Where do discuss Metro East? (Chicago, Belleville: middle-class, crime, job market)

[Suesbal]

Here or in the St. Louis forum?

[BOBNCHI]

Depending on the question, St Louis will likely produce better results.

[MikeQBF]

Opposing opinion: here. My experience is that much StL-area discussion for Illinoisians looking for opportunities and services redirects to the west side of the river.

[FoxValleyTrotter]

Yeah, I agree. Metro East is more of a family-oriented place with nice suburbs and exurbs. It's not really for any young professionals unless you are a college student. There are many tourist destinations and history in these towns and it's one of the fastest-growing metro areas in Illinois due to people in small outlying towns relocating to the Metro East for more opportunity. White flight is big here because families in St. Louis can't really afford places like Clayton, MO (a rich city-suburb bordering St. Louis) they move to the upper-middle-class towns like Belleville, O'fallon, Glen Carbon, Edwardsville, etc. There are many colleges and universities here and some of them are the best in the state, not the U.S. The job market is growing but many Metro East suburbs directly bordering St. Louis are horrible places to live in like East St. Louis, Cahokia, Alorton, Centerville, etc. Alton, Carbondale, Cahokia, and more, are known popular tourist spots. In some towns, crime is really bad but in others their your regular St. Louis suburbs, having pretty much no architectural and cultural connection to Illinois's largest metro area; Chicago. The Chicago metro has more Queen-Victoria architecture while the St. Louis area has more French-styled buildings and the culture is way different than the "Yankee" cultural aspects of northern Illinois. It almost feels as if it is down-south than the midwest or even the northern half of the country.

[Suesbal]

Originally Posted by FoxValleyTrotter

Yeah, I agree. Metro East is more of a family-oriented place with nice suburbs and exurbs. It's not really for any young professionals unless you are a college student. There are many tourist destinations and history in these towns and it's one of the fastest-growing metro areas in Illinois due to people in small outlying towns relocating to the Metro East for more opportunity. White flight is big here because families in St. Louis can't really afford places like Clayton, MO (a rich city-suburb bordering St. Louis) they move to the upper-middle-class towns like Belleville, O'fallon, Glen Carbon, Edwardsville, etc. There are many colleges and universities here and some of them are the best in the state, not the U.S. The job market is growing but many Metro East suburbs directly bordering St. Louis are horrible places to live in like East St. Louis, Cahokia, Alorton, Centerville, etc. Alton, Carbondale, Cahokia, and more, are known popular tourist spots. In some towns, crime is really bad but in others their your regular St. Louis suburbs, having pretty much no architectural and cultural connection to Illinois's largest metro area; Chicago. The Chicago metro has more Queen-Victoria architecture while the St. Louis area has more French-styled buildings and the culture is way different than the "Yankee" cultural aspects of northern Illinois. It almost feels as if it is down-south than the midwest or even the northern half of the country.

How about Granite City?