Is there anything good about Memphis? (bus, authority, title)

[TN-rox]

Originally Posted by estona1983

Check out Only in Memphis before moving to Memphis. It will give you a good idea of just how messed up this city is and why it is a horrible place to raise a family.

Memphis is NOT that bad of a place. The city is where pretty much all of the problems are, the Metro is nice to say the least. A great place to raise a family, otherwise the other 1,000,000+ people in the metro wouldnt be here.

[estona1983]

Originally Posted by Pearlbob

Everyone loves websites where people have nothing good to say and only things to complain about. Take 10% of the effort you put into complaining, and maybe you could make the city a better place for yourself.

Clearly there are good and bad elements of all cities. I personally have put in a great deal of effort in making the city better. Nonetheless, the troubling thing about Memphis is that it appears to wallow and even celebrate its dysfunction.

[Phil75230]

Originally Posted by censusdata

Memphis may have a lot of crime, but it least it also has a vibrant nightlife and music scene and is unique. Cities that have high crime w/ none of those amenities (like Birmingham, Cincinnati, Dayton, etc) are really bad places to live.

If you're going to put up with big city crime, at least have some big city fun

A+ to that, census!

Every large, and even medium sized city, has a crime problem. Memphis may or may not have more than most cities its size, but even so...like every big city

1) Know the layout of the city and avoid areas with really high crime

2) Realize that in cities, you cannot leave your door unlocked or your iPod in your car overnight, etc. - Common sense is your most effective tool for avoiding crime, even in the safe suburbs!

3) You dont' fight a city's crime by running from it. In the long run, middle class flight will just devalue properties behind the areas the middle class fled from and slosh outward (Picture the city map painted on a pan, fill it with water, then drop a pebble into it. That's what middle class flight does to property values of an area - the wave rises at one time and place, then falls as the crest moves outward; until the commute gets so long and so expensive that people get fed up and decide to stay put...or gentrify the city).

ETA: On that note, I think the best thing about Memphis is NOT the Music (though I LOVE blues), NOT the food (though I LOVE Memphis BBQ, and I pain from abstaining from BBQ due to cholesterol and weight problems)...

...it's MIDTOWN - the most ecclectic area of the city - full of gays, artists, bohemians, free-thinkers, and the like. It offers a refuge from the "be like the in-crowd and keep up with the Joneses" mentalities that all too often predominate in suburbs and small towns. In fact, it was Midtown (and U of M) that taught me it was ok to be "different" from society's mainstream. True, it's not San Francisco or Austin, or even Atlanta, Dallas or Houston, but it is openminded enough toward difference to allow people considerable latitude to express themselves, no matter how unique.

[SeptmbrzBrz]

I moved to Memphis in 2000 and when I graduate from college my husband and I will be leaving ASAP!!! Racial tension, gangs, corrupt administration, horrible school system....

[memphisnative]

I find pearlbobs comments funny. The CEO's and doctors being dangerous. My mother-in-law called us last week and said she was taking a gun training course. She is 64ish and shorter than 5ft. Based on her description of the course, she and all those other white elderly females ARE who we need to worry about. I say that in jest of course however it does say alot about the town. I truely miss the food and music.

[Deck]

Is there anything good about Memphis?

Short answer? very little.

[lovememphis]

I cannot believe I read through all 22 pages just now. I was the same as the negative people when living in Jackson, TN and thinking I would never move to Memphis but my husband got a job offer that we could not resist and off we moved. I was so wrong. The papers say negative because that is what gets everyone's attention. What is that saying "sex and violence" sells? But I have two young children and could not love Memphis more. It has so much for them to do. Parks, museums, the zoo, nature centers...etc. We live in East Memphis which is being revitalized by young couples and young families. I do get a sense of "big city" living when an area seems shifty but that would be true of any big city. And the school systems are bad in most big cities...it is what it is. But to end on a positive, Downtown is great and the Greenbelt at Harbortown is great for rolling down a big hill (just make sure you don't get too much speed in your roll or you'll end up in the Mississippi).

[nbridgeman]

Originally Posted by loose cannon

Memphis turned out to be my least favorite TN city. The people are weird. And then Arkansas, forget it! I have no desire to see Arkansas ever again!

Let me tell you something folks, if you don't think Arkansas is a beautiful state (Heber, Mountain Home, Fayetville, Quachita), then you need to get your head out of your arse.

[nbridgeman]

Originally Posted by Pearlbob

Everyone loves websites where people have nothing good to say and only things to complain about. Take 10% of the effort you put into complaining, and maybe you could make the city a better place for yourself.

I left town to go to UTK for college because U of M didn't offer what I wanted to do ( I am now a civil servant in the metro area), came back to help. This is my home as it is for many. But you know, instead of helping we could just do as the nay sayers would do and donate our time, money, and efforts to another country. Because you know we just can't accomplish anything here. I hope you all feel the satire. To be honest with you, I am am impressed that in the City which claimed Dr. King Jr.'s life blacks, whites, and everyone else can sit down and eat together and be completely up front with each other. If any place were to have tensions it would be here. To answer the original question of What is good in Memphis?
Quite simply its residents.

[NightOne]

Originally Posted by Deck

Is there anything good about Memphis?

Short answer? very little.

Very little =

International Airport
I-40 East/West
I-55 North/South
Greyhound and Amtrak station

so you can get out by plane, car, bus, or train