I’m the last person to be considered an expert here. So before I tell you leave the capitol be, I’m first going to say Joe Kirby brings up good points, and that he’s been in South Dakota much longer than I was, and that he’s still there.
I have no doubt moving to Pierre tied the hands of some job candidates because of the city’s geography and a lack of opportunities for their spouses. I have no doubt $150 million is a lot to repair a building, even a very important one.
Now I’m going to speak on Pierre’s behalf.
Of the places Mr. Kirby threw out as potential sites for a relocated capitol, none are west of or even close to the Missouri. It’s already 175 or 200 miles from Rapid City to Pierre depending on whether you take 14; taking I-90 all the way to Sioux Falls is 350.
Mitchell is barely larger than Pierre. Brookings is the fourth-largest city in the state, though it’s a 400-mile drive from Rapid City via Interstate 90 and I-29. Won’t that make the talented citizens in the Black Hills even less likely to run for office than they are today? Don’t they matter?
Yes, South Dakota’s population is heavily concentrated in the southeast, far from the center. I was aware of this before I moved more than 1,600 miles to work at the Capital Journal.
You’ll never guess what happened when I showed up: I loved Pierre.
I loved its walkability, I loved the river, I staved off boredom despite the supposed isolation and lack of restaurants (shoutout to the wonderful folks at Richie Z’s) and found a genuine community.
I know that might be small peanuts to someone visiting only weeks out of the year, but if you’re picking the capitol based on which cities have Chipotle and better conference rooms, brother, you end up with the wrong folks legislating.
Do I even need to say what it would do to Pierre’s economy? Think of all those jobs making the state run, the families who need to hightail it down I-90 east. And then watch Pierre’s population fall so Sioux Falls’ can rise even faster.
The status quo isn’t completely ideal, yeah. Is there a better solution? Could be. I don’t have it if it’s out there.
I do have this, though. Leave Pierre be. It did nothing to you.
Mike Woodel
Murrells Inlet, S.C.
Strictly looking at where the population of South Dakota lives, Huron would rightfully be our state capital. Unfortunately a mistake was made 100 years ago that we're now stuck with. Stone's been set, and a $150 million renovation isn't a good enough reason to undo it, especially if we're talking about a move to Sioux Falls.
During the last economic downturn every county in SD had an increase in Food-stamps except Hughes.