"Granite City has and never will compare favorably to Edwardsville"? Sorry, you such a total lack of of knowledge of local history that it's alarming...and how on earth is it that you can predict the future? It's foolish to look at the way things are now and assume they've always been that way and always will be...then offer the solution to "lower expectations". What built Granite is (laughably) NOT lower expectations. Granite City had the second best public educational system in the entire St. Louis area at one time...that's low expectations? How about all the industry that used to be here? Shame on you...it's sentiments like yours that are are dangerous and serve no purpose.