Adjacent Illinois Counties (St. Louis, Maryville, Belle: apartment complexes, renters, motels)

[joeng99]

Hi,
Is anyone familiar with the Illinois area that is adjacent to St. Louis, specfically Madison County? I am looking at cities, such as Collinsville, Maryville, Glen Carbon.
Thanks

[flynavyj]

I'm going to guess you won't get a lot of of responses from the IL side of the river. If you're "local" enough to drive through the areas and take a look, you may be able to decide how desirable certain apartment complexes look based on your personal opinion...also check out any reviews from the web. If you see a lot of negative reviews, i'd avoid it...no reviews isn't necessarily a bad time, as disgruntled renters will be quick to post and complain on the web.

Illinois is interesting in how rural it gets so quickly to crossing the Missouri-Illinois border. There's literally tons of farmland moments after crossing the Mississippi, which doesn't happen (small farms do) on the Missouri side. So many towns in Illinois retain a small town vibe, this includes truck stops, small motels, and more rural poverty (trailer parks, etc). The same thing obviously exists on the Missouri side, but can often be hidden by the suburbs, or even urban poverty which is pretty well contained in North St. Louis.

I have quite a few friends who live further south, and several that live further Northwest in Alton. The areas around Scott Air Force Base are decent, and have pockets of both medium and high wealth areas, but the same will be true to a lesser extent in most small towns.Good luck in the search, are you checking because of SIUE?

[RisingAurvandil]

Originally Posted by joeng99

Hi,
Is anyone familiar with the Illinois area that is adjacent to St. Louis, specfically Madison County? I am looking at cities, such as Collinsville, Maryville, Glen Carbon.
Thanks

I'm very familiar. I enjoyed living on the IL side. Overall, it's a great area. A lot of great communities.

All three cities you mentioned are decent places. Let us know what you are seeking, and we could probably be more specific.

[joeng99]

flynavyj, RisingAurvandil,
I am looking at several apartments, the lower the price the better (Seems you must pay a minimum amount to avoid crime).
There are some apartments in Maryville on Anthony Dr. & North Center Street, just West of the Maryville Police station.
For Collinsville in the plaza where Walmart, Home Depot, and IBEW Local 309 are located, South of the Plaza, I see some units between Bellevue Dr. and Mall St. Seems they all want one year leases.
I hear that you want to avoid the adjacent areas where Idlewood Estates and the Catsup Bottle is.
I am trying to contact some apartment complexes in Edwardsville, to see if they have any units for a month to month basis or a short term lease.
Are you familiar with any of these areas?