What is Meridian like? (Jackson: house prices, theater, school districts)

[Theresejenkins]

Can anyone tell me a bit more about Meridian, MS as far as home prices, people, etc. general info about the area?

[beamseight]

Meridian isn't the nicest city, but it's not the worst. My grandparents live in Northwood Country Club, which is a nice area, and I have made dozens of trips to visit. However the surrounding areas aren't as nice. It reminds me of a smaller Jackson. The majority of people that I have met from Meridian all seem friendly.

[Nashcash23]

I have been to Meridian a few times. To be honest, I have never liked the town. I went there last summer and found it very inhospitable. I could not live there. It was way too hot and there were roaches everywhere, including in the homes of all of my relatives. Roaches crawled everywhere and no one seemed alarmed or seemed to notice them. I also noticed the people were very inhospitable as well. I was NEVER asked if I was hungry or offered any food the whole time I was down there. The town was very underdeveloped. The houses all seemed too close to the road and had an odd atmosphere to them. I thought maybe I had just seen just bad parts of town, but even in the most affluent areas, I felt uncomfortable and the city looked very ugly. I noticed that a lot of people talked about each other behind their backs and many seemed very unhappy. I have been to Mississippi many times and have always noticed this unhappy, negative atmosphere wherever I went. I don't know if it is because I am from a large, urban city (Nashville,TN) that I feel this way about MS, but I know MS needs a lot of work economically and socially, and until then, I honestly just want to stay out of Mississippi completely. It is absolutely horrible!!!

[btfly]

Well, I lived there for my first 20something years, and moved away 3 years ago.

While I was there, I thought it was okay, but after leaving and moving to a bigger city, I don't think I could go back there permanently ever. All of my family is still there, and I go to visit occasionally but could never move back.

And I know that people like to think that MS as a whole have made great strides in regards to race, but it still has a long way to go. As far as the people, as long as you are caucasion, you'll be fine. But I'm not, I'm AA and noticed alot of racism, stares when you drive a nice car, and just plain ole "I'm better than you" rudeness.

House prices are really cheap. I bought my first house there in 2004 for 130,000. Very nice house in one of the better school districts.
I see you're a realtor. Do you have a place lined up to work yet. Meridian is kind of a "my daddy owns this business, so you better jump through hoops and stand on your head just to be able to think about working here" kind of place.

Feel free to ask anything else I may have left out.

[Tama]

I have been to Meridian a few times and can't say it has impressed me. It has a utilitarian feel about it and not much southern gentilly. A little rough around the edges. It has the huge naval air station and that brings in some diversity but otherwise it may be a bit closed. No major university nor the capital it seems kind of lost. Natives please feel free to disagree and straigthen out the record. I am giving a view from just passing in and out. It could be very different living there. And it may be wise not to take to heart something that is strictly from such a narrow view. Just want to get some real inside dope from others.

[jacksonian]

Not being from there or visiting much, the downtown in Meridian is nice from what I could tell. I believe there is a theater there that gets a lot of attention from the locals, which is a plus. The negative to the city, in my opinion, is what you see driving through on I-20... I feel like that entire area is just one giant billboard. It's not the only city that looks like that by any means, just another town that is scarred by short sighted marketing/advertising businesses. It could be so much more.

[lissad26]

I lived there for several years. I wasnt afraid to drive even in the bad areas ( which every city has) They are bringing in a lot more stores. The reason it was underdeveloped was because the base was on the closure list for 10 years. Now it isnt. Racism is NOT a problem there. I live in Norfolk, VA now and if you want see racism, come here. There isnt a lot of middle income homes there. Most are either rich or poor. I loved it there and we plan to retire out of the navy there. Home prices are good. You can get a nice home for under $200k. There is a branch of MSU in Merdian and several other major universities within 2hrs. Its a small town.