"[W]e don't make so much anymore, and most of those factories are gone now. The big corporate headquarters have fallen away, too. Being 'middle-American' - both socially and geographically - means less in a fast-changing global economy. More important is ideas. And innovation.
And if St. Louis hopes to thrive in this new economy, it needs to do more to nurture those ideas and the innovators who have them. It needs to draw more in, and give more oxygen to the ones already here. And it needs to claim its spot on that list of places where things happen."
Locals say the key is for the city to find an economic niche or two, find success in those niches and let that success lure others to town.
