ST. LOUIS — A new regional strategic plan to set priorities for the metro area and coordinate existing efforts from governments, nonprofits and the private sector will stop short of naming population loss as a key issue, opting instead to focus on its root causes.
Still, the move to craft a regional plan is a nod to a growing chorus of business groups advocating for a sharper focus on the region’s stagnant population, which has stood at around 2.8 million for more than a decade and is showing signs of tilting toward decline. Some have called on the East-West Gateway Council of Governments — the region’s planning organization whose board is made up of St. Louis-area political leaders — to make reversing population loss a stated priority.
East-West Gateway board leaders discussed regional issues, including the metro’s stagnant population, at a workshop earlier this summer. The idea for a region-wide strategic plan came out of that discussion, Executive Director Jim Wild said.
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“At the end of the day, one of the significant ideas and recommendations that came out of the workshop was the development of a comprehensive regional vision and strategy, with the priorities aligning with addressing root causes of stagnant population growth and population decline,†Wild said during a board meeting Wednesday.
Among the focus areas East-West Gateway plans to tackle in the plan are “political leadership, economic development, education and workforce development, infrastructure, safety, quality of life and regional institutions,†according to a staff memo on the project. Wild said staff will present more details, including a cost and a timeline for such an effort, to its board next month.
The plan, however, may stop short of specifically declaring that reversing population decline is a regional focus. Wild previously has said population decline was a “symptom†of the region’s other problems, and bringing too much attention to it could have “unintended consequences†if St. Louis hopes to attract new residents or convince more to stay.
“We’re encouraged that East-West Gateway is looking at this and we understand their interest in making it part of a larger strategic plan for the region,†said Chip Casteel, a veteran public policy executive who worked for the former St. Louis Regional Chamber and has been pushing the group to focus on population. “What our concern about that is, is we still believe there needs to be a very sharp focus on the population issue within that strategic plan.â€
Casteel and Joe Blanner, a lawyer and co-founder of industry group Construction Forum, have been building support to tackle population stagnation. They have secured more than a dozen resolutions from business associations, area chambers of commerce and the Municipal League of Metro St. Louis calling on East-West Gateway to make reversing population stagnation a stated priority, similar to the “Save Lives Now†regional crime initiative it administers.
St. Louis city has struggled for decades with population loss, with many of those leaving moving to suburban counties in the area. The region’s top business and economic development lobby, Greater St. Louis Inc., has sounded the alarm about the loss of population for years and made revitalizing the urban core of the region a primary focus.
Now, the region as a whole is facing the prospect of population loss amid a declining birthrate and President Donald Trump’s efforts to limit immigration, which had been the only stream of people keeping St. Louis from losing residents in recent years. Suburban interests, including construction groups in places such as St. Charles County, are worried they also will begin to feel the effects of population loss.
Casteel said he and Blanner will “continue to push for a sharper focus on the population issue.†Otherwise, Casteel said, it could get buried in an unwieldy planning document.
“It’s sort of the perfect issue to focus on as your first strong, collaborative regional effort,†Casteel said. “At some point, you have to recognize the challenge you have.â€
