Mud Island (Memphis, Germantown, Collierville: for rent, condos, crime)

[mjpinto]

After much research, my family and I have decided we are going to rent a house on Mud Island. Germantown and Collierville seemed too boring for us. And my husband wasn't into midtown. So Mud Island it is.

Can anyone give me their opinions? We have two small children and a dog. I have read that it seems very "yuppie" which is fine. As long as it's family friendly and safe.

I read a post somewhere on this board about someone saying that Mud Island isn't safe since it's down town...

[Pearlbob]

Downtown is statistically the safest area of Memphis. Just FYI. And the island is even safer.

It is yuppie in my opinion (probably where you read it) Not that that's bad. It has a lot of young families, people with no children or a couple small ones. For the most part the homes are zero-lot line, meaning your house will be 5 feet away from the ones next door. Thus, there is little room for kids and big dogs. The more expensive homes will have more space, of course.

It's extremely family friendly. There is a great medical office, a gym, a wonderful deli, great pizza place, and a few shops. The riverpark is pretty and people jog on it all the time.

One thing: there has been a big termite problem in the homes. If you purchase, make sure the house has had some sort of termite inspection.

To get to the island (the main way) you go over this huge bridge by the old Pyramid. the area right there, off the island, is being renovated a lot, and most of the land has been purchased by St. Jude. Meaning the area will only get better/safer. However, the island is completely safe. I mean really, when you have to drive through winding roads into jam packed neighborhoods, up over a big bridge....criminals can't walk that, so you have little to worry about.

Most crime here is petty...meaning some thug kid is walking by, sees you have a nice car, and tries to steal the radio out of it. Or a bum steals something out of your yard to make a few bucks. Thus, being on the island keeps you from this sort of thing. The really bad crime, murders and such, are for the most part in areas of town where you will never be.

[strumpeace]

I honestly had no idea there were houses on Mud Island for rent.

[pae]

Lived on Mud Island for 7 of my 8 years in Memphis so far & absolutely loved it. That includes my time as a single,newlywed and proud papa. We just sold our house there after 6 years to move to the burbs with 1.5 kids. If your kids are school-age, you may want to investigate your options - my experience with the school itself was 100% +ve, but I hated interacting with Memphis City Schools Administration to initiate/obtain services for my special needs child.
we had zero crime, the only incident i ever heard of was a neighbour who lost a bicycle & some tools out of his garage , and that turned out be done by an addict resident in Harbortown. We had a great time in the neighborhood-the most cosmopolitan set of people possible; we'd have neighborhood get-togethers/cookouts etc, do different projects on each others house/car/computers etc. if i had to do it all over agin, I would in a heartbeat.wish i had the ca$h to buy one of the new townhomes going up on Mud Island, they will surely appreciate

[Pearlbob]

Ahhh you are renting a home.

Yes, there are usually several homes for rent on the island. They are probably overpriced, but the homes are nice and it would be a good place to start out, if you plan on only staying a year there.

[tennreb]

Mud Island is extremely safe. There may be some petty crime in the parking lots of the the park, but that is about it. You'll will feel safe letting your kids roam the neighborhood alone. They'll be riding their bikes down to the store for ice cream. The populace of Mud Island is very well educated with medical residents, med students, St. Jude researchers, yuppies, and art types making up most of the population. They are building an upscale restaurant, boutique hotel, and a neighborhood bar now, so it is going to be even better soon. The grocery store there is expensive but fantastic. There is a Montessori private school there, but I don't know anything about it. If you are willing to deal with the city school administration, you can get your kids into some excellent optional programs, but you'll have to drive them. Snowden on North Parkway is a great optional school and about 5-10 minutes from Mud Island. There is an optional school downtown as well, but I haven't heard anything about it, though. There are some very good private schools in Midtown as well that aren't too snobby.

[mjpinto]

I am so happy to hear all of these wonderful responses! (Whew!)

We have been researching forever - I was getting SO worried - we're moving next month. So many people on this board make Memphis sound like a terrible place (except a few of you, of course, that see the beauty that Memphis has to offer). And most of the people my husband works with make Memphis sound like a prison sentence - of course these are people that aren't from the area.

strumpeace - Mud Island actually has quite a few houses and condos for rent - but they go quick! I have been stalking Craigslist and Memphis Backpage/Flyer Market - and have even seen a few on Crye-Leike.

We have an infant and an almost 3 year old - if we like it there (and can afford it!) we will buy after renting a year. My husband and I were just discussing what we should do about schools as we have heard nothing but terrible things about Memphis City Schools. I am a former teacher/librarian and firmly believe in the public school system. I really don't want to go the private school route. But I guess we have time to figure that out.


Thanks!

[bonniesaturn02]

I had a good friend who's daughter attended the downtown school and had nothing but good things to say about it. I am not necessarily a public school fan but I would certainly look at the Downtown Elementary School.

Congrats on your move!!!

[Pearlbob]

In addition to the montessori (sp?) school on the island, there is a GREAT GREAT spanish language daycare, called FLACC. They have a big waiting list, but it's a great daycare from everyone I know who has kids in it. It's for english speaking kids, but they speak spanish to them and teach in spanish, thus the babies grow up being able to speak both english and spanish. Which I'm sure everyone knows, is a total asset to learn a language at such an early age as opposed to waiting for high school like most kids have to do. They do infants on up, to I think 6 years of age or so. Just a thought!!

[strumpeace]

mjpinto --

Memphis is a great place in many--most--respects. Your experience here will be as positive or negative as you make it. You definitely have a good attitude about your move here.

BTW, I've heard good things about Downtown Elementary. When I lived in the city (I'm now in Cordova), I was a communicant at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral on Poplar, and Downtown Elementary was our partner school. We used to send lots of supplies and money to support the school.

To learn more about any of the schools in the Memphis City School system, you can go to mcsk12.net and click on "Directory of Schools and Profiles" on the right-hand side of the screen. You can then scroll through the schools and click on each school profile to get more information about the school. The information is two years old; however, since the schools are in a bit of a stasis, the information is still quite reliable.

Best wishes on your move
and Welcome to Memphis!