The main theme in Springfield Mayor Jeff Schrag's State of the City address Thursday was having more confidence in the community.
Schrag said people from other places are starting to see Springfield “the way we should have been seeing ourselves all along.”
The mayor pointed to Springfield’s innovation, quality of life, outdoor culture, business climate, creativity and momentum as reasons residents should be proud of their community. And he said it’s a good place to raise a family and create a future.
Schrag said the reason he became mayor is because he wanted to help Springfield become a place where young people choose to stay.
“We did this for our grandchildren,” he said, looking at his wife, Mary Helen. “We want them to see a future in Springfield, Missouri. We want them to see a future in their hometown.”
Schrag said partnerships in the past year between the City, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Greene County and Springfield City Utilities helped ensure six mayor economic development projects. Those projects, he said, provided more than 400 primary industry jobs and nearly $100 million of new capital investment in Springfield.
He acknowledged the city’s colleges and universities, which attract thousands of talented young people to study in the community.
“The question is whether we’re creating a city where the talent wants to stay,” he said. We want our young people to believe they do not have to leave Springfield to find opportunity. We want them to believe that they can build a meaningful life right here.”
Schrag mentioned as strengths, investments in projects that support the city’s future like the Grant Avenue Parkway to expand connectivity in neighborhoods, the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge rehabilitation and Jordan Creek daylighting.
He said Springfield continues to strengthen its role as a regional healthcare leader with expanded pediatric services and the University of Missouri’s medical school expansion in the city.
And he pointed to the fact that the Springfield Metropolitan Area has surpassed 500,000 residents.
“That milestone means more than a census number,” said Schrag. “It reflects a growing regional economy with the scale, with the workforce and the momentum to compete nationally.”
Challenges
He said having confidence in the city isn’t choosing denial. It’s recognizing both the strengths and challenges of Springfield.
One major challenge Schrag brought up in his speech is the need for more housing. He said expanding housing opportunities must include “responsible development and creating housing choices at every single price point.”
He also acknowledged challenges with economic pressures that are facing working families, accessibility, workforce shortages, mental health needs and the unsheltered.
Schrag said communities aren’t defined by their challenges but by how they respond to those challenges. He believes the city “will respond with resilience.”
The mayor said “difficult conversations” will have to happen for Springfield to move forward. He said there will have to be decisions about what to implement or not in the city’s comprehensive plan Forward SGF.
“It requires trade-offs, it requires compromise, and it requires a community willing to work through disagreement without losing trust in one another,” he said.
Even though there will be times when people disagree about things like density, development, public safety alignment and investment priorities, “that’s not a failure,” he said. “That’s a democracy.”
Great cities are built, he said, when people “work through differences and choose compromise over convenience.”
The mayor said there doesn't have to be a choice between preserving what makes Springfield special or embracing the future.
"Our neighborhoods can flourish alongside new investment and greater density," he said. "We can preserve history while welcoming innovation."
Schrag said Springfield City Council continues focusing on the five priorities it established to help guide it in the near future. Those are: Operational excellence, public safety transformation, economic vitality, housing and development processes.
“They are not just policy categories,” he said, “but they reflect…the kind of city that Springfield is becoming: Safe and secure, responsive, competitive for growth and investment, connected across neighborhoods and in services.”
