Granite City

Granite City, IL is a steel town. It was founded in 1896 by brothers operating a steel-making company in St Louis  who sought to expand their business and focus on an enamel process whereby utensils made of steel could be made to look like granite (hence the name). St Louis blocked the expansion, so they moved across the river, where they could also avoid paying cross-river taxes on coal.

Situated on the Mississippi, about six miles north of East St Louis, Granite City maintains a population of around 30,000. But unlike ESL, Granite City seems to be focusing on restoration of it's crumbing downtown. According to their website, there are efforts underway to repave streets and install street trees to the urban core. This is a good first step into the beautification and eventual rehabilitation and preservation of the downtown.

Here are some Google Earth images:

This overhead shot shows the dominance of industry in the city. Presently, industry is still active but closures of these plants would surely have a devastating effect on the community.

The boarded up remnants of downtown.

A fence here at least tries to hide the vacant lot behind.

An expansive row of boarded up commercial storefronts. It's not hard to imagine how this block would look with the addition of street trees, minor facade upgrades and thriving businesses.

The International Style Steel Works Building looms over this commercial strip, out of character with the surrounding architecture.

This facade could use a face-lift...

Ruins stand amongst the possibilities. A concerted effort needs to be taken to prevent this fate from happening to the surrounding storefronts.

I presume this street is closed for paving, the first step in a revival of this commercial center.

East St Louis

Perhaps no other city exemplifies the modern ghost town more than East St Louis, Illinois.

Just across the river from St Louis, the shattered remains of this city are a testament to the effect white flight, racial tension, disinvestment and rampant crime have had on rust-belt cities of the American Midwest.

From a peak population of 82,000, the remaining 27,000 residents are faced with a city unable to sustain itself. Lacking a tax base, ESL is unable to support an effective police force, leading to some of the highest (if not the highest) per-capita murder rate in the country, almost 20x the national average.

The historic commercial strip is scary derelict, mostly boarded up and abandoned.

Google Earth images:

The urban prairie effect is evident here, with large, empty blocks flanked by the vast St Louis freeway network. The commercial strip appears blackened and abandoned, even from the air.

Ornate architectural details can be seen here

Boarded up storefronts create a sense of lack of safety at street level.

The Spivey Building, the tallest in ESL. Abandoned.

The urban prairie.