St. Louis has had the reputation (deservedly so in most cases) of being known as the "murder capital" of the United States. Based on some new stats, there's a place in Illinois that rivals it with double the homicide rate.

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Just a few weeks ago, a very popular YouTube channel known as Joe & Nic's Road Trip with over 300,000 subscribers took a drive through Illinois. One suburb they traveled through is a notorious place for violence. Sadly, it used to be a place with great history like the Majestic Theater. It's been closed for more than 60 years even though it's on the National Register of Historic Places.

Joe & Nic's Road Trip via YouTube
Joe & Nic's Road Trip via YouTube
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What Illinois place has double the murder rate of even St. Louis?

You don't have to travel far for the answer. It's East St. Louis, Illinois. While St. Louis has a homicide rate of over 68 for every 100,000 people, East St. Louis doubles that with a staggering 137 murders for every 100,000.

Joe & Nic's Road Trip via YouTube
Joe & Nic's Road Trip via YouTube
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A few years ago I had a trip that took me through East St. Louis during the daytime. Even I know that you don't drive through East St. Louis at night. But, even then there were multiple buildings either on fire or smoldering. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The sad thing is I saw a few people walking down one of their streets acting as if that was just a normal part of their lives. According to the crime stats, it sadly seems that way.

Joe and Nic's Road Trip through East St. Louis is an interesting watch of what a grand town has now decayed into. It didn't used to be that way.

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