Sure, downtown, but unless you have a death wish, avoid traffic in all other parts besides the donut hole*.
So after bilking millions from taxpayers to build a patio in front of privately owned restaurants and condos they are celebrating the bilking today;
“It is one more asset honestly to our community that we can sell to people from all over the world. This is a very walkable city, a very friendly city and this is just one more aspect of people being able to come here and just relax and enjoy their time here and don’t have to be busy all the time,” said Nichelle Lund, senior sales manager for Canopy by Hilton.
Let me guess, Nichelle doesn’t live here.
Over the past 4 years I have put myself thru the commute wringer, 90% of my commuting has been on a bike or walking. One of the reasons I bought an E-Bike is so I can ride it anywhere in the shortest distance possible. I have literally reduced my mileage by finding the shortest travel routes, but sometimes I must endure the southside travel bonanza. Roads built like speedways and peeps that don’t care. Commuting on foot or by bike in this town is risky business, and I am not even mentioning the f’ing morons that don’t leash their dogs who want to run and chase you while the owners are slobbering on their phones. Most sidewalks are dangerous. I would guess, just on my commuter routes that 50% of public sidewalks in this town are in disrepair and bike lanes are at a minimum.
Sure DTSF is very walkable, but it could be better by eliminating one ways and making spaces more pedestrian friendly and discouraging vehicle travel. But this won’t happen.
The thing that cracks me up the most is when you pull into the Steel District, it is NOT welcoming, and the parking is confusing, you have this feeling they want to keep it a secret. Maybe it is a marketing strategy, but if you are trying to bring in clientele with unlimited resources maybe your staff should have knowledge of your menu and what a hot shower is. I think an appropriate name of one of your restaurants should be ‘Good enough’.
I had the pleasure of meeting one of the investors in the Steel District last weekend. I listened, which is rare for me, and while this person was extremely intelligent, they seemed to be naive about how these things work in Sioux Falls. Let’s just say, they were suckered and it may take massive losses on their business adventures before they figure it out.
The tale of two cities is real.
We can make this city walkable, but it would take a massive public education reprogramming of our habits. That ain’t happening anytime soon. I told several of my out of state friends recently who used to live in Sux that unless you own a car here, you are a nobody. Which also makes me laugh. One of my favorite things to do at a stoplight is look at all the miserable human beings trapped in their cars, while I cross lawns and parking lots avoiding most traffic signals LEGALLY. I told someone recently the freedom you feel when you have complete control of your commute makes up for the comfort of your Chevy fart mobile. I never thot I would like this type of commuting, but once you experience the liberty and freedom you will only look at your car as something you need from time to time. I love the saying, ‘Cars are Coffins’. because it is true.
*I call downtown the donut hole, because outside of it is the donut; poor working class neighborhoods that surround the hole. The irony of the developer class DTSF who like to ignore these neighborhoods don’t see the obvious. In order to get to DTSF you must pass thru the poorest neighborhoods in the city. It reminds me of Belize.
Until this city’s GOVERNMENT recognizes the DONUT the DONUT hole will be just that, a HOLE. Mr. Potter was right (C. Lloyd) until you clean up the neighborhoods around the hole all development DTSF will halt, and I don’t need Mr. Potter or a weatherman telling me any different.