Is E. St. Louis dangerous?

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Diane M

No one moves to East St Louis on purpose. Those that live there cant find a way to move away. Its very poor, doesnt have good housing, there is little industry or retail, the hospital is getting ready to close and the crime rate is sky high. There are many nice areas in both St.Louis city and in surrounding areas of Illinois that you should consider instead. If you still wish to move to East St. Louis, I wish you well since you'll need to take precautions to keep yourself safe.

iNsTaNt pUdDiNhEaD

Ummmm... Did you ever see the movie National Lampoon's Vacation?

CNT

No city is without crime and danger. I was born in E. St. Louis and grew up mostly in Belleville, but I don't think that I ever felt more threaten living in ESTL than I did anywhere else. Due to the amount of poverty, I think some people do desperate things, but like anywhere else you go, be safe.

mike1942f

Considered more dangerous (poorer) than many parts of St. Louis, but there are parts of that which scare me.
"East St. Louis has one of the highest crime rates in the United States."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_St._Louis#Crime

bigredfred

Don't live in E. St. Louis unless you have a Death Wish. There are some nicer places to live in the St. Louis area (on the west side of St. Louis, on the Missouri side).

Are you sure you're moving to East St. Louis, or are you moving to just regular old St. Louis? St. Louis and most surrounding suburbs are in Missouri, and has many nices place to live. East St. Louis is a very small town in Illinois, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. I doubt you're moving to East St. Louis . . . because it's not very nice and there are plenty of nicer communities around there. The people who tend to live in East St. Louis have been there for a long time. New people who move to town don't usually settle in East St. Louis.

Kmcky

I would keep heading west to St. Louis MO - much safer. Great City neighborhoods just across the river...

Mickey

East St. Louis is not safe. If you want to be on the IL side of the Mississippi River check out the places Brian Da Dog and Jimbo suggested. Fairview Heights and Edwardsville would be my first choices, but all are nice places. If you don't mind which side of the river you are on, consider the MO side and check out the St. Louis suburbs. I would tend to stay away from North St. Louis City and North St. Louis County, but you'll find plenty of other nice places in the area to live.

Sofa King

You've got to be kidding! East St. Louis is a toilet......you do not want to live there.........there are much better places to live in the greater St. Louis area

Brian Da Dog

About six months ago, my younger brother took the metrolink to ESTL. He was trying to get to the Illinois department of employment. A friend of a friend worked there and was going to help him get a better job. He took a wrong turn and wound up in a neighborhood. He was mugged. They took his wallet and cellphone. This was in broad daylight. So, If you want to move to Illinois, consider Fairview Heights, Collinsville, or Ofallon. Do not move to ESTL.

amanda the creek

East St. Louis is very, very, dangerous. It is a huge ghetto, unless you are going to live in the new government housing, there is nowhere nice to live there. I wouldn't even drive through it, especially at night. If you are wanting to live on the Illinois side, Belleville, Collinsville, Fairview Heights, Swansea, O'Fallon, and Shiloh are much nicer, much safer areas to live. I used to live in Belleville, it is a really nice city with much to do, and many, many nice areas to live.
If you are looking for somewhere on the Missouri side, certain places in St. Louis, Hazelwood, St. Peters, St. Charles, even West Alton are all nice places to live.
St. Louis city is no more dangerous a place to live than Chicago or New York city. I have no idea where everyone is getting all the false statistics, I have lived in the St. Louis area my whole life and never once was mugged, raped, harassed, vandaled, assaulted or had my house or car broken into. Obviously, those people have never lived here. St. Louis is just like any other city, you just need to know where it is safe, and where it is not.

Kaylee M

it is one of the scariest places ive ever been to you have got to be kidding me that your going to move there

Yes, it's horrible, one huge ghetto!
St. Louis is wonderful, for the most part, but East St Louis is very scary.

hrm

I've driven through E. St.Louis with my friends before, and I really felt like the locked doors weren't safe enough.

It was terrifying and those in the backseats were ducking down trying to hide.

Not to sound racist, but it's a poor, black community.

Jimbo

Umm...
You couldn't pay me to live there. Guess you don't value your life or your possessions all that much.
Try farther east and northeast on the Illinois side -- like Fairview Heights, Edwardsville, Shiloh.
Or go to the Missouri side.
East St. Louis is AWFUL!

shan

It is totally dangerous. I would never drive through there at night

ana-lucia V

wow

rollercoasterpro

I live about 10 miles from E. St. Louis and it is horrible with a capital H. Driving through East St. Louis on Route 15 is so nasty. 50 percent of the houses are falling down, there is trash all over the place. Hey is this a trick question because no one would want to move there. Try moving to one of the other suburbs of Missouri/Illinois like Edwardsville, Shiloh, Belleville, O' Fallon, Alton in Illinois or any town no closer than 5 miles to Saint Louis in Missouri.

johnsmom326

Dangerous. I would try for Wood River, Roxana, South Roxana, a nice neighborhood in Cahokia even. It's all better then E. St. Lou

buck

I will not even drive thru E. St. Louis at night. I live in IL about 40 miles from there. IT IS BAD! no one moves there as a choice. not safe, not clean, not even decent basic services such as hospitals and schools. it would certainly be a change from Idaho. unless you are a minority you would stick out like a sore thumb

Sucre Rouge

East STL has some decent spots. Recently the city management has been working hard to turn around the city to make it more aesthetically pleasing to everyone. Especially safer, and to start having more people move into the area.

The worst part about ESTL is that many of it's citizens are in the lowest tax bracket and are poor. Which of course, as statistics show, these usually turn into the areas higher in crime, drugs, and other 'bad happenings'.

Mind you, I wouldn't want to be stranded in a dark alley on a Saturday night by myself. But it isn't like there are people hanging around corners everywhere trying to sell you crack or mug you.

One sad thing about the city is that it used to be a thriving area in the early part of the 20th century. I can't say exactly what made the city deteriorate so badly, but it's nice to see that it's making a comeback of sorts.

I would recommend moving to the west side of the river in St. Louis, MO. There are several nice areas in the city that are safer and reasonably priced with a fairly easy commute across the river.

Good luck with the move.

tlade510

Not a good place I am very scared of stl i visit st louis often and will never go into east stl unless I made a wrong turn read there newspaper that should help you make up your mind.

RachelinKC

I don't know why almost every person on here is acting like E. STL is the forbidden city, and EVERY square inch of it consists of the worst! Just like any other city...it has its good parts, and very bad parts. Most of E. STL is pretty bad, but the far-eastern part (like off 157) is really nice and quiet. Regardless, you have many more areas to choose from

amber w

Its considered to be one of the highest crime areas in the U.S. and you deffanatly get that impression when driving through it....have you even seen what it looks like before moving there? But! If you had good locks on your place, a piece of **** car with nothing in it that anyone would ever want, and mind your business.......hey who knows you might make it..

Trotskyite

I've walked through Camden, NJ at all hours of the day and I don't think its dangerous. Respect people and they will respect you. Just don't be an a$$.

The City of St. Louis has one of the highest per-capita crime rates in the United States and has ranked among the nation's top ten in crime for years. According to FBI statistics, the city ranked third in 2005 in the country's highest murder rates for cities above 250,000.[24] According to Morgan Quitno's "14th Annual America's safest/most dangerous cities" report, St. Louis dropped from the number one "Most Dangerous" city in America in 2006 back to the number two most dangerous city in America in 2007. In the year between, overall crime dropped 15.6%, reaching a 35-year low, but homicides increased by seven to total 138. Reports such as these have long given St. Louis the perception of being a high crime area. However, the FBI and some criminologists do dispute making these rankings, maintaining that it is difficult to compare statistics between cities

ballerr4real

nelly, chingy, jibbs and randy orton is from STL... seems like an ok place... never been der tho...

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