illinois gets no love from me until they use their resources to help east st. louis illinois, instead of ignoring it and making st. louis, missouri seem dangerous and look bad when it’s estl.
fuck chicago for taking all the funds tbh.
Discussion
Asking the people running Illinois to be in charge of anything, especially use of tax dollars, is a terrible, terrible idea.
they’re already in charge of it and doing nothing to help southern illinois.
st. louis missouri gets demonized for illinois’ actions, we deal with the crime and eye sores that illinois enables.
Have you been to the south or west side of Chicago? Down state Illinois? They don’t help anyone, ever. They are parasites, and should not be looked to for a solution for anything. No politician is solving these problems, no matter what jurisdiction they reside in.
yes i have? i’ve worked in cairo, belleville is where our warehouse is, and all throughout south illinois. i know how it is, illinois does fund chicago more instead of anywhere else. its just fact.
Chicago is also where the overwhelming majority of state tax revenue is generated. Either way, you should view your tax dollars as theft and tribute to stay out of jail, and any actual benefit you get as a bonus. Getting caught up in how the government wastes taxpayers’ money will lead to a life of endless misery.
you saying all this while living in chicago is crazy. you’re obviously biased and enjoy the fruits that chicago is paying for by supporting your city, and ignoring southern illinois. you’re criticizing me for being upset about your city and states voted government. vote better then i guess
There is not a disproportionate amount of tax generated in the rest of Illinois being funneled back into Chicago. I’d have to look at the current numbers, but it’s historically been the reverse. Chicago taxes generated are spent throughout the state disproportionately above the pro rata % of taxes the city generated.
there’s still absolutely zero excuse that east st. louis should still be the way it is. it’s an obvious intentional tactic to hold downtown st. louis missouri back. fuck chicago
The ol’ “yeah, but still”. This is from 2021 with a link to the study at the end. Plenty of reasons to hate Chicago and its leadership, but this one isn’t an accurate criticism.
so you think that east st. louis is okay how it is, and illinois has to do nothing about it?
some of you chicago residents need an obvious wake up call. why don’t you come down here and spend a night in east st. louis :) see how you feel after that 😂
Again, it is no worse than the south or west side of Chicago. Why don’t they “do something” about those places?
chicago is 1000x safer than east st. louis 😭
Go to the Austin, Bronzeville, Englewood, or Back of the Yards neighborhoods and let me know if you stand by that statement.
been there, my brother lived in englewood. still felt safer there. show me the stats
They are all dicey areas. I don’t know what stats you are looking for. The point is, neglect is not unique to one part of this state. Bureaucrats in charge of anything is never going to work out well, and there are countless examples of their failures.
Southern Illinois needs more investment. Full stop.
Exhibit A: Carbondale used to be a flourishing town, and it is now mostly a rundown factory town kept alive by a struggling university.
Government money is not “investment”. We offshored our manufacturing as a nation. Dumping more money down there won’t do anything. Take a look at our schools. You need productive endeavors that create capital. Government spending does not do that.
you talk a lot of shit while actively living in chicago. again, the investments you hate so much, are letting you sleep in a safe and government supported and loved city. you have nothing to talk about if you’ve never spent a few days down in east st. louis.
I never said it had to be directly from the government. But state governments can create incentives for businesses to move to certain areas just like, as you mentioned, manufacturers were incentivized to move to different countries.
Well, that was by another nation offering slave wages to produce stuff. Either way, there are all sorts of places like this all over Illinois. In general, allowing an actual free market to take place is really the only thing that can be done. Re-allocating resources or “incentivizing” comes at the expense of something else. We are arguing over how an entity should be centrally planning economies when we should be arguing about how to eliminate central planning altogether.
that’s exactly what i’ve been saying. check out cairo illinois.
only reason i’m speaking of estl, is that the proximity between downtown stl and estl has ruined downtown stl and demonized it to the public perception. it always feels intentional from illinois.
I just don’t think they care at all. About anything or anyone. We have the worst state credit rating and are notoriously corrupt. It’s just a completely broken supermajority filled with unemployable rent seekers trying to get theirs.
missouri is at fault for east st louis being a shithole too.
literally how when it’s in illinois LOL! missouri can’t do anything to fix it when it’s over state lines.
blaming the victim is crazy
missouri has authoritarian liquor laws which push sketchy activity there. Even my dad talks about driving over there to get beer when they had younger age for drinking.
you must be old as hell bc that’s not a thing anymore, and shouldn’t have anything to do with east st. louis now.
tons of people go to the east side when bars close in stl.
Illinois is a lost cause for the foreseeable future. Coming from a former 15+ yr resident. Best expectation management is to always expect the worst and avoid them.
This has been an argument I've made too since I was born in Southern Illinois and have also lived in St. Louis.