Jonesboro Tupelo Jackson Tn Which would be your vote? (Memphis: home, employment)

[jjtempo]

All 3 of these cities are out of the Memphis metro area but have a pop. of over 35000 and all within about a 1.5 hour drive of Memphis,which would be you favorite city to live in?

[strumpeace]

I'm not a big fan of any of them, to be quite honest. But I do like Tupelo's proximity to Memphis, Jackson (MS), Huntsville, and Birmingham. Tupelo has a vibe that's a little hard to describe.

Jackson TN is ok, but the schools are terrible, and the job pickings are slim -- especially for a mid-level or upper-level professional.

Jonesboro is, imo, just an unpleasant place. It's too far from anything. And the whole dry county thing is oppressive.

[Pearlbob]

None of them. Ditto Strumpeace.

[Ginsaw]

Decisions like this depend entirely on one's situation in life.

I've spent varying amounts of time in all three towns and none are bad places at all to live. There are other Mid-South towns I cannot say that of, and on the other hand there are some I would prefer.

The fact is, the best job offer I ever had was from a business in Jackson TN, and the worst employment mistake I ever made was turning it down. Why? Because I had it in my head when I was much younger that I just had to return home to Memphis and that Memphis was the "big time" as Mid-South towns went.

Anyway, if you've got something special going for you in one of those places or any other, you might not be able to duplicate it elsewhere later. And unless a town's just profoundly awful I wouldn't discard it out of hand.

[kingchef]

Originally Posted by Ginsaw

Decisions like this depend entirely on one's situation in life.

I've spent varying amounts of time in all three towns and none are bad places at all to live. There are other Mid-South towns I cannot say that of, and on the other hand there are some I would prefer.

The fact is, the best job offer I ever had was from a business in Jackson TN, and the worst employment mistake I ever made was turning it down. Why? Because I had it in my head when I was much younger that I just had to return home to Memphis and that Memphis was the "big time" as Mid-South towns went.

Anyway, if you've got something special going for you in one of those places or any other, you might not be able to duplicate it elsewhere later. And unless a town's just profoundly awful I wouldn't discard it out of hand.

i will go along w/ this post. perhaps, i would give the slight edge to tupelo over the jackson area because of the new car plant situation in tupelo. several people who live in madison co. tn commute to lee co. ms; not something that i have cared for in the past, yet, i have had to do it, however.
personally, jonesboro is just not my cup of tea, even if one leaves out the lack of employment opportunities and the unusually high unemployment levels. i've never lived there, but just not my "thang." even though jackson metro is larger, i really think this car manufacturing plant is opening up lee county-tupelo to broader opportunities for advancement and long-term growth. health care/medical community is the largest growth area in madison/jackson at present.

good luck to you wherever you settle, it certainly won't be cooler in one area over the other. if looking for a church recommendation, contact me and i'll give you the name of a minister, who has been my friend for several years. he moved to tupelo from st. louis about 11 or twelve years ago. he loves the area.

i would like to assert that the distance between memphis and jackson is not 1.5 hours. from jackson city limits on I-40 to the shelby county boundary line on I-40 is a traveling time of approximately 42 minutes, at an average speed of 63 miles /hr. to metro memphis. specifically, to wolfchase galleria, jackson is approximately 47 minutes. consequently, this, in fact, puts one in metropolitan memphis. again, in fact, some sources place metropolitan memphis extending to the fayette county line, an approximate distance of 37 miles from downtown memphis. if memory serves, a lakeland area marker posts downtown at approximately 22 miles, prior to the wolfchase exits. memphis international, excepting heavy traffic into memphis on I-40 and over the fly-over at I-240, is a travel time of approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes. note: this is a direct drop-off time: not parking and approach times.
birmingham is roughly 3.5 hours from jackson, nashville is 1 hour and 50 minutes, huntsvile---a nice place to visit occasionally, although i could not imagine driving there for regular kicks---is less than 1 hour and 45 minutes. tupelo is 1 hour and 45 minutes from jackson, 1 hour and 50 minutes from birmingham, and about 1 hour and 50 minutes from memphis. the mississippi precludes frequent travel between jonesboro and jackson. really, why would one want to travel between the two to see outback, longhorn, ryan's, stienmart, chili's, etc., etc. going to the bridge at dyersburg or to memphis is not my idea of fun and adventure...try lambert's restaurant in sykeston, mo., at least they throw the rolls to you on purpose, and the food is decent.
using some of the---what i consider to be ridiculous and unrealistic---standards for msa's and cna's, the jackson metro area could easily and realistically be considered in the csa (if memphis had one---not clear why it doesn't), as some stats extend the memphis retail as a radial 100 miles in direction. in so doing, these stats take in the little rock commerce area, along w/ tupelo, ms metro, jackson, tn metro, jonesboro micropolitan area, etc. it is unclear to me how jackson metro includes all of madison county, in addition to chester county; however, it leaves out the direct connection of the city of humboldt-gibson county, medina-gibson/madison county (one of the fastest growing areas of tn), lexington-henderson county, and finally, bolivar-hardeman county. i fail to understand the logic of breaking the direct commercial ties of humboldt-jackson, but tying humboldt-trenton (leaving out milan-gibson) as a micropolitan area. jackson, humboldt, and three way now form one contiguous line.

these things, as a prospective newcomer, would be important to consider, if west tn were a serious contender for a move. jackson is considered to serve an estimated 17-county area of <> 450,000 residents, outside of memphis. i haven't taken the time to look at the stats for tupelo; however, i know through personal friends, who are emergency room physicians and surgeons at their regional hospital, tupelo is a regional primary care facility, and it is considered a level one trauma center in north ms. i, to be honest, do not know the exact service area for the tupelo commerce area. it does include all of lee, tippah, itawamba, tishamingo, panola, and union counties, in addition to several others. jonesboro, on first impression, has a much smaller metro population and service area. much of the desire to be in these areas would have to do w/ one's desire to be near urban areas vs. rural areas, and all of the pluses and minuses that go along w/ that desire.