Belleville

I lived here for three years. Graduated from HS here.

Overall, this town is the pits, especially on the West side of town. Belleville just doesn’t have a great mix of the best and the brightest. Anyone who has enough intelligence and sanity is likely to flee the place.

The main problem is that a few too many of the longtime residents have inherited the worst traits of their German farmer ancestory. (Racism, VERY tight with money, suspicious of “outsiders”, general small mindedness among other things) That doesn’t make for a very pleasant place.

I’m sure the problems Belleville has isn’t so unique, but it certainly made my time there pretty unbarable.

Belleville is boring. That’s all there is to it. If you’re not from around here and don’t have friends, you’ll be so bored, because the only thing people do here is hang out at each other’s houses. So, if you’re coming this way, keep going and stop in St. Louis instead.

Unless you’re stationed at Scott Air Force Base, the biggest reason why an out-of-towner may visit Belleville is to see the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. Some people may go to downtown during the holidays to see the gingerbread houses, but there isn’t that much for visitors to do or see here.

I have lived in Belleville for more than 11 years. I’ve met some good people here, and its a good place for a bicyclist because it doesn’t take long to get to some excellent country roads for cycling.

Unfortunately, many Belleville natives have a parochial view of their community. They make a big deal out of a 20- to 25-minute trip to downtown St. Louis, and they think going to Red Lobster is fine dining.

Efforts are being made to make this a bit more diverse community, but it’s going to take a while.

We’ve got small-town living, small-town prices, but easy access to big-city happenings in St. Louis (just a 20 minute drive from my house). St. Louis has restaurants, theater, museums, a world-class botanical garden, night-life, some great shopping, and lots of fun to be had.

When I was growing up, all I wanted was to get the heck outta this town. But now I like it.