You should *see* East St. Louis today. Its population has dropped by about 2/3 over the past 25 years (it's down to about 30,000 people now - mostly single women with kids.) The only thing it has going for it is the MetroLink (light rail) line, and one housing development along the rail line.
Other than that, it looks like Bosnia after the Serbs got through with it, only flatter. It would be a perfect site for an urban warfare drill - or a post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie, about 30 years after the apocalypse (you know, where the forest is reclaiming the evacuated city.)
Growing up in the mid to late 60's,I would go with my dad to the stockyards in National City.We would travel route 3 right through ESL.It looked bad then as I remember,I am surprised they don't tear down all those crumbling buildings.From looking at it,it must have been a thriving and succesful city at one time,one has to look at it and remind themselves why they need to involve themselves in local politics.