Imagine downtown sidewalks abuzz with thousands more souls: people hustling, chatting, or gripping coffee, laptop bags slung over their shoulders. Imagine they're well-paid, well-educated remote workers from the coasts. They've been persuaded to move downtown and are swelling the city's tax base—a tax base without which an ambitious city government can't do much (especially after that sweet ARPA and Rams-settlement sugar runs out). Imagine feeling safer on Washington Avenue with more people around.
I imagined this the other day when I noticed that Greater St. Louis Inc. had floated the general idea in its 2030 Jobs Plan. The authors suggested that “an attraction strategy”
