PERSPECTIVE: KC’s Downtown Sets a Benchmark For STL
Date Posted: October 14, 2026
Posted In: Discussion, Regionalism, What we are thinking about,
by Chip Casteel
As local business and civic leaders are contemplating how best to organize to help strengthen Downtown St. Louis, they have no doubt considered similar efforts that have taken place in other U.S. cities. What they do not appear to have done, however, is take a hard look at how Kansas City has successfully transformed its downtown in many ways that St. Louis has not.
Simply put, we would do well to take a lesson on the organizational structure and the work of the Downtown Council of Kansas City.
A Coordinated Approach
The most fundamental difference in how Kansas City has approached transforming its downtown over the years versus St. Louis is symptomatic of other differences between our two regions. Kansas City has used a common vision, aggressive collaboration, and unity of effort.
None of those things have been strong suits for our region in the past, but need to be going forward. The content of the Downtown Council’s website is impressive. We have nothing comparable to their level of coordination or scale here in St. Louis; to the contrary, we have some nine different organizations supporting or advocating for some concept of downtown, each operating separately (and some, I’m told, created specifically because they thought existing organizations had been ineffective).
“A Clean, Safe and Vibrant Place”
The Downtown Council of Kansas City is a private nonprofit membership organization representing “Kansas City’s best businesses, property owners, nonprofit organizations, and anyone invested in Downtown’s success.” I found its mission statement to be astonishing, particularly as contrasted to how we operate here: “Through our work and our partnerships, we ensure Downtown Kansas City is the clean, safe and vibrant place where you work, shop, live, and do business.” It is difficult to imagine any entity (or even set of entities) making a similar pledge here. Who here would step forward to “guarantee” that our downtown will be clean, safe and vibrant?
The Downtown Council goes on to say: “These efforts are made possible through the work of the administrative and operations staff, Board of Directors (and) many public and private partners.” There are a large number of substantial partner organizations that work through direct collaboration and coordination with the Downtown Council. Nothing close to this approach happens here in our city of fragmentation by design. In another noticeable contrast, the council has a substantial budget of its own, and directly oversees the operation of their two major Community Improvement Districts.
Defining Downtown
When we speak of “downtown” here in St. Louis the most commonly understood definition is the combination of the Downtown and Downtown West neighborhoods, which together comprise about 2.2 square miles, with about 11,000 residents.
The contrast with “Greater Downtown Kansas City” could not be more stark. They affirmatively define and serve an area that includes not only their Central Business District, but a large number of other significant neighborhoods as well. Their downtown geography extends from the River Market area north of I-70 all the way south to 31st Street (several blocks south of Union Station).
Even more significantly, it extends west to the Kansas border and east to The Paseo (which is analogous to going “north of Delmar” here). The River Market area used to be a bombed out mess that even featured mob violence on occasion. It is now a vibrant area filled with small businesses and apartments full of young working people. The 18th & Vine neighborhood was likewise in deep urban decay, but is now is doing well. There are many other examples, including their CBD itself (which had certainly been every bit as bad or worse than ours over the decades).
Today, Greater Downtown Kansas City covers about 7.4 square miles and has more than 32,000 residents, evenly divided between men and women. Even more significantly, it is the fastest-growing area — not just in Kansas City — but in the entire region! The Downtown Council has set as their goal for residential population the standard of the International Downtown Association: 2% of total MSA population. In their case, that means about 44.000 residents. The comparable goal for our region would be about 56,000 residents. I have never heard anyone in our region even speak in such aspirational terms, much less actively advocate for that 2% goal.
In terms of geography, to be comparable to Kansas City a newly envisioned “Greater Downtown St. Louis” would seemingly require expansion of our traditional definition to include Midtown, Grand Center, St. Louis Place (NGA), Jeff Vander Lou and Carr-Square. Together with Downtown and Downtown West, this new area would contain about 29,000 residents — several thousand less than the current number in Greater Downtown Kansas City, and still only about half way toward the 2% of MSA population goal. In terms of land area, the newly envisioned Greater Downtown St. Louis would cover about 6.4 square miles (still a full square mile smaller than Greater Downtown Kansas City).
The KC Strategy
Downtown Council of Kansas City CEO Bill Dietrich spoke at a forum here in St. Louis in March 2024. He began by saying that the business and civic reaction to their work has been “you guys are organized and taking care of this place.” He noted that there is a “whole new generation of leaders” who are driving everything in downtown, giving it a new energy and employment base. He laid out their four keys to success: 1) a strategic plan; 2) strong engagement; 3) alignment of the public and private sectors on the plan; and 4) pursuit of “catalyst” projects.
In terms of downtown infrastructure, in 2008 a bill for downtown development was approved, which has led to the construction of a four-block “lid” over an ugly downtown interstate highway that will become a large park and green area (using both public and private funding). In past years their downtown had faced $50 million in deferred maintenance, so they passed a bond issue designed to “take back the streets.” The business community also supported creation of the Transportation Development District that supports Kansas City’s innovative free streetcar line, which now runs all the way from their new women’s professional soccer stadium north of the River Market all the way south to the UMKC campus. And they cite some $3.5 billion in investment that is occurring within two blocks of the streetcar line.
Connections for Homeless
Regarding homelessness, the Downtown Council conducted a gap analysis for shelter needs and raised $2M for a “day shelter” with clinics near the downtown area. The Council has owned it and worked with human service providers. The CEO said at the 2024 forum that the shelter costs them about $100,000 a year and helps people with both services and connections during the day, as well as finding places for them to stay at night.
And this last point is amazing: We were told that the Council has implemented a pledge to have all graffiti cleaned up within 24 hours of occurrence. The Council also manages a large group of Downtown Ambassadors who operate on the streets on a 24/7/365 basis — nothing close to that exists here.
Even if Kansas City’s organizational structure and approach are not an exact fit for St. Louis, what can it hurt to examine them carefully and learn all we can from them? It may not be easy for us to swallow our civic pride to take a lesson from our “little brother,” but any objective observer would have to conclude that they are performing a lot better than we are these days.
Chip Casteel is former senior vice president of public policy for the St. Louis Regional Chamber.