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Read everything from the good comments to negative ones and make your own decisions based upon your experiences with the city. Memphis is a great city and friendly. I thought I read you would be working at the hub which would be the airport area of Airways and Democrat. Depending on what time you work and how much of a commute you're willing to accept will determine your living location. Again, search out a reputable real estate agent and you'll be fine.
If you get the job, KNOW WHERE you are going to be based before you look. FedEx is a very multi-campus type business
and it would depend on where you were going to actually work as to where I would advise you to live. The eastern side of
the loop around the city is always wrecked out, how so few people get in so many wrecks is beyond me, plus construction.
I work in the area you were hunting for, a couple miles from Lamar at Democrat, and my daily commute for northwest midtown
is 20 mins each way, been doing it for 5 years, I can count on both hands the amount of times I have encountered real mind-
numbing traffic. Granted, I leave at 6:30 to go and 4pm to come back, so there's that, but the OTHER side of town rarely matters
what time it is, it is always screwed. Plus Midtown has got a lot of charm left over, not the wasteland effect. Inside the loop you
can also find a decent neighborhood or two in that college area where you mentioned, Perkins, Mendenhall, Central, Getwell,
etc. If you work at the 'out east' facilities, then I would look out east for housing. But you will not HATE it here, you will just
find times now and then where you ask yourself if it was the best idea you ever had. PM me when you get here, maybe we can smoke
a cigar or two one day.
You seem quite perceptive. What you've seen is only part of the squalor. But there are great parts of Shelby County and a few peppered across Memphis.
As for East Memphis, I always thought that started once you hit Highland going east down Poplar. But not all of "East Memphis" is rosy. I'd head to the burbs if I were you. Lots of amenities out that way. You will probably be employed at FedEx's corporate office so you will be fine on your commute. Just figure out the best route.
Now downtown Memphis is a different story. If I could afford an extra residence, I'd live down there in a swanky condo. Would be cool to hang out there and host get-togethers. Couldn't be my only place though. No movie theaters, no big chain restaurants and no big chain stores. I like that kind of stuff. Guess because I grew up on a neighborhood with big front and back yards and schools in walking distance.
But hey,.... welcome and enjoy.
People are drawn to different areas for different reasons. Many that are from the area choose where to live based on where they grew up or where friends/family live. Therefore, people like myself would look at part sof the city before the burbs...
Comparing downtown and east memphis is like comparing apples and oranges;
The draw of downtown is entertainment, nightlife, restaurants, etc. While it has an optional elementary school and is not overly far from midtown or east memphis (where more desirable high schools are), schools are not the main draw.
Although East Memphis has a bit of entertainment and you are still relatively close to nightlife in midtown and downtown, the main draw is being near desirable schools (though many are the really expensive private variety); others are drawn by specific synagogues/churches in the area. With GSL and IC, midtown is somewhat similar-though a bit more liberal and diverse
Last edited by one opinion; 05-23-2012 at 01:21 PM..
Read everything from the good comments to negative ones and make your own decisions based upon your experiences with the city. Memphis is a great city and friendly. I thought I read you would be working at the hub which would be the airport area of Airways and Democrat. Depending on what time you work and how much of a commute you're willing to accept will determine your living location. Again, search out a reputable real estate agent and you'll be fine.
It is important to read ALL of the comments for sure, especially the ones found away from the web and this particular site. My wife and I discounted the numerous negative comments about Memphis and the region, but we found that we should have paid far more attention to the negative comments about lack of education, racism and politics. Memphis is hardly among great cities in our opinion and based on our experiences so far. We hope that the city changes and develops but it's likely we will choose to move on, even though the tight-knot medical community is a bright spot. Everything else seems to us rather below what we need, expect and enjoy. Memphis is not really a destination city for us, i.e. long term. It doesn't have many of the amenities and attitudes that we enjoy as professionals who have lived in several other cities. We ignored some of the tell-tale warning signs. Memphis has potential for sure, if you want to wait that long for it to be fully developed. One day it might become a star city in the south and the nation, but right now, it's really not.
It is important to read ALL of the comments for sure, especially the ones found away from the web and this particular site. My wife and I discounted the numerous negative comments about Memphis and the region, but we found that we should have paid far more attention to the negative comments about lack of education, racism and politics. Memphis is hardly among great cities in our opinion and based on our experiences so far. We hope that the city changes and develops but it's likely we will choose to move on, even though the tight-knot medical community is a bright spot. Everything else seems to us rather below what we need, expect and enjoy. Memphis is not really a destination city for us, i.e. long term. It doesn't have many of the amenities and attitudes that we enjoy as professionals who have lived in several other cities. We ignored some of the tell-tale warning signs. Memphis has potential for sure, if you want to wait that long for it to be fully developed. One day it might become a star city in the south and the nation, but right now, it's really not.
Yep, Memphis certainly isn't for everyone MD. Wish you a speedy exit from our fair city. Hope you find your Land of OZ.
MD made a lot of great, valid points. But it's attitudes like yours that put the nail in the coffin for people who at least TRY to give Memphis a chance.
People from other places have no reason to lie about Memphis, since they more often than not have nothing invested in it before moving to Memphis. So if anything, Memphians should listen to the negatives/constructive critisticisms from transplants and visitors instead of being closed minded and overly sensitive and telling them not to let the door hit them on the way out. That's the only way Memphis will ever grow and improve, and trust me, there is PLENTY of room in Memphis for growth and improvement. But I guess most Memphians (like you) don't really want the city to grow and improve, and are happy with Memphis always being 20+ years behind other US cities that are around its size or larger.
MD made a lot of great, valid points. But it's attitudes like yours that put the nail in the coffin for people who at least TRY to give Memphis a chance.
People from other places have no reason to lie about Memphis, since they more often than not have nothing invested in it before moving to Memphis. So if anything, Memphians should listen to the negatives/constructive critisticisms from transplants and visitors instead of being closed minded and overly sensitive and telling them not to let the door hit them on the way out. That's the only way Memphis will ever grow and improve, and trust me, there is PLENTY of room in Memphis for growth and improvement. But I guess most Memphians (like you) don't really want the city to grow and improve, and are happy with Memphis always being 20+ years behind other US cities that are around its size or larger.
You took the words right out of my mouth Shaun. I love Memphis, lived there for many years, still visit several times a year, own property there and enjoy my visits there very much. However, that does not mean that I don't agree with some of the criticisms I see.
The fact remains that a parochial attitude - particularly from much of the leadership - has kept Memphis from reaching its potential.
It hurts my heart that downtown Memphis is still not the vibrant 24 hour spot that it should be. As you drive around the city, the sparsity jumps out like a sore thumb - vast areas of abandoned and semi abandoned areas. And it seems to be getting worse instead of better as more people move further and further east. For far too long the developers have been allowed to abandon one part of the city and build a new part someplace else to the point Memphis is geographically as large as New York City with only about 1/10 of the population. This kind of poor city planning must reverse itself if Memphis is to ever have the great 24 hour downtown, good public transportation (and other issues) we all desire to see.
And as I have stated, the condition of the area around Graceland is appalling. However, it seems that people are doing something about that. And there are others that agree that the city planning must begin to emphasize density, walk-ability and move away from the incredible sprawl that emphasizes growth in the suburbs. Density is going to be very important in the coming years with gas prices continuing to go up (yes, gas in Memphis is relatively cheap, but $3.25 is still expensive in the larger scheme of things) sparse land use is going to be more and more expensive and difficult for the region as a whole.
More and more people - particularly young people - that are looking to relocate are searching for amenities like 'walk-ability'/'bike-ability', good public transportation and homes closer to work zones. Hopefully, as the city planning improves, the population center will collapse back toward downtown Memphis.
MD's comments are a part of the overall discussion and as such, have value. I do hope he's not so downcast with his patients though. 8-)
I started this thread with the intension of providing an unbiased observation that would be of value to others asking the "...moving to Memphis, what's it like?" question and resulted a wide ranging discussion. Awesome stuff!
I am moving to your fine area on June 30th and will be staying temporaily near the FedEx world HQ as I look for a nice rental community.
All the opinions shared here and in other threads have allowed me to make the decision to move with a good, balanced, set of inputs and I conclude that Memphis, like every other city I've every lived (NYC, Hartford, Cincinnati, Indianapolis) has ups and downs, good and bad. I've managed to live a happy, safe, life in each of those places and I'm sure Memphis will be the same.
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