Jack Williams

Bears and Packers. Cubs and White Sox. Hot dogs and ketchup.

Growing up around Chicago my entire life, these were the rivalries I knew. No loved shared and no compassion given. I was raised to hate the green and gold of Green Bay, and I'll go down any day defending my Bears.

When I arrived in Sioux Falls in late May for my summer internship with the Argus Leader, I didn't expect to find a new rivalry. Then I saw Jim Gaffigan at the Sanford Premier Center on June 7.

"Yeah, Sioux Falls!" he said. "You guys are nothing like those Sioux City people."

He was met by a roaring applause, and I sat there and wondered why. They share similar names, so is this some kind of joke? Is Sioux City better or worse or something like that?

Well curiosity got the best of me. With some help from you all and some research via Twitter, I found some answers as to why Sioux Falls and Sioux City aren't exactly friends.

Here were your biggest complaints.

Construction

You all had a lot to say about Interstate-29. Like A LOT.

And some of you were really passionate about how much you did not like the construction.

Even coming from Illinois, where driving on the road is like a round of Mario Kart to avoid pot holes, a roadway that has had construction for over 50 years takes the cake. However, from what I've been told from Iowa Department of Transportation District Transportation Manager Dakin Schultz, any major construction will be over by the end of this year.

I hate traffic and construction just as much as the next person. You've probably seen me in my little white car aggressively pushing people along Minnesota Avenue trying to get home after work. However, I get both sides of this argument. I would not want to go to a city that is just known for construction, but at the same time this road way is important to this region of the U.S.

The smell (hypocrites, much?)

What?

Jeez, OK. So Sioux City apparently smells bad?

Well, I've learned it's an issue the city has had to deal with. The city's waste water treatment plant and industrial plants are located within the downtown area, contributing to the smell.

Sioux City Waste Water Treatment Plant Pretreatment Coordinator Craig Samek said that the city has actually sprayed chemicals to contain the smell recently, and since then complaints have gone down.

And by the way, Sioux Falls, you're not off the hook. There have been many times I've gone outside, and it smells like a freshly fertilized field downtown. From what I've been told that's the Smithfield plant.

I'm heading to Sioux City in two weeks, so I'll let you know which scent activates my gag reflex more.

Restaurant options and airport codes

This is very unfortunate. There are only two Chick-Fil-As in South Dakota. One at the University of South Dakota and the other at South Dakota State. Sioux City has two in the same mall. This is madness.

The above tweet was clever with the airport abbreviation. You can make a similar joke with Pocos De Caladias Airport in Brazil (POO). Anyway, the speed trap thing is annoying. Read this.

Being called 'Sioux City' by people who visit Sioux Falls

One of the biggest complaints I saw was one that would disgruntle the population of any city: a celebrity or politician mixing your hometown up with somewhere else.

Bernie Sanders in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2008 both called Sioux Falls "Sioux City" when they came to visit. To be fair, politicians do spend a lot of time in Iowa. Steve Martin almost had a slip up when he talked to the Argus Leader earlier this month.

Smells, construction and misnomers aside, this rivalry has actually showed the best between the two cities. The pride and passion both populations have shown for their stomping grounds is tremendous.

You guys keep battling it out, and I'll get the popcorn.