He's talking about Belleville

Wilco's Jeff Tweedy in Indy's local free rag:

NUVO: I can see how it would be difficult to gauge the impact of where you live on your life, but does it interest you to think about unique characteristics of Chicago, Illinois or the Midwest, and kind of what’s similar about culture in a particular region or a state?

Tweedy: I don’t want to sound insulting — it sounds like it’s something that you care about and think about a lot, and I don’t want you to take it the wrong way — but it’s really not where my head’s ever been. I grew up in a small town in southern Illinois and it took me a long, long time to come to terms with not hating that place. Also, I think even at this age, I feel like I sort of have survivor’s guilt for even getting out of where I grew up, and a lot of people don’t want to or don’t ever do that. But I also have to come to terms with that a lot of people don’t want to, and it works for them. It never worked for me; it wasn’t the place where it was really comfortable. So whenever you bring up that topic, that’s what I’m reminded of. I really wanted a bigger picture of the world that I was living in than what was available to me growing up. So I think the second I was able to get anywhere outside of those confines, I started doing that, you know, I started going to St. Louis. I grew up going to St. Louis to buy records and people looked at you like you were insane; it’s like going to Mars.

for the record, i don't hate home. and i don't think it's so "small" anymore, though this might contradict that opinion. but i can see, just a little bit, where he's coming from.