[wstvs]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

I think what's said about most towns on this board is pretty accurate.

I know the town well. It seems as if you don't.

this is kinda funny 2 me. yeah on this board everyone either has a phd or they are under 10.

u claim u are 24 years old and lived in norwalk, shelton, la and branford. but u know meriden well. let me guess ur cousin lives there?

[heather121]

Originally Posted by siri

Jay -- When you say "think New Britain" do you mean 'compare it to New Britain' or 'you're better off considering New Britain'???

Apologies for still being lame on town distinctions. We've been seeing NB houses online that are so sweet and affordable, so is bad/rundown/etc the reason why, as usual??? I knew a woman who lived there and she never said anything dicey about it. But that was decades ago.

I'll hazard a guess and say it was meant as 'compare it to New Britain.' Lots of generally sketchy areas and a few nicer areas (the border with Farmington, for example), but the good doesn't outweigh the bad by a long shot.

[I_oh_uh]

The comments I see about Meriden (or Bristol or Manchester, etc.) are yet another reason I won't miss my stay in this area. There's way too much class division and antagonism here for my taste. It was very noticeable when I moved here and it's very noticeable on this board.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by siri

Jay -- When you say "think New Britain" do you mean 'compare it to New Britain' or 'you're better off considering New Britain'???

Apologies for still being lame on town distinctions. We've been seeing NB houses online that are so sweet and affordable, so is bad/rundown/etc the reason why, as usual??? I knew a woman who lived there and she never said anything dicey about it. But that was decades ago.

I meant it is similar to New Britain. sorry for the confusion. New Britain is a small city with urban issues just like Meriden. There are some beautiful areas and some not-so-beautiful areas. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by I_oh_uh

The comments I see about Meriden (or Bristol or Manchester, etc.) are yet another reason I won't miss my stay in this area. There's way too much class division and antagonism here for my taste. It was very noticeable when I moved here and it's very noticeable on this board.

Are any of the things said incorrect or inaccurate? I don't think so. Why does telling someone about Meriden or Bristol or Manchester mean we are making a class distinction? Where is the antagonism here? I hate to tell you this but class distinction is less prevalent here in Connecticut than many other parts of the country. It may show here a bit more because our cities and towns are smaller in size so they cover less area. Large cities like LA and Atlanta sprawl across miles while cities like Hartford are just 17 miles. kind of hard to be diverse when a place is that small. The difference is these large cities can lump more together and spread it across a larger area than we can here in the northeast. Jay

[7 Wishes]

I had never heard of Meriden until my brief time up in the Hartford area last summer. On a map it looked like a small city that was probably pretty nice, but I drove through it and saw a lot of what the other posters are saying. It's a lot like Peekskill, NY, a small relatively unknown-outside-the-area city that has housing projects and lots of drugs. I'm sure (just like the city I'm comparing it to) there's a nice-ish neighborhood or two on the periphery, but overall it's pretty rough.

[Yankeerose00]

It's a lot like Peekskill, NY

So Peeksill isn't a good town? I've never been there. I just remember the 80's show, The Facts Of Life was supposed to be set there. I always pictured it being a nice town. Maybe it was at one time.

JMO, I don't see people coming down too hard on towns on this board. If anything, I've found that sometimes things are glossed over a bit more than they should be because people don't want to offend. Moving is expensive and exhausting. People should be given the truth, if truth isn't pretty. I'd hate to see a person come to this board looking for help, only to be given fluff. Of course you'll occasionally get someone give unhelpful comments like, "It sucks." But if a person states that a town has drug issues, I don't see that as misleading.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by wstvs

this is kinda funny 2 me. yeah on this board everyone either has a phd or they are under 10.

u claim u are 24 years old and lived in norwalk, shelton, la and branford. but u know meriden well. let me guess ur cousin lives there?

When did I said I had a PhD? I certainly don't, LOL. And I'm in my late 20's, nowhere did I claim to be 24. I livED in Norwalk before I got married, Shelton and now Branford. In between Shelton and Branford, I did an assignment for work in LA.

And I know Meriden well because of an internship in college. 'Nuff said.

If you're going to attempt to pick me apart, at least do the research so you can get your facts straight.

[DavieJ89]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

I knew nothing about Meriden except what I have read on this board. Little of what I read was positive.

Recently I started seeing someone who lives there, so I've been traveling there once or twice a week. Granted he lives on the Wallingford line, but I can't find anything really wrong with the city. To me, at least on the surface, it looks a lot like Milford. Nothing fancy, just kind of a nice middle class town.

What am I missing?

I lived in Meriden from 2001-2004 with the exception of downtown meriden, the rest of the city is very nice and even some of the more "scummy parts" have their beauty.

a good example would be brookside park of of broad street aka route 5. Very serene, very beautiful (especially in the fall) sadly a lot of bums sleep there during the summer time. same applies to the adjacent City Park across Bunker Ave

I used to live on Bunker Ave, there are a lot of minorities living on Bunker and a majority of that street as well as that area in general is rundown to an extent, but I nor my family ever had a problem with anybody.

We had some fairly nice neighbors with the exception of the drug dealers who lived across the street from us and would do so much wheeling and dealing in the summertime sitting under that giant maple tree in front of their house

From 2001 to 2004 I was in middle school and I attended Washington Middle School on north Broad Street. I dont recommend anybody sending their kids there. The campus itself is very nice, but the students themselves are terrible. Memories I do NOT wish to relive. I had some friends when I was there though

Now Downtown Meriden has always been problematic or so it seems. There are housing projects along Pratt Street near the old Meriden Mall and the train station as well as the others located near the Record Journal building, along with the City Park area. IMO the worst part of Meriden is the west side particularly along Lewis Ave and Springdale Ave, the area south of I-691. Terrible area. And Main Street west of Colony Street is crummy too

Perhaps Meriden isn't so great after all

To the OP you said your boyfriend lives near the Wallingford Line, I assume he lives near the Shop-Rite plaza. Is that Shop-Rite still there?

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by Yankeerose00

So Peeksill isn't a good town? I've never been there. I just remember the 80's show, The Facts Of Life was supposed to be set there. I always pictured it being a nice town. Maybe it was at one time.

It was always kind of "average", I actually didn't know it well in my youth but then I worked for a company in the town for 15 years. The Facts of Life school would've likely been on the outskirts "in real life". And in recent years it has "improved" with a lot of "artists lofts" and some people moving in because of lower housing costs than most of the rest of the county. The scenery around it (i.e. the small mountains across the Hudson River) is beautiful and reminiscent of a small-scale version of the San Francisco Bay.

This thread is telling..... //www.city-data.com/forum/westc...pros-cons.html