Shoring Up St. Louis

By Anthony Flint, October 8, 2024

For those rooting for a rebound for legacy cities, St. Louis has been something of a rollercoaster—from the promising renaissance of its Washington Avenue historic district to the post-Covid downtown doom loop that has seen real estate prices plummet and foot traffic all but disappear.

But the city is still leaning into the idea of a comeback, and is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding—as well as a one-time windfall of $250 million from the National Football League to compensate for the loss of the Rams in 2016—in city services, job training, and infrastructure.

“In the past three years, we have been laser-focused on doing the nonsexy work to lay the foundation for future growth,” says St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones in this episode of the Land Matters podcast. “That is the work within City Hall to make City Hall easier to navigate, easier to participate in, and easier to understand. Then also adding different pieces that are looking to the future.”

Jones, who was sworn in as the 47th mayor and the first Black female mayor in the city’s history in 2021, is the latest interviewee in the Lincoln Institute’s Mayor’s Desk series of Q&As with municipal chief executives from around the world.

As mayor, Jones has concentrated on economic development, quality of life, and the modernizing of municipal services. Described as a history-maker on a mission, Jones served two terms in the Missouri House of Representatives, was selected as the first African American woman in Missouri history to hold the position of Assistant Minority Floor Leader, and was also the first African American woman to serve as treasurer of St. Louis, a position she held for eight years before becoming mayor.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Hampton University and a master’s degree in health administration from the Saint Louis University School of Public Health, and is a graduate of the Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

A lightly edited version of this interview will appear online and in print at Land Lines magazine.

Listen to the show here or subscribe to Land Matters on Apple Podcasts,  Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Anthony Flint is a senior fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, host of the Land Matters podcast, and a contributing editor of Land Lines.

Further reading

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones aims to use a historic windfall to shrink racial disparities. Can she? | Stlmag.com

Mayor Jones calls St. Louis ‘safer, stronger, and healthier’ | STLPR

Is St. Louis’ Transportation Structure Set Up to Sustain its Multimodal Boom? | Streetsblog USA

Reversal of Fortune: A Clean Energy Manufacturing Boom for Legacy Cities | Land Lines

20 Conversations with Local Leaders Solving Global Problems | Lincoln Institute/Columbia University Press