[notmyname]

I've lived in Meriden for all of my 60 years except for 10 years in college/military. I know what Meriden was and what it is. I don't consider it "ruined" by the population change although it certainly isn't the town it once was. It has beautiful mountains and parks and many nice neighborhoods. Property taxes are higher but property values are lower than surrounding towns. There is little development area left and we've lost a lot of manufacturing companies over the years. The downtown area, which thrived in the 60's went down fast after the Lewis Avenue Mall was built and I691 bypassed the downtown area. There is an abundance, maybe an overabundance, of "affordable" housing which reduces the tax basis and attracts lower income people, of all races. The diversity of people is actually what makes Meriden interesting. To link any population with drugs or prostitution is inaccurate and wrong. I am not sure I accept that there is more crime here than in similar working class towns in the Northeast regardless of the population mix. I'm not afraid to go anywhere in Meriden, in the car or on foot, day or night. Drug use and prostitution may be more pervasive in affluent communities like Darian but there they aren't out on the streets so it's more ok. I wish we had more restaurants and upper-scale bars or clubs, but we have easy transportation to other towns. I91 and I84 and the Merritt/Wilbur Cross parkway are minutes from anywhere here. The downtown area needs help and West Main St has become rundown and depressing. I'm sure that those who live in the inner city have a different perspective and people who drive through see only a small part of the town. I live on the ouskirts but I work in a job where I meet the lowest income earners. They are trying to survive like the rest of us. The Puerto Rican culture doesn't necessarily embrace all the same values that your average white folk do but the problems in Meriden are more accurately linked to the availability of housing that attracted and continues to attract low income workers. It's hard to be an upscale city when you have low-scale earners and relatively few commercial/industrial tax payers. I'm not sure we are any less well-off for it than our Wallingford and Cheshire neighbors. It certainly isn't helpful or accurate to just categorize the city as rough or a ghetto or whatever else people have been calling it. My two cents worth.

[andthentherewere3]

Originally Posted by notmyname

Drug use and prostitution may be more pervasive in affluent communities like Darian but there they aren't out on the streets so it's more ok.

Drug use wouldn't surprise me, it's everywhere, but prostitution is pervasive in Darien?

[JViello]

Originally Posted by andthentherewere3

Drug use wouldn't surprise me, it's everywhere, but prostitution is pervasive in Darien?

Hey, gotta get that million dollar house somehow.

Then again, I wonder what you can call some trophy wives who marry a guy 40 years older than them if you know what I mean.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by JViello

Hey, gotta get that million dollar house somehow.

Then again, I wonder what you can call some trophy wives who marry a guy 40 years older than them if you know what I mean.

They just use different terms for it when there's money involved. Gold digger or Escorts is the high-brow equivalent to the poor man's lot lizard.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by andthentherewere3

Drug use wouldn't surprise me, it's everywhere, but prostitution is pervasive in Darien?

I don't know about pervasive, but maybe think Tiger Woods or Hugh Grant or Eliot Spitzer and their equivalent in Darien. You think only the poor are "clientele"?

[andthentherewere3]

Originally Posted by 7 Wishes

I don't know about pervasive, but maybe think Tiger Woods or Hugh Grant or Eliot Spitzer and their equivalent in Darien. You think only the poor are "clientele"?

I wasn't thinking so much in terms of the "clientele", but of the prostitutes themselves. I am just trying to picture a pervasive number of Darien women as prostitutes.

[notmyname]

I didn't mean to disparage Darien by spelling it wrong or implying it had a prostution or drug problem. I just thought of it as an affluent city that could have those things and not get the notoriety that Meriden has gotten. My apologies to the Darienites.

[gooberb]

My husband and I moved to Meriden almost 4 years ago, from RI. We are New Englanders, orginally from VT. We were told by the real estate agent that Meriden was an up and coming city. Ha...what a lark that was. Nothing has changed in the 4 years since we have moved here. The development where we live is nice...upper class homes, and people...of all nationalities. What bugs the hell out of me, is some people in this town, just don't care about the city at all, and yes, they are rude as all get out. There's garbage being thrown out of car windows. I once saw a lady, (and I use that term lightly), sitting in her car with children in the back, throw empty McDonald's containers outside her window. She was parked in the parking lot of Stop and Shop. I was horrified...I don't like Meriden. It has nothing to do with if you are black, white or hispanic...people just don't seem to give a damn about this city. I am looking forward to the day when my husband and I can leave CT. Oh, by the way...Meriden is not the only place in CT that is filthy...we have travelled to a few cities here, and find the same thing. What is up with people not caring about the towns that they live in. Have a little respect!

[JayCT]

I don't think I would characterize all of Connecticut based on what you are experiencing in Meriden. I would say that most people care about their communities here. While there is some liter it is no worst than anywhere else in this country. Being from Vermont, it must have been a real eye opener moving to a city like Meriden. It sounds like you made a bad decision believing an agent's opinion and buying there. I would suggest considering moving to another town that better suits you. Jay

[SunriseLawn]

I lived in Meriden CT my entire life from birth to age 26. I went to public and perochial schools in Meriden. I moved out of Meriden 5 years ago and relocated to West Central FL. I can honestly say it was the best move I ever made. Meriden really and truely is full of trash. I hate to talk down about the place I loved and called home for most of my life, but now that I have seen first hand what else is out there, I now know that Meriden is the Pitts! I was so stuck in the Meriden Mentality that I didnt see what I was living in until I left. I come back to see my family every year, and its gotten to the point that I dread it.. Driving down the street getting whistled at and cat called by a sleezy group of hispanic men, Being threatened of a shooting in an old hole in the wall bar I used to love to visit, Police sirens, Bass speakers in cars that shake your house after midnight. My stories could go on and on.. Its very sad. Leave while you have the chance.. thats my recomendation.