My Love Letter for South Grand
12/12/2025 | Rachel Witt
Why do I love St. Louis? I love South Grand, where I have been working as the Executive Director of the South Grand Community Improvement District (SGCID) for over 19 years. The boundaries of the SGCID are just north of Arsenal Street and South to Utah Street totaling 5.5 city blocks. It has been my mission to make the South Grand Business District a place where everyone feels welcome. My goal is to create a community that is clean, sustainable, safe, and diverse in business.
Every morning before I start my day, I take a stroll down South Grand to make sure the following services are being performed: cleanliness and our native plants are being maintained. We are still perfecting the sustainable element of our native plants and the outcome benefits everyone’s health and wildlife. Our rain gardens have been awarded esteem recognition from Grow Native and Bring Conservation Home.
South Grand’s streetscape design was one of the first to create a road diet with eliminating a lane of traffic and creating bump outs to make a shorter distance to cross the street, thus making South Grand’s traffic slower and safer for all. The American Planning Association has recognized South Grand nationally with the Great Places award.
As I make my way down the street, I am taken around the world of the aromas of the various restaurants I am proud to represent. South Grand is home to 15 countries, and 23 immigrant owned businesses.
The array of businesses that make up South Grand is what I love the most about my job. The South Grand business owners have helped shape the person I am today. What I take away the most is the trust and friendship I have made through the years with the South Grand businesses. I have learned so much from their various cultures, successes, and struggles they have endured to be part of our St. Louis community. They have made me a better and more understanding person, which provides me with the grace to try my best to make South Grand a great place to live, work, and play.
Another aspect of South Grand that I love is the number of diverse and unique retail businesses that make up our district. Today, we see a lot of retail brick and mortar closing but on South Grand they are thriving due to their unique brand and loyalty of our visitors to South Grand Blvd.
Lastly, what I love about St. Louis City are the people. I love to interact with our visitors and residents to learn what they love and dislike about South Grand. To make South Grand a great place to live, work, and play, I need to be open to what works and what needs improvement to make South Grand better for all.
Rachel Witt, Executive Director of the South Grand Community Improvement District. Graduate from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography, minor in Sociology and certification in Nonprofit Management. Master’s in public administration from Widener University emphasis in local government and economic development. Treasurer for the American Planning Association St. Louis Metro Section. Secretary for the 2nd District Police Business Association. Member of Engaging Local Government Leaders.