By james art 
January 26, 2025
Getting into a car accident is bad enough – let alone when it involves a car you’ve borrowed from someone else.
I happened to call for an interview right after it happened with the Twin Cities business owner on the other end of the phone — and believe it or not, the story got worse from there.
Turns out he borrowed the car because his own was stolen—outside his downtown business—then used in a gang-related shooting that left someone dead. So his own vehicle is now considered evidence in the case – and the theft happened, he says, when the thieves pulled up in his remote home because the car was locked.
I’m telling you this creates the fact that in comparison our own problems at the center feel more minimal and manageable.
This is generally the time of year when I anticipate some business closings and we’ve seen that, but I’m also working on reporting a lot of new deals, so I don’t see any bright warning signs of a wider problem, despite well, despite the well documented challenges. that we know independent businesses have faced over the past year.
This year’s downtown Burger Battle surpassed last year’s, which already started last week, and last weekend — despite the freezing weather — “It was a big weekend,” said Brandon Hanson, interim president of downtown Sioux Falls Inc. “There were many people Center. There is so much activity on social media and everyone is creating reviews and blogs. It just fuels the fire in a wonderful way. “
He thought I might be interested in seeing all the reported foot traffic in 2024. in the center border – this is the area in Purple that covers:
The bottom line is that last year there were 6.6 million visits to the city center with approximately 1.1 million people, meaning the average visitor came to the city center 6.12 times in 2024.
Unsurprisingly, the most hits came on Friday and Saturday and peaked in the evening, but I was pleased with how steady they were throughout the week and for most of the day.
The numbers are pretty consistent over the year. They decrease by 0.8 percent from 2023 to 2024, but the same amount from 2022 to 2024. There is a clear increase since the pandemic, which is 8.3 percent against 2021.
“I pulled it before December and it was up (year over year),” Hanson said. “So we had a really strong small business Saturday and we got a lot of anecdotal comments from events like the parade of lights. It slowed down towards the end of December and a lot of that depends on the weather. You can match it with weather and cold days and see it drop quite dramatically. “
Last weekend brought positive traffic for the Winter Crazy Days shopping promotion according to retailers, he said, including some who said it was the strongest they had seen in a while based on foot traffic, sales figures and overall gut feeling.
You also see clear parallels with downtown events, such as shows at the Washington Pavilion and Levitt at the Falls.
“I think you’re seeing some tide lift the mentality of all the boats,” Hanson said. “Every time the pavilion hosts a Broadway show, like last weekend with ‘Hadestown,’ it transports some through what undoes time. And because we do all things centrally, it supports everyone. It’s a density mentality. “
Keeping the idea of a density mentality in mind should spur other investment in the city center — and beyond. For example, the highest density downtown is on Phillips Avenue between Ninth and 13th Streets, and there is an opportunity to build on it.
“It’s a pulse in the largest amount of people, and it doesn’t come close to where the three subdivisions connect to the Orpheum, where there’s no retail or food and beverage and people don’t even walk in the middle of the day,” Hanson said.
That’s why we could really use some movement on the Wells Fargo block in terms of realignment. That’s why we shouldn’t bother when we finally get to Redeau Phillips Avenue between Eighth and 10th Streets. That’s why we need to look at opportunities between Sixth and Eighth streets for further redevelopment in a way that promotes density and by extending walkability. And why should we wait for the right developer to take over the underutilized parking ramp and maybe bring something that will be more of a destination for visitors.
“Even the bumps we’ve done to slow down the traffic so that the person and the vehicle can exist and feel safe, it’s such a big deal to make sure people show up to shop,” Hanson said.
Frankly, it literally makes you feel safe. If people don’t feel safe, justified or not, walking downtown, that’s a problem, and that’s bad for business. I was encouraged to see the early efforts between the public sector and non-profit organizations to be proactive in providing services and education so that this year we are not in a more reactive situation if behavioral issues arise on the inner city streets.
I was encouraged to learn from Hanson that the postcodes shown as visiting the city center are a “really healthy balance” of visitors and locals. City centers that are only focused on tourists risk missing out on half of the people who come to the city center. We’re also approaching 4,000 residents downtown, “and downtown has gotten so big that these neighborhoods next to it are essentially part of downtown, so it makes it easier for them to come down here and shop,” Hanson said .
This is a good reminder for businesses to look for products that generate recurring revenue. I can think of many small or independent retailers who do a great job of getting people to regularly stock up on everything from tea to laundry soap.
At a biweekly retail meeting this past week, retailers repeatedly mentioned that while they have two stores in Sioux Falls, it’s the valuable city that keeps both spaces in business, Hanson said.
“There was a lot of hope waiting for opportunities like the Summit League, the St. Patty’s Day parade and other events that bring people downtown,” he said. “Time and time again, the crew has talked about the benefit of retail density and the importance of managing a healthy mix of offerings in the city.”
The density mentality only works if the market is there to support it. While I would like to see it in many neighborhoods, starting with our core areas, downtown is the obvious place to prove the concept. The more we can do to increase the number of visits, the more business activity naturally follows.
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