What is downtown 最新杏吧原创 really like? A one-month look, in photos
Full-time residents and out-of-town visitors; well kept spaces and dilapidation; businesses opening and storefronts closed; perceptions of safety and crime. Opinions and debates on downtown 最新杏吧原创 are as varied as the stakeholders. As part of an editorial series, our photographers spent part of April 2026 taking an objective look at what is really going on in the neighborhood. Take a look, and let us know what we missed.
- Michael Hamtil, Multimedia Director, 最新杏吧原创 Post-Dispatch
People gather for lunch on Old Post Office Plaza in downtown 最新杏吧原创 to enjoy lunch sold by food trucks parked along Olive Street on Wednesday, April 29, 2026.
People gather for lunch on Old Post Office Plaza in downtown 最新杏吧原创 while enjoying lunch from food trucks parked along Olive Street on Wednesday, April 29, 2026.
A drone view of downtown 最新杏吧原创 as seen from above the 2200 block of Washington Avenue on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
Kiley Boyd, 23, reads a book on the rooftop deck of the Arcade Apartments where she lives in downtown. 鈥淚 was a little surprised when I moved downtown that a lot of the businesses and restaurants close early, like 7 or 8 p.m.,鈥 said Boyd. She would like the city to be safer and have more reliable transportation.
Downtown resident Brian Coffman, 49, walks his rescue dog Ellie May in Old Post Office Plaza in downtown 最新杏吧原创 on Thursday, April 16, 2026. 鈥淚 always wanted to live in a big city鈥 Coffman who rents an apartment in The Shelby but grew up in northwest Arkansas. Coffman says both he and wife feel safe in downtown 最新杏吧原创 and that he 鈥渘ever imagine how much courteousness and kindness people show, it blows me away鈥.
Brittney Simmons, left, and Ali Walsh, both of 最新杏吧原创, visit Bella鈥檚 Coffee Cafe on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, at Washington Avenue and 10th Street. Walsh, a downtown resident, said she has visited the cafe twice since it reopened.聽鈥淲e appreciate them being down here."
Fans cheer as 最新杏吧原创 Cardinals JJ Wetherholt celebrates his solo home run off Seattle Mariners pitcher Emerson Hancock in the third inning of a day game between the Cardinals and the Mariners on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at Busch Stadium.
Cross guard Merlene Perkins ushers pedestrians across Washington Avenue on Thursday, April 23, 2026, during lunch hour outside the Dome at America鈥檚 Center, which was hosting the 2026 VEX Robotics World Championship in downtown 最新杏吧原创.
Metal siding and wooden paneling are torn off of the Railway Exchange Building聽 on Friday, April 3, 2026. People continue to break into the vacant downtown building by tearing off the siding.
Security guard Kevin Lease walks around the outside of the Railway Exchange building in downtown 最新杏吧原创 on Friday, April 3, 2026.
Kenneth Campbell, right, takes a draw on his cigar as he visits with John Shackleford at the Charles P. Stanley Cigar Company in downtown 最新杏吧原创, on Monday, April 20, 2026. Both men have lived in downtown 最新杏吧原创 for decades and have seen it change drastically. 鈥淓very city has its ups and downs, but this is a place that a lot of great people live, a lot of genuine people live,鈥 Shackleford said.
Crystal Gadie, of 最新杏吧原创, chases after her son, Adonis, 2, while he plays with a scarf at the Gateway Arch National Park in 最新杏吧原创, on Monday, April 20, 2026. Gadie and her son live in a high-rise downtown, close to her work. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 exciting for him to see everything and experience it especially when it鈥檚 baseball season, you don鈥檛 realize how much stuff you have access to,鈥 Gadie said.
Josh Whitener, left, and Cody Newton bring wheelbarrows full of concrete into what will be the Wash Ave Food Hall in the 1100 block of Washington Avenue in dowtown 最新杏吧原创 on Monday, April 20, 2026. The food hall is scheduled to open later in 2026.
Brian Kenyatta, with The City's Finest private security company, blocks vehicles from accessing part of Washington Avenue on Saturday night, April 18, 2026, between Tucker and 14th in the Downtown West neighborhood.
Drummer Quinton Robinson attracts the attention of Courtney Sov, right, on Saturday, April 18, 2026, in downtown 最新杏吧原创. Robinson says he would love to create a 鈥渢hird space鈥 in one of the many vacant downtown storefronts. "I would love to start a steel pan community orchestra and give the people on the street and the kids down here something to do," he said.
鈥淚 wish there was more to do downtown. It鈥檚 barren compared to San Antionio,鈥 said Marible Galvin, who walks her dogs Choko, left, and Choko, to an event at the Arch on Saturday, April 18, 2026, in downtown 最新杏吧原创. Galvin moved into 最新杏吧原创 in November 2025 to work at Boeing.
鈥淚鈥檝e never lived in a high-rise before,鈥 said Jerrett Bolton, left, who moves into the Paul Brown Loft Apartments聽with the help of his daughter, Kyah Logan, right, on Saturday, April 18, 2026, in downtown 最新杏吧原创. 鈥淚 love the variety down here. I can walk to the store, to the ballpark."
Demarcus Brown, background, waits behind Kealy Franklin to place his food order with Overtime Grill cart聽co-owner Troy McAdoo, just after midnight on Sunday, April 19, 2026, at Tucker and Washington in downtown 最新杏吧原创. 鈥淭he food is the right price. It鈥檚 good. It鈥檚 fresh,鈥 said Brown, who frequents the vendors.
A homeless person sleeps along the curb in front of a playground on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Kiener Plaza in downtown 最新杏吧原创.
鈥淚鈥檇 say about 80 percent appreciate me, 20 percent don鈥檛,鈥 said Paul Webb, a homeless man, who jokes with residents after holding the door for them on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at Schnucks downtown in downtown 最新杏吧原创.
Clifford Walker, of the 最新杏吧原创 streets department, paints new turn lane arrows and crosswalk lines on Washington Avenue in front of America's Center convention center on Friday, April 17, 2026 in downtown 最新杏吧原创.
A view of Union Station, the Gateway Arch, and the downtown and Downtown West neighborhoods of 最新杏吧原创 is seen from the 2200 block of Market Street on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
Regina Deichman, from St. John, rests on a bench in Citygarden Sculpture Park in 最新杏吧原创 on Thursday, April 16, 2026. 鈥淚鈥檓 just facing my fear of downtown,鈥 said Deichman, who was exploring the area for the first time in years. She said she felt safe in the park but added that her fear of downtown was based in part on vacant buildings.
鈥淟isten! Do not lie to me," says 最新杏吧原创 downtown police bicycle unit Officer Philip VonderHeydt as he questions a man detained Thursday, April 16, 2026, in the 200 block of Carr Street near the Horseshoe Casino, after a resident called about suspicious behavior in a nearby alley.
A pedestrian passes the vacant Chemical Building on April 15, 2026. It sits adjacent to the Hotel Saint Louis, which opened in 2018 in a historic building originally designed by Louis Sullivan.
A vehicle rolls over thick steel plates covering street surfaces in disrepair on April 15, 2026, at 11th and Olive Streets in downtown 最新杏吧原创.
The Thompson Coburn office building is seen聽Wednesday April 15, 2026聽through tattered awnings on the long-shuttered Railway Exchange building, which housed the Famous-Barr department store for decades.
Demolition of the what was the Millennium Hotel continues in downtown 最新杏吧原创 on Thursday, April 16, 2026. The hotel is being torn down to make way for a new development.
A large unused multistory parking garage covered in graffiti anchors the corner of 6th and Pine Streets on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. It is adjacent to the long-shuttered Railway Exchange building, at right, which once housed the Famous-Barr department store for decades.
A for lease sign is displayed in a window at Washington Avenue and Tucker Boulevard on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
A drone view of buildings downtown 最新杏吧原创 as seen from above the 2200 block of Market Street on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
Graffiti and broken windows mar the Chemical Building in downtown 最新杏吧原创 on April 16, 2026.
A graffiti-covered, condemned parking garage on Tucker Boulevard in downtown 最新杏吧原创 greets pedestrians and motorist on Monday, April 20, 2026.
After years of use and street repairs, decorative street paving down the center of Washington Avenue shows its age on April 16, 2026. The unique paving was part of an earlier revitalization more than 20 years ago when the city used about $17 million in state and federal tax dollars to beautify the downtown street.
T-Kartor geospatial analyst Dela Awadzi works in the company鈥檚 offices on the third floor of the Globe Building in downtown 最新杏吧原创 on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
Brothers Rahm, 6, and Lev Shah, 3, of Indiana, explore the inside of a sculpture at Citygarden park during a spring break trip to 最新杏吧原创 on April 2, 2026.
Michael Hamtil | Post-Dispatch
Multimedia Director
The bill offers the clearest picture yet of how Cara Spencer plans to work on some of the city鈥檚 biggest challenges. It鈥檚 sure to be controversial.聽
From the Post-Dispatch editorial board: While much work remains to be done, several key cogs have fallen into place recently that will be vital to revitalizing downtown 最新杏吧原创.聽
The measure needs one final vote in the Senate before heading to the House for further debate.
The 21-story building in downtown 最新杏吧原创 is a largely unsecured spot for late-night visitors. It's even become a setting for social media posts.
The Post-Dispatch Editorial Board tackled the issue of a deteriorating downtown with a weeklong series, 鈥淩eviving Downtown.鈥 Read the free editorials:
We set out with a big question: How can 最新杏吧原创' downtown be revived? Too much is at stake to not find answers. This is a free story; no paywall.
Does perception of crime in downtown 最新杏吧原创 match reality? We look at the facts. This is a free story; no paywall.
The decline of office culture was a blow to downtown 最新杏吧原创. Maybe it can be turned into a win. This is a free story; no paywall.
The slide of downtown 最新杏吧原创 tracks with the crumbling of streets and sidewalks. We can do something about it. This is a free story; no paywall.
Out-of-towners can be brutal in assessing downtown 最新杏吧原创. But they're not the only ones, and that's a problem. (Free story; no paywall).
What does downtown 最新杏吧原创 need for a revival? Here are some ideas. Let's talk about it. This is a free story, no paywall.
