Explore the deeper challenges facing St. Louis beyond street vendors. This opinion piece examines how internal cultural conflicts hinder community growth and unity.
The Narrative Matters expresses our gratitude to Daffney Moore, Ph.D., for graciously sharing her voice as a Special Guest Her Story Matters contributor. This is a highlight of our month-long celebration honoring Women’s History Month.
I read the recent article about downtown street vendors in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
And honestly ā it bothered me.
Not because of the vendors.
Because of the mindset behind the criticism.
I’ve lived or worked in downtown St. Louis for nearly 26 years. As a city administrator, chief of staff, and economic development strategist, I’ve watched this city wrestle with itself, and I’ll say what needs to be said:
We cannot revitalize a city we don’t respect.
Downtowns are not supposed to be quiet, sterile places.
They are the heartbeat of a city. The entertainment district. The place where people gather after a game, a concert, a long week. Where entrepreneurs – big and small – create opportunities and build wealth.
That includes restaurants. Music. Late-night food. And yes, street vendors.
Food vendors are part of the texture of a city. They exist in every thriving urban center in the world. If you’ve spent time in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles, you already know this.
Cities don’t thrive because everything shuts down at 9 p.m.
They thrive because life continues.
And in St. Louis, we have something even more powerful than late-night vendors.
We have culture.
We celebrate 314 Day like a holiday. We still ask, “What high school did you go to?ā and somehow, it still tells you everything. We have an accent that is unmistakably, unapologetically ours.
These are the small cultural fingerprints that make St. Louis, St. Louis.
I remember when Caleco’s downtown was the place to be after the game, a concert, or a long night. That energy, the places people gather, the spaces that feel alive that’s not a nuisance. That’s the city working exactly as it should.
Trying to strip those things away is like trying to remove Cardinals baseball from this town.
It simply doesn’t make sense.
Instead of attacking pieces of our culture, we should be asking harder questions:
Why does economic mobility remain out of reach for too many residents?
Why have we spent decades debating surface-level issues while ignoring deeper structural ones?
Why do we keep trying to “fix” downtown by making it less alive?
Businesses have left, and nothing has replaced them. There’s less activity because there’s less opportunity for activity. Street vendors aren’t the reason St. Louis faces challenges. The real issues are economic disparity, disinvestment, and decades of missed opportunity.
If we want to solve problems let’s address those.
Let’s invest in small businesses. Let’s expand access to economic opportunities. Let’s support entrepreneurs, from food vendors to tech founders, who are trying to build something in this city.
Because here’s the truth:
Cities that thrive lean into their identity. They don’t sanitize it.
That’s why efforts like the “I Am St. Louis” campaign matter. They signal something important: we are finally beginning to tell our own story again.
And St. Louis has an extraordinary story to tell. Our music. Our food. Our neighborhoods. Our history. Our resilience.
But none of that works if we keep pushing out the very people and small businesses that shape the culture.
St. Louis cannot be a city of haves and have-nots.
Everyone deserves the opportunity to participate in the economy and contribute to the life of this city.
That includes the entrepreneur selling food on the corner. That includes the small business trying to stay open late. That includes the next generation of leaders we keep saying we want to develop.
Culture isn’t the problem. It’s one of our greatest assets.
The question is: will we protect it, or keep explaining it away?
I’d love to hear from you: What do YOU believe St. Louis needs to fully lean into its identity and economic potential? Drop your thoughts below.
The Narrative Matters would like to thank Daffney Moore, Ph.D., for sharing her voice with us as a Special Guest Her Story Matters contributor. This is part of our month long celebration during Women’s History Month.
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