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Old 12-14-2012, 06:19 AM
 
Location: Atlanta & NYC
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I grew up in Meriden, CT. I had a decent childhood with lots of nice memories. The other day my mother was talking about how we moved to NY from CT because Meriden became known as the armpit of CT. Is this true? What's so bad about Meriden? I haven't been there in years but I still feel back at home whenever I'm there.
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Old 12-14-2012, 06:26 AM
 
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I wouldn't go that far, however Meriden certainly isn't the most desirable town in the state. Compared to surrounding towns and towns of similar population, the schools are worse and the crime is higher which tends to drive people out if they can afford to do so.

Home always feels like home, no matter how desirable or undesirable it is to others.
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Old 12-14-2012, 06:30 AM
 
Location: Atlanta & NYC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mels View Post
I wouldn't go that far, however Meriden certainly isn't the most desirable town in the state. Compared to surrounding towns and towns of similar population, the schools are worse and the crime is higher which tends to drive people out if they can afford to do so.

Home always feels like home, no matter how desirable or undesirable it is to others.
The school thing is probably true. I did elementary school in CT and they put me in the slower kid classes for lack of a better term. Yet when I moved to NY I was in Advanced Placement courses and graduated second in my class.

Where is the crime the worst? Is it as bad as New Haven? My dad said he considered moving there since my sister was born there but crime was awful. I'm not sure if that's true or not.
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Old 12-14-2012, 06:36 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ja1myn View Post
Where is the crime the worst? Is it as bad as New Haven? My dad said he considered moving there since my sister was born there but crime was awful. I'm not sure if that's true or not.
New Haven, Bridgeport and Hartford are all "high crime", but it's limited only to a few neighborhoods within each city and it's not random crime. The downtown areas, as well as other neighborhoods within the cities are perfectly fine. The suburbs, for the most part, are beautiful and pretty affluent.

As for Meriden - there are some nice neighborhoods but all in all, it's not the best city to live in. Lots of illegal substances floating around. It doesn't help that it's about halfway between NYC and Boston, so a lot of trafficking.
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Old 12-14-2012, 06:38 AM
 
Location: Connecticut
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Meriden schools overall do not rate high but I know people that live and teach there and they are generally satisfied. A coworker's kids are going through the schools there and seem to be doing very well. A friend teaches there and they seem satisfied with the school they are in. I think most of the issues in Meriden are related to the socio-economics of the students. There are a lot of children from poor and under educated families which shows up in the school test results. Still a decent education can be had if the parents and kids care to.

As for crime, New Haven is worse than Meriden but New Haven is a major city. Still there are many good nieghborhoods in New Haven as there are in Meriden which is just like New York. There is good and bad everywhere. Jay
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Old 12-14-2012, 07:54 AM
 
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I have a friend who used to live in Meriden and he loved it. Meriden isn't exactly the cream of the crop in terms of the quality of living, but it's not the armpit of CT either.

I would venture to say that Bridgeport is a contender to be the armpit of CT. See this recent thread.
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Old 12-14-2012, 07:55 AM
 
Location: In a house
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My sister lives over near the Preston Avenue area of Meriden, and I used to work on Preston Ave. That whole area is lovely, and rather normal in a "just *that* side of rural" kind of suburban way.

Around downtown Meriden, not so lovely. But that whole corridor, East Main from Preston all the way to Broad Street, seems pretty ordinary and suburban to me. Sort of like East Haven, from the Town Hall as far as the bowling alley on the way to the Annex. After that point it gets seedier but even there isn't not so "bad" as it is "old."
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Old 12-14-2012, 08:33 AM
 
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The Armpit of CT is Bridgeport, not Meriden.
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Old 12-14-2012, 09:03 AM
 
Location: Connecticut
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wma152 View Post
The Armpit of CT is Bridgeport, not Meriden.
I don't know if I agree with that completely. There are a few other cities that come to mind as well. Jay
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Old 12-14-2012, 09:22 AM
 
Location: Twin Lakes /Taconic / Salisbury
2,256 posts, read 4,495,230 times
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To the OP. Out of curiousity where in NY did mom moves you guys to from Meriden??
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