Downtown St. Louis is a great place to live, play, do business, and invest.  In recent years, like many downtowns across the country, downtown St. Louis has enjoyed a dramatic surge in redevelopment of vacant properties, growth in residential population, and the birth of a vibrant dining, arts, and entertainment environment. 

Yet, with all this dramatic progress, downtown St. Louis continues to suffer from low office occupancy rates, and no sustainable retail presence.  Recent developments have stained the reputation and brand of downtown.  Sporadic, but high visibility crimes, makeshift homeless encampments, office vacancies, and decaying infrastructure are increasingly defining the perceptions of downtown by outsiders.  Where once, our suburban friends asked “where do you shop for groceries?”, they now ask “aren’t you afraid?”  While there was a time when downtown St. Louis principally competed with suburban areas for office, retail, and residents, we now compete with other urban neighborhoods for development and redevelopment attention. 

To be sure, downtown St. Louis has great assets, some of which are rarely recognized.  We have a residential population that that includes diversity of ages, incomes, lifestyles, and ethnic backgrounds and that is unique in the region.  We have a development community that continues to invest, despite all the challenges.  There is strong growth in startup and other types of businesses that attract young people. And sports venues, special events, a national park, and large conventions are still exclusive to downtown. 

Given these circumstances, we need institutions that recognize challenges and can act quickly and effectively.  We need short- and long-term strategies to recognize, confront, and solve problems.  We need to actively involve people who believe in downtown St. Louis and have the passion to make it better.  And we can’t afford to waste precious time or money on superficial tactics that distract from the long-term sustainable strategies that will ultimately be effective.