Brief Description of Meylan
General Information
Five kilometres
outside Grenoble and its university campus, Meylan is at the gateway to the
Grenoble agglomeration. It is also situated at the mouth of the Gresivaudan
valley and is an easy, accessible route for Geneva and the Swiss Alps. As
for those who dream of escaping into the wilderness, they will have the privilege
of quickly reaching the mountains and surrounding lakes.
Historical Meylan
The name Meylan
- Mediolano in the eleventh century - means "plain in the middle". Throughout
its history, Meylan has developed by following this principle of balance:
balance between modernity and tradition, between urbanisation and preservation
of an exceptional environment, between economic development and habitations.
To this balance, favourable to the blossoming of the women and men who live
in Meylan, add a full social life: local activities organised around different
facilities, numerous associations active in the field of the environment,
of solidarity, of culture, of sport and leisure, make Meylan a particularly
dynamic and pleasant to live.
United Meylan
From grandchildren to grandparents, all Meylanais can appreciate day to day
life in their town. After the first steps towards a social life at a local
child care centre, the youngsters, from nursery school to sixth form, will
complete their education in Meylan. As for the elderly, they have access
to an organisation of home helps and of meals on wheels, or of accommodation
facilities in one of the two reserved centres. The health and social welfare
services offer nearby facilities, easily accessible to all inhabitants. The
Employment Resource Centre, shared by several authorities, offers a personalised
welcome and follow-up service for job seekers. It develops an important
relational network with companies.
Enterprising Meylan
With more than
900 establishments, made up of freelance industries, Meylan is proof of a
dynamic economic life. Not only the Meylanais, but inhabitants from all over
the Grenoble agglomeration, come to work in Meylan. This counts for more
than 10,000 posts, 5,000 of which are to be found in the Zirst, a park for
innovation and scientific and technical achievement. Created in 1972 in the
heart of a 110 hectare wooded parkland, this centre of activity enjoys today
an international reputation. It regroups more than 200 companies at the head
of fields in computer science, industrial electronics, robotics, artificial
intelligence, automation and the software industry. In addition to this
concentration of high technology industries, shops, markets, craftsmen, banking
institutions, hotels and restaurants have equally found a choice setting
in Meylan.
Lively Meylan
Sportsman or artist, book lover or music mad, spectator or actor, the Meylanais
enjoy a varied range of activities to occupy their free time. Cultural facilities
are at their disposition: two music schools, a library for each area, an
exhibition centre and a national stage seating 600, where theatre, dance
and music follow successively. On the sporting side, facilities include
gymnasiums, swimming pools, tennis courts, squash courts, workout rooms,
sports grounds and a stadium, all of which offer sixty or so disciplines
for leisure and competition.
These local facilities are enriched by a full and varied associative life.
The Meylanais are very much involved in such sporting or cultural organisations,
local societies, associations for the quality of life, the protection of
the patrimony or of the environment. These are an essential element to local
dynamics.
Natural Meylan
The local authority
of Meylan benefits from a privileged natural setting, which it preserves
with care. Notably, forty five hectares are reserved for public parks, each
one with its own particular charm. Walkers easily fell relaxed along the
footpaths among these green open spaces. As regards cyclists, fourteen kilometres
of cycle tracks have been reserved. This environmental policy is reinforced
by the action of the Environmental Resource Centre. Situated in the heart
of an eight hectare wooded parkland, it organises exhibitions, workshops
and courses in eco-citizenship as well as walks to discover the surrounding
nature for both the young and grown-ups. Lastly, Meylan is home to a centre
for the protection of wild fauna, which receives and cares for injured birds
and mammals before releasing them into the wild.
Energetic Meylan
Meylan is one
of twenty-three associated local authorities within the Grenoble Alps Metropolis,
a community of local government authorities from the Grenoble agglomeration.
With a budget of one thousand million Francs, the authorities have committed
themselves to joint projects to create a coherent collective transport network,
to build social housing, to improve water and waste treatment, to pursue
the extension of the university, to reinforce economic developments between
authorities.... Meylan equally plays an active part in the campaign for the
promotion of "regions" within a global contract for the development of the
Gresivaudan. This programme brings together fifty or so local authorities.
Its purpose is to reinforce the valleys identity through economic development
and an improvement in the quality of life.
Lastly, Meylan has affirmed its openness to Europe and the world through
its twinning with the town of Planegg, in the south-west of Munich in Bavaria,
the town of Gonzalas in Louisiana, situated between Baton Rouge and New Orleans,
and the town of Didcot to the south of Oxford. Tomorrow, Meylan would like
to extend these links to other European towns. Beyond Europe, Meylan wishes
equally to establish a North-South link with African towns or villages.
Statistics
760 Companies, 250 in the Zirst (a park for innovation,
scientific and technical achievement)
10,000 posts, 5,500 of which are to be found in the Zirst
60 craftsmen
130 local shops, 17 of which are restaurants
4 hotels (180 rooms) |
6 nursery schools
6 primary schools
2 middle schools
1 high school
1 faculty of pharmaceutics
|
1 library for each area
2 music schools
1 hall for live shows, national stage
1 exhibition hall
1 Environmental Resource Centre
1 youth club |
5 child care centres (1 x 60, 3 x 20-25 places)
2 nurseries with 20-25 places
2 creches (1 for 15, 1 for 25 children)
2 old people's homes
1 social club
1 home help service |
11 open air sports grounds
4 football pitches
1 lyonnaises boule pitch, 1 petanque pitch
2 swimming pools
19 tennis courts |
1 squash court
4 gymnasiums with sports halls
1 athletics stadium
5 sports halls
|