Introduction

The existing conditions chapter serves as the first section of the affordable housing plan and is aimed at establishing a baseline of current socio-economic and demographic characteristics of Meriden. More specifically this baseline analysis encompasses data points ranging from population and housing characteristics to general economic indicators and labor force statistics. The value of this analytical piece is that it provides an opportunity to identify current local trends and/or quantify and detail, more specifically, known trends experienced by local stakeholders. The following analysis also offers a comparison of the city relative to the greater SCRCOG region, which illuminates how regional trends may or may not be influencing the localized trends in Meriden.

The goal of this section is to present a thorough data driven picture of Meriden, which can be used to align community stakeholders with the same baseline information to both inform and guide the future sections of this report involving issues and opportunities, goals, and strategies. This section in conjunction with community meetings and the SCRCOG survey results will serve to ground truth the data and highlight/quantify the issues and opportunities present within the community as it relates to the city’s existing housing market.