[kelso]

Does anybody know or live in Meridan? I am familiar with Mystic, CT and I just wanted to know if this town is country like.

[skytrekker]

No- Mystic is located on Block Island sound and a river-

Meriden firstly is not on the coast-it is inland about 20 miles. Mystic is an historic down, with a charming downtown, and a
Tourist pleaser at the semi historical Mystic Seaport- also Mystic is much smaller population wise- 5 thousand people or less.

Meriden is not the best place to live in Connecticut- it is much larger with over 50 thousand people. Meriden has a few good areas, and many not so good areas.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

No- Mystic is located on Block Island sound and a river-

Meriden firstly is not on the coast-it is inland about 20 miles. Mystic is an historic down, with a charming downtown, and a
Tourist pleaser at the semi historical Mystic Seaport- also Mystic is much smaller population wise- 5 thousand people or less.

Meriden is not the best place to live in Connecticut- it is much larger with over 50 thousand people. Meriden has a few good areas, and many not so good areas.

I agree, I actually had an apartment for 2 years in Meriden and still have some friends who live there.

Meriden is a bit of a social experiment gone wrong.

The city has great natural resources like Hubbard Park, central location etc and has great architecure downtown but the buildings are all but abandoned.

The outskirts of downtown have nice neighborhoods but it's core is rotten. The experiment was this: Back in the day they decided to put section 8 housing (Government housing) smack in downtown and they did a lot of it...now it's just become clapped out ghetto and there have been efforts for years trying to knock them down...but that's like getting a tax removed once in place - all but impossible.

They revamped downtown with some public buildings, brick sidewalks etc but it pretty much just gave the gang members clean streets to hang out on. Sad, but true.

The Silver City is a shadow of what it once was and it's too bad as it could have been a very very nice place to live. If you like the location, Southington and Wallingford border Meriden and are nice towns for the most part.

[Rich Lee]

Meriden can be compared to Bristol, Middletown, Manchester, or to some extent, Norwich. It has an urbanized downtown with apartment complexes, multi-family investment properties, older strip malls (many are only partially full), multiple hotels, and an intricate (almost grid) street pattern. The outskirts are more rural, but virtually everyone is on city sewers or city water if that helps for comparison purposes.

There is new construction going on in the city (West side near Cheshire). Approximate starting prices are in the $400,000s.

[njohnson]

Meriden is one of the furthest towns you can get from country in the state. If you want a more country lifestyle in the middle of the state perhaps Durham may be a better fit or the smaller towns in the area.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

Meriden can be compared to Bristol, Middletown, Manchester, or to some extent, Norwich. It has an urbanized downtown with apartment complexes, multi-family investment properties, older strip malls (many are only partially full), multiple hotels, and an intricate (almost grid) street pattern. The outskirts are more rural, but virtually everyone is on city sewers or city water if that helps for comparison purposes.

There is new construction going on in the city (West side near Cheshire). Approximate starting prices are in the $400,000s.

With all due respect, that sounds nothing like Manchester - in fact far from it. And both Middletown and Bristol do not have burnt out downtowns like Meriden.

Anyone who spends 400K on a house in Meriden is on crack. LOL 95% of the homes there are 30+ years old and in the low 200K mark.

[skytrekker]

I would have to totally agree with JViello re; comparing Manchester and Meriden.
Manchester has some scattered areas that have become rather seedy. But the downtown is still very attractive.

There are many good neighborhoods in town- and some very upscale areas like Birch and Case Mountain- as well as Highland street.

Meriden is A far far worse place to live.

[debct]

Stay away from Merriden!!!! Chesire, SOuthingon and Wallingford are nice. If you like country check out Durham or Middlefield.

[Rich Lee]

Originally Posted by JViello

With all due respect, that sounds nothing like Manchester - in fact far from it. And both Middletown and Bristol do not have burnt out downtowns like Meriden.

Anyone who spends 400K on a house in Meriden is on crack. LOL 95% of the homes there are 30+ years old and in the low 200K mark.

From a population, school enrollment, and real estate median price, Meriden is on par with Bristol, Middletown, and Manchester. To which other towns would you compare Manchester?

[skytrekker]

Population of Manchester 55000- Meriden about the same.
Real estate prices in Manchester might be higher- I have a friend in Meriden, whom I visit often- and the town looks very depressed- lots of boarded up buildings, run down double and triple deck houses all over town- there are no areas that are as nice as Porter Street, Highland Park, Birch and Case Mountain, that exist in Manchester.

Downtown Manchester is by far much more attractive then Meriden's- which looks like a war zone in the middle east. Main St. in Manchester has some nice restaurants, coffee shops, and historic buildings.

Meriden is JUST awful. Bristol is better then Meriden. Aesthetically Manchester is a more attractive town- where per capita income is higher then Meriden's.