The State of Edwardsville and Glen Carbon: Growing

The mayors of Edwardsville and Glen Carbon -- Gary Niebur and Rob Jackstadt respectively -- are pleased with the area's growth over the past year.

At the recent State of Glen-Ed meeting, both pointed to the Edwardsville Crossing shopping center (which stradles the border between the two towns) as the centerpiece of their entertwined cities' commercial growth.

The center brought in $580,000 in property taxes and $930,000 in sales taxes in 2007, despite being unfinished. Shoe Carnival, Old Navy and Starbucks are among the businesses still under construction and a number of outlots have yet to be developed.

Among the retailers already operating at the center are Best Buy, Borders, Petco, Michaels, Dierberg's, 54th St. Grill, St. Louis Bread Company, Buffalo Wild Wings and Ashley Home Furniture.