Downtown STL should not be overlooked as another area of ​​interest

Today that doorstep is tarnished and disintegrating, beset by empty storefronts, empty offices and a persistent sense of lawlessness and local abandonment.

The good news is that the city now has a large amount of uncommitted funds from the NFL Rams settlement that could be directed in part to revitalizing the downtown area with infrastructure renewal and economic aid to businesses. And more importantly, we need to get this funding from St. There is a business community that says it is willing to overstay its welcome as an investment in this important area of ​​St. Louis.

So what’s the problem? Lately, it seems, it’s the same problem as always: city leadership that oscillates between dysfunctional inertia and outright hostility when it comes to prioritizing downtown rejuvenation. The latest example is the public dispute between Council Speaker Megan Green and a major Downtown business organization.

Green and Greater St., the business association that includes some of the area’s largest employers. Louis Inc. The friction between them comes down to a matter of priorities in deciding how to spend the $250 million the city has left over from the Rams settlement.

There is talk of sitting on the money for now and letting it accrue interest until a comprehensive plan for using it is developed. This Editorial Board supported the idea last year because it was concerned that the city’s current administration would squander the money without using it effectively. Off topic but instructive argument The incompetence of the city program that recently doled out tens of millions of pandemic dollars for North Side economic development has done nothing to assuage those concerns.

However, Greater St. St. Louis makes a good case for using much of this money to rapidly improve Downtown infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, buildings) and other projects that will make areas more business- and resident-friendly.

The organization has long emphasized the unique economic situation of Downtown. One measure of this is that the City Center generates nearly 20% of the city’s overall revenue, even though less than 5% of city government spending is targeted to the area. Beyond numbers like these, there are the intangible benefits a vibrant City Center provides to the city’s global and self-image.

GreaterSt. St. Louis’ proposal targets about $100 million of the Rams money for Downtown revitalization while spending another $130 million on infrastructure in poor northern and southeastern neighborhoods. This seems like a reasonable balance between supporting the region’s economic epicenter and addressing the historical neglect of residents in the city’s most underserved areas.

Green and his progressive allies prefer to establish a city grant fund to focus ongoing spending on things residents support, including replacing water mains, traffic calming, subsidized child care and giving raises to city employees.

None of these priorities are meaningless — improving water infrastructure, in particular, will be necessary one way or another — but they are not as potentially transformative for the regional economy as a revitalized City Center would be. In addition to this potential, Greater St. There is also a promise to more than double St. Louis’ $100 million in cash from the Rams for Downtown with private investment.

But even this promising development is mired in narrow-minded city politics. Post-Dispatch as Jacob Barker reported last weekGreen’s response to the organization’s promise to match funding was to question why the offer hadn’t been made sooner. Actually, there was In a letter I wrote last month to Mayor Tishaura Jones, who is generally a Green ally.

Beyond this obvious lack of communication and/or urgency, Green’s stance is that a successful Downtown requires St. Louis as a whole. It shows that he did not recognize that Louis was essential to his success; He sees the Downtown corridor as just another competing interest with nothing more. It is an issue that needs urgent attention compared to other parts of the city.

Earlier this year, Greater St. When St. Louis complained that his suggestions that Rams money be used to support Downtown were apparently ignored by City Hall, Green’s office responded with a shrug and an assuring statement: “Their priorities will be taken into account just like the rest. to them.” Green reiterated his myopic mindset in a recent letter criticizing Greater St. Louis’ lobbying efforts and claiming that the organization “puts itself and its interests above many residents and stakeholder groups.”

It is perfectly legitimate for various ideas on how to use this money to be published and discussed. However, Downtown St. Louis’ “interests” are not just another seat at the table; they are inherently tied to the city’s broader interests — including “many residents and stakeholders” no matter what part of the city they live in. The fact that Green and his allies don’t seem to fully understand this is further relevant.