Despite the Great Recession and mixed economic reports, the Saint Louis region has shown many signs of positive economic growth. Due to smart moves made early on by local government and business leaders and the valuable federal stimulus dollars, St. Louis has been able to remain strong and even grow in some sectors of our economy.
In this article I will explore several areas where the St. Louis economy is growing. This article will only name several areas in which the St. Louis region is growing. I plan in the coming weeks to focus on each topic in its own article, containing analysis and interviews, hoping to piece together all the news that is starting to make St. Louis an anomaly to the current national economic downturn.
City and Downtown Boom
With the unveiling of a new plan for downtown, called Downtown Now, in the early 2000's, downtown stopped its decline and saw a resurgence towards growth. This expansion over the past decade has translated into a current residential population of over 10,000, a new Busch Stadium, a new residential tower, a new grocery store, and many other developments.
Overall, Downtown Now produced over $4.5 billion in new development. Furthermore, the city has stopped its population decline and is now growing. Recently, many projects downtown and throughout the city have begun construction, resulting in over $1.5 billion in new development in 2010, not including the $8.1 billion plan to rebuild Downtown West and North St. Louis.
Even though St. Louis has seen huge strides, the Downtown Partnership has unveiled its new plan, Downtown Next. This proposal establishes many goals for Downtown St. Louis including: boosting jobs downtown by 20%; increasing residential population to 20,000 people; and introducing mainstream retailers downtown.
Although these goals are to be reached by 2020, downtown St. Louis has certainly started the decade with a bang as the Washington Avenue sky bridge is gone, the former Kiel Opera House is reopening in 2011, the Central Library is undergoing a massive renovation, and the Arch grounds will receive a complete makeover by 2015. Also, St. Louis is currently bidding for the 2012 Democratic National Committee Convention. Remember these projects are just in downtown alone; this does not include the expansion of the museums in Forest Park and all of the development in the Delmar Loop and Central West End.
Transportation
If you thought that the City and Downtown is experiencing a lot of development, then transportation blows it out of the water. Over the past few months, great news about the St. Louis transportation has been unveiled. With the availability of stimulus dollars, active citizens, and private money, the St. Louis region will soon undergo a massive transformation in how people get from place to place. For example, with the passage of Proposition A in May, Metro's financial coffers are full and plans are underway to build Bus Rapid Transit Lines, expand current bus service, build four new Metrolink lines, and a commuter rail system. Furthermore, $1.1 billion in federal stimulus money has been approved to build a high-speed rail line between St. Louis and Chicago which will reduce travel times by one and a half hours, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Also, federal stimulus money has been approved for the proposed Delmar Loop Trolley. In addition to all the mass-transit investments, a $667 million cable-stayed bridge is being built downtown. This will potentially allow for Interstate 70 to be removed downtown, as proposed by the Civic-Action group City-to-River. These are just some of the many transportation projects which will certainly transform the St. Louis area in the future.
China, China, China
It's probably no surprise that Lambert Airport is not very busy nor is MidAmerica airport. Well that may soon change. With an increase in flights from Delta at Lambert, sparking rumors of a new passenger hub, Boeing is building a manufacturing facility at MidAmerica. These two airports are starting to gain traction.
Furthermore, Lambert and St. Louis may soon be catapulted on to the international stage as Missouri officials are currently in talks with Chinese leaders to make Lambert a Chinese Trade Hub. Currently, leaders are expressing that trade flights to and from China could begin before the end of the year. What this means is that the growing population in China will have access to Midwestern products, which means increased economic activity and more jobs in the St. Louis region. While talks are still occurring with Lambert and Chinese officials, trade between MidAmerica and China has already begun, with a trade flight recently landing from Shanghai. This "Gateway to the East," as some have dubbed it only unlocks the possibilities of massive investments in the St. Louis region by Chinese companies. If Lambert lands the Chinese trade hub, it is reasonably likely that Chinese companies will want to build their North American headquarters in the St. Louis region, which means more development, and most importantly, more jobs.
21st Century Industries
Yes, St. Louis is attracting 21st century industries and companies in this economic climate. If you look at downtown, many data centers are moving downtown because if its fiber optic infrastructure. Additionally, as more and more data companies move downtown the infrastructure will improve, attracting more data companies, translating into new jobs.
But more importantly, it is not just jobs that matter. These are cutting edge jobs that are filled by smart people which attract new entrepreneurs and ideas that will only help transform the St. Louis region. Other industries where St. Louis has seen strong growth are the pharmaceutical and life science industries,including companies like Pfizer, Monsanto, and Express Scripts. Furthermore, with the establishment of CORTEX and the Danforth Plant Science Center, many start-up biomedical and LifeScience companies are opening up, creating cutting-edge 21st century high-paying jobs.
If these two industries are not enough to convince you of St. Louis's economic growth, an alternative energy group has submitted a bid to purchase the former Chrysler assembly plant in Fenton to build an alternative energy research park. Like all of these industries, this translates into 21st century, globally competitive, high-paying jobs.
Yet, again all of these 21st century industries growing in St. Louis cannot top this report. On September13, the U.S. announced a $60 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Yes that's right $60 billion, and what type of arms? The contract includes fighter jets and helicopters all manufactured by Boeing. And where are the F-15 fighter jets manufactured? St. Louis, yes that's right, a St. Louis company will be completing the order of the largest arms sale in U.S. history. All I can say here is JOBS, JOBS, JOBS.
(September 14, 2010, A student online publication from Christian Brothers College High School, St. Louis, Missouri) |
