In his October 2, 2018 column, Justin Fox discusses why Sioux Falls, SD, despite not following any traditional recipe for civic success, is booming. Its metro-area population has increased 13.5 percent since 2010 (and 68.8 percent since 1990), to 259,094.

Fox states:

“I am not the first to attempt to answer this question: James and Deborah Fallows devote the first chapter of their new book “Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America” to it, and if you want a detailed account complete with Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons (manufactured in Sioux Falls by Raven Industries Inc.), that’s where you really need to go.”