Tag: Development

Great Cities Are Not Without Arts & Culture

Posted on by Charlee Riker

A couple of months ago, I laid out what I believe to be Downtown Sioux Falls’ winning formula for transformation—arts and culture, great public spaces, and improved accessibility. Think of it like this…

  • Accessibility: How many different ways can people get to downtown and navigate within it?
  • Public Spaces: How many different places can people have quality social time with others?
  • Arts and Culture: How many different unique opportunities are there for people to experience?

 

In one form or another, these are questions we hear all the time. How will we get there? Where will we go? What will we do?

 

I teased out improving accessibility last month by focusing on walkability—the most basic aspect of access. This month, I skip ahead to talk about arts and culture.

 

First, I want to touch upon a critical question. Why does art and culture matter? Two words: brain drain. We need to do a better job of keeping our youth here in Sioux Falls once they graduate high school. Urban economist and sociologist Richard Florida has led the narrative that nurturing the local creative scene is the best way to keep and attract a talented workforce. Not only will investing in the arts and culture help prevent the brain drain, it also serves as a recruitment tactic.

 

With the unprecedented development potential at the Sioux Steel site and the Railyard Redevelopment, downtown has never been so fertile for growing our arts and cultural offerings. We have a Levitt at the Falls that will enhance our music scene. We also have an opportunity to grow a culture for independent film when the State Theatre opens for business.

 

There’s one major problem, however. Funding. Opening cultural institutions is easy. Keeping them open is the hard part.

 

So, what have other cities done to develop the arts and culture, and what might Sioux Falls do?

 

Two great examples can be found in Denver and Salt Lake City. Both established funds to support the arts, among other things. In Denver, there is the Science and Cultural Facilities District—a privately run, publicly funded organization that draws 1/10th of a 1% sales and use tax. In Salt Lake City, it’s called ZAP—Zoo, Arts, and Parks. It’s a similar funding model for slightly different programs.

 

Of course, here in Sioux Falls we have our entertainment tax, which is collected on lodging, alcohol sales, dining, and ticket sales. The entertainment tax is used to fund operating and capital activities related to the operations of the Events Complex, Washington Pavilion, Orpheum Theatre, Sioux Falls Stadium and Great Plains Zoo.

 

As Sioux Falls grows, so too does the entertainment tax fund, with revenues increasing 2-4% each year. It’s probably not enough growth to support the operations of a world class museum, if one were to be developed in downtown. It could help support the State Theatre, however. This would be a boon for the downtown economy, creating a flywheel effect by garnering even more tax revenue for the entertainment fund.

 

This raises the question, how can the entertainment fund maximize its impact and how should it be operated? I believe the public-private model might serve Sioux Falls the best, as well as a dedicated focus on the arts.

 

So how else might Sioux Falls be able to expand our support for art and cultural offerings? Perhaps obvious an answer is a local arts endowment, which efforts are currently afoot at the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation. SFACF has a matching gift through the end of 2018 for three non-profit organizations, including the Washington Pavilion. Perhaps this effort will expedite a trend to expand future philanthropic support for the arts.

 

Perhaps the most exciting opportunity though is the new federally endorsed funding mechanism known as Opportunity Zones. There are still many unknowns at this time and we won’t have a better idea of the parameters for South Dakota’s Opportunity Zones until our next governor is elected.

 

Here’s what we do know. Two Opportunity Zones have been established in Downtown Sioux Falls. A local bank will need to sponsor a fund for special projects to occur within those Opportunity Zones. Investors for projects in Opportunity Zones will receive very enticing tax breaks for years to come.

 

Some examples of Opportunity Zone projects in Minnesota include a tiny home village, a food truck park, and workforce housing. Using Minnesota’s approach, Opportunity Zones could be quite impactful for downtown. But why not expand the criteria to include arts and culture projects, such as an arts incubator or operations fund for cultural institutions?

 

It’s going to take some creative thinking to leverage these various funding mechanisms. This is our moonshot opportunity though. We cannot restrict ourselves in our thinking. Now is the time to define the city we wish to become.

 

Could that mean a world class museum? Perhaps. It worked for Bilboa, Spain, where the addition of the Guggenheim Museum—housed in a Frank Gehry signature piece of architecture—has brought about a roughly 2500% increase in tourists.

 

I’ve been told 80% of visitors to South Dakota arrive by driving either from the south on Interstate 29, or the east on Interstate 90. I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that some 14 million visitors come to South Dakota every year, according to state data. One million are estimated to visit Falls Park. Doing the rough math, we have a lot of room for growth.

 

So knowing this, how much impact do you think a world class museum would have for downtown’s economy? Perhaps we honor our indigenous population by celebrating their heritage at museum with the pre-eminent collection of Native American art. The possibilities for such a facility are endless.

 

We must also keep an eye towards the future of art as well, being mindful of changing preferences towards art installations, such as Meow Wolf, which bucks the profitability trend for most cultural experiences.

 

Let’s dream big together. I encourage you all to envision the possibilities for the future of art and culture in Downtown Sioux Falls. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic too. Call (605-338-4009) or email (joe@dtsf.com) me with your ideas.

Sincerely,

Joe Batcheller
DTSF President

 

Walkability—Not Just Another Buzzword

Posted on by Charlee Riker

Accessibility is one of three key elements to a vibrant and economically robust place. So how does walkability factor in and how can we improve upon it for downtown?

The weekend after Labor Day, Downtown Sioux Falls was a buzz with people here to experience two mainstay events for Downtown Sioux Falls—the Sidewalk Arts Festival and Germanfest. It was a wonderful opportunity for folks to explore the heart of Sioux Falls. People were everywhere!

 

The upward trajectory of downtown activity has been exciting to witness. It’s become a boomtown and it’s great to be a part of it. The only drawback however, is that with more activity comes more competition for space. This is most evident with cars, buses, cyclists, and pedestrians all trying to navigate the streets and sidewalks together.

 

It may not seem like it, but congestion and contested streets are actually a good problem to have. We just have to figure out the best way to choreograph the various modes of mobility into a harmonious ballet of place. To successfully manage these competing interests, it takes intentionality.

 

This competition for space came to a head that event-filled Saturday, September 8th. I heard from several people who felt uneasy while crossing streets. I had to exercise defensive walking myself while crossing the street with my wife and two young boys. A driver failed to notice that there were eight people in the crosswalk with the right-of-way. Thankfully, the driver yielded when I asked him to give way, but not without a retort.

 

Let’s face it, downtown can be a challenging environment to navigate, particularly in the warmer months when there is construction activity channeling drivers and pedestrians away from certain areas and into others. It can be frustrating. For one unfortunate individual it was beyond frustrating—it was terrifying. This person was struck by a car, warranting a trip to the hospital.

 

When I hear of situations like this, I feel compelled to act because I want people to have good experiences in downtown. I believe downtown offers the best way for people to connect and engage with their community through unique and enriching experiences. These potentially grave occurrences are a hindrance to that and indicate we might have an accessibility issue. It seems the best way to improve upon accessibility is by focusing on walkability.

 

In researching the walkability, I found some startling information. A pedestrian is struck by a car every four minutes in this country, according to estimates from the Governors Highway Safety Association. Every 90 minutes, a pedestrian is killed. That equates to roughly twice the number of fatalities as 9/11 happening each year. Bizarrely, we seem numb to this reality.

 

It seems like poor walkability is even a public health issue. Not only are people dying from auto accidents, but many suffer from higher obesity rates in less walkable cities, according to an extensive body of research. The walk score for Sioux Falls is 37 on a scale of 0-100, by the way.

 

Safety and health concerns aren’t the only reasons to care about walkability, though. It makes economic sense too. Take the example of Portland, Oregon. People drive an average of four miles less than the national average because it’s such a walkable city. According to Joe Cortright of City Observatory, this translates to savings for Portlanders that accounts for three percent of all income earned in the Portland metro area, which means millions of more dollars in the local economy. As a result, Portland has become a place where young, educated millennials want to live. This demographic has increased by fifty percent over the last two censuses, which has helped Portland’s tech and entrepreneurial scenes.

 

Not surprisingly, cities like Portland that are walkable are also sustainable. Less overall driving begets smaller carbon footprints, right? Big deal. Who cares, Joe? Well, if you care about quality of life, you should care about a more sustainable Sioux Falls. There is a correlation between quality of life and low carbon footprints per household in cities around the world, according to the Mercer Survey. Do these cities have a higher quality of life because they are sustainable? According to city planner and urban designer, Jeff Speck, the same thing that enhances quality of life makes cities sustainable—walkability.

 

That’s all well and good, but where do we begin to tackle this issue? In his book, Walkable City, Speck boils it down to four factors:

  • There has to be a reason to walk—to go to work, to shop, etc.
  • It has to be safe—an essential component, but not exclusive.
  • It has to be comfortable—best supported by compact development.
  • The walk needs to be interesting. Are there people there?

 

Speck says all four of these factors are needed to improve walkability. It makes sense then to focus on improving walkability in and around downtown, as elements of these four factors are already present. It would seem that pedestrian safety needs the most improvement however, given recent accounts.

 

Four years ago, Jeff Speck visited Sioux Falls and gave us some tactics to employ to enhance walkability. So too have other consultants like Charles Marohn and Robert Gibbs. All three emphasized the need to calm traffic by converting our one-way streets to two-way streets, and narrowing the traffic lanes.

 

There are other ways to improve walkability, though. The City is doing its part by repainting crosswalks. ADA compliant ramps were recently installed at a mid-block crossing on Phillips and on River Road. The City is also in the middle of assessing downtown’s inventory of street trees, which help calm traffic.

 

But what more can be done? DTSF and its Placemaking Committee are currently exploring options to enhance pedestrian safety in and around downtown that use a small scale, incremental approach. It’s going to take a collaborative effort though, including neighborhood associations and advocacy groups. I plan to follow up on our efforts next month to let you know what we are working on for 2019.

 

In the meantime, I hope that those of you reading this will help spread the message about walkability and sway your peers who may not be so convinced that walkability is critical. A cultural shift is needed. I invite you to be a part of it. If economic development, quality of life, and community health are important to you, then so too is walkability. We can’t afford to wait for the next person to get hit by a car before we do something about it.

 

In the meantime, I encourage you to watch Jeff Speck’s TED Talks and to join the conversation. Send me an email with your thoughts on the topic to joe@dtsf.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Sincerely,

Joe Batcheller
DTSF President

 

Jeff Speck on why walkability is important:

 

Jeff Speck on how to improve walkability:

 

Letter from the President: An Eye for a More Perfect Downtown

Posted on by Charlee Riker

Great cities have exceptional downtowns. What makes for exceptional downtowns though?

It boils down to the things we travel to other cities for—a thriving culture built upon the arts, active and well-designed public spaces, and easy accessibility for all no matter their age, ability, or mode of transport. These are the factors that set apart world-class cities.

The National League of Cities recently compiled information from all the “State of the City” addresses from the past year. The findings for downtown development align with this approach—arts and culture, great public spaces, and improved accessibility.

For downtown Sioux Falls, much progress has been made using this approach.

  • Falls Park restoration
  • The Washington Pavilion
  • SculptureWalk
  • Phillips to the Falls
  • Phases I & II of the River Greenway.

The Sioux Falls Sculpture Walk celebrates its 15th year in 2018.

 

Since the completion of these projects, the downtown retail, restaurant, and nightlife scenes have flourished. And as a result, businesses have also been able to more easily attract talented employees.

Soon downtown will see the addition of more transformative projects, like Levitt at the Falls and The Arc of Dreams, to name a couple. All of these projects, past and present, fit the winning formula—arts and culture, great public spaces, and improved accessibility. It’s an exciting time to be part of downtown Sioux Falls!

Levitt at the Falls is set to open in 2019.

 

There is still much progress to be made though. Great opportunities await downtown. We mustn’t forget how downtown got to this point however, and use this framework—arts and culture, great public spaces, and improved accessibility—to launch a bold new vision for the future to set Sioux Falls apart from every other Midwestern city. We have a once-in-a-century opportunity to redefine Sioux Falls with 21.5 newly developable acres in downtown and half of the River Greenway awaiting completion.

Downtown baseball stadium concept by CO-OP Architecture.  

 

What from this winning formula is going to set Sioux Falls apart? In my opinion, it will take a take a three-prong approach.

  1. We need to finish what we started—streetscaping on Phillips and Main Avenues, the State Theatre, and the River Greenway (planned for but awaiting funds).
  2. Do the things we ought to be doing but have not yet started, like a great plaza with ice-skating that generates 250+ days of activity a year (planned for in the 2025 Downtown Plan).
  3. We need to define a moonshot project. I believe a truly transformative project for Sioux Falls would be a world-class museum, on par with those typically found only in global cities and world capitals.

Photo of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

 

To me, the particulars of our moonshot project do not matter so much, so long as it follows the formula—arts and culture, great public spaces, and improved accessibility. The potential for downtown Sioux Falls is limited only by our imaginations and the standards we tolerate. Let us not settle for “good enough.” We should strive for what may seem impossible now, with the hope it becomes the norm for the next generation.

There’s the saying, you can catch more flies with honey. A strategic approach focused on arts and culture, great public spaces, and improved accessibility does just that, attracting locals and visitors alike. Cities that make these kinds of investments experience strong retail growth, enhanced workforce talent, and improved public safety—all worthy goals and necessary for Sioux Falls to become a great city.

There has never been this much interest in downtown Sioux Falls from the public sector, the private sector, and the non-profit sector. It’s going to take the interest and involvement of all stakeholders to further advance Sioux Falls and make downtown an exceptional place to experience. The time is now to dream big for downtown. The time is now to spread that honey.

 

Sincerely,

Joe Batcheller
DTSF President

Do you have an idea that fits this winning formula? I’d love to hear from you! Please call (605-338-4009) or email (joe@dtsf.com) me with your thoughts.