[Wheelingman04]

I really can't say myself because I have not been to too many towns in the Metro East. East St. Louis, IL and Collinsville, IL are the only ones I have been in. I actually stayed in Metro East when I took a vacation with my friend to tour St. Louis City.

What is your favorite town?
What is your opinion of Metro East?

[JivecitySTL]

My personal favorite East Side 'burgh is East St. Louis because I think it is the most interesting and has the best history. But the most livable town on the East Side is Belleville. It's got some small-town appeal mixed with some urban kitsch.

The MetroEast is a very strange locale. It is has some urban areas (ESTL, Granite City, Belleville), some suburban areas (Fairview Heights, Collinsville, O'Fallon), and some downright rural areas (everywhere in between). It doesn't feel like a cohesive part of metro St. Louis, even though the region is home to over 600,000 people. It is disjointed and doesn't have a definable identity. There are some bright spots, but all in all, the MetroEast makes me feel weird. Not bad weird, just weird weird.

[jpIllInoIs]

Edwardsville is by far the best. SIU-Edwardsville has a huge campus there. Also downtown city-county-state government offices are some of the best architectural treatments you will see in a small town. And DT Edwardsville has managed to cultivate storefront shops-restaraunts-bars- and services in a lively mix.:tup:

[MayorOfChicago]

I've only heard of E. St. Louis and Alton. What other cities/towns are there?

[Xing]

East St Louis is capitalism's bitch. The East Side makes mad men. The West Side makes robots with pretty flowers. In my eyes, most everything wrong with the East Side, can be contributed from the same people who mock it.

[DeBaliviere]

Edwardsville, IMO. Belleville is pretty nice too.

[DeBaliviere]

I forgot Columbia too.

[Xing]

Rather than just coming in here and being an ass, I should participate.

My favorite city is Alton. East St Louis and Belleville are probably next, followed by Granite City, Collinsville and Edwardsville. Edwardsville is by far the cleanest in appearance, and appeals to people who like shiny, pretty things. Lebanon IL is really small, but they have one street, St. Louis street, and it has these great looking buildings from back when the city was a well known Day Trip for St Louis' elite.

Alton

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Chrome979/at30.jpg?t=1164301633

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Chrome979/at28.jpg?t=1164301886

Granite City is actually very impressive, if you're able to look past the stereotypes and the grit.

Belleville

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Chrome979/DSC03835b.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Chrome979/DSC03947.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v200/Chrome979/bv49.jpg

Belleville is the largest, has metrolink, and is by far the most improving. Downtown is undergoing a new streetscape, and new businesses are coming in. Unique businesses are all over the place, and it's not cutesy like some of the Missouri downtown's. Downtown St Charles; I have never seen so much good architecture used for crap that people some how like. :yuck:

[Suburban Lou]

Alton and Belleville

[SlidellWx]

Metro East expat in New Orleans now. I always liked Alton because it had that old river city feel to it. If I was buying a house there, it would be in Edwardsville or Glen Carbon

[SuburbanNation]

belleville. i always notice something bizarre going on here. i love that it has metrolink access. my mom lived here for a while. belleville has strong ties to downtown st. louis it seems, and to little else in missouri. i wouldnt be suprised if there was an interdimensional portal here. no depression. belleville.

[wheelscomp]

I have a good friend who commutes to STL from Alton and ive found it to be very nice. Good history, Good architecture, and a pretty badass bridge acrosse the Mississippi. They do have a pretty rediculous gambling boat there.