While city governments in certain regions of the country muddle through the fallout from the Great Recession, many cities in the Great Plains are pondering what to buy instead of what to cut.
Buoyed by strong agriculture and energy sectors, combined with unemployment well below the national average, cities in the Great Plains region from the Dakotas to Texas are dreaming big on ambitious projects that leaders hope will add to quality of life and help sustain population growth.
In contrast, cities in other regions of the country continue to struggle with high unemployment, housing prices that haven't recovered and depressed tax bases, says Gregory Minchak, the spokesman for the National League of Cities.
They've had to make layoffs and cuts to public safety, social services and other areas. services.
"There are definitely differences regionally," Minchak said. "The Great Plains areas are doing really well."
So well, says Joel Kotkin, a fellow at Chapman University, that smaller and midsize cities in the Great Plains are luring young families from "megacities" on the coasts because commutes are shorter and the cost of living is lower.
The appeal for young families, he says, is: "I can move to this place and I can live much better than I can live in those places."
Kotkin wrote authored a 118-page report entitled "The Rise of the Great Plains: Regional Opportunity in the 21st Century."
After decades of outward migration from the Great Plains, many areas in the region are now growing, thanks to energy, agriculture, manufacturing and the Internet. The small and midsize cities seeing that growth have money to spend.
"I tend to think historically: First, you have to have the money, then you have the culture," Kotkin said. "That goes back all the way to Athens. This is what cities do when they have money."
In Sioux Falls, S.D., where the population has grown from about 125,000 to 160,000 since 2000, construction started late last year on a $115 million , 12,000-seat arena to replace a 50-year-old facility.
Mayor Mike Huether says the project was possible because of a diversified economy, confidence in residents and a frugal political culture that prioritizes its needs.
"That's really a big deal here," he said. "It seems like there are parts of the country that don't get that."
The city of Lincoln, Neb., and the University of Nebraska have partnered to refurbish the city's Haymarket district.
The project's centerpiece is a $168 million arena that will serve as the home arena for the University of Nebraska's men's and women's basketball teams.
Neighboring Omaha, Neb., opened a $128 million baseball stadium, home to the College Worlds Series, two years ago.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is building a new downtown convention center complex and refurbishing an existing arena with $32 million in city funds, combined with $50 million in federal and state grants.
The city is also spending $41.4 million to renovate a hotel at the site, and $15 million for parking.
"It's a pretty big bite for our community," Mayor Ron Corbett said. "To say we don't have our neck out on this wouldn't be true. We do."
But, Corbett adds, the city's agriculture-based economy, which processes 1.1 million bushels of corn a day and includes a Quaker Oats processing facility, is on a sound footing.
In Bismarck, N.D., where the city commission recently last week approved the specifications and design plans to expand the city's exhibit hall — a potential $25 million project — agriculture is one bright spot in the city's economy.
The city also has manufacturing, health care and energy to lean on. Unemployment is below 3%.
"All of those are factors in our success story," if you will," said Gloria David, Bismarck's public information officer.
Energy manufacturing is driving redevelopment efforts in downtown Tulsa, Okla., where museums have been expanded and new parks have opened, said Lloyd Wright, the spokesman for Mayor Dewey Bartlett.
The city has added 14,000 new jobs since 2009, and its efforts to redevelopment downtown have resulted in $709 million in building projects.
"You can go do down a residential street, go to the end of the street, and there's a little manufacturing outfit making widgets that manufacturers in Saudi Arabia can't do without," Wright said.
Ellis also reports for the Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, S.D.
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