Brandon Bluffs to Get NEW CITY PARK

Residents of The Bluffs area of Brandon will see a park start to emerge in their neighborhood next summer.

The park concept created by Stockwell Engineers of Sioux Falls shows the development will be to the east of Heritage Road and south of Creekside drive and circle.

The park includes three lots on Heritage Road that already have curb, gutter and street access. These lots will provide parking and access to the green area, which is lower ground.

"We're going to put in 2,500 yards of dirt," Brandon City Administrator Dennis Olson said. That's about 250 truckloads of dirt to provide a sloping access into the park that will be wheelchair accessible...

Sioux Falls Argus Leader

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Sioux Falls is holding a Strong Job Market

Job seekers with no ties to any particular location often seek jobs in big cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles or San Francisco. But are these the places where they're most likely to find a job?

Not according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job seekers are better off looking in such cities as Sioux Falls, S.D., Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Rapid City, S.D. All of these cities registered some of the lowest unemployment rates in September 2008...

MSN CareerBuilder

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It May Be Time to Think About Buying a House

Five or 10 years from now, when the financial crisis has ended and housing prices are up smartly once more, we will look in the rearview mirror and realize that we missed a golden age for first-time home buyers.

Then, everyone who sat on their down payment savings accounts for a few years too long will kick themselves for not taking advantage of what may turn out to be the buying opportunity of a lifetime for those who can qualify for a mortgage.

December 5th, 2008 www.nytimes.com

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This May Be the Golden Age for First-Time Home Buyers

Five or ten years from now, when the financial crisis has ended and housing prices are up smartly once more, we will look in the rearview mirror and realize that we missed a golden age for first-time home buyers. Then, everyone who sat on their downpayment savings accounts for a few years too long will kick themselves for not taking advantage of what may turn out to be the buying opportunity of a lifetime for those who can qualify for a mortgage. Unfortunately, we do not know when this golden age will begin, because we will be able to identify a bottom to the housing market only with the benefit of hindsight. But as it does with the stock market, the moment will arrive when everyone is feeling the most pessimistic. That moment is certainly getting closer. Housing prices have fallen drastically from their peak levels in many areas of the country, and mortgage interest rates have been declining. Meanwhile, first-time home buyers have the same advantage they have always had, which is that they do not have to sell their old place before buying a new one. That is an added advantage in areas where many available houses simply are not moving, because the people trying to sell them will not be bidding against the first-timer. (www.seattletimes.com)

Seattle Times (12/13/08); Ron Lieber, New York Times News Service

Sioux Falls Ranked Number 1 in the Nation for BEST Cities to Find a Job

Job seekers with no ties to any particular location often seek jobs in big cities like New York, Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles, California, or San Francisco, California.

But are these the places where they're most likely to find a job?

Not according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Job seekers are better off looking in such cities as Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Rapid City, South Dakota. All of these cities registered some of the lowest unemployment rates in September 2008....

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Opportunity Knocks for Home Buyers

Homeownership is an important part of the American way of life, and for most people, the question isn’t if they will buy a home, it’s when that purchase will occur.

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