Just wondering what some of you guys thoughts are on why Hattiesburg has seen so much growth the past 30 years, and Meridian seems to be circling the drain more and more each year? Both areas are of similar size, demographics, and location, but Hattiesburg, especially West Hattiesburg, has seen tons of growth and prosperity versus Meridian who can't seem to attract any new business alongside the worsening crime situation they have in Lauderdale county. Thoughts?
OT: Hattiesburg versus Meridian question
- Thread starter WayboDawg
- Start date
Don't know. When I grew up in Meridian, it was twice the size of Hattiesburg. Now I understand Hattiesburg is larger. Some of that may be due to city limit expansion (like Montgomery ... it's technically the 2nd largest city in Alabama, and almost as large in the city limits as Birmingham, but in actuality it's the 4th largest, behind both Huntsville and Mobile. Huntsville is the 2nd largest metro) ... not sure. Meridian has two interstate highways that come together there, so it should be in a more desirable location. Meridian looks like a little city, with a few tallish buildings that I don't think Hattiesburg has, but that's only an outward appearance. I'm not sure I've ever been to downtown Hattiesburg so I can't really say ... only been through there on I-59. I went back to my high school reunion in Meridian three or four years ago, drove downtown, and it seemed that just about every business was closed. Didn't see much of the surrounding area so there may or may not be some thriving areas.
Word is that Meridian is a very dangerous place right now. I live in Waynesboro, so its virtually the same distance for me to get to Hattiesburg or Meridian (1 hr). I used to frequent Meridian a good bit on the weekends, but not lately because of all the shootings and muggings that are going on. Meridian just got rid of their police chief after only a year on the job, and are in the process of rehiring their old chief out of retirement from what I hear.
The demographics for Hattiesburg are much better than for Meridian, especially including the metro area. Hattiesburg is also at the junction of a couple of major highways (I-59 and Hwy 49) and it also has a large university. And a good bit of Hattiesburg's economy comes from Laurel/Jones County while Meridian has no decent sized communities near it to bring in outside dollars.
Having lived in both Hattiesburg and Meridian (my hometown) for a while..
Hattiesburg has the college and is much closer to major cities (Biloxi/Gulfport & New Orleans).. the surrounding areas (Oak Grove, Petal, Sumrall) are strong and growing rapidly.. From my experience in the manufacturing world (Kohler, Stion, etc.), they are bringing some high paid jobs to the area..
Meridian is my hometown.. a good ole boy town.. no major university but Miss. State is basically revamping the city with the amount of money they are putting into the place.. Lots of growth downtown.. Meridian is not ideally located to a beach or major city (Jackson?).. high paid manufacturing jobs (worked at Avery) seem to be coming though.. hospitals and MCC are a big deal..
Overall view.. Hattiesburg's leadership and infrastructure trumps Meridian's.. just from my point of view..
Good luck getting off I-20/59 (most traveled interstate) and finding an off ramp to a good place to eat/stay in Meridian.. IMO, seems to be a WTF? of Meridian.. so much traffic and so shatty number of off-ramps (/bringing better restaurants)..
Hattiesburg has the college and is much closer to major cities (Biloxi/Gulfport & New Orleans).. the surrounding areas (Oak Grove, Petal, Sumrall) are strong and growing rapidly.. From my experience in the manufacturing world (Kohler, Stion, etc.), they are bringing some high paid jobs to the area..
Meridian is my hometown.. a good ole boy town.. no major university but Miss. State is basically revamping the city with the amount of money they are putting into the place.. Lots of growth downtown.. Meridian is not ideally located to a beach or major city (Jackson?).. high paid manufacturing jobs (worked at Avery) seem to be coming though.. hospitals and MCC are a big deal..
Overall view.. Hattiesburg's leadership and infrastructure trumps Meridian's.. just from my point of view..
Good luck getting off I-20/59 (most traveled interstate) and finding an off ramp to a good place to eat/stay in Meridian.. IMO, seems to be a WTF? of Meridian.. so much traffic and so shatty number of off-ramps (/bringing better restaurants)..
Last edited:
I know exactly what you mean. The only thing easy to get to in Meridian is Bonita Lakes mall and the outlet mall down under the hill from it. Everything else involves lots of lane changes, exit taking, one way streets, and a good overall familiarity of Meridian. Even the bowling alley and putt-putt golf place are way across town in North Hills where its a lot of trouble to get to. In contrast, Hattiesburg has easy access to all the major attractions located on Highway 98 and Highway 49. Its just way more convenient.
Meridian is a huge doctor/lawyer town. However, there hasn't been much else in-between. So, if you live in Meridian you're either very wealthy or barely scraping by.
From what I've seen, a lot of Meridian's troubles could be attributed to White Flight and the lower tax base. Lauderdale County has grown quite a bit. Lots of my Meridian High classmates have kids who've graduated from Northeast or West Lauderdale.
From what I've seen, a lot of Meridian's troubles could be attributed to White Flight and the lower tax base. Lauderdale County has grown quite a bit. Lots of my Meridian High classmates have kids who've graduated from Northeast or West Lauderdale.
Good point on the traffic. I lived in Laurel for two years and traveled through Meridian a lot coming back to north MS to visit family / MSU. I can't ever remember stopping anywhere other than the gas station on the west end of town. I can't tell you why... I guess there's just nothing that ever looked appealing.
Hattiesburg on the other hand --- I probably should have lived there instead of Laurel because I spent so much time there.
Hattiesburg on the other hand --- I probably should have lived there instead of Laurel because I spent so much time there.
Meridian from the Interstate is a lot like Laurel from the Interstate. A total ********. I guess you do have Bonita Lakes, but that's it for either town as far as the Interstate goes. Both have some nicer areas away from the Interstate but they both leave a terrible impression on anyone traveling through.
Hattiesburg > Meridian
Having spend a good amount of time in Meridian, I can tell you it's not the place I would want to raise a family. Meridian saw growth and expansion at a different time period than Hattiesburg. Meridian grew a lot from 1920-1950. Hattiesburg saw most of it's growth from 1980-present. That's why Hattiesburg is bigger than Meridian.
Also, Hattiesburg has a University and a large number of young people. Lot's of young families as well. Downtown is taking off. There's more to do in Hattiesburg, and the crime in Meridian is terrible.
Having spend a good amount of time in Meridian, I can tell you it's not the place I would want to raise a family. Meridian saw growth and expansion at a different time period than Hattiesburg. Meridian grew a lot from 1920-1950. Hattiesburg saw most of it's growth from 1980-present. That's why Hattiesburg is bigger than Meridian.
Also, Hattiesburg has a University and a large number of young people. Lot's of young families as well. Downtown is taking off. There's more to do in Hattiesburg, and the crime in Meridian is terrible.
West Lauderdale (Collinsville) and Enterprise definitely have some of the most desirable public school systems in the whole state. The reservoir up in Collinsville is very nice as well, and I could see why someone would want to move there. Most of your Meridian middle class folks seem to have settled in one of those two areas. The impression I get is that all of the affluent people inside the Meridian city limits send their kids to Lamar Private School.
Meridian has a few bright spots. I like going to the mall, and to the shopping areas down under the hill from the mall. I also like going to Mississippi Music every now and again. There are a few good restaurants as well. Meridian is a convenience to the smaller communities that surround the city like Waynesboro, Quitman, Butler, or maybe Laurel......but to someone who is just passing through I understand why there wouldn't be much reason to stop other than purchasing fuel.
Me and mine definitely frequent Hattiesburg more often than Meridian these days however. Its just safer, more convenient, has more selection, and newer/nicer facilities. In about 20 years, I would guess that West Hattiesburg will become it's own city because of all the growth they are seeing. East and South Hattiesburg are totally different from West Hattiesburg.
heres your simple answer
old money(including and starting with peavey) made it hard for other industries to come over time. every time a big company was coming, they threatened to pull out of meridian. this was to keep their wages low. This is one of the main issues.
secondly, meridian has the highest millage rate to businesses and the city is not big on tax credits because its broke.
without going into too much detail, those are your main two obstacles.
it has gotten much better thought and there are business people in meridian that are actively fighting to pull businesses here now, its just been uphill. handy hardware going bankrupt didn't help. but that had nothing to do with meridian, it was the company as a whole. still, vacant buildings aren't attractive to those industries.
the safety issue is a concern of late and our mayor and police force are like the blind leading the blind right now.
old money(including and starting with peavey) made it hard for other industries to come over time. every time a big company was coming, they threatened to pull out of meridian. this was to keep their wages low. This is one of the main issues.
secondly, meridian has the highest millage rate to businesses and the city is not big on tax credits because its broke.
without going into too much detail, those are your main two obstacles.
it has gotten much better thought and there are business people in meridian that are actively fighting to pull businesses here now, its just been uphill. handy hardware going bankrupt didn't help. but that had nothing to do with meridian, it was the company as a whole. still, vacant buildings aren't attractive to those industries.
the safety issue is a concern of late and our mayor and police force are like the blind leading the blind right now.
Companies that selfish and full of themselves should be encouraged to leave when they pull crap like this. I bet 80% of the time businesses that use tactics like this are just blowing hot air in order to keep wages down, and wouldn't actually leave because they probably can't afford the cost of moving. Someone in city government should have had the guts to call their bluff or say "good riddance" in the unlikely event the business did decide to leave.
it was something that has been remedied since then. peavey was the main culprit and a Hartley hung that over the city repeatedly. but, he has since outsourced a lot of things outside of meridian now and some more proactive people have been able to move it forward through the embdc (essentially our chamber of commerce).
progress is finally being made, but given everything that should've favored Meridian in the long run (multiple interstates, airport, rail, etc) it will just be playing catch up from now on
http://www.meridianms.org/default/assets/File/CentralFireStation.pdf
Look at these pictures. Taj Mahal of a fire station with a plethora of recliners as well. The local government makes sure that it has the best of the best while the rest of the town starves. Too high of taxes and poor budgeting of projects.
Look at these pictures. Taj Mahal of a fire station with a plethora of recliners as well. The local government makes sure that it has the best of the best while the rest of the town starves. Too high of taxes and poor budgeting of projects.
obviously it was because Hattiesburg had the Stone Toad, Bonnie & Clydes, and the infamous El-Agave ...... all Meridian had was Cash McKools
Hattiesburg also has a large military mobilization site close to it that brings in lots of tax dollars through hotels, restaurants, bars, and general shopping. Meridian has the Naval base, but they are not rotating thousands of people through every month or so.