Business migration: Why Springfield's west side flourishes while the east side perseveres

Business is the lifeblood of a community – from local favorite hangout spots to new local joints that grow on a cultural classic. When a business leaves, so does a part of the neighborhood with it.

It’s no surprise that in recent decades the west side of Springfield, divided from the east side of the city by 11 Street downtown, has seen an inconsistent amount of growth in new businesses compared to its counterpart.

Now retired, Kathryn Harris was the Interim director of Lincoln Library and has watched businesses come and go over the years, molding the east side to how the streets stand today.

“There has been some improvements but east of 11th Street hasn’t seen it a whole lot,” Harris said. “I’m looking forward to the transportation hub that will hopefully come there. … There are some places in Springfield that remind me of the worst parts of St. Louis.”

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The great business migration has made the west side of Springfield a booming economic presence, while the east side is left struggling to compete as foot traffic leaves, putting retailors out of business.

Beginning of the end

Multiple factors have led to the west side dominating financially, but not all of them are well known. Part of why the western business district is where it is today is based in a history of segregation of the east side- and the reinvigoration efforts in only the west side.

Springfield is one of the top three most segregated metro regions between Black and white people in the country, according to Census data and an American Community Survey for 2013 to 2017.

The east side of Springfield originally was known for its business opportunities and active Black business hub during the Civil Rights era. Two districts on the east side, the Levee district and the Badlands district, where both nearly razed to the ground during the Springfield Race Riot of 1908.

More: The 1908 Springfield Race Riot: An unseemly chapter of Springfield history

The west side and northwest have seen fundamental growth in the past three decades with reinvigoration of the west side of Veterans Parkway, and opening of White Oaks Mall in 1977.

“When the mall came in the early '70s, that’s when downtown and the east side of Springfield stopped,” Harris said. “There is no downtown Springfield where you can shop (essentials) it’s all nifty shops now but there was a time we had … department stores and stationery stores. When the mall came, all of those things closed – that was the beginning of the end so to speak.”

Lack of foot traffic

For Maldaner’s owner Michael Higgins who moved to Springfield from St. Louis, being in downtown isn’t all that it used to be chalked up to, compared to the business the west side gets now.

Opened in 1884 and Springfield’s first downtown fine dining restaurant, Maldaner’s has always and will always be downtown dining, but according to Higgins, downtown needs more foot traffic to compete with the traction west of Veteran’s Parkway.

“This is my honest opinion that if you live out west in Springfield, unless there is an event downtown … you have no need to cross Veterans Parkway,” Higgins said. “Why I say that is because they have their own set of fine dining and casual sets of dining and shopping so in a lot of ways you really don’t have to cross Veterans Parkway."

Higgins believes the city needs to find a way to increase people living downtown in order for foot traffic to grow.

Facing adversity

For some businesses that remain on the east side, they're seeing additional challenges aside from a lack of foot traffic.

Mary's Spot, 2150 E. Clear Lake Ave., has been selling furniture along with custom-made accessories initially, owner Michael Holmes opened a brick-and-mortar furniture shop with his family and friends to serve the community he was raised in.

"We all grew up around here for the most part, our kids are here, and the east side is our home," Chiquista Holmes, Michael's older sister and associate at the store said. "Everybody doesn't have transportation so something that's close, that's reasonably priced, reliable."

Since opening in May of 2023, the location needs funding to keep its doors open. Applying for the cities' Cannabis Grant, Holmes was told they would have more information about the grant which provides funding through a portion of the local cannabis sales tax. A year later, the business is still waiting to hear back from the city, with their fledgling business on the line.

"We have been trying for a very long time to get a grant through the city and it's been in the news a lot - back and forth waiting on this grant," Holmes said. "In order to get more supplies, more equipment and the things that we need that would make us more successful. Because we would have the proper equipment to do what we need."

The City of Springfield uses a portion of its CDBG funds to increase citywide economic opportunities by providing financial assistance to businesses, according to the city of Springfield website. The funding is given to encourage new businesses to grow and help existing businesses expand.

With projects like the Springfield Rail Improvements and Poplar Place bringing accessibility and more residents to the east side of the city, it's a hope that with these grants and housing improvements the cities overlooked section will revitalize in the coming decades with essentials for living, breathing life into downtown and the east once more.

"We want to be sponsors for different events and provide shirts for disadvantaged sports teams, we want to give back but we are just kind of scraping by," Holmes said. "We definitely are not where we want to be but we're holding on."

Contact Claire Grant at CLGrant@gannett.com, X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Why businesses on Springfield's west side are flourishing