Brookings Podcast: St. Louis Shows How Cities Can Break “Urban Doom Loop”
Date Posted: May 29, 2025
Posted In: Discussion, Ideas,
From Brookings: In this episode of Metro Blueprint, experts take a deep dive into how St. Louis is using office-to-residential conversions to build affordable housing and a vibrant downtown. Tracy Hadden Loh, a fellow at Brookings, and Kurt Weigle, senior vice president and chief downtown officer at Greater St. Louis, explain how cities can look to St. Louis as a model for redeveloping their own downtowns.
Key takeaways:
- Public-private partnerships, such as the business community and local government in St. Louis, set cities up for success in redeveloping downtowns.
- Across the board, cities of all sizes, including St. Louis, need to eliminate underperforming offices, strengthen specific office sub-markets, and offer housing near jobs, which all add up to a strong local tax base.
- What we need from the places we live and work—the economy, demographics, climate—is always evolving. Places need to adapt, which requires flexibility, information, and resources.