Meridian - (Jackson: crime rate, high school, place to live)

[Trojan1998]

Is anyone on this forum from Meridian? I grew up in Meridian and graduated high school there in the early '90s. I still have family who lives there, but I moved away after graduating high school and have never lived there in a full-time capacity since.

It seems as though the city's violent crime rate has skyrocketed over the last two to three years and there is a spike in gang activity. There are virtually constant gunshots throughout the city's core at all hours, even along the main thoroughfare of Poplar Springs Drive. A 94-year-old white woman who lived alone on 5th Street was murdered by an intruder this past weekend. For a city of Meridian's size, its crime rate is extremely high. In many respects it is becoming or has become a 'Little Jackson'.

The city just recently elected its first black mayor, but it appears that the black crime has escalated in the aftermath.

Meridian, twenty-five plus years ago, was a very desirable place to live, but of all the major cities in Mississippi, it seems as though it has taken the biggest downward spiral.

What are others' thoughts on Meridian?

[Listener2307]

Mayor Bland says he wanted the job because the election of a Black mayor would "unleash Meridian's potential".

It did.

[Trojan1998]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

Mayor Bland says he wanted the job because the election of a Black mayor would "unleash Meridian's potential".

It did.

Meridian has become a laughingstock. Sad but true.