Can Anyone Tell Me About Meriden CT?

[MRM]

Can anyone tell me anything about Meriden CT, or the greater Hartford area? Work is going to take the family there for an extended stay and this is an area of the country we are completely unfamiliar with. Is this a good place to spend some extended time? Are there better or worse places to live/stay? Any other insights into the area?

[stomachmonkey]

Dude, it's freakin awesome up there.

What time of the year will you be there.

Season dictates a lot of how you spend your time.

Bring a P car, the driving is fantastic.

[Paul_Heery]

If you were going to Meriden for work just by yourself, I would probably recommend that you stay in the town itself. To commute in/out of town can be a nightmare as you have Hartford to the north & New Haven to the south and there is considerable commuter traffic. But, since you mentioned family please be aware that three cities in Connecticut were ranked among the most dangerous mid-sized cities in the country to live by the FBI this year. The FBI list had the most crime-ridden places in the United States. New Haven was ranked second, Hartford was fourth and Bridgeport, sixth, according to the bureau's statistics. Meriden sits within the area bordered by these three cities and it has the ninth highest crime rate in the state. It is something to consider.

Now, there are some very nice parks in Meriden, but not much else. If you are looking for anything culturally redeeming, you will be heading out of town.

If commuting time is not an issue, personally I would be looking to stay somewhere north of route 84, probably near West Hartford. There is so much more to do in that area and a much better selection of restaurants. And, you would be much closer to some of the great roads that stomachmonkey mentioned. The area around the reservoir near Granby has some of my favorite roads and spots to stop and enjoy the views.

Let me know if you need any help narrowing in on a place to stay. Feel free to PM me your number and I'll give you a call.

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Dude, it's freakin awesome up there.

If you enjoy high taxes and a ton, and I mean a TON of traffic welcome. The Hartford area isn't as bad as I-95 corridor but still bad. DO NOT bring with you any type of assault type weapons. They are illegal here, (after Sandy Hook). no magazines over 10 rounds either.
Oh we also have the worst roads, tied with RI, in America. The 3rd highest cost of living in America. Not sure if it still holds true but Meriden used to have a ton of bikers and I don't mean HOG members if you get my drift.



New England is a beautiful place with a ton of history. As long as you can put up with the above you will enjoy.
Send me a PM if you'd like when you arrive and we'll have a beer.


Welcome!

[Rusty914s]

My experiences with that area are ancient, I went to high school in Farmington, college in Storrs, and my parents now live in west Hartford.

Back in The 80s, Meriden was a wasteland of lower class blue collar workers. Could be different today but doubt it.

Connecticut as a whole is a tough place to live, grey skies during winter followed by muggy summers. I hope the job pays well. On further though, you're so much better off than the guy moving to Bakersfield.

[mreid]

I preface this by saying peace and love, peace and love to my Porsche brothers and sister who live in or are from CT.

I've lived in 12 states including CT. It was by far the worst state I lived in. The taxes are ridiculous, politics even worse, and overall weather perhaps worse (there were some very beautiful days, but overall not so much). I lived in Branford in an area called Short Beach. My house was beach front on Long Island sound, so I didn't have a lot to complain about from a view or quality of home perspective. I was about 10 minutes from New Haven which is the home of Yale University. I never felt completely safe and CT has some tough gun laws making it more difficult, but not impossible to buy a hand gun (when I was there (2001 to 2010) you had to have a concealed carry permit to buy a hand gun.

I met some really nice people, but more often than not people were cold and not real friendly. Keep in mind that in TX random strangers say hi, smile, and talk to you out of the blue. You are taxed on you cars every year as they have a personal property tax (I hated that) and they are real nazis about pursuing payment even canceling your registration if they think you haven't paid it. I had several run ins with ignorant tax collectors who knew nothing about my cars, but were empowered to determine value with little option for appeal. There are some beautiful driving roads and Lime Rock is less than two hours away. The vintage races over Labor Day weekend are awesome.

In addition to the annual vehicle tax, there are state, property, and sales taxes that make CT one of he highest taxed states in the union. Overall, I'd rate my time in CT as a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. Sorry.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

My mom's side of the family grew up in Meriden, now they all live in Haddam, where I grew up before moving to Stillwater, MN. Meriden's time has come and gone though Middletown has been experiencing a little bit of rebirth.

You will want to look at homes in Cheshire and Durham.

If you want to live in the country, and I mean country, you could live as far away as Haddam/Higganum and the commute wouldn't be bad at all, there would be very little traffic, probably half hour drive depending on start and endpoints.

CT is beautiful in the summer, nicer than MN in the winter, but that's not saying much.

Schools in this part of CT are great.

What's your timetable? Let me know if I can help at all.

[Rusty914s]

I do remember Cheshire being a nice town. Go with that suggestion.

[MRM]

Thanks for all the help. It will be a year-plus work assignment. Work requires a permanent presence but there's no way the whole family will move at this point in our lives. So there will be a lot of travel back and forth for everyone. It looks like there are direct flights between MSP and Hartford.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by MRM

Thanks for all the help. It will be a year-plus work assignment. Work requires a permanent presence but there's no way the whole family will move at this point in our lives. So there will be a lot of travel back and forth for everyone. It looks like there are direct flights between MSP and Hartford.

I commuted by car at least three weeks a month for three years when I was the chief pilot at the Sikorsky Factory in Bridgeport.

There were some charming aspects of CT, but one of the Sikorsky test pilots summed it up best: "Connecticut, where the people are as happy as the weather."

[MRM]

I'm from Minnesota. I understand that sentiment!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I've lived in a lot of different states at different times. Moving from Boston to Chicago was stereotypical, packing up the truck which blocked the entire street with double-side parking, cars would come down the street and honk until we moved the truck up to the next intersection so they could pass, then move it back. I get to Chicago, my neighbors, whom I've never met, help me move into my new house.

CT: small town like Mayberry, very friendly and helpful.

MN: suburbia, very friendly, 3-5 neighbors we'd all go boating/camping for the weekend on the St. Croix most of the summer

TX: suburbia, only lasted a year, only one friendly neighbor

Western MA: so-so, not super friendly

Chicago: very friendly

NYC: very friendly

Cambridge/Watertown, MA: very friendly

[campbellcj]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I commuted by car three weekends a month for three years when I was the chief pilot at the Sikorsky Factory in Bridgeport.

There were some charming aspects of CT, but one of the Sikorsky test pilots summed it up best: "Connecticut, where the people are as happy as the weather."

I like that quote! I've spent a lot of time in CT working with Sikorsky and other parts of UTC (as a vendor/contractor) and have yet to find its redeeming qualities. That's probably the nicest way I can put it. But, there are far worse places to be stationed too.

[Seahawk]

A few observation about my time in CT.

New England is small. Draw a 250mi arc around Meridan and you can pretty much throw a sheet over the place.

There is a lot of really cool things to do, with or without the family. On the weekends I couldn't make it back to Maryland during my three years at Sikorsky, I had fun exploring New England: Mount Washington, Saratoga Springs, West Point, Bridgeport Ferry to LI, etc., etc.

Nice minor league baseball in the area. I used to go watch the New Haven Ravens but they are disbanded. Looks like Bridgeport now has a team.

Costs money to go to go to the beach, parks, etc. You need a town pass or purchase a day pass. Connecticut (CT) Beaches, ocean beaches, lakes & ponds, fresh water swimming, salt water swimming

Get EZ Pass for tolls. You do not want to be without it, 99% of the time you'll save wait time at the toll booths with EZ Pass. Driving in many parts of New England costs a lot of money.

There are really great roads in the area. When I knew I was going to be staying for the weekend, I always drove up in 1983 SC.

Enjoy. One year you and the family can do easy with a little planning. I did it pre internet so with all the communication options for staying connected you will be fine.

All the best. DC isn't too far for a road trip

[CJFusco]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Autumn in CT yet... if you want to see stunning weather, September thru early November is wonderful in New England.

The various opinions in this thread are suggestive of how different an experience it can be depending on where you live. The New Haven area has a lot to do, but is definitely an urban area, with everything that goes along with it. The Hartford area is actually much different -- Hartford itself turns into a ghost town after 6pm except for a 2-block radius of nice restaurants and bars. Most who work in Hartford go to West Hartford, which is a very cool town, for social life.

If you like nice, quiet suburbs, CT is great; for that matter, even quieter farmland can be found in the western part of the state (my GF lives in the New Milford area, and it's bucolic).

I can't really speak about the political aspects of the state because I can't stand partisan politics, but I've never felt the need or desire to have any kind of weapon -- I can't think of a single instance in which I've felt unsafe. I can tell you that many of the above sentiments sound foreign to me, though -- my father has been a gun enthusiast for my whole life (he's a retired cop), and he still buys, owns, and uses all of his weapons recreationally with no problem. Maybe there are more restrictions here than in other states, but the aforementioned sentiments have not been my experience at all. Actually, my time in CT has been very pleasant over all; I could do without the humidity in the Summer and with a shorter winter, but my time here has been conducive towards a happy and satisfied life.

[MRM]

Thanks again for the information and insight offered. I will PM Paul and Paul in the next couple of days. We will be mostly insulated from the issues of local schools, politics, gun control and to some extent the cost of living. This is a work assignment that will be a lot of hard work but we're hoping to enjoy our time in New England too. Our big issues will be commute, quality of life, and general safety. We have been told that Madison CT is a good place to live and the commute isn't bad to Meriden. It looks pretty far to me on the map. Any insights into traffic patterns, commute times, and best places to live in the area? I'm already imagining long weekends taking the ferry to Montauk Point, Boston and New York. Any other suggestions for activities?

[Buckterrier]

All the seacoast towns are really nice from Branford east.
There is a lot of minor league baseball in Ct if you like that. Also and this may seem strange but walking through grave yards is pretty cool. I say that as there are some very old, (17th century), grave stones. Salem Mass is fun, Mystic Seaport & Aquarium in my neck of the woods are really awesome.
As I said earlier from a historical aspect New England is really cool and there is a ton of things to do,
Ferry to Block Island for a nice day trip, mansions new Newport RI, beaches. Beaches in CT are nice but we are on Long Island Sound so we don't get the waves to play in, (at 57 I still love playing in big waves). But less than an hour from me in RI is Misquamicut State beach. It sits on the Atlantic Ocean so they get the waves.
I googled Madison od Meriden. Would take you through the back roads so traffic wouldn't be bad.
Good luck on your search for a home.

[Paul_Heery]

Depending on where your destination is in Meriden and your place of residence in Madison, the commute times can vary considerably. Madison is a long-and-skinny town that runs north to south. The furthest north area of town is the closest to Meriden. If you are in North Madison, the commute will be short-er, but will be mostly one-lane-in-each-direction roads. Probably routes 17, 79 or some combination. If you are further south, the options open up with access to some highways, including 95 & 91. But, 95 & 91 are usually not the best options during rush hours. And, you never want to be heading home on 95N on a Friday night, especially in the summer.

Also, if you decide on Madison, you will most likely be an hour or more from BDL.

Personally, I really like Madison. I have driven through it many times and it has some pretty areas. But, when we drive through, we do so mostly to head to the shoreline. There are some wonderful areas including Hammonasset Beach State Park. There is also some decent shopping down along the Post Road.

In regard to activities, there are a number of things that you can do within a relatively short distance. We have lived in CT for 19 years and are still exploring.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

We went to Hammonasset all summer long when I was a kid. Drag-netted shiners, gutted and fried them up like french fries, caught crabs and dogfish, tried to catch eels.

[911SauCy]

I've been here my entire life and just made the decision to purchase a 25+ year home and raise a family.

One thing you'll notice most about CT natives, they love to hate their state

It's quite nice as you have mountainous roads to the northwest, beach to the south, fabulous foliage accompanied by a whole mess of fall related things going on in towns all over.

AAAAAnndd, don't forget, Lime Rock and Thompson Speedway

I'm 20mins from Meriden, pm me, I'd be glad to grab a coffee once you're in and settled.