Where to live without a car (Memphis, Midtown: apartment, for rent, safe neighborhood)

[heatherinwdc]

I am relocating to Memphis from Washington, DC, where I do not have (or need) a car. I realize that I will probably need a car in Memphis, but for the first few months I live there, the reality is that I will *not* have one.

What areas of the city are good to live in if you need access to buses? I am looking for a reasonably safe neighborhood. I can afford up to $1,000 a month for rent and utiliites, but around $800 would be better.

[Vandy58]

Where to live with no car? Close to your job??

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Vandy58

Where to live with no car? Close to your job??

I'm going to second that.
I've posted here before about how bad the buses are. My daughter used to take the bus to the University, 4 miles from where we lived. It was such a hassle that eventually she gave up on the bus and walked the 4 miles whenever the weather permitted.

[Pearlbob]

Very good example. Memphis is a car-city, no way around that. Even if you have to buy an extremely cheap car just to get around for the first few months, it's the best option. Unlike in other major cities where all walks of life use the public transit system, it's not like that here.

Originally Posted by DubbleT

I'm going to second that.
I've posted here before about how bad the buses are. My daughter used to take the bus to the University, 4 miles from where we lived. It was such a hassle that eventually she gave up on the bus and walked the 4 miles whenever the weather permitted.

[heatherinwdc]

Yes, it would be nice to pick an apartment close to my job, but I will be a teacher in Memphis, and I don't know where I will be teaching.

[ak23]

heatherinwdc-are you doing Teach For America in Memphis?

[heatherinwdc]

Nope, not TFA. I'm just a normal, licensed teacher relocating to a new area.

[ladybug35]

You probably won't want to live in a lot of the neighborhoods the schools are in. I'm a sub for MCS, and pretty chill about bad neighborhoods, but I don't even really like to park my car at some of the schools.

That said, you should either ride the bus (which will take 27 times longer than walking even, and will require you ride with one of the most grievous traffic offenders in Memphis) or find a kindly teacher at the school you will be teaching at to give you a ride. Or buy a cheap car. This is not a, for the most part, walkable city. You might be better off not looking for a place until you find out what school you will be at, since some of them are pretty far away from the desirable areas. I've subbed as far as 22 miles away (one way) and I live in Midtown.

[PazInMemphis]

Hi Heather,

I have been living in Memphis without a car for five months, with great surprise of the locals. I can give you a bunch of good tips, feel free to ask more

- It is good to have a vehicle anyway, which in my case is a small moped. Enough for grocery and for social life, including commuting to work. In the worst case, at least get a bicycle!
- I live in Cooper-Young, and I really enjoy it. The big problem is that you do not have grocery stores at walking distance, but you have pretty much all the rest
- In case you really decide not to have any vehicle, then I would really suggest to live nearby a grocery store. There are a few in Midtown, for example close to Union, which is not a bad part of the city and pretty much affordable
- The bus network is very bad and unreliable. I tried to use it for weeks, without giving up not before having talked to the manager of the local company, who confirmed that they cannot make more efforts to improve it. The only route that works is the one on Poplar (33?), which also gives access to other routes
- Think of living somewhere in Highland/Poplar: you will have the Poplar Plaza nearby, access to the the bus route, and you can even walk to the central library

Needless to say, until you do not know where exactly you will work, everything is gonna get more difficult to say

Good luck!

[heatherinwdc]

Paz, thanks SO much. That was enormously helpful.