What is your favorite thing in Knoxville?

[knucklehead_vol]

Salvador Deli.

[knucklehead_vol]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Memphis...um, no. One of the most dangerous cities in the nation, TERRIBLE schools, miserable summers...

Really? I thought you were better than this.

First of all, Memphis is not one of the most dangerous cities in the nation, the crime has gone down 26%. Memphis had a high violent crime stats, but the crimes are reported like the FBI reports them. For instance, if someone breaks into your car, in Memphis that becomes one than one crime stat, breaking and entering, theft, and so on. One crime can be in four different stats. Where this same crime in Knoxville and Nashville is only one stat. See how it adds up? Also, Memphis only had 79 murders in 2010, in contrast Baltimore had over 220 murders, and even almost 300 one year, yet Memphis is considered more dangerous due to the violent crimes that are reported according to FBI crime reports. Second most of the crime is in certain areas.

Also, the girl, last name Pike, the ONLY women on death row committed an awful murder in Knoxville. And the murder of the two kids , specifically the girl that was tortured and raped, happened in Knoxville. We may have more, but yours is way more gruesome.

Schools. Not all are bad. Memphis is a much bigger city, and urban at that, and has more poverty. Unfortunately, all big cities have this, not just Memphis. Currently, we are working to fix this. But Knoxville is way better.

Summers? Knoxville is not that much better. I know, I have both cities as well as Chattanooga on my phone for weather. Plus I lived there. Humidity rules, and Knoxville is no different.

I thought about moving back to Knoxville so my kids could go to
one of the schools there. But, the schools in Midtown Memphis (yes city schools) are very good and have much more culture to offer my kids than Knoxville schools. That was important also and Knoxville could not offer that. I wanted them to be around different cultures, my 4 yr old is already learning Spanish.

I live in a neighborhood where I can walk to Vietnamese, Korean, Italian, French, Greek, and many more restaurants. I can hop on a trolley and catch the sunset on the bluffs over looking the Mississippi with the kids (the kids love the trolley rides) and then go sit outside at a place on Main have a bite to eat and drink. Then go to the South Main Arts district and see what going on, kid friendly also. I can walk to Overton Park, catch some music at the shell, or go to the zoo, which ws voted the best zoo in the country a few years ago.

Can Knoxville offer that? Knoxville has the Smokey Mountains, a LOT of white people, and pollution.

I thought you were one to research before you posted, but I guess not. I would like to think it's not about the demographics, but who knows.

[hiknapster]

Memphis is almost always more uncomfortable with the dew point much higher. I know dew point after living in Southwest Florida and a high dew point can be brutal. Even Mufreesboro has higher temps than Knoxville and that's in Middle Tennessee. Memphis is even hotter and more uncomfortable than that.

But it really gets interesting with the contention that Memphis not one of the most dangerous cities in the country. It ranks at the top year after year. Granted, Forbes said it's crime went down recently but it still ranks as the second most dangerous. How comforting.

The nationwide drop in crime extends to several of our most dangerous cities, including the Memphis, Tenn., area, which comes in at No. 2 with 1,006 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, down from 1,146 the year before. “Many of [the bottom-most cities] are actually improving, it’s just that so are other cities at a higher rate,” says Wolfram, an intelligence analyst at iJET.

America's Most Dangerous Cities - Forbes

Memphis schools? You have to be living under a rock to not know that the state is now going to have to step in to the schools that are failing in Memphis. It is that bad.

Oh, and Salvador Deli has been closed for quite awhile.

Accusations about research are better left off the table unless you've also done so. That I even had to step up to refute your post is ludicrous, knucklehead.

[saricher]

Hey, you don't have to drive to NC to see elk! Head up to La Follette, about 35 miles north of the city and follow 25w about 7 miles north of there to the Hatfield Knob Elk Viewing Station. Great in September when the males are bugling and looking for love!

[saricher]

Read some of the posts inn this thread on schools. FWIW, my kids are in Catholic schools here. My oldest is a freshman at Knoxville Catholic HS and she LOVES it. She and the rest of her robotics team recently finished regional competition with a 4th place ranking.

My youngest is a 5th grader at St. Joseph, which is a diocesan school and is not affiliated with any parish. Again, superb education - I am amazed at how they "snuck in" algebra into his math curriculum without him realizing it. Sr. Mary, the principal, is a sweetheart and really cares for the kids.

More favorite things:

Brusters ice cream on Emory Road
Museum of Appalachia in Norris
The Sunday $2 drafts at the Downtown Brewery and Grill
University of Tennessee's great non-credit extension courses, especially their photography certificate
Shakespeare on the Square in the summer
The Farmers Market on Market Square in the summer
Speaking of summer, sitting on my porch at 9:00 pm and still having light to read by!
Close proximity to other spots as well, such as Chattanooga and Asheville

[knucklehead_vol]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Memphis is almost always more uncomfortable with the dew point much higher. I know dew point after living in Southwest Florida and a high dew point can be brutal. Even Mufreesboro has higher temps than Knoxville and that's in Middle Tennessee. Memphis is even hotter and more uncomfortable than that.

But it really gets interesting with the contention that Memphis not one of the most dangerous cities in the country. It ranks at the top year after year. Granted, Forbes said it's crime went down recently but it still ranks as the second most dangerous. How comforting.

The nationwide drop in crime extends to several of our most dangerous cities, including the Memphis, Tenn., area, which comes in at No. 2 with 1,006 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, down from 1,146 the year before. “Many of [the bottom-most cities] are actually improving, it’s just that so are other cities at a higher rate,” says Wolfram, an intelligence analyst at iJET.

America's Most Dangerous Cities - Forbes

Memphis schools? You have to be living under a rock to not know that the state is now going to have to step in to the schools that are failing in Memphis. It is that bad.

Oh, and Salvador Deli has been closed for quite awhile.

Accusations about research are better left off the table unless you've also done so. That I even had to step up to refute your post is ludicrous, knucklehead.

You have no idea what you are talking about apparently, I do, I have lived in both. There is NOT that much difference in the weather, especially in the summer with awful the pollution there.

Trust me Knoxville has bad areas, and no the crime is not that bad in Memphis. Now if you go into Orange Mound, then yea, your asking for trouble but even that is getting better.


These are facts.

Operation Safe Community leaders note declines in crime » The Commercial Appeal

"According to Operation Safe Community, through the end of 2011 major violent crime in Memphis -- including murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault and robbery -- decreased nearly 24 percent compared to the same time period in 2006, when Operation Safe Community was launched.

In addition, major property crimes also saw steep declines over the last five years, down 26.8 percent when compared to 2006, with motor vehicle thefts seeing the sharpest decline from 2006 to 2011, a 49.4 percent reduction."

These are facts.

As far as schools, yes there are problems, but not all are bad. As I said before, in the city, Midtown and East Memphis have very good schools. Here is one my daughter happens to attend, and just received a scholarship to Georgetown.


White Station High School is a public high school in Memphis, Tennessee, United States .
White Station High is a member of the Memphis City Schools system. White Station is recognized as one of the best high schools in Memphis, as well as in all of Tennessee. Newsweek magazine ranked White Station as #1027 in the United States and #8 in Tennessee in its 2009 (for the 2009-2010 school year) edition of America's Best High Schools.

There is your research and it's on the table. And yes I know Salvador Deli closed, it was sarcasm. But I think if you could get over the demographics of Memphis (or actually visit), you would realize it's not that bad.

[Beretta]

This has gone from the favorite thing about Knoxville to the Discussion about Memphis thread. Time to close.