Seeking Info & Pics of Sioux Falls, SD

[krosejr]

Does anyone have some cool info and pics of this city? I know she is the largest in the state (pop. around 150,000 and metro 250,000, something like that). I am thinking of heading out there for a visit soon.
Thanks :)

[DMRyan]

Sioux Falls is growing very rapidly right now, but I've never picked up much of a local vibe there. The downtown is more reminiscent of a city of about 70,000 people instead of 200,000. The Falls Park in downtown is nice. Still, it's a newer place that's very clean and a tad sterile because most of the city's growth occured within the past 40 years or so.

I wish I knew more about the place, because it seems like an up and comer. There was talk of building a new arena to compete with Sioux City, Iowa, but I don't know if there's even a serious proposal to do this.

http://www.gallagherstravels.com/States/SD/siouxfallsimages/fromeast.jpg

http://www.aadlandconsulting.com/Images/DowntownSFNight.jpg

http://www.sevenstarenterprises.com/image/lourdes3.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/image/20934493.jpg

http://www.seti.net/family/Motor%20Home%20Trips/Keep%20On%20Trekin/New_Beginning/Black%20Hills/Sioux%20Falls/sioux_50.jpg

[krosejr]

^^^Nice pics!!! :) Thanks! So the river runs through d-town..cool.

[denvernative1982]

Sioux Falls when I went through it seems like it was has a few nice buildings downtown for a small city its size, but the neighborhoods seems to be in very, very bad shape. I know they have a big mall called the Empire Mall.

The economy in Sioux Falls are fairly good if you look at the BLS.

[krosejr]

Great info..thanks!

[Ex-Ithacan]

Cool pics DMR. Those shots of the falls are great. Thanks.

[expo11]

i live there. i've got tons and tons of pics i can show you. i just need to upload them somewhere. downtown can be pretty slow if it's after business hours, but otherwise theres usually people shopping on phillips ave. or something. there's some cool restaraunts but they all shut down at 2 in the afternoon. this summer they're putting in like 50 statues downtown which should be pretty cool.

as far as the events center is concerend. there is a lot of talk about putting it downtown, but they havent raised enough money to take out some old railroad tracks yet. the mayor is pretty set on getting it built though.

[DMRyan]

A topic of great interest to me, can you elaborate on the Sioux City-Sioux Falls rivalry?

[expo11]

a lot of people in sioux falls see sioux city as a smelly dump cause of the meat packing industry. (the same one that we have in sioux falls) a lot of people in town critisize how decisions get made in sioux city, becuase the town is basically run by a large group of very very wealthy people. they do have a pretty big problem with that from what i know. the high schools aren't districted very well. one school (i think south) is full of upper class white familes and there are very few minorites or lower class students.

the events center in sioux city attracts a lot more big name performances than the dinky arena in sioux falls. thats why the mayor is so set to get a big one built here. all the big acts are getting sold to sioux city or *gasp* fargo.

when you look at it closer, the two cities are pretty similar actually, except sioux falls has a better econonomy, and is growing much faster than sioux city.

[DMRyan]

Sioux Falls is a can-do kind of place and I can see them getting a new arena even larger than the Tyson Center eventually.

I don't know much about Sioux Falls, but here's my take on the rivalry. Sioux City is the much more blue collar, rust belt kind of place with issues like poverty and immigration that Sioux Falls doesn't have to deal with--at least to the same degree. Sioux Falls has the economy to keep it white hot and South Dakota's business incentives have those of us in Iowa and Minnesota perplexed with how compete.

When I spent some time in Sioux City last fall, I could tell that many people had conceded victory to Sioux Falls, especially because Sioux City was once the more dominant city in the region only fall to Sioux Falls' growth. I will say that if Sioux City ever gets its act together economically, it has an infrastructure and urbanity in place that Sioux Falls could never replicate. The Sioux Citians seemed to love the fact that they were once again getting the attention in the region with the opening of the Tyson Center, the new riverfront and the renovation of the Orpheum.

To see many photos of Sioux City that I've taken, check out the photo gallery on my website:

http://www.absolutedsm.com/sioux%20city%20main%20page.htm

[Azn_chi_boi]

SO much waterfalls. I think this is a great town to visit.

[expo11]

sioux city does have a much more urban feel than sioux falls, and there are some good things happening along the riverside. the events center is a great thing for the city, people from sioux falls drive down 29 all the time to see a performance. i've visited sioux city several times and it seems like a pretty cool place for the size of it. the people i've met have all been friendly.

[krosejr]

So how close (miles) are the two cities? expo11, can't wait to see your pics. The ones from DMryan are wonderful...the city looks so nice and inviting.

[expo11]

75 miles apart i think. about an hour drive.

[krosejr]

Thanks for the info...any more pics out there...we are hoping to visit an old Navy buddy this summer.

[rider_of_rohan]

If you think SF neighborhoods are in bad shape you drove through the northern part of town, they are old and run down, but are much improved from when I lived there about 15 years ago. I moved to SF in 1977 and its about doubled its population since. Its a regional center for shopping and medical care and has several colleges. Its changed a lot, have my high school reunion there this summer. I enjoy visiting there and do it 6 to 8 times a year. Your right about the downtown, not a lot of building there and not much for height, but then they have all the land they need to expand and build suburban office parks. The falls was once a garbage dump where only the homeless and druggies went after dark, its made a wonderful turn around. I hope they get the arena, it is slated for just across the river from downtown, will have to see.

[cloudman25]

Hello, I heard you were seeking information about Sioux Falls. Well I can tell you now that it is an excellent city. I lived in Sioux Falls for more than 3 years and its a rich city. The neighborhoods aint ugly like the person told you. Most of the homes are the nicest I have ever seen, I mean it has its share ugly homes but what city doesn't and even then its just a small neighborhood of about 4 square blocks, and its a very clean city. It has lots of reconstruction going on in the city due to certain projects designed to liven up the city. It was actually rated the number 1 city in america in forbes magazine to start a business, and possesses one of the lowest crime rates in america. It has two major hospitals (Avera McKennan, and Sioux Valley), one of them was rated in the top ten in the country for medical care. It has quite a few university's, and the economy is great, lots of business and employment opportunity. If you want I can send somemore detailed pictures of the city. Just let me know, thank you.
my email address is cloudman19812004@yahoo.com

[krosejr]

^^thanks man... I made it to SF last month! I really enjoyed it. I visited my navy buddy and his family and we went to the Storms game...too bad my Horsemen couldn't take the bowl game last weekend. I plan on visiting again soon. I'll drop you an email. :)