ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – As the city plans to host Olympic soccer matches in 2028, local officials are looking ahead at the improvements needed to prepare St. Louis for the world stage.
The excitement centers around Energizer Park, just blocks away and the future site of Olympic soccer matches in 2028. Just a few blocks away at The Biscuit Joint, owner Elliot Brown said his restaurant’s proximity could be an advantage for the popular breakfast spot.
“I’ve lived in Midtown for like 7 years I’ve seen it grow. In the last couple years it’s been really rapid,” Brown said. “We’ve seen all these people coming and developing these older buildings. I think we need to continue building excitement over downtown.”
Over the next two years, the city will be preparing downtown and Midtown for global attention, improving infrastructure and encouraging development in some pockets of Midtown that have not seen the same growth.
Alderman Michael Browning said city officials are already talking about putting the city’s best foot forward.
“We want St. Louis to shine,” Browning said. “We need to prepare, but not overprepare. We won’t get the big matches like LA, so we need to take what we have and work with it.”
Browning brought up issues surrounding short-term rentals. He had sponsored a BOA bill that passed in 2023 that contained a series of regulations for AirBNB and VRBO units. But its implementation has been paused due to a lawsuit in 2025.
“I want to see those regulations in effect,” Browning said. “We want people to have a good time, but we want to protect people who live here.”
Matt O’Leary, founder of Downtown Forward, a new organization working on public safety improvements, said perceptions about the city need to improve.
“People want to see downtown organized,” O’Leary said. “Crime stats are going dramatically in the positive direction for downtown, so we need to continue that.”
O’Leary pointed to progress already happening, with homicides downtown falling from 11 in 2024 to just one in 2025, and total shooting incidents falling 38 percent in the same period.
“We need to activate downtown because people make places safe. Having the soccer stadium has helped with that on the west side of downtown,” O’Leary said.
He identified addressing chronic homelessness as the next challenge.
“We have to have a unified approach to chronic homelessness. It’s our greatest challenge,” O’Leary said.
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