Memphis, TN area
 

I am looking at starting a new job in Memphis and would like someone to give me some informaiton on what areas to look at for houses. I don't want to commute more than 30 miles and would like to live in an area that offers the least congested way to work. Thanks for any info.

Then I would suggest staying out of the inside of the 40/240 loop if your job is outside it, or vice versa. They don't call it malfunction junction for nothing. I stayed clear of it as much as I could when I lived there. It takes forever to drive around Memphis, and road rage is common along with beatings, accidents and guns going off.

Millington and Germantown are nice areas to live, and Memphis is speckled with decent small areas that are ok, stay AWAY from the Frasier area!!

Heres a map so you know where I am talking about. http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Memphis&state=TN

Bartlett used to be nice back until around 2004 or so, it has gone down hill since with more crime. Where exactly is your job located?

Good luck there North of Memphis use to be fairly good . I am 120 miles from there an that is close enough .Would depend on what part of town you going to work in as to traffic.

First thing i would get is conceal carry permit flack jacket an armored car .I need money bad but not that bad

I agree with Dixie's advice but I don't necessarily disagree with Jim's either!

Hi,
I live outside of Memphis in the next county. Trust me. Stay away from Memphis and Shelby county at all cost. Murder is a sport there. Crime will be up to your eye balls. If I never had to go to Memphis for anything again, I would be real happy. Do not buy a house anywhere in Shelby county. If you do, you will be stuck with it. Everyone that could get out of there has, the rest are stuck. If you have to come here, Rent in Germantown or Cordova, but do not buy. Get a gun and learn what areas that you should never go into and never go there. There are a lot of areas you should never go. Get a shot gun and big dogs to stay with your family. I think we are about to turn into Detroit. Hope that helps. I would personally find another job.

Google ( City-Data.com )

I think I might have to rethink this job. The job would be at the Methodist Hospital. But after hearing these commits, I don't think it would be worth the money. I thank everyone for the information.

It is a shame Memphis use to be nice place .I remember when it started going down hill forty some years back :lookout:

And we was telling you the good points .I'll drive fifty miles to miss Memphis .

EXACTLY. Frazier is not good. Neither is Raleigh. If it says Stage Rd, find out which end of Stage. The end near Frasier is bad, the area on the other end near Cordova is good.

There are lots of pockets of really good areas in areas though that may not seem like they have it.

Keep in mind that MS is nice too, and very rural, while being close to commute. Matter of fact, there is a nice house on 2 acres on Bob White in Cayce MS (stay on the north end of the road) with good neighbors for sale. I miss the neighbors there in front of that house and beside it and around the corner too. No, it is not mine, but I lived behind it for a while and was there when it was built. From there to anywhere in Memphis is 45 minutes tops. It is 6 miles from Collierville TN and the outer loop 385.

What kind of area are you looking for? Where would you be working? That will help us a lot in finding you a place. Arlington, Collierville, Germantown are all nice, but a little pricey. Brighton is good, and has good schools, and is not as pricey, but not cheap either.

My family is from there originally, so I am pretty familiar with that area.

Which Methodist Hospital? Methodist North on Covington Pike? Straight shot up 14 to Brighton, MIllington, Atoka, all good areas.

There are some really good places there, but the outlying areas are the better ones.

I totally agree!

We live 30 miles south of Memphis and hubby has a 45 minute commute to work. We wouldn't live any closer than Hernando, MS (we're 18 miles south of Hernando).

When we started looking for property to relocate from Dallas/Ft. Worth we had no clue how bad Memphis was. So, we first started looking in the TN outskirts of Memphis. Land prices were so high we decided to look in MS and are very glad we did now that we know how bad Memphis is. We've even stopped going into Memphis to see doctors and drive an extra 30 minutes (hour total) to see doctors in Oxford instead. That extra 30 minutes is worth it too! I HATE Memphis!

When my grandson was a patient at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, we were warned NOT to walk outside the grounds there or at Target House. That area is a ghetto.

I had no idea that Elvis's song was about Memphis until the last couple of years.:Bawling:

There are things to love about Memphis (food and music), but overall, it has problems. You absolutely could not put your children in public school there.

I think every place has it's bad spots and it's good things. I would go and look at Memphis for myself and not let others make the decision for you. Definately don't live in Memphis, but there are many nicer smaller towns around - you might even look at east Ark. We lived 60 miles east of Memphis. Yes, crime is high. But not everywhere - pick your community. Crime is mostly within races. I's the humidity I would aoid!

Thing is, the crime in Memphis is spreading. Home invasions and car jackings are a problem in the suburbs of Memphis. The statistics are enough to keep me out of Memphis...

http://memphis.areaconnect.com/crime1.htm

Memphis compared to New York City...

http://memphis.areaconnect.com/crime...new+york&s2=NY

http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime....mphis&state=TN

Where I lived was the town with the 4th highest crime rate per capita in the country.... Didn't say live in Memphis. I just don't know if these are the times to turn down a great job. You can easily live 45 minutes from Memphis - in rural MS, Ark, MO and TN. Maybe AL. Tn has no state taxes, low cost of living - schools are horrid, but there are great HS support groups/private schools, etc. I like to check with other folks, but also go and check to see how it feels to me before deciding against it. Methodist Hospital is one of the better ones in the area - with several smaller towns around sporting Methodist hospitals also. And they have very friendly private gun ownership laws. If they don't mind the commute...you just never know. Corinth, MS; Dyersburg, TN; South Haven, MS; Jonesborough, Ar. It all just depends on what the OP is looking for. There are safe places to live in the general area.

I live a three hour drive from Memphis and it isn't far enough. I-40 and I-55 pass through Memphis and are helping spread the problems north, south, east and west.

Suggestion, subscribe (via mail) to the major local newspaper for a while.

I live in TN. It has four major cities: Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga (maybe Bristol #5). I've been in/through the first four. Only one I've felt REALLY uncomfortable with was Memphis. When even the barber shops have window grills or metal screens.... I was once riding with someone else. At a traffic light I watched a family walk away with carry out from McD's. First to be tossed aside was the bags. Then the burger wrappers. I strongly suspect after that the fries container, then the soda container. If you live in a garbage dump, then add to it. Hey, it is someone else's problem.

Read here for awhile: http://www.commercialappeal.com/ that is the Memphis paper.

I am 27 miles outside the city limits, in Tipton County. We lived in Memphis for 17 years before moving here. My husband grew up in Memphis. I have made sure to find everything I can away from the city.
If you are going to be working for Methodist North, then you could live in Tipton County. It is quiet up here.

The initial post, and follow-up, reads like the job offer has already been accepted. If so, declining may affecf future offers in a rather tight job economy.

If the offer was a feeler, counter with a higher salary to offset commuting time. They may be able to find quantity locally, but not quality.

Perhaps like the local Red Cross blood drive which comes in about every other month. All employees are of he same race. In a 100 yard dash a Zombie would beat them by at least an hour. Rather looks like they go for quantity rather than quality.

I like the suggestions some of the other folks have made about Northern Mississippi and Eastern Arkansas. Crittenden County, Arkansas is still pretty sparsely populated for being so close to a large town. Marion, Arkansas seemed pretty nice, but steer clear of West Memphis. One of my nieces live in Collierville and the other, Olive Branch, MS and they both love the areas they are in, but wouldn't want to live any closer to Memphis. I lived in Memphis as a boy, and as much as I like the place and the people, I would tolerate the long commute to stay out of Shelby County.

Well, I hate to keep bearing bad news here but I live about two hours north west of Memphis. I wish it was two days north west of memphis. I know it probably sounds like folks are exaggerating a bit, but it is absolutely rediculous there. When my wife wants to take our kids to the zoo we go to Nashville. That's another hour away.
The only good view of Memphis is in the rear-view mirror, although, I would recommend turning your mirrow up so you won't have to see it in their either.

ethan

Problem with Olive Branch, Horn Lake and Southaven is they're beginning to merge with Memphis. I do shop in Southaven from time to time (less than once a month), but the Memphis crime is starting to spread to those areas...especially Southaven. Get past there into Hernando and where I live, Senatobia, and things settle down a lot.

I absolutely will not go to Memphis alone and wouldn't even dream of going to Memphis at night by myself! Like I said before...just check the statistics!

On the positive side, St Louis MO has a higher crime rate than Memphis.

On the negative side, I live in St Louis, MO.

Mon

I had no idea the crime rate in Memphis was so bad. We've never been but I always thought we'd visit someday. Guess not.

Which Methodist - I work at the Germantown one and live in MS about 40 min away. My commute is not too bad - I do not have to go near 40 or 240. North Memphis has gotten a bad rep - even more so recently. If you would be willing to commute a little further there are some nice places in MS to live. Fayette county - to the east of Memphis/Shelby - used to be pretty rural but has gone up in price and congestion as people move out of memphis.

Fayette County was where we started our property hunt seven years ago. When the realtor showed us acreage for $25,000 per acre we decided to look in MS!!! Now hubby realizes what a good decision that was...he works on the south side of Memphis near the airport. His commute up I-55 is nothing compared to what it would have been coming in on 240.

"I had no idea the crime rate in Memphis was so bad. We've never been but I always thought we'd visit someday. Guess not."

Visiting and living/working in a place are quite different. Memphis does have some nice tourist attractions. Graceland, the zoo, Mud Island (I think that's the name) and the National Ornamental Metal Museum. Likely lots more.

Hey leave St.Louis out of this! If you think St. Louis is bad go visit Memphis, or Chicago or Washington DC or New York (ick!). St. Louis crime stats are bad because St. Louis city and the metro area are not combined, St. Louis has only 220,000 residents, the area 2 million.

Well, don't get me wrong. It is not like Memphis is a war zone or anything. I was just in Memphis yesterday with my 17 year old daughter and we went to Midtown to get a malted milk and then went out to Christian Brothers University then over to Cooper-Young area. Didn't get shot at, didn't hear any sirens and the only gang activity where three male senior citizens sitting on the front porch telling stories. lol. What we do is be aware of our surroundings, lock our vehicle doors (this is coming from someone who doesn't lock the door to his house at night!!!) and not go into areas of town that are known to be just bad.

Personally, I think East St. Louis, the south side of Chicago or Roosevelt Road in Little Rock are just as dangerous, if not more dangerous than most Memphis neighborhoods.

Taken from city data:
Crime in Memphis by Year

2007 ~ 962 crimes per year versus 320 as the national average

this is in MEMPHIS only NOT including shelby county which memphis resides. my best friend live there and it's HORRIBLE.

Institutionalized population: 12,092




Crime in 2005 (reported by the sheriff's office or county police, not the county total):

Murders: 5
Rapes: 34
Robberies: 54
Assaults: 387
Burglaries: 1098
Thefts: 1828
Auto thefts: 329


Crime in 2004 (reported by the sheriff's office or county police, not the county total):

Murders: 3
Rapes: 28
Robberies: 64
Assaults: 278
Burglaries: 1121
Thefts: 1761
Auto thefts: 274

Now then you have taxes there at 9% my friend pays 6000 a year ob her property tax.

I'd look elsewhere................

I just got this in an e-mail today.




Crime in Memphis

The office of the District Attorney General recently released the annual crime report for 2008. Although some progress has been made in a number of areas, the overall crime picture in Memphis continues to be bleak. Here are some highlights from the almost 50 page report.

Gang crime continues to be a very real threat in Memphis. In 2008, there were 1,208 violent crimes involving 3 or more perpetrators (more than 3 incidents per day). One of the most common crimes involving multiple assailants was Robbery, with 795 robberies involving 3 or more suspects.

For the City of Memphis only, the major crime totals were as follows:
Crime 2006 2007 2008
Homicides 149 163 162
Rapes* 409 457 445
Aggravated Assaults 5898 5704 5685
Robberies 5293 4881 4889
Burglaries 16,363 14,499 14,635
Auto Theft 6377 6087 6035

*the FBI believes 1 rape out of 3 is reported to authorities.

Interesting note- looking at the numbers you would think the robbery rate dropped a bit. It didn't. The police department just changed the way they take reports. Now, if an armed robber holds up two people who are together on the parking lot, that is only one robbery. In the past, that was two separate offenses.

For comparison to other Tennessee cities, the TBI lists the offenses per 100,000 population as follows:
County Murder Aggravated Assault Robbery Total offenses
Knox 7.9 664.2 183.7 8650
Hamilton 6.9 539 174.9 10,964
Davidson 12.1 921.8 386.8 14,498
Shelby 16 915.2 545.9 16,299

Thus, in Shelby County in 2008, there was one serious crime for every six residents.

Out of the 50 states in the US, according to the TBI, Tennessee ranked #2 for violent crime.

While TN does have a 6% sales tax on groceries and a 9.25-9.75% sales tax on most everything else, it also doesn't have a state income tax. If you lived in either AR or MS chances are they would tax your TN earnings. You then would still pay the state sales tax for purchases within TN.

From past newspaper articles Memphis is considered to be the way-station for much of the drugs showing up in the Mid-west. Pick up on the coast (often New Orleans) and delivered via one of the interstate highways.

As I recall Marti Gras (sp?) originated in Memphis but somehow moved to NO.

No, Mardi Gras originated in Mobile, AL.

Appears we are both wrong:

"In 1857 six New Orleaneans saved Mardi Gras by forming the Comus organization. These six men were former members of the Cowbellians, an organization which had put on New Year's Eve parades in Mobile since 1831."

http://www.eastjeffersonparish.com/c...RY/history.htm

Even earlier, same source:

The history of Mardi Gras began long before Europeans set foot in the New World. In mid February the ancient Romans celebrated the Lupercalia, a circus like festival not entirely unlike the Mardi Gras we are familiar with today. When Rome embraced Christianity, the early Church fathers decided it was better to incorporate certain aspects of pagan rituals into the new faith rather than attempt to abolish them altogether. Carnival became a period of abandon and merriment that preceded the penance of Lent, thus giving a Christian interpretation to the ancient custom.

Mardi Gras came to America in 1699 with the French explorer Iberville. Mardi Gras had been celebrated in Paris since the Middle Ages, where it was a major holiday. Iberville sailed into the Gulf of Mexico, from where he launched an expedition up the Mississippi River. On March 3 of 1699, Iberville had set up a camp on the west bank of the river about 60 miles south of where New Orleans is today. This was the day Mardi Gras was being celebrated in France. In honor of this important day, Iberville named the site Point du Mardi Gras.

Just to follow up:
I would only be working in Memphis. I would obviously not live there. I currently work in Little Rock, AR but drive 40min to work. I have also found some similar bad reviews of how bad Little Rock is, but since I am familiar with the City I know what areas to avoid and have never had trouble here. The main question I guess I had was how safe is it to work in Memphis. My wife and I have talked it over and since it's only a few hours from where we are now, I would not be moving my family out if I deside to accept the job and will just stay around the area during the week for work purposes only. Before anyone gets on a soap box about that, I have worked out of state before and left my family behind because of the money of the new position and the experience it offered. We made it work just fine, I would be closer to home this time.

I must have missed this thread the first time around. Wow, am I glad to be out of Memphis. We left almost three years ago. A lot of people say a lot of different cities are bad. Memphis really is. I had a friend disappear and the police barely even looked into it. (Nevermind that her ex-husband had recently threatened to kill her.) There was just too much going on for them to care. You can avoid the very worst of the city, but you usually have to go through some very rough areas to get anywhere.

Methodist University Hospital? I lived not very far from there, but I was in the downtown area. You're getting into Midtown there, which isn't the worst part of the city. It can still be pretty rough. Going to and from Arkansas you might be almost entirely on the highway, with little local driving. If it's the hospital out in Germantown that area isn't too bad.

One of the things I hated the most about Memphis was the fact that you couldn't go anywhere west if the bridges were closed for some reason. If something happened and those bridges got shut down you would be going "the long way" if you needed to cross the river.

Almost all of Memphis has been google mapped. I've been looking at it, trying to get a feel for where you'd be. If you go to google maps and check out the street view you can literally look around the area you will be in.

Kayleigh

Wow, I am shocked! i lived in Memphis for two years while in college 96-98. It was a big city, but i didnt think it was that bad . Rode around town on my bike and went pretty much wherever i wanted during the day. ( i was friends with some of the campus cops so i knew that there were places the cops wouldnt go at night). there are some really beautiful places. some ugly areas, made it through them all. cant believe it has gotten so bad. such a bummer, i only left to get back to family.

Methodist is a pretty easy commute from Desoto County, MS where my parents live. You'll want to go south of Southaven, Hernando is really nice, schools are good. It takes me about 30 or so minutes to get to the Downtown/Midtown area. They recently completed a lot of construction through there and traffic flows well.

I would not rule the job out if it's a good offer, but most that come to this forums would not want to live anywhere around Memphis.

(I, however, had a great time living and homesteading a 1/6th acre lot in Midtown, in walking distance of a ton of great restaurants and bars and the zoo and museums and such. Chickens are tolerated quite well, roosters not so much.)

Mud Island might also appeal to you if you don't mind a more citified lifestyle. I would steer clear of Bartlett and anything in the Northern half of Memphis if you have school age kids, though there is some nice land around Millington and Shelby Forest (Which is where I grew up, homeschooled. Parents moved to MS before I learned to drive because they didn't want me driving through the area alone.)

Your best bet really is Desoto County.

LOL, I practically grew up in Midtown, Cooper-Young area, from the age of 18 on. Always listening to bands and hanging out with friends until the wee hours of the morning, then walking home, often alone, sometimes drunk. Never locked my door, and I lived two blocks from the Fairgrounds. Never had a single break in, never had a finger laid on me.

Same in NYC. I'm a night owl, I love live music and bar culture to a certain degree, and I'm a loner. Never had a problem in the wee hours alone in NYC.

I think any large city you go to has a ridiculous propensity for crime and other issues one might want to avoid, but you have to weigh things out. Me, I enjoyed some of the cultural activities at that time in my life. Now I'm discovering the job opportunities are unfortunately better in larger metro areas. In both cases, I would consider it worthwhile to settle in Memphis for a short period of time. There are a lot of good things about the city, including the fact that it has more mature trees through the middle parts of the city than any other metro area of comparable size that I've ever been in.

The Hospital is Methodist Le Bonheur. It would just be myself moving there, so I would most likely get an appartment outside of Memphis somewhere.