This. The “bad” area of Middletown is limited to the north-end. Avoid pretty much all apartments near downtown and the hospital. Wesleyan is right in that and has a good balancing effect. Walking down Main St is about as rough as it gets, which is absolutely nothing compared to Hartford.

The “Westlake” section way out on the west side on the border of Cromwell is apartment complex land. It’s safe over there, sometimes cars can get hit at night due to the proximity to the highways. There’s some crap housing developments to avoid, you’ll know when you see them. The area is far from downtown, though.

Most of Middletown is suburban or rural to the south. Very few rentals. Housing market still red hot there.