You never know who you will meet on a bike ride
l3wis Love this vid of common Brits on a mountain bike ride and they meet King Charles taking a stroll!
October 2023
City of Sioux Falls plans AARP Bike Audit in Spring
While reading the minutes from Wednesday’s Active Transportation Board meeting they mentioned this;
Lacock stated that no meeting had been held in October. Lacock indicated that the Bicycle Committee would be tasked with reviewing a Bike Audit program from AARP in November for potential implementation in the Spring.
AARP just released this handy tool kit on October 11 and several communities across the country are participating.
I encourage you to read the document. The one glaring thing you will notice is we are NOT doing a lot of the things recommended in this document.
One thing that jumped out were buffered or protected bicycle lanes in which there is essentially a median between the bike lane and the car lane. This would be nice considering I get buzzed all the time by people riding in the street.
Another was bike parking;
Short-term bike parking is important for shoppers, diners and visitors. A shopper popping into a store for a few items or a client visiting an office will most likely look for the closest and most convenient parking outside of the business. Because of that, the visibility and proximity to the building entrance should be prioritized.
We lack this so badly in Sioux Falls. But no worries, I tell people we have tons of bike racks in this town, they are just mysteriously disguised as ADA parking signs 🙂
City of Sioux Falls misses another opportunity
When I talk about open and transparent government, I am also talking about the little things.
Several councilors over the years have told me that if the public knew what our city has spent on CityLink and our media department and broadcasting equipment at Carnegie they would be flabbergasted, so why isn’t it used much?
A great example is the Capital Improvements Tour the city council takes yearly and the public is encouraged to attend, but you may have to drive your own vehicle if you don’t get a reservation on the bus;
The media and public are invited to attend. However, due to limited seating on the bus, the City is asking all those interested in attending to RSVP no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, October 16. To RSVP, please contact Jim David at jdavid@siouxfalls.org or at 367-8085.
I don’t believe this agenda was posted until last Friday, so I am curious how someone could make plans that fast? Either or, a better approach would be to film the entire tour and livestream it on FB and on YT. If advertised and promoted it could be quite the city government entertainment special.
This is an example of a well funded department that is completely capable of pulling off a livestream of this tour. It is also a great example of one of the ‘little things’ our city can do that also improves transparency.
Oh, and one more piece of advice, BUY SOME FRICKING MICROPHONES FOR THE MEDIA AT THE WEEKLY PRESSERS SO WE CAN HEAR THE QUESTIONS THEY ASK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Loop will have some major changes
I was told recently that the building that holds Mercato and the former Lucky Lady Casino on the Loop has been purchased by a local investor. There are no plans that I know of at this point except that they will likely bulldoze it and start fresh.
It is in the early stages, but this will likely be a great re-zoning test model for mixed-used retail and mixed-use affordable and middle income housing. I would encourage the Strongtown folks in SuFu to approach him about building density.
I do know that the investor that bought it has a great track record in this community and will likely work with the neighborhood to create something that fits appropriately.
Sioux Falls media needs to ask an important question
I’m going to request the media in Sioux Falls ask one simple question of all newly announced council candidates;
‘Were you recruited to run, and if so, by whom?‘
The friends and family line just doesn’t cut it for me.
While us local political nerds know full well who is recruiting candidates, the public does not.
While I have ZERO issues with the mayor and current city councilors helping candidates with advice I think it is completely unethical for a sitting mayor (that has 2 years left on his term) or councilor to be recruiting, raising money for, publicly endorsing and consulting on a campaign.
Today I got an interesting observation texted to me by another city political nerd about the blatant disengagement of the new city councilors and the current ones with their foot out the door which I of course nicknamed ‘cruise control government’.
When our city council turns into patsies for the administration all vestiges of open government will be lost.
Joe Kirby said it best, “The mayor’s office has become authoritative.”