The results are in: What Sioux Falls residents say they want in the Riverline District

In January, the City of Sioux Falls, in a collaborative effort with business and development leaders, announced plans for the Riverline District to extend downtown to the east. The future 9-acre district will be at 10th Street and Cliff Avenue where Drake Springs and Nelson park are located.

At the time of the announcement, the city proposed ideas for the site, such as year-round recreation, housing, business developments and a new sports stadium. Since then, residents have had a chance to provide input via an online survey about what they’d like to see there.

With the survey now closed, Mayor Paul TenHaken talked Monday through some of the survey results as part of his 2023 State of the City address.

Here’s a look at that feedback and what happens next for the Riverline District:

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Desired district amenities by the numbers

It’s important to note the options were not mutually exclusive. Out of 1,578 unique survey completions:

• 68.5% of respondents want restaurants and bars;

• 54% want a sports stadium;

• 51.6% want a park and open space;

• 45.6% want outdoor event space;

• 39.3% want shopping centers;

• 27.6% want an indoor recreational complex;

• 0.2% want housing; and

• 0.1% want parking

Top five themes from the comments

The more than 700 comments on the Riverline survey showed a wide range of opinions. The most mentioned phrases in the comments were as follows:

1. Mixed-use is most common phrase:

   1. The comments indicate the majority of people want to see the district become a mixed-use space. According to the presentation, Minneapolis, the San Antonio Riverwalk and the Kansas City Power & Light were specific examples of what people want to see.

2. Desire for year-round recreational opportunities:

   1. The mayor said in general he’s been hearing more about year-round opportunities, especially coming off the extreme winter Sioux Falls experienced.

3. Gentrification concerns:

   1. The mayor said there were a lot of concerns about pushing out critical services by expanding downtown to the east, but this is something the Riverline District committee had already thought of. TenHaken made a point to add no housing is being relocated, nor are any organizations being relocated with the project besides the Department of Social Services, which is becoming part of the new Sioux Falls One Stop facility.

4. Housing not as important:

   1. Much to the committee’s surprise, housing was not very prevalent in the comments. It was only mentioned 26 times with a mix of positive and negative, according to the presentation. Less than 1% of those who completed the survey said they wanted to include it.

5. “Stadium” is a hot-button issue:

   1. The word "stadium" was the most mentioned word, and there were comments on both ends of the scale. According to the survey data, roughly half of respondents said they wanted a sports stadium. Because the options were not mutually exclusive, it is difficult to indicate how many people were pro-indoor rec plex but anti-sports stadium, and vice versa.

Timeline and next project steps

Although the survey is closed, this isn't the last chance the public will get to weigh in on plans for the district.

Phase II of the economic input study is what’s next on the docket for the Riverline project. The study will include additional community engagement, such as public meetings and potential stakeholder presentations.

More: 5 big takeaways from Mayor Paul TenHaken's 2023 State of the City address

This phase is set to be completed later this year, while the vision for the project is further developed. The city will then close on the land options in 2024.

People can stay up to date on the progress on Facebook or at the Riverline website.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: What Sioux Falls residents want in the Riverline District