In one of city’s oldest neighborhoods, new residents plant roots

Shaun Daniel likes to start her day with a walk around her neighborhood. She can see the historic homes, admire the cobblestone paths and, at the peak of the walk, take in a view like none other in the city.

“You get to the top of Duluth and Sixth Street, and it’s an incredible view,” Daniel said. “It’s a great way to start the day.”

Daniel has lived in the Cathedral Historic District for 34 years, along with her husband, Greg.

It’s one of the oldest neighborhoods in town, and it became an official historic district in 1974. The people who live there aren’t all long-timers like the Daniels, though. It’s a neighborhood with a storied history, but it’s also a place where new families are planting roots.

“You’ve got young people,” longtime resident Shannon Walker said. “You’ve got elderly people. You’ve got people of different races. You can have people living in a $500,000 home and people living in a $50,000 home all on the same block.”

It’s all of that diversity that led Walker back to the Cathedral area, the neighborhood she lived in as a child before moving out of state.

When she came back, she started in a small bungalow off of Seventh Street and Prairie Avenue in 2002, and then as she outgrew that home in 2011, she and her son moved to another spot a few blocks away.

Now, her son also lives in the Cathedral district in a duplex he’s renting with his girlfriend.

The unique historic homes consistently draw people to the downtown-adjacent neighborhood. It’s also not uncommon to see “looky-loos” drive slowly through the area, Daniel said.

Karen and Matt Dahle moved to the neighborhood in late 2019, and they chose their house — built in 1886 — because of its character.

“When we first started looking at houses, we knew we didn’t want one that looked like everyone else’s,” Karen Dahle said.

Their home also became the venue for their wedding in the summer of 2020 when the pandemic caused them to look for a smaller, more intimate celebration.

Beyond the house itself, the neighborhood’s location is also ideal, Dahle said.

She walks her dogs downtown to grab a coffee at Josiah’s Coffeehouse & Cafe. The couple can walk to concerts at Levitt at the Falls, and they’ve been to the Falls Park Farmers Market every weekend this summer.

Walker also enjoys the proximity to downtown, where she works, and in her nearly 20 years of living in the area, she has seen downtown Sioux Falls completely transform.

The Cathedral neighborhood also has seen its share of changes over the years. Homeowners have renovated and restored historic homes, and one usually doesn’t have to look far to find someone working on a home improvement project.

It’s not uncommon for neighbors to tour each other’s homes or to share progress on different projects. Neighbors also gather for Christmas parties, outdoor summer get-togethers and other neighborhood events, and they keep in touch through a neighborhood Facebook group.

There could be more business activity coming to the neighborhood too.

Business owner Alex Halbach recently bought a nearly 120-year-old former grocery store building at Ninth Street and Grange Avenue with a plan to convert it into a coffee shop with an apartment above.

“Whenever I travel to larger cities, Minneapolis, Denver, California, you go into these mature neighborhoods and these great old historic neighborhoods, and you always come across sections of residential that have little commercial districts,” he said

“I’d love to see it increase property values and help the whole neighborhood.”

Overall, it’s a fun place to live, Dahle said, and she has enjoyed the glimpses her neighborhood has given her into what past generations experienced.

“The people here and the history and everything just makes it so welcoming and just so comfortable here,” Dahle said. “You never know what you’re going to come across.”