Thinking of relocating to Memphis

[Drew]

I have a job offer and am thinking about relocating to Memphis. I am wondering about safety, security, etc... as I am white and my wife and daughter are Indian. We do not want to be in downtown, and have found some nice homes north and east of the city.

Things that concern me are:
1) Quality of schools
2) Safety and security
3) Traffic going to / from Memphis airport

If you have any advice, please let us know!

Thank you

[F The Mayor]

East of the city are safer bets with decent schools. Areas like Germantown and Collierville are in the County School program. County schools are generally more desirable than Memphis City Schools.

Travel to the Airport is no more difficult than in any city of a million plus - no worries there.

[QuayView]

Drew ~

You do what you have to do...professionally..but

I would not advise anyone to move to Memphis

from an academic and socio-cultural standpoint.

I can tell you that I accepted a post in banking

there..officer posts with two different leading

regional banks....lived in Germantown for 15 years

and although I did not regret it professionally,

I found the place to be backward, biased, preju-

diced (black AND white), and terribly bifurcated.

The schools are terrible......but so are the minds

of the people it seems. Are there some good

people ?? well sure.....but I could not wait

to move out and I told my wife that there was

no way in hell that I would want my children to

grow up in such a narrow and stale environment.

Bad schools
Undereducated populace
High crime
Racism
Bad drivers
Bad food (unless you like cheap-ass chain)
Poor planning
Bad politics
Rednecks
Close to the fine State of Mississippi
Bad and high priced flights
Bad attitudes
Xenophobic to the extreme

DO YOUR TIME if you have to, and get the hell OUT

I DID......good luck...it sucks compared to other
choices

[mjr]

Drew wrote:

I have a job offer and am thinking about relocating to Memphis. I am wondering about safety, security, etc... as I am white and my wife and daughter are Indian. We do not want to be in downtown, and have found some nice homes north and east of the city.
Things that concern me are:
1) Quality of schools
2) Safety and security
3) Traffic going to / from Memphis airport
If you have any advice, please let us know!
Thank you

There is NO safe place within Memphis city limits. You need a guard just to take your trash to the street or get mail from your postal box. The school system is pathetic! What was once a beautiful, safe city, is now a crime ridden dump!!!!!

[hometown girl]

If you are going to work at the airport I suggest that you move to somewhere such as Southaven, MS. It is only minutes from the airport. It has much better communities and schools. There are also other small towns just across the MS border. You could also move to Marion AR it has some pretty nice neighborhoods and a good school system. You would have to take the old bridge (I-55)across to Memphis and to the airport. This could take sometime especially depending on the traffic.

[barbie]

invest in a bullet proof vest

[Memphian]

I live in Memphis. I agree with QuayView. It's a dead city. They need to clean up the crime and remove the long abandoned buildings. The local tourist attractions are a scam. As far as cusine, I think sodium city and nothing more.
I just work here. The internet is my lifeline to the outside world.

[karate kop]

You must work for fedex.

[Carter]

Hi Drew out there in Texas. We moved from Memphis 2 years ago, and it was the best thing to happen to us in a very long time, If people do not think I know what I am saying about Memphis, I lived in the city for 62 years. In l962 the city school system was as good as the county system, but now stay away from the city and live out somewhere in the county. Please get a weapons permit and carry a pistol wherever you go. Last week a friend still in Memphis, had to stop and change a tire (on Summer Ave.) and was almost shot before he could give them his wallet. Check out the smaller towns around there before you take the position.

[Sarah]

I'm a native of Memphis, but I moved to Somerville, TN. My move wasn't entirely motivated by the crime, but it was a factor. If you do move down here, East Memphis is certainly best. I would recommend Collierville and Germantown, or perhaps check out Fayette or Tipton Counties.

These towns are separate from Memphis, and can not be annexed by the city. For schools, County or private is the way to go. I graduated from the City school system in 2003, and was disgusted at the lack of learning in my schoolmates. I hear 5 years have seen no improvement, and violence has increased significantly. My husband and I are currently commuting into Memphis for work, though as soon as I graduate from school, I plan to work outside of Shelby Co. if at all possible.

Unfortunately, most of what QuayView, Carter, and the others have said is correct, but I still love the city. I just wish people would elect half-way intelligent officials that had some vague idea of how a city should be run.

[cop]

Save yourself....DON"T MOVE TO MEMPHIS! Look up the FBI crime reports regarding Memphis.

[SSTeacher]

I've lived in various sections of Memphis for over 40 years and am still dreaming of the day I can pack up and leave it in the dust. Unfortunately, most of my family lives here and I love them more than I hate Memphis. The crime is probably the most negative aspect of this area, followed closely by the most ignorant, self-serving, corrupt government in America. Ok, that last statement may not be a certifiable fact, but its my opinion. As for your decision, Hernando,MS is only about a 15-20 minute drive by interstate to the Memphis airport. It still has a "small town" feel and it just beginning to have new housing built so it does not have the "over-developed" feel that the town just across the TN/MS border have right now (Southhaven, Olive Branch, and Horn Lake, Miss.). That's where I plan to move after I retire if I decide I can stand to even stay that close to this godforsaken city. One positive note about Memphis is that it has a fantastic variety of music and you can find a live band somewhere any night of the week which I have not found in other cities I've visited. Good luck !

[Volunteer]

Looks like we Memphians have a horrible city.
Well, maybe.
The PEOPLE who live here, are by and large, good decent god fearing folks.
I love the music, the zoo, the cotton museums, the Pink Palace, the Sports, the University, the old Down Town area, Riverside events, Mud Island, even the shiny pyramid.
Memphis is my adopted town. I came here in 1954, and have lived here off and on for some 50 years. I cuss and discuss the pols, but the old Muddy I fished in so often still draws a crowd on the banks at evenshade.
Come and visit, then decide.
end

[Volunteer]

Re reading these posts.
I cannot disagree with most of the City comments. This city is BAD.
HOWEVER< have any of you lived in Detroit, Cleveland, Jackson, MI., Chicago, San Francsico, Phoenix, for goodness sake. There are a host of cities far worse than Memphis. Try living in Earle Ark, or West Helena, Ark, or Little Rock,Ark or Ponca Okla for bias. These towns hold the records for misunderstanding their neighbors.
The COGIC comes here yearly, must be a good reason. Fed Ex stays here, Ill Central still runs thru here, NW and Delta still serve us.
I get the best dental care possible, from caring workers at UT. MSU still puts out educated grads that make a difference in industries across the nation.
PLUS, you can get the best d... ribs anywhere, right on the river.
We forget. This is an OLD RIVER TOWN, a COTTON TRADING TOWN, not New York. Give me a break. I walked the streets of Memphis at 3 am many times, in the 50s and 60s in a suit that attracted every mugger around. I survived.
Memphis is ill. No Doubt. Lets solve these problems listed, not jump ship.
end

[TN-nurse]

I work at St. Francis hospital right off Ridgeway in E Memphis- I moved to Memphis several years ago-there are some nice people, but I would NOT do it again, in fact I'm trying to move to FLORIDA where there seems to be a sortage of nurses so badly that the import them from Canada during the snow-bird season.

Memphis is so far behind--even Nashville is a better place

I'd say PASS

[NASHVILLE is way worse]

Look, Mtown DEF has corrupt officials. So does everyone, welcome to the real world- quit bitching and DO something. I live in Horn Lake. My mayor is worthless. Greg Davis (southaven) feeds every official in Washington off Southaven's money. Corrupt. My water bill in Horn Lake is $80. CORRUPT. Riley may be out of desoto county (he DEFINED the word Corrupt)but thats because we GOt him out. I grew up in North MS and am still here. Memphis is bad, but we do have an 86% of homicides solved, so good police force. I agree about staying out of the city for School reasons- but go visit the delta! There are great teachers everywhere, and shitty parents who wont even buy there kids the pencils they need! I agree with what everyone has said, but it is far better than Detroit, LITTLE ROCK, The DELTA, and so on in aspects of education AND crime. People need to stop complaining and leaving and stand up for their unique city and MAKE the DIFFERENCE.

[StillTryingInMem phis]

I moved here 4 years ago from Chicago, and regret it deeply now. Memphis is a very poor, dirty, classless city with a high lack of culture and people-skills. It is anything but the land of opportunity. It's a scary place in many respects. I have lived in several cities in the U.S., and Memphis is bar-none the most regrettable place I have ever lived. It makes Des Moines, Iowa look like heaven.

[SickoftheGoodole Boys]

Yeesh, that's pretty bad, considering what a shitty place Chicago is!

[Volunteer]

My memories of MFS are old, no doubt. I still go down old Lamar Ave to the old VA hospitol, turn right and visit the historic bldging containing my first memories. A PINK block brick bldging. Has a sundial in the associated park, of all things. Benchs, swings and a path, now overgrown. But the bldging still stands. Recently it was a French Resturant run by a local Black Entrepenruer. Lamar crosses a street that crossed Linden Ave, with a resturant Robillios Cafeteria, at the corner. Used to eat there, cheap, but good food. Sams' Italian resturant on North Main, next to the shoe shine shop was also great. The underground Rendevous Juke Joint, in the Basement of the old Duck Hotel was great also.
Memories make a city. Detroit, Briggs Stadium, St. Louis, the Hill, all make these cities great.
Memphis had a machine set of pols running the city, in the day, Stump and Crump. Old timers from the WW2 era. Just as mean as todays group.
Mfs has a history, just as all old river towns do. Mfs is ok, you just have to seek the good parts.
end

[Yolanda]

DON'T DO IT!!! Memphis sucks. I now live in Dallas (although I still own a home in Memphis Im thinking of selling) and Dallas, TX is where its at. For real.