Meru or Embu?

Billionaires mount Kenya East, between these regions, which is the best place to live and settle?

Also, which is the best town for a shiny eye to live under the radar between these two towns? I don’t want a rude cultural shock.

Embu is more peaceful less opportunities.
Meru has more opportunity and more crime.

Vile grandpa amesema hapo juu

Kiongos this might be irrelevant but lemme shine a light on how whitey designed Kenyan towns .
So, when Mzungu settled in Kenya, the major mode of transport was on horseback …farasi . So he factored that he would need supplies and a place to rest/sleep overnight(because he didn’t want to sleep/camp in the bush) before going back to where he came from/proceeding to the next station.
On horseback he could only cover 80km a day. You do the math. Nairobi to Nakuru is approximately 160km, with naivasha in between at the 80-90km mark. Machakos/ kajiado to Nairobi is 80km . Nairobi-Nyeri is also 160 km with muranga midway . Naivasha to Nyahururu is 80km . Nyeri to nakuru is 160 km with Nyahururu midway . Eldoret to kisumu is 160 with kapsabet midway … They are too many to mention ,but this formula is repeated over and over again between any ‘major’ towns in Kenya. Driving distance may vary but the linear distance is almost precise .

Use this info however you will .

Asante sana kiongos

Since Nanyuki is my reference point, Meru seems to be closer. But, izo story za homicide huko meru convince me otherwise.

I’ve never been to meru , been to nanyuki and embu . Nanyuki is a really nice place though

I was worried about that but I didn’t want rely on rumors and stereotypes about the Meru.

But interestingly, most people I have been talking to have been telling me about the rate of homicides being high in those areas…

Hiyo Geography yako was going well until you said this.

Yes it is. Nanyuki is awesome. But problem is that my job over the next few months will be mostly located in Meru and Embu.

I’m not always right and would never claim to be but it’s something along those lines .

Weather

Temperature is fairly similar. Embu is marginally hotter than Meru at 27.9 vs Meru’s 26.9 yearly average.

Meru enjoys more rainfall at 1,602mm of precipitation vs 893mm in Embu.

Crime

Embu ranks much better in crime compare to Meru.

For perspective, Meru shares similar crime stats with Kiambu.

Meru ranks no. 3 on a 2018 crime index report behind Lamu and Kiambu. This compares the rate of crime per 100k of population. Lamu County had the highest crime index of 427 followed by Kiambu 472, Meru 419 Kirinyaga 409, and Isiolo 358.

Now if we drill down by crime type. Kiambu had 142 homicides vs 139 homicides in Meru, 368 robberies vs 128 robberies in Meru.

Meru only ranks above Kiambu in 3 crime categories out of the 17 total categories. These are stealing, 1121(K) vs 1260(M), Criminal Damage, and other offenses against persons. The latter mostly comprises of family feuds and land.

Food.

Meru has a wider variety of food. In fact, it may be the most agriculturally diverse county in the entire Republic.

Meru is only behind Nakuru and Elgeyo Marakwet by gross GDP output from agriculture. It does enjoy wider diversification than Elgeyo Marakwet though

Not sure how it fares cost-wise though but costs should be fairly similar.

Living Expenses

Meru is more expensive than Embu. But much cheaper than Nairobi.

Rental Costs in the best rental(3 bedroom) you can get will be Kshs 25,000. This will get you a solid bungalow in some areas.

Land Speculation & Real Estate

Meru is one of the most populated counties in Kenya. Ranking at no. 6 out of 47 with a population of 1.5m people. It has a lot more formal workforce since it hosts 3 universities compared to only one in Embu.

If you are looking to settle down, the Runda equivalent of Meru will cost you Kshs 10M per acre. You can also get land at about 1m per acre but at least 20kms from Meru town.

Traffic

Embu faires much better than Meru here. Much cleaner too.

Meru has super bad traffic due to the rapid expansion of the town and poor urban planning. While being served by one major road coupled with unruly taxi drivers.

There is construction of a major bypass but the verdict is out on whether it will reduce traffic in the long term.

Economic Activity

Meru has a larger market size and enjoys a higher GDP per capita. Anything you can sell in Nairobi, people in Meru will generally be able to afford.
To provide perspective, Meru town has almost all bank branches you may want to use. KCB, Cooperative, Consolidated, Absa, Standard Chartered, NCBA, Stanbic, I&M, Sidian.
Embu economic activity can be compared to a much smaller town in Meru county called Chuka. This is the most rapidly growing town in Meru county and is located 65kms away from Meru.

Meru may be a much better place for investment since it is more cosmopolitan. It is more welcoming to non-GEMA compared to Embu and enjoys quite a high population of other tribes. Mostly Kikuyu, Somali, Luo, and Indians.

If you are looking for typical investments that Kenyans make, settle in Meru. By typical investments, I mean agriculture, land speculation, and rental property development.

Entertainment.

Parks
Meru. Outdoor family-friendly spots in Meru include Meru National Park, Mt. Kenya National Park, Ngare Ndare, and Lewa Conservancy.
Meru enjoys proximity to Nanyuki(only 60kms away) which you can do out-of-town getaways to.

Hotels, Bars and Clubs
Meru has more of these.

Drugs & Prostitution
Meru has more of this. The predominant hard drug is weed.

Meru has more prostitution since it is obviously a larger town. However, HIV prevalence in Meru is (2.9%) lower than the national prevalence of 5.9% (Kenya HIV Estimates 2015).

Embu does enjoy closer proximity to Nairobi though.

Healthcare Access

You will find a lot of Nairobi private hospitals in Meru e.g. Karen Hospital, Aga Khan, Bliss, etc.

It also has a ton of dispensaries ran mostly by Catholic and Methodist churches. These are more popular. Examples include St. Theresa Kiirua

Education

You probably have a young family or looking to start one soon.
Meru is a clear winner here.

Primary Schools: Has 3 schools that are consistently in the top 10 schools in KCPE e.g. Fred’s Academy

Church schools are also very popular and affordable.

Career Progression

Embu was the provincial HQ for Eastern Province but this has been redundant since transitioning to county governance.

Meru has branches of most typical Kenyan conglomerates from banking, insurance, healthcare, etc.

If you are shiny eye, you will seamlessly integrate in Embu or Meru and there are many shiny eyes settled there. I have lived in in many places in the larger Meru and I can vouch for it, but land in the upper areas is quite expensive

This is very detailed information. Asante sana.

Very in-depth analysis.
You’ve forgot to mention beautiful Meru women.

Dude

Dude this is quite a good comparison.
You’re using some published report?
Ama you’re an economist?

Meru obviously is a better place to settle than Embu.
Another better place which will be a hot cake within 10 years is Nyeri county - Kieni Constituency specifically Kieni East (sides za Kiganjo - Chaka - Narumoru - Onwards to Nanyuki)
The place is flat with wonderful view of both Mt Kenya and Aberdares.
Roads have really been built and this makes all corners of the place easily accessible (i believe more than 80% of all major arteries in the region are either tarmacked or murram)

The place is served by the great northern road (Nairobi - Nanyuki - Isiolo - Moyale). This road is being dualed from Kenol all the way to Marua. This will essentially half the time it takes to travel from Nairobi to Nanyuki (imagine 60KM of 6-lane highway to Kenol and a further 80KM of dual carriage! Hii ikiwa completed itaweza kweli kweli [SIZE=2]Hopefully Arror asiisimamishe in case he gets the presidency[/SIZE])

In addition the metre gauge railway (MGR) to Nanyuki is now operational and carries goods daily as well as providing passenger transport every friday from Nairobi to Nanyuki and returns on Sunday. The trains stops in Chaka and Narumoru and finally to Nanyuki.

This region also borders Laikipia county and all those surrounding roads have been either tarmarcked or are in the process of being tarmacked.
Aberdares region is less than 1 hour drive from Nanyuki as well as the greater Kieni region.

Good job asking this question @Muthafari
You’re not old for nothing @grandpa :D. Wewe na @munduism asante for the detailed analysis.

@ChifuMbitika come see how the Kijiji should look like. Such informative
@administrator @Electronics4u pin hii thread tafasari.

Fairly accurate. You will not find better info anywhere else.

Yes this is why I love this kijiji. Akina @munduism and @grandpa can make very good business analysts…

Very analytical reports about our counties.