Metro-East

Metro-East is a region in Illinois that comprises the eastern suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It encompasses five Illinois counties in the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. [State of Illinois. [http://lmi.ides.state.il.us/lmr/metroeast.htm Metro-East] . "The Illinois Section of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area, better known as the Metro East, is comprised of five counties: Clinton, Jersey (In 1965, the Metro East Area did not include Jersey County), Madison, Monroe and St. Clair."] The region's largest city is Belleville. The Metro-East is the second largest urban area in Illinois after Chicago.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the five counties of the region have a total area of 6,974 km² (2,692 mi²). 6,787 km² (2,620 mi²) of it is land and 186 km² (71 mi²) of it (2.74%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 599,845 people, 229,888 households, and 160,260 families residing in the five Metro-East counties.

The official language is English, although various other languages are spoken. German speakers exist in southeastern Madison, Clinton, southern and eastern St. Clair Counties, and most of Monroe County. Spanish is spoken in the Fairmont City area, and in parts of Clinton County. The largest concentration of African-Americans is in Madison, Venice, western Granite City, East St. Louis, Washington Park,dn Belleville, and Alton. Secondary languages tend to be cultural or reminiscent of ancestry, and not related to the general business of the area.

List of counties

*Clinton
*Jersey
*Madison
*Monroe
*St. Clair
*Bond
*Calhoun
*Macoupin

List of cities, towns, and villages

Notes:
*"^" means part of city in another county(ies)
*Bold indicates County Seat

Clinton County

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*Albers
*Aviston
*Bartelso
*Beckemeyer
*Breese
*Carlyle
*Centralia ^(Also in Marion County) |
*Damiansville
*Germantown
*Huey
*Keyesport ^(Also in Bond County)
*New Baden ^(Also in St. Clair County)
*Trenton
*Wamac ^(Also in Washington and Marion Counties)

Jersey County

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*Brighton ^(Also in Macoupin County)
*Chautauqua
*Delhi
*Dow
*Elsah|
*Fidelity
*Fieldon
*Grafton
*Jerseyville
*Otterville

Madison County

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*Alhambra
*Alton
*Bethalto
*Collinsville ^(Also in St. Clair County)
*Dorsey
*East Alton
*Edwardsville |
*Fairmont City ^(Also in St. Clair County)
*Glen Carbon
*Godfrey
*Granite City
*Hamel
*Highland
*Livingston|
*Madison
*Marine
*Maryville
*New Douglas
*Pierron ^(Also in Bond County)
*Pontoon Beach
*Roxana|
*South Roxana
*Troy
*Venice
*Wood River
*Worden

Monroe County

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*Columbia
*Fults
*Hecker
*Mayestown

*Valmeyer
*Wartburg
*Waterloo

St. Clair County

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*Belleville
*Cahokia
*Caseyville
*Centreville
*Collinsville ^(Also in Madison County)
*Dupo
*East St. Louis|
*Fairmont City ^(Also in Madison County)
*Fairview Heights
*Fayetteville
*Freeburg
*Lebanon
*Lenzburg
*Marissa|
*Mascoutah
*Millstadt
*New Athens
*O'Fallon
*St. Libory
*Sauget
*Shiloh|
*Swansea
*Washington Park

Colleges and Universities

*Greenville College
*Kaskaskia College
*Lewis and Clark Community College
*McKendree University
*Principia College
*SIUE
*Southwestern Illinois College

Highways

State Highways

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*Illinois Route 3
*Illinois Route 4
*Illinois Route 13
*Illinois Route 15
*Illinois Route 16
*Illinois Route 100|
*Illinois Route 109
*Illinois Route 111
*Illinois Route 127
*Illinois Route 140
*Illinois Route 143
*Illinois Route 153|
*Illinois Route 156
*Illinois Route 157
*Illinois Route 158
*Illinois Route 159
*Illinois Route 160
*Illinois Route 161|
*Illinois Route 162
*Illinois Route 163
*Illinois Route 177
*Illinois Route 203
*Illinois Route 255 (An extension of Interstate 255)
*Illinois Route 267

U.S. Routes

*U.S. Route 40
*U.S. Route 50
*U.S. Route 51
*U.S. Route 66 (Historical Route Designation)
*U.S. Route 67

Interstate Highways

*Interstate 55
*Interstate 64
*Interstate 70
*Interstate 255
*Interstate 270

Major Employers

*Anheuser-Busch
*Charter Communications
*Scott Air Force Base
*Gateway Grizzlies
*Monsanto
*National Steel
*U.S. Steel
*Olin Corporation
*Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
*Norrenberns Trucking
*Illinois Department of Transportation
*Korte Construction

Professional sports teams

*Baseball: Gateway Grizzlies, St. Louis Cardinals
*American Football: St. Louis Rams
*Hockey: St. Louis Blues
*Basketball: none
*Soccer: none

Tourist attractions

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*Brooks Catsup Bottle, Collinsville
*Cahokia Mounds, Collinsville, on Madison-St. Clair County line
*GCS Ballpark, Sauget
*Père Marquette State Park, Grafton
*Raging Rivers Water Park, Grafton
*The Game, Glen Carbon|
*St. Clair Square Mall, Fairview Heights
*Fort de Chartres State Historic Site, Prairie Du Rocher, just outside Monroe County
*Robert Wadlow Statue, Alton
*Horseshoe Lake, Pontoon Beach, Madison, and Granite City
*Alton Square Mall, Alton
*Carlyle Lake, Carlyle

Residents, historic figures, and contributors

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*Jason Boyd, Edwardsville, AAA pitcher
*Jimmy Connors, East St. Louis and Belleville, world-famous tennis player
*Buddy Ebson, Belleville, Television Actor
*Brian Daubach, Belleville, MLB 1B/DH/Outfielder, currently playing for the St. Louis Cardinals
*Miles Davis, East St. Louis and Alton, world-famous jazz artist
*Jay Farrar, Belleville, musician
*Norm Greenberg, Belleville, Metro-East television personality
*Scott Wolf, Belleville, Actor
*Louis Jolliet, explorer of the Mississippi River
*Jackie Joyner-Kersee East St. Louis, athlete
*Mark Little, Edwardsville, AAA outfielder
*Père Jacques Marquette, French discoverer|
*Jeff Tweedy, Belleville, lead singer of the band Wilco
*Uncle Tupelo, Belleville, alternative country band
*Robert Pershing Wadlow, Alton, World's Tallest Man
*William Holden, O'Fallon, Hollywood actor
*Michael Stipe, Collinsville, lead singer of the band REM
*Josephine Baker, East St. Louis, performer and activist
*Senator Richard J. Durbin, East St. Louis, U.S. senator
*T. J. Mathews, Columbia, former MLB pitcher
*Neal Cotts, Lebanon, Pitcher currently playing for the Chicago Cubs
*Shadrach Bond, Monroe County, first Governor of Illinois
*Philip Francois Renault early French exploiter of area, in 1623 granted land in southern Monroe County

Media in the Metro East

St. Louis Area TV Stations

*Note: This list is for the entire Metro-East area, however, the low-powered stations may not reach the entire 5-county Metro-East area. WSIU, despite not being based from the St. Louis DMA, is available in Monroe, Clinton, Washington, and most of St. Clair.

Champaign-Urbana/Decatur/Springfield Area TV Stations

*Note: This list is for Jersey County, however, the majority of these stations are not available for most Jersey County residents. These stations are more likely to be available in Greene and Macoupin counties, which border Jersey County.

Paducah/Cape Girardeau/Harrisburg Area TV Stations

*Note: This list is for Monroe, St. Clair, and Clinton counties, however, the majority of the stations, with the exception of WSIU and WPXS and possibly KFVS, are not available for a majority of the St. Clair, Clinton, and/or Monroe County residents. These stations are more likely to be available in Washington County and the Centralia area.

Daily Newspapers

*Note: daily newspaper coverage depends on county.

*Alton Telegraph (Madison, Jersey counties)
*Belleville News-Democrat (region-wide)
*Centralia Sentinel (Clinton and Washington counties)
*Southern Illinoisan (mainly in Washington County, rarely found elsewhere in Metro-East)
*St. Louis Post-Dispatch (region wide)
*Edwardsville Intelligencer (Madison County)

Radio Stations

*Note: stations listed are licensed and have offices in Metro-East counties only. Stations that can be heard in the Metro-East but not listed have offices outside the Metro-East counties.

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*WSIE 88.7 FM (Edwardsville), jazz/public radio
*WLCA 89.9 FM (Godfrey), alternative/college radio
*WRXX 95.3 FM (Centralia), pop
*WFUN 95.5 FM (Bethalto), hip-hop
*WDLJ 97.5 FM (Carlyle), classic rock
*KATZ 100.3 FM (Alton), urban
*WJAF 103.7 FM (Centralia)
*WNSV 104.7 FM (Nashville), Hot AC|
*WTPC 105.3 FM (Elsah), college radio
*WAOX 105.3 FM (Staunton), Hot AC
*WILY 1210 AM (Centralia), oldies
*WJBM 1480 AM (Jerseyville), talk
*WESL 1490 AM (East St. Louis), urban
*WXOZ 1510 AM (Highland,Belleville)
*WBGZ 1570 AM (Alton), news/talk

See also: [http://www.ontheradio.net/states/illinois.aspx Radio stations in Illinois]

Metro East in fiction

Laurell K. Hamilton has used the Metro-East as a setting in several books from the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series. In the Merry Gentry series, faries of the Unseelie Court have made their home in Monk's Mound.

Area Codes

*Area code 217: extreme northeast part of Metro East, in Madison County (around New Douglas).
*Area code 618: majority of the Metro-East is in this area code.

References

External links

* [http://lmi.ides.state.il.us/lmr/metroeast.htm Illinois Department of Employment Security - Metro East: 1965 to Today By: Dennis Hoffman]