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THE CENTER CITY DEFINES
THE REGION
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As the center
city goes, so goes the region. And the center city is going well
thanks to progress on several fronts downtown: the opening of the
new Renaissance Grand convention center hotel, hundreds of units
of new center-city housing, the rebirth of the Old Post Office district
and progress on the new Ballpark and Ballpark Village are attracting
visitors, businesses and residents. Major reinvestment will leverage
other civic improvements. In fact, research shows the St. Louis
region has more opportunity to reinvest in its downtown than more
than half the cities in the United States.
Dr. Donald Suggs, president and publisher of the St. Louis American
Newspaper and RCGA Board Vice Chair for Community Capitalism,
recently commented on the revitalization of downtown St. Louis during
the St. Louis Regional Leadership Exchange to San Diego in September.
“I see how San Diego has been able to revitalize what was a very
dead downtown and how quickly they've been able to turn it around.
I see the same thing happening in downtown St. Louis.”
This center-city progress means that outlying communities, inner
area neighborhoods and precincts in between must appreciate what
the others offer.
Denny Coleman, president and CEO of the St. Louis County Economic
Council, recalled how the late County Executive Buzz Westfall regarded
the region’s unity: “Buzz felt that the stronger the core, the stronger
the region could be.
“Buzz was very supportive of the central city,” Coleman continued.
“He considered that to be the true core of the region. It’s the
county’s downtown, St. Charles County’s downtown, Southwestern Illinois’s
downtown.”
And Jefferson County’s downtown.
Patrick Lamping, Second District Commissioner of Jefferson County,
said, “Like every other part of the region, we have a substantial
number of residents who work in downtown St. Louis. That’s the direct
connection; the health and vitality of the central core is important
as a source of jobs for our citizens.”
Greg Prestemon, president of the Economic Development Center of
St. Charles County, shares Lamping’s appreciation of working citizens.
“Half of St. Charles County’s workforce works outside the county.
Obviously the St. Louis and St. Louis County economies remain central
to the economic health of our households. This is not something
that will change in our lifetimes or our children’s.”
Meanwhile, Prestemon points out that 10,000 non-residents commute
to St. Charles County for work.
Coleman raises real estate economics to illustrate the mutual benefits
in strengthening “not only within our own boundaries, but also the
core.
“The private market place doesn’t respect political boundaries,”
he said, “so the strength of the housing market in Carondolet affects
the market in Lemay; St. Louis Hills affects Affton. The county
needs to do its part, but what happens on the city side of the boundary
is also very critical to us.”
Coleman added that the “significant amount of reinvestment in the
inner suburbs surrounding the city” is also connected to the city’s
dramatically improved home prices and vice-versa.
Lamping notes that the outlook for jobs for the future is connected
to a combination of institutions. “We’re placing a tremendous emphasis
on high-tech jobs in St. Louis today. The institutions where the
research takes place that eventually creates jobs are located in
St. Louis. And the institutions that train the technicians who are
essential to implementing that research are trained in places like
Jefferson College, East Central College, Southwestern Illinois College,
Lewis and Clark Community College, and St. Charles Community College.
“And the Florissant Valley campus of St. Louis Community College
offers training in both advanced manufacturing and biotechnology,”
he concluded.
Mutual appreciation also means connecting to cooperate where possible.
The city and county have done that in jointly creating three special
districts. In addition to their community college district, they
jointly fund the Zoo—Museum Tax District and the Metropolitan Sewer
District.
The virtues of connecting across political boundaries extend to
the digital universe as well. Prestemon explained an area-wide initiative
called the Regional Exchange Point. “As it was explained at a Partners
for Progress meeting, if the emergence of a Union Station in all
the big cities was part of the shakeout in the railroad industry
in the 1880s, in a similar vein, the REP rationalizes a hodgepodge
of internet infrastructure.
“An e-mail message from St. Charles to Clayton shouldn’t have to
first go to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Dallas,” he said. “When
it does, it can encounter bottlenecks or pick up a virus. By sending
it to an REP instead, efficiency is improved, quality goes up, costs
come down. And the REP provides an opportunity to cleanse viruses
for all the terminals in the metro area.”
Each of the county officials we interviewed commended the importance
of the area’s cultural and recreational assets. Lamping said, “The
city is home to resources and opportunities that our residents partake
in that would be out of the question for us to duplicate.”
Prestemon said, “We’re one region. Everybody in St. Charles County
is a Cardinals fan—or Blues or Rams. Everybody who goes there loves
the Botanical Garden and the symphony. We have far more in common
that unifies us than differences that divide us.” Coleman said,
“County residents understand the symbolic nature of the city’s cultural
institutions and sports being important to the fabric of the community.
They also appreciate that it is important to how we are perceived
elsewhere.”
In Lamping’s words, “We’re all part of the same hometown.” |
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