“Yeah, because, I want to take your attention away from turds in our streets and budget cuts to essential services.” – Mayor Hubris (Republican sidenote; this is meant to be satire. Mike Huether is not a staffer of a US Senator. He did not ‘really’ say this, but it would be ‘funny’ if he did).
Huether is going to present us with another (failing) Events Center plan this week. Chalk it up;
Sioux Falls city councilors will get the specifics of Mayor Mike Huether’s plan for a new events center this week, including what it will look like, where it will go, its size and how the city will pay for it.
Speaking Saturday at his weekly listening and learning session at the Whisk & Chop Cafe, Huether called his plan “a prudent proposal that will make us proud for generations to come.”
So, in other words, you found a donor and you are going to build it downtown without raising taxes? Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!
Definitely not the best time to throw another FailPlan right into everyone’s laps. I hope people call him out on this one. We will have to see what this is going to be…
Carter – If not now? When? 🙂
CC is right. Unfortunatly, the Mayor is still in doublespeak mode. When talking about TJN’s plan and the Stockyards he goes off about how it should be a miniature version of Riverwalk in San Antonio. He talks of these grand plans for downtown and how he wants to jump start investment.
The problem is he doesn’t walk the walk with his Events Center plan. He’s going to propose a new facility, at the Arena, even though he knows the best payback would come from a downtown facility. San Antonio built their new Convention Center at Riverwalk and the proof is in the pudding as to how they each mutually draw people and other investment. Same deal with Qwest & the Old Market.
I know, I know…we aren’t San Antonio. But neither is Omaha. The principle works, regardless of the size of the metro. Look at places like Cedar Rapids, Ft. Wayne and Wichita, they’ve also found out that a downtown facility is the best way to capture the best return on the investment.
I’ll also predict the Mayor’s plan will include a ramp and will also be funded with a sales tax increase. He won’t touch Howard Wood, so all those folks who opposed it on those grounds will be happy. He will say there’s no need to debate it or study it further since he’s talked to so many thousands of people we should just take him at his word that this is the only way to go.
What really blows is a Task Force is supposed to take the politics out so the best plan can surface. The best plan is being stifled precisely due to politics and what really blows is the Mayor wants to “just get it done” so he can say he’s the one who finally got it done as he looks for a House seat in 2012.
If we want a vibrant city (including downtown), it doesn’t start with massive public investment in things like an events center. It starts with taking away the hidden subsidies that encourage boring, low-density, low-quality sprawl development over vibrant, high-density mixed-use development in the core of the city.
As long as the city is willing to spend millions of dollars every year building new, wider highways and arterials to serve fewer and fewer people in low-density fringe developments, our inner neighborhoods will always be second-rate. Make people pay their fair share! People who live out on the edge of town consume far more of the city’s resources by requiring new roads to be built, sewer lines extended, etc., than those who live in the more efficient urban core. All of these extra costs are hidden by subsidies at every level of government.
A good first step would be to encourage (or actually ALLOW) mixed-use infill development in the core neighborhoods. The current city zoning code does not allow buildings to be built with both residential and commercial uses – a variance is required. Such developments make for interesting, unique, and diverse neighborhoods, and will help set the foundation for renewal and reinvestment in core neighborhoods.
Only when we have more than one (relatively small) truly urban neighborhood (downtown) should we begin to think about pumping $100M into a downtown events center. We need the private investment into strong neighborhoods before public dollars should be put in.
Tom, I agree 100%. Neighborhoods are built around people (residents) and small business, not large developments.
Tom, but like I pointed out, other Cities both big and small have invested in downtown Events Centers and have seen collateral, mixed use type development follow it in. This isn’t theoretical, it has actually happened time and time again.
Our last consultant, who’s study we all paid for but is being ignored, told us these facilities work best when they are located next to shopping, dining & entertainment districts. Lincoln NE is replacing a perfectly useful basketball arena on UNL’s campus with a new on in the downtown Haymarket district. Why? Becasue they built a wildly successful baseball stadium there which has revitalized the area.
We are a decade behind the peer group of Cities that have facilites 2-3 times the size of our Arena. If what you claim is true, why isn’t similar facilites in Fargo & Sioux City failing instead of being paid off and/or expanding?
Sy,
I totally agree with you that a downtown events center is a good public investment. However, I just don’t think it’s the best public investment, at least right now. Of course, both the events center and a commitment to true urban development are complementary. Certainly building an events center now would not be BAD for vitality in the core, but it must not be the only thing we do.