Midtown Memphis-Family friendly? (Germantown, Collierville, Central: live, gardens, train)

[Pearlbob]

Central & Barksdale is right near the train tracks, so that would be pretty loud. That is not Central Gardends though, too far east.

McLean south of Union is good....those are all brand new homes there. Depends on what side of McLean it is on for Central Gardens.

[mjpinto]

Originally Posted by Pearlbob

Central & Barksdale is right near the train tracks, so that would be pretty loud. That is not Central Gardends though, too far east.

What neighborhood is this? (The owner has it listed as Central Gardens.) That's the first thing my husband said when he looked at the map. "It's right near the train tracks!"

[strumpeace]

It's closest to the Cooper-Young neighborhood.

I think it's in the Idlewild historic area.

[Pearlbob]

Right, Barksale/Central is Idlewild. If on the north side of the street. Not sure about the south side. Idlewild bumps up to Central Gardens though.

Many people advertise as "Central Gardens location!" when it is NOT. (an easy way to see how CG is so well liked!) Central Gardens is a national historic area with distinct boundaries and regulations.

This map here is ridiculously impossible to read, but these are the official boundaries listed by centralgardens.org

Neighorhood Map - Central Gardens

[Pearlbob]

And believe me, those are some heavily traveled tracks. I can hear them at night, faintly. I can't imagine living right there next to them.

[strumpeace]

The Idlewild National Historic District is:

...Roughly bounded by S. Cooper St., Linden Ave., Rembert St., and Central Ave., Memphis, 99000278, LISTED, 3/05/99

That's from the National Register of Historic Places listings.

[strumpeace]

The Central Gardens district, as defined by the National Register of Historic Places:

Central Gardens Historic District Roughly bounded by Rembert St., York, Cleveland and Eastmoreland Aves. Memphis 1982-09-09

[Kabluey]

Originally Posted by Pearlbob

And believe me, those are some heavily traveled tracks. I can hear them at night, faintly. I can't imagine living right there next to them.

I grew up in G'town Station, in a lot right by the Norfolk Southern (?) tracks by CD Smith Rd in G'twn. Our yard was literally separated from the tracks by the road, and there were a number of accidents by hs students there. Anyway, my room was the only one facing the tracks. I got used to it, to the point I didn't wake up at night for the trains. That's my experience, at least. Even visiting my parents in my old room, it's not as big a deal as, say, living under the L or something in Chicago.

[mjpinto]

I lived in a loft that backed up to train tracks - say 200 feet. When the train went by in the middle of the night - it would scare me out of my sleep! Granted - it was the whistle that did it. I got used to the walls shaking, glasses rattling, and train noise - but never that darn whistle.

So - is this Idlewild neighborhood as safe/coveted as Central Gardens? I have read that Cooper-Young can be a bit "iffy". Does the same go for Idlewild since it is close to C-Y?

[Pearlbob]

Right, it's the whistle. The rumbling of it going by isn't a big deal, it's the screaming whistle that they have to blow through town.

Central Gardens is probably the most "famous" of the midtown areas. Evergreen maybe 2nd. Not so much Idlewild.

Idlewild isn't that close to Cooper Young. I think Idlewild is north of Central. C-Y is about 8 blocks south of Central. The iffy part of CY is ever further south, the more south you go (closer to the tracks again!) (there are 2 sets of railroad tracks that run through there, one that crosses around Centrl/Cooper, the other goes along Southern).

Idlewild north of Central is great. Great area. Anything east of Cooper, north of Central in that area is cute.