
Pathetic.
I’ve got some hate typing to do on a Bolivian blog about their religious ideologies. But I’m not a looser.
Continue on oh great one.
So underprivrivleged kids shouldn’t be given prom dresses and churches should help people in other countries becuase they may feel good about it.
You are 1 sick soul.
By the way
Full Definition of BOURGEOIS
1: of, relating to, or characteristic of the social middle class
God help you, who ever you are.
Craig you are the ‘Overlord’ of comment ‘Overload’.
Annie, those people in poor countries could paint a lot more buildings if rich Americans just sent them the money for the damn paint. But no, they won’t do that, because the experience is principally about their spoiled kids and not the actual assistance being provided. It’s the same way that American food aid to Africa is largely comprised of dumping surplus crops from American farmers that distorts and destroys the market for agricultural products grown by the people who actually live there.
But it’s good to know that the South Side Bratz doll can dress a poor kid up in her hand-me-downs to feel better about the help she’s providing. Maybe her parents can also start dropping off half-empty bottles of Chandon at The Banquet and asking for a donation slip.
Craig is right. I exaggerate for effect but the reality is that the middle class in Sioux Falls is rapidly disappearing as a result of the state’s economic policies and the general political and social attitudes of the “haves.”
Bourgeois, n.: a person whose political, economic, and social opinions are believed to be determined mainly by concern for property values and conventional respectability.
Bourgeois, adj.: dominated or characterized by materialistic pursuits or concerns.
“I exaggerate for effect but the reality is that the middle class in Sioux Falls is rapidly disappearing as a result of the state’s economic policies and the general political and social attitudes of the “haves.â€
I guess I kinda been saying that for years.
Shove it up your butt Annie.
Donations are seriously lagging 2 years ago I used to go
to the Banquet on WED. mornings.
Oatmeal covered in a scoop of vanilla ice cream does not = brefus
The end is near
OBG