ST. LOUIS 鈥 The city鈥檚 economic development arm pledged to reorganize itself around a new plan released Tuesday, including a shift away from a 鈥渄eveloper-driven鈥 focus on the central corridor, and a focus on rebuilding the city鈥檚 Black middle class.
The 445-page 鈥溾 was produced for the 最新杏吧原创 Development Corporation by Boston planning firm Mass Economics after more than 18 months gathering feedback from city residents, neighborhood organizations and business groups.
Backers envision it as a comprehensive plan guiding the city鈥檚 redevelopment efforts 鈥 a vision some critics say the city has lacked 鈥 and it contains specific policy actions the city and private groups can pursue along with metrics to measure progress.
With influx of new residents unlikely, "we have to grow ourselves," researcher says.聽
鈥淲ith this framework, the city is changing the way we do business,鈥 said 最新杏吧原创 Mayor Lyda Krewson.
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A primary emphasis is slowing and eventually reversing population decline, and stemming the flight of residents from North 最新杏吧原创 through targeted homeownership plans, including some underway.
Key to that goal is encouraging entry-level and middle wage jobs rather than continuing to focus sparse public resources on tech-heavy bioscience employment, which tends to require advanced degrees.
That focus acknowledges both that rising wages in the city are not reaching people in impoverished north side neighborhoods and that technology clusters around Cortex and the Washington University-BJC medical center have largely achieved self-sustaining momentum with their existing networks and infrastructure.
鈥淭he big hole that we have in the city of 最新杏吧原创 is we have a lot of citizens who are not at the upper end of the educational spectrum,鈥 said SLDC Director Otis Williams. 鈥淚n most cases we have the highest paying jobs in the region. But there鈥檚 still underemployment at the lower levels. Our unemployment rate, and those who are not in the workforce, we have this great opportunity to provide a trained workforce to support some of the industry clusters we have identified.鈥
There's a strong emphasis on doing a better job of making sure Black 最新杏吧原创ans share in the growth.聽
Among the clusters identified as areas where SLDC can help build capacity are transportation and logistics, software, manufacturing and business services. It also singles out a cluster it calls 鈥渃ity-building,鈥 which includes construction, development and planning firms, noting 最新杏吧原创 has several nationally recognized firms in the space. The plan says SLDC should shift its diversity programs beyond certifying minority construction firms so it can encourage entrepreneurship and help other minority-owned businesses build capacity.
Sectors such as tourism and geospatial technology 鈥 being pushed as the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency builds its new headquarters in the near north side 鈥 already have parallel planning and development efforts, putting SLDC in more of a support role, the plan notes.
Meanwhile, the strategy emphasizes a place-based effort, identifying key employment areas for the city to direct resources, including the Mark Twain industrial area, north riverfront and Carondelet-Patch. To support neighborhoods, it calls for supporting key commercial nodes along Gravois Avenue, Grand Boulevard, Natural Bridge Avenue and Martin Luther King Drive, among others.
Lack of investment and affordable housing are cited as factors in the decline.
Over the next few months, Williams said his agency will 鈥渕old itself鈥 to 鈥渁n intentional geographic focus," with six to eight project managers focused on a handful of neighborhoods or wards each.
鈥淭here will be someone who is dedicated and know everything there is to know and will also work with the community groups and the elected official on a regular basis,鈥 Williams said.
SLDC鈥檚 contract with Mass Economics was worth up to $800,000 for the effort. The public can read and submit comments on the framework at .
