I'm not entirely unsympathetic. New Haven doesn't always present a good face to visitors if you happen to come at it from the wrong angle. Had your wandering been around Whitney Avenue and Audubon Street, say, or further north in the area of the New Haven Museum or the Peabody, you would have had a different impression. You were well away from the posh environs of Prospect Hill or the Yale campus proper. This is where a little advance research would have served you well.

(I have relatives who travel that way: "We'll just show up and take whatever comes our way!" And they end up missing out on stuff they would have enjoyed, or hunting two hours for someplace to eat. Fun fact: I'm diabetic, so you better believe I always know of suitable places to eat before I travel.)

All that said, I'm not sure what response you're expecting coming to the local sub and posting this now? Visitors often post questions here before they visit, and folks here are always up for recommending good places and noting things to avoid. That would have been the thing to post.