Best rural place to live North or South of Downtown Memphis (Germantown: insurance, how much)

[wjducham]

Hi,
We are looking at possibly relocating, my wife will be working downtown. Definately don't want to live in Memphis, willing to commute up to 45 minutes. We are caucasian, we prefer something more rural with good schools. Looking at Tipton County possibly, heard mixed things about Desoto County, is Tunica any better? Willing to live in Tennessee, Arkansas, or Mississippi. Any information would be great, trying to figure out the best place to start searching. Thanks!

[Pearlbob]

Tunica Co was the poorest district in MS until the casinos moved there (which is why they bought the land there). The schools were terrible and I cannot imagine they are THAT much better now.

I'm not the person to answer about non-Memphis questions....I don't travel out to the burbs (much) let alone to the country There are plenty of rural areas 45 min from downtown, so your best bet is to concentrate on the schools. That can be searched online easily.

[joninclay]

I grew up in Tipton County (Munford, to be exact). My folks still live there, and it takes Dad about 45 minutes to commute to work (near Summer Ave. / Hollywood area), shorter when he works night shift and misses the traffic.

I still consider Tipton County home. It's a great place to live and raise a family. The schools are good, too.

[MrsMichelle]

I agree Tipton county is a straight shot to downtown. If you want a rural atmosphere than you will love it.

[Ayrica]

Originally Posted by wjducham

Hi,
Willing to live in Tennessee, Arkansas, or Mississippi. Any information would be great, trying to figure out the best place to start searching. Thanks!

If you truly do not mind to commute then Marion, AR may be the place for you. I attended Marion High and West Memphis High and I believe that Marion has the better school and teachers especially if you have elementry age children b/c I believe that Marion has attracted the better teachers. The cummute from Marion to downtown Memphis is about 20 minutes in heavy traffic. If you have the income I recommend River Trace Community if looking to buy. But there are also some new subdivision that are really well done.

[razorback]

again you owe it to yourself to do some home work--- west memphis is a great community- some of lowest utilities in state- great schools- richland is one of top rates public elementary schools in state---fact---west junior high is one of top rated junior high schools in state--fact---marion elementary would come in fourth behind 3 of the west memphis elementary schools according to the benchmark tests. great schools-great teachers-great utilities-lower homeowner insurance because of second highest fire rating in state- new peforming arts center-new arena-great golf-great people...just the facts.... plus we beat marion 59-0 highschool football

[psi2007]

Mud Island is all the way downtown. Suburbs within 30 minutes are Germantown and Cordova. Collierville is straight up Poplar or hit the interstate and get on 385 (Poplar is a straight shot though). Its going to be a matter of what you really want to be close to and how much travel time is important.
I thought Mud Island was cute but too isolated. If you want to shop in a variety of places you won't like it. If you want supermarkets and convenience to lots of things I'd look in Cordova and Germantown or Collierville.

[Streetchie]

Try Holly Springs, MS. It's about 45 minutes SE of the city and a very quaint little town.

[Ftball_Mom]

Shelby Forest is the closest rural area north of downtown. Depending on where you live, it could be 20-30 minutes away from downtown, maybe even less. It's almost completley residential, but the houses are spread over a large area. It's a mixed income area, with many large houses next to smaller houses. So it's diverse in terms of income levels, but for the most part it's straight middle class. There's hardly any development in the area, so it will probably stay rural for a long time, unless urban sprawl hits. Oh, and one thing, if you have kids, they will be zoned to Millington schools. They're not the best, but they're much better than the public schools in Memphis.