The Economic Mobility Lab at St. Louis Magazine was founded on the premise that many St. Louisans yearn for a better life—for themselves and their children. Jobs that pay more. Nicer places to live. Stronger schools. Better ways to get around. Secure retirements. And for the region to flourish, those yearnings must become realities for more people—and especially for those who don’t have much.
Beginning with today’s deep dive by senior editor Nicholas Phillips, you’ll see our writers grappling with these ideas on a regular basis. Over the next three years, thanks to a grant from the James S. McDonnell Foundation, we’re commissioning two full-time journalists and some additional contributors to tell stories about upward economic mobility in the St. Louis area. We’ll look at a host of factors that lift locals up and that hold them back. We’ll examine programs that work and infrastructure that doesn’t, policies that provide a hand up, and place-based investments that elevate neighborhoods. We’ll look at personal choices and societal forces. We’ll talk to the experts and to the regular folks striving for more. You’ll be able to find our coverage in many places: our website, our newsletters, our podcasts, our social media channels, our print issues, and even at live events.
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We know that while money doesn’t buy happiness, it sure helps to shield against common forms of misery. With our focus on economic mobility, we hope to light a path away from misery and, ideally, toward happiness and growth—growth for real people living their lives here and for the region as a whole.
We invite you to join the conversation as Phillips and St. Louis Magazine staff writer Samir Knox anchor a team digging into these stories. The best place to find our coverage is the St. Louis Daily, the newsletter that highlights the most interesting and important stories in our region each weekday. (You can sign up here.) Our Business newsletter will also be sharing many of our lab’s stories through a business lens, and if you prefer a monthly roundup of our Economic Mobility work, our Solutions newsletter has that covered. Sign up for those options, or any of SLM’s free newsletters, here. If you prefer to listen to your news, The 314 Podcast will also be highlighting this work on a regular basis. You can subscribe for free wherever you get your podcasts.
We hope you’ll join us as we kick off a three-year exploration of what we consider one of the most important issues facing the region. Email [email protected] to get in touch with the writers and editors in the lab. We look forward to beginning a conversation.
Hear more about Knox and Phillips’ plans for the Economic Mobility Lab on The 314 Podcast.
