ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – The only constant in life is change, and St. Louis County has made a pledge to improve their community in time. Their previous comprehensive plan was adopted 40 years ago. STLCO 2050 aims to update this framework to reflect current needs and priorities.
“How does the county take the position to help the entire metro area grow? How do we develop partnerships with the folks we already work with in the city, in other municipalities, in regional orgs, to help champion what needs to happen to not only move the county forward, but the entire St. Louis metro?” Sean Tapia, a project manager with EACOM, a firm St Louis County has brought in, said.
Community engagement is a core part of the process, with input from citizens and workers helping to form actionable goals.
“If you can bind together as a community and discuss things, there’s a wide range of ideas that people have,” St. Louis County resident Bob Oaks said. “I like this idea; we’re coming out here, voting on things. It’s exciting to see when you do think of something that only applies to you and you go over and see 10 other stick pins right next to it and go, ‘Oh, see, other people do care about this.’”
The plan outlines strategic goals for land use, infrastructure, housing, parks, and economic development, aiming to coordinate policies across all county departments.
“You can never have everything, so it’s about prioritizing what we want to pick and choose,” Jacob Trimble, the director of planning for St. Louis County, said. “How we want to be strategic about how we invest our resources over the next 25 years to create the community that residents say they want.”
The draft of STLCO 2050 is anticipated to be released this winter, with the final plan expected to be adopted in fall 2025.