VIEWPOINT | Sioux Falls takes ‘askhole’ approach to civic engagement

Guest column by Clinton Brown, the executive director of the BAM Institute of Civic Biodesign

We have to stop pretending that we’re being invited into the planning process when all we’re really being asked to do is pick the color of the frosting.

In Sioux Falls, and cities like it, we see this pattern again and again: a massive infrastructure project gets quietly scoped, budgeted and engineered behind closed doors. Years into the process, after most major decisions have already been made, the public is “invited” to open houses to share input. The messaging is friendly. The tone is cooperative. But let’s be honest: the core design is already baked.

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