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ST. LOUIS EQUITABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

  • Report cover
  • Location
    St. Louis, MO
  • Client
    St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC)
  • COLLABORATORS
    Mass Economics, Toni Griffin, Vector Communications, 19(2) Solutions
  • Status
    Completed 2019
  • Project Type
    Economic development, policy, citywide plan, engagement

The Framework is an opportunity to create and retain jobs, support existing businesses and create economic opportunity for all St. Louisans.

The Strategy will guide investment and policy decisions by the SLDC, the City, and its public, private, and institutional partners to position St. Louis on a path towards a more equitable and robust economy.  The Strategy is designed to help improve the outcomes for all where the distribution of resources, opportunities, and burdens are driven by future possibility rather than race, income, or historic patterns of investment.

 

 

We led an effort to engage City residents, businesses and stakeholders through open houses, online engagement, and a lot of focus groups and community meetings.  A "meeting in a box" was designed to take information to communities across St. Louis and collect information about the challenges faced in creating a business, finding a job, getting to work, accessing services and more.    

  • Open house
  • Portable engagement materials

“The hallmark of our plan is connecting people, neighborhoods, and jobs, so that we can address decades of inequity and disinvestment and, instead, help all St. Louisans build wealth through opportunities and strengthen our neighborhoods,”  - Mayor Lyda Krewson 

  • The impact of race in St. Louis

This framework seeks to position St. Louis to compete regionally and globally for jobs, catalyze the transformation and growth of St. Louis’ neighborhoods through a commitment to “quality of place” throughout the city, capitalize on core economic strengths to unlock the opportunity for all to thrive, and maintain a more sustainable tax base driven by commercial and residential investment and renewed population growth.

Data, data, data.  Our work defined 13 employment areas in the City, each with its own personality.  New data was collected to identify existing jobs, business types and opportunities for new jobs and investment.   

  • St. Louis's employment districts
  • Summary of St. Louis's employment districts
  • Connecting investment along commercial corridors with surrounding neighborhoods
  • Economic connections
  • barriers to employment
  • mural - South St. Louis