ST. LOUIS — Mayor Tishaura Jones will meet virtually with downtown residents Monday as safety concerns persist.
She's partnering with the Downtown Neighborhood Association to collect feedback directly from downtown residents.
Lori Corzine and her family — like so many around the Arch Sunday — came to take advantage of the beautiful weather on Memorial Day, the kind of local tourism she hopes to do more of.
"It means everything. It's been a long time," she said.
Looking around downtown, you'll see signs of heightened security: mobile police cameras and increased patrols. The city has details devoted to cruising and violent crime after dark. And traffic barricades along some of the busiest thoroughfares are staying in place.
"I did notice that there is a lot of traffic and stuff to get around," Derrick Kingery said, with Emily Barnett agreeing. "Yeah. I noticed that, too. There's a lot of traffic."
Mayor Jones announced all of those extra security measures and procedures after a group of people jumped and danced on top of a police cruiser last Saturday, climbing atop the vehicle while an officer was inside.
Some visitors, like Kansas City's Waynesha Cooper, said they didn't notice heightened security measures.
"For it being our first time down here, it was OK. Actually with it being the COVID and everything, it was pretty fun. The kids enjoyed themselves. Did you enjoy yourself?," she asked to a resounding chorus of "Yes!"
Kingery agreed with Cooper in that the biggest change they noticed has nothing to do with police.
"It's been forever since I've been here because of the pandemic. It's just nice to be out to see people. And with the vaccines now, I feel safe," Kingery said.
As the Corzines head home, they expect to be back soon.
"We wouldn't come down late at night right now, but we think it's going to improve to where we actually could. We would love to come down for the Fourth of July. Love to," she said.