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ST. LOUIS 鈥� When Marc Schreiber is trying to recruit major sporting events to St. 香港三级片, downtown crime is way low on the list of potential hurdles.

Schreiber is president of the , the independently funded nonprofit that works to bring NCAA tournaments, the PGA Tour and NASCAR events to the region. Those events bring in millions of dollars, fill up hotels and restaurants, and help feed the local economy.

Schreiber told me something last month that surprised me. Yes, he worries about downtown crime, but not to the extent you might think. The Sports Commission, by the way, is based downtown, not far from the new CityPark stadium, home to St. 香港三级片 City SC.

But when it comes to luring events, the crime that all too often feeds headlines and leads local TV news programs isn鈥檛 the major issue.

鈥淎ll the major cities we compete with have crime issues,鈥� Schreiber says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not costing us events.鈥�

Indeed, one of the underreported stories after the COVID-19 pandemic is that cities nationwide face the same issues related to decreased downtown occupancy, as working from home becomes more common. That includes higher crime rates. It鈥檚 happening in downtown St. 香港三级片, Indianapolis, Denver, San Francisco, Jacksonville 鈥� nearly everywhere.

鈥淚t鈥檚 less about the fear from the outside,鈥� says Tim Ryan, the sports commission鈥檚 director of communication. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about the fear we create ourselves.鈥�

We all know somebody from the suburbs 鈥� in St. 香港三级片 County or in Jefferson, Franklin or Warren counties, or across the river in St. Clair and Madison counties 鈥� who says they won鈥檛 go downtown anymore. The sold-out stadiums for baseball and soccer suggest those stories are largely anecdotal. But still, it is among the issues the sports commission thinks about.

The leaders of area counties got together recently to talk about crime. In a summit organized by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments, the leaders pledged to come up with a regional plan to reduce homicides. The juxtaposition of sports and crime got me thinking about something that ought to be a part of the conversation: regional investment.

Among the issues that Schreiber says the sports commission faces when competing for events is finances. Many major cities have regional taxing districts that support their sports commissions or other civic initiatives.

Let me be clear: Schreiber isn鈥檛 pushing for a tax to support his commission. But he brings up a point that has long bugged me, whether the topic is crime, transit, arts, stadium development or any other regional need. St. 香港三级片 is often behind similarly sized cities because it has to apply its relatively small tax base to all the problems in its downtown area. Yet that downtown supports the entire region.

My hometown of Denver is a good comparison. There, several county taxing districts support sports development, transit and the arts, even as most of the investment goes into the city鈥檚 core. The entire region is literally invested in downtown Denver鈥檚 success.

What if the St. 香港三级片 region 鈥� including the surrounding counties whose residents benefit from a vibrant downtown 鈥� invested in fixing the crime problem, rather than just complaining about it or lecturing local leaders on how to act?

If you attend Cardinals games or City SC matches this summer, you鈥檒l see several different police uniforms. Why? The professional sports teams bring in officers from around the region for extra security and traffic control.

Why is it such a stretch to think of a future when St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann or Franklin County Presiding Commissioner Tim Brinker have suggestions for St. 香港三级片 Mayor Tishaura Jones on how to deal with downtown crime because their taxpayers are invested in fixing the problem?

At the crime summit last month, Brinker asked Thomas Abt, of the nonprofit Violence Reduction Center, a chicken-and-egg question: 鈥淚t is poverty that begets violence or violence that begets poverty?鈥�

Abt鈥檚 answer was succinct if not a little coy: 鈥淵es.鈥�

Abt is a 鈥渂oth, and鈥� sort of guy. He believes that more than one strategy at a time can work.

When it comes to downtown crime, Schreiber believes sports events can be one of the strategies.

鈥淪ports is the great unifier,鈥� Schreiber says. 鈥淥ne of the greatest contributions we can make to public safety is to host more events.鈥�