City’s Project NICE/KEEP Celebrates 35 Years in 2025

Published on April 28, 2025

The City of Sioux Falls is hosting the 35th annual Project NICE (Neighborhood Improvement Complaint Easement) and Project KEEP (Keep Environmental Enhancement Permanent) this week. This initiative started about 35 years ago when the City noticed an increase in the number of nuisance complaints addressed each year regarding code enforcement issues.

The City developed the NICE project to identify specific neighborhoods at risk of nuisance concerns and assist residents in addressing those concerns. A few years later, a similar project called KEEP was developed to work in conjunction with the NICE program. The goal of these projects is to take a proactive approach to reduce or limit the number of nuisance issues in the community.

Each year, based on data, the City chooses various areas of Sioux Falls that are part of the annual NICE and KEEP projects. In 2025, the NICE border is within the boundaries of 26th Street to the north, 33rd Street to the south, Southeastern Avenue to the west, and Veterans Parkway to the east. The KEEP border is the area within the boundaries of Russell Avenue on the north, 18th Street on the south, I-29 on the west, and West Avenue on the east. Residents in the designated NICE and KEEP areas each year can discard items along their curb that City team members will dispose of appropriately.

“Project NICE/KEEP is a community effort to keep Sioux Falls neighborhoods healthy and clean even as the city grows,” said Dominic Miller, Environmental Health Manager. “City team members look forward to this event every year as a way to give back to their community. It’s truly a One Team effort with several divisions organizing the logistics of the event and members of multiple departments volunteering time to pick up debris.”

In 2024, 4,000 addresses were included in the cleanup areas. More than 115 City staff members volunteered to help dispose of the debris. It took 235 truckloads to dispose of the waste and debris. Over 575 mattresses and 985 tires were picked up in last year’s cleanup.

Residents can track the progress of crew members during cleanup this week by visiting www.siouxfalls.gov/nice-keep.