By Rob McGreevy
Thrillist.com recently published a list of every state’s most underrated city. The list ranges from cities mostly everyone would recognize – like Sacramento, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma – to more obscure cities such as Alliance, Nebraska and Sisters, Oregon.
While there are plenty of cities outside of the sphere of common knowledge, one city on the list should stand out to Quinnipiac students. Connecticut’s most underrated city, according to Thrillist, is Hamden.
The travel blog pegged Hamden as an underdog primarily because of its juxtaposition to New Haven and Yale.
“Hamden is one town away from New Haven, and somehow worlds different,” the writer notes.
According to the author, New Haven’s influence on Hamden can be seen in the brick oven pizza, the classic New England architecture, and even the similarly collegiate atmosphere. The writer goes on to differentiate the towns by bringing attention to Hamden’s “rural charm.” This rural charm includes the nature, the various trails, and of course, Sleeping Giant State Park. However, the writers at Thrillist aren’t the only ones to notice the natural aura of the town.
Quinnipiac graduate student (and one-time Massachusetts resident) Shannon Ryder loves Hamden.
“I’m never, ever leaving so I’m a little biased,” Ryder admitted.
Ryder expanded upon Thrillist’s decision and cited many of the same reasons of the same reasons that they did.
“I think there are plenty of other bigger, better cities in Connecticut but I feel like Hamden is homier than those places. It has the Sleeping Giant and the bike trail which makes it stand out from other cities,” Ryder said.
Not everybody agrees with Thrillist’s assessment, however.
“Honestly, I have to disagree with that. I’ve always said that Hamden is one of the worst places I have ever lived,” Quinnipiac senior and New York native Luke Brenner said. “The traffic between 2-6 p.m. makes it impossible to get anywhere without wanting to pull my hair out. In addition, absolutely nothing is open late besides fast food and rent is absurdly overpriced.”
The scathing review however, did not come without at least a few compliments.
“The only nice thing I can say about Hamden is the locals and staff of the restaurants and bars happen to be pretty nice people,” Brennan said.
Even the most passionately disgruntled Hamden resident can find a bright spot in Connecticut’s new underdog city, it turns out.