[Iowan]

I understand the boosterism here, but Sioux Falls has to address some things before it starts considering itself as a "major" city. We moved our annual convention out of Sioux Falls For several factors. We had several negative experiences in the last years that we convened in Sioux Falls. While people were walking downtown they were harassed as "faggots" yet they are heterosexual. Others had tires slashed on their vehicles at the hotel, and two others received red light camera violations even though they stopped at the red light. I personally had an entire community in SD ostracize me for talking to Native American children. That combined with the extreme legislative efforts against women, people of color, gays, we came to the conclusion to move our organization away from a place where we had experienced such hostility and backwardness.

We moved our convention to Madison. We weren't sure if we wanted it in that big of a city, however, it embraces diversity, has so many more venues, and is beautiful. In looking at the title of this thread, I did some research. In my lifetime Madison (CMSA) metro has grown from 222,000 to 876,000, or by a factor of 4. Sioux Falls metro has grown from 86,000 to 251,000, or by a factor of 2.9. So what city is the fastest growing? I guess it's about how one defines growth. I hope that Sioux Falls and South Dakota can become more welcoming and urbane with the influx of new people.