CLAYTON, Mo. — A panel seems poised Thursday to recommend that bilingual signage be installed in downtown Clayton the next time the current signs need to be replaced, an official said.
Clayton's Community Equity Commission is set to consider recommending to Mayor Michelle Harris and the Board of Aldermen that new signs include English but also Spanish and possibly Mandarin. Those could include direction kiosks, pedestrian and vehicular directional signs, and identification and welcome signs.
Commission documents said that 7.6% of St. Louis County residents are foreign-born and 9.5% of households speak a language other than English in the home. And, citing U.S. Census Bureau data, they said the most commonly spoken languages outside English in the St. Louis region are Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese and Serbo-Croatian.
"By showing non-English speaking customers you go out of your way to make them feel comfortable, you increase the likelihood they will recommend your business to their community," the documents say. "This follows for the city of Clayton. Ensuring visitors and residents can easily understand what resources are available, where to go, and how to get there is a way to welcome visitors to our city."
