So fun fact I had my GoPro on driving around just before they pulled me over, so I have audio of the later half of this encounter.

I had gone up to St.Louis to check out the Zoo about a month ago and it was my intention to do some Urbex in East St.Louis on the way back. Just let me preface this by saying wow, I could not even begin to imagine the level of abandonment and urban decay in this city. It made Cairo look like a high class gated community. Cairo didn't bother me, even when I did see people they just glanced up and went back to whatever they were doing, I'm guessing that town is probably used to seeing Urbexers walking around with Cameras.

Anywho I got forced off the Interstate and exit early so I had to fight my way around into town. The plan was to check out some of the more known spots in the commercial/downtown area but the way I came in took me through what used to be a residential area and is now 95 percent abandonment, and 5 percent ghetto. Like stereotypical movie style Ghetto like something out of a dirty harry film and of course I wanted to drive around a bit and see this place some more. Not a good decision honestly, I started seeing this same (or variants of it) spray paint on buildings which pretty quickly made me realize I was probably in gang territory. I pass this older model Ford Edge sitting in front of a run-down but seemingly still intact house and it pulls out, does a U-Turn, and starts following me for about 2 blocks before turning around and heading back. I end up going down a dead end road and when i come back that way this Edge starts following me again so I'm thinking that is a drug house, and those are the guards. These streets have so much garbage and potholes and shit I can't really put any power down so I'm just trying to get to a decent stretch of road where I can just lay on it and put some distance between me and this edge (and this neighborhood). The last thing I want to do is stop so I can't really turn my GPS on. I keep going and eventually I come up to a four-way that I later realize is basically the terminus of one end of a block of extreme low income housing. This intersection is jammed with people and cars, and there's even a guy in another Grand Marquis parked at the fucking stop light which combined with the other car parked (legally) on the other side of the road leaves barely enough space between the two to crawl my Grand Marquis through while waiting for the pedestrians to finish crossing the road or get out of the way. All of these people look like they walked out a 2Chainz music video and are staring at me by the way. This is the point I threw my GoPro in the passengers side seat along with the rest of my camera gear. The black Ford Edge is still following me at this point.

Anywho right after this 4 way the road opens up so I hang a turn without signaling and punch it, and my car being a V8 this quickly puts about 30 feet between me and that Edge despite their best efforts to do otherwise. Then they turned their lights on and blipped their Siren. Oh shit, I think to myself. They aren't drug lords, they are the cops. I pull over and shut down and two Illinois State Police walk up to my car, one on each side and conduct a TV style traffic stop. Ask me about drugs, weapons, why I am here, etc. These cops I don't even think were traffic cops, I think they were drug or gang unit because their car was completely unmarked, had civilian trim, and only had those lights that they can mount on a sun visor and flip down. Nothing to let you know they are police at all externally. The standard unmarked for ISP is a base model Explorer Police Utility with steelies and hidden internal lights. Anyways I explained I was here to do some photography at some buildings on main street (this is the truth. not the WHOLE truth but the truth) and I had taken the wrong interstate exit.

I explained to them that I had taken off like that because I thought they were gang members and I hadn't realized how rough this neighborhood actually was, I hadn't realized they were actually the police. They run my name, license etc the whole nine yards and try to tell me my license was expired (it wasn't, my state has an extension out until June) and they basically tell me if I don't have any real business here I should probably leave, wit them basically saying the part of the neighborhood I had drove through was the GOOD part of it. The reason they had used for pulling me over was I hadn't signaled 200 feet before the intersection (bitch, there wasn't 200ft of road between where I turned onto that road and the next turn I took) and they didn't write me a ticket for any of this. Again I don't think traffic tickets were on their to-do list that day and I half-way think they were just trying to scare me out of town before they had to fish my 300lb body out of the river the next day. Either way I noped the f&ck out of town and hit the interstate. I was doing 85 before I left the on-ramp.

Needless to say next time I attempt East St.Louis (there are some VERY interesting looking places there) I will be bringing at least one other person with me. That area is just too much to do alone, not even worth the gamble.

Anyone here ever successfully urbex'd East St.Louis and lived, what were your experiences?

Very interesting story, but totally not surprised. I live in East STL and its full and I mean FULL of urban decay. You just have to be very careful where you wind up and who you wind up with. Always take another person and uh, maybe a gun or some sort of self-defense either than your own two fists

I've had some success exploring but its better to go to small quiet streets and make sure your not noticed and avoid any contact with others. I'm not an expert, but I did grow up here.

I'm curious to wonder how urbex is in Illinois, from all i know its just farms and flatland.

If you need a gun to explore, it isn't worth it. Hard pass for me. My $0.02.

Just had the complete opposite experience there the other day. Did the whole downtown area and then moved on to driving around the neighborhoods. I was pleasantly surprised by how fine the city was. Everyone was super nice, a bus driver who drove passed my girlfriend actually reversed to make sure she was okay. She was waiting in the car since she didn't feel like doing Spivey, and with NJ tags I can imagine something wasn't adding up for him. When we got pretty deep into one of the more deserted neighborhoods we did pass a cop but he couldn't have cared less about us. Those cops definitely thought you were there for drugs.

I never once felt unsafe in the city, we definitely turned a lot of heads with our cameras out downtown but I didn't get the sense that anyone was about to jump us or anything. The only people we saw walking around didn't pay us any mind at all. Go back with a friend and have fun. It's all wide open. I didn't feel the need to bring a knife much less a gun. Just some good weed and phone.

Across the river is another story however. We definitely had some less than comfortable experiences over there. Great city though, I'll definitely be back.

Found a little power plant there 2 years ago in east st louis that looked super chill and a nice little break from driving through. From where I was entering it was in fact super chill, but after driving around the other side and seeing the neighborhood I left immediately. I've never heard or experienced anything like that though. Most highly populated areas you should have someone with you anyway. There's not a ton in St. Louis that I would personally make the trip for, so if you're worried about safety then I would just put in the time to find better places elsewhere.

Posted by Dopamine I'm curious to wonder how urbex is in Illinois, from all i know its just farms and flatland.

There's are some spits in the Deep South of Illinois.

I like Granite City better.

Posted by uLiveAndYouBurn I like Granite City better.

Glad to see someone else found this place.

I'm surprised East St. Louis has cops at all, the place always looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland when I've been there. All the manhole lids stolen, most of the buildings abandoned, the ones that aren't abandoned are half burned down and half active daycare, roaming packs of dogs, 12-year-olds carrying rifles, fire hydrants broken and gushing...

Last time I was in regular STL we kept going to East STL by accident because there's one goddamn bridge that funnels you over there from about 3 different roads.

Posted by ryanpics Glad to see someone else found this place.

Literally just stumbled upon it while playing "where can we drive?" the adjacent business left the front gate open.

I just kept imagining the cacophony of all those compressors running at the same time back when this was active.

Posted by Freak I'm surprised East St. Louis has cops at all, the place always looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland when I've been there. All the manhole lids stolen, most of the buildings abandoned, the ones that aren't abandoned are half burned down and half active daycare, roaming packs of dogs, 12-year-olds carrying rifles, fire hydrants broken and gushing... Last time I was in regular STL we kept going to East STL by accident because there's one goddamn bridge that funnels you over there from about 3 different roads.

Same here. I went to explore there a few weeks ago and I was really surprised by how terrible the condition was there. I didn't think cops would be an issue at all.
But then again, even cops in Gary are now starting to crack down harder than ever before.

To answer the question: Yes, I've done plenty of successful UE in ESTL. Yes, it's a little sketchy and no I wouldn't recommend doing it alone. Sounds like your situation was just an unfortunate set of circumstances.

The place referenced above (by uliveanduburn) in Granite City, however, should be treated with extreme caution due to other factors: (lots of) cameras and (extremely) over-zealous security. They don't fuck around.

I think some of the other commenters in this thread are confusing ESTL (Illinois) with Saint Louis Missouri.

I pass through ESTL daily. Never really uncomfortable. Just need to be situationally aware and cautious. The roads are the biggest danger. Watch for giant potholes. I sell to schools in ESTL and the city of St. Louis. I find opportunities during my usual work day to stop and explore. I’ve explored two schools in ESTL this month. Both happen to have a door open as I drove by.

I was last there in March. Kept a low profile every time and no one bothered me.

https://flickr.com.../72177720297699050

The people I spoke to were very nice. I stopped by a van selling bakery out of the trunk and my god, I would honestly seek them out again. It was so good.

I think St Louis is the only city that sketched me out to the point I chickened out and kept driving. Lots of really cool places though.