Sioux Falls Should Be Affordable for Every Family.

A home in Sioux Falls isn't just a mortgage. It's a bus route. It's swim lessons for your kids. It's whether you can take your family to the zoo on a Saturday without doing the math first. Affordability is the whole picture. And right now, that picture isn't working for everyone.

What It Actually Costs

People ask me about housing. That conversation is important and we'll get there.

But when I sit with families across this city, at kitchen tables, at community gatherings, at the doors I've knocked throughout this campaign, I hear something bigger.

The senior on a fixed income watching every cost inch upward with nothing to match it. The renter watching their monthly rate climb while their paycheck stays flat, running the math on whether staying is still possible. The young family who moved here for a job and can't find a home at a price that doesn't undo everything they came for. The parent who wants to take their kid to the zoo and quietly does the math before saying yes.

Affordability isn't just a mortgage. It's the full cost of living in the city you call home.

Right now, that cost is too high for too many families in Sioux Falls.

The Housing Piece

We don't have enough housing. Not enough starter homes. Not enough workforce housing. Not enough options at the price points where most Sioux Falls families actually live.

That is a zoning, permitting, and planning problem as much as it is a market problem.

Our zoning code makes it easier to build large single-family developments on the edge of the city than to build smaller, more affordable units where people already live. Infill lots sit unused. The permit process creates real costs. Unpredictable timelines. Inspections out of sequence. Unclear communication. Those costs all land on buyers.

More supply helps renters too. When there aren't enough units at enough price points, rents climb just like sale prices. Building more, especially smaller and more affordable units in established neighborhoods, brings relief for buyers and renters alike.

I would push for a simpler, faster permit process for starter homes and lower-risk projects. Clear steps. Predictable timelines. A city that's ready to work with builders, not slow them down.

We also need more builders in the game.

You cannot solve a supply problem if only the developers with enough scale to absorb the risk can take on a project. Sioux Falls has talented builders ready to work on starter homes and infill lots. The on-ramp is too steep right now. We can fix that.

I said it to the Home Builders Association of the Sioux Empire and I'll say it here: I want a city where the people who build it can afford to live in it.

Getting Around

If you cannot get to work, a home doesn't help much.

The Bus Red Route is a lifeline for residents who depend on transit to reach jobs, services, and the rest of the city. Fare revenue covers about 3% of the system's budget. The administrative cost of collecting those fares may not be worth the access we're giving up.

I support exploring free fares on the Red Route as soon as it is fiscally viable. More people on the bus is good for everyone.

Public Spaces That Should Be for Everyone

When the city helps fund a venue, access should reflect that investment.

Every child in Sioux Falls should be able to visit their zoo. The children of this city helped build the science museum through their community's investment. They should be able to walk through the doors.

I will push for expanded access programs, including Zoo for All, library pass partnerships, and income-based options. I support reviewing rec center pricing with an affordability lens and making sure swim lessons don't become a luxury for families already stretched thin.

These aren't radical ideas. They're what a city does when it means what it says about equal opportunity.

Protecting the People Already Here

Growth without protection is displacement.

A senior who has lived in the same neighborhood for 40 years should not have to choose between staying in their home and paying their bills. A family on a fixed income should not find that every public space in the city now costs more than they can spare.

I'll be direct: I do not support using new city sales tax options on food and heating bills. Taxing groceries and utilities hits the families who can least afford it the hardest. That is not responsible growth. That is passing the burden down.

The Opportunity Ahead

The Smithfield site is the biggest downtown redevelopment opportunity Sioux Falls has seen in a generation.

Cleanup takes years. We have time to get this right. But only if we decide now that the people of this city will have a real voice in what gets built there, and that affordable housing is part of that conversation from day one..

We should plant trees whose shade the next generation enjoys. And the community should be in the room when we decide what to plant.

What I Will Do

I will push for a zoning review focused on expanding housing supply at prices working families can afford. I will work with builders to remove the barriers keeping supply low. I will advocate for a permit process that is a real partner, not a roadblock.

The zoo. The rec centers. The bus routes. Every budget conversation at City Hall starts with one question:

Who does this actually serve?

The City I Am Building Toward

My parents came to Sioux Falls with nothing. They built something here because this city gave them a chance.

That chance had a price they could meet. But not every family can meet today's price. Not every senior. Not every renter. Not every young couple. Not every parent trying to say yes when their kid asks about the zoo on a Saturday.

Affordability isn't a housing statistic. It's the full picture of what it costs to live a good life in the city you call home.

I want that picture to work for everyone.

It's always been our city, and now is our moment.

Let's rise together. ☀️

— Vince Danh

Candidate, Sioux Falls City Council At-Large | Runoff June 23, 2026