Toronto to...Memphis?! (Lakeland, Central, Midtown: leasing, hotels, townhouse)

[pomartini]

I just talked to a friend who works at the IT center out in Collierville for FedEx. He said many of the single people who work in the building where you will work live in Collierville in apartments. Bailey Station is nice and is right across the street.

FYI.

You really need to come down here and see for yourself and make your own decision. These posts are only recommendations based on our own likes/dislikes/experiences. I would NEVER make a decision on where to live solely based on random posts from a message board. You need to come for a visit and look for yourself. You may hate Collierville...you may love Downtown...or you may hate both and decide to live in East Memphis.

I personally don't think you will go wrong with any thing that has been suggested either from here or from your boss.

[Pearlbob]

I definitely think Collierville is a nice, safe area. There's nothing outwardly bad about it. It's just so far removed from any nightlife in Memphis. When I lived in the burbs, I spent half my weekend trying to cooperate with friends as to who would be the DD, who would drive us all downtown, who's apartment we could crash at downtown if we needed to, who did we know that lived in midtown where we could party at, etc. It's so much nicer to just be downtown and able to walk, or live in midtown and be able to drive or take a cab for $5.

[defiepilex]

i still have friends that live in collierville and when they have parties or get-togethers, the first thing that everyone talks about is how bad we were dreading driving to collierville to hang out, when it used to be a 5-10 minute drive for most of us. but dont take that as "Collierville is a terrible place to live." it's really nice, just not what i (or most young single adults) am looking for.

[AznTO]

Maybe I can coerce the company to fly me to Memphis for a few days then --
I must say though, you guys sure have cheap rent...if I wanted to rent a place downtown in Toronto, a one bdrm, bath w/balcony 650 sq ft is like $1700/month!

Any midtown condos that are nice then? I think I know the downtown ones I would want to be at (Claridge, 10 Main, Pembroke and Stonegate).

Thanks all!

[Pearlbob]

Again, by condo you mean apartment to rent? Make sure you say the right word or people will head you in the wrong direction!

There are a bazillion places for rent in Midtown. It is THE area of town that is full of rentals, along with the huge houses. However, Midtown does not have "complexes" like you'd think of in the burbs. Most are houses that have been split into duplexes, triplexes, etc.

I could go on for pages about this, but bottom line is: it is impossible to say what areas of Midtown are safe. You have to come look for yourself. It can change from one street to the next. And even then...I saw a home for sale online that was GORGEOUS and when I went to look at it...well, let's just say the other neighbors were quite trashy.

For midtown, a genearlization could be "Central Gardens is 95% safe and great."

Cooper Young is the hot spot in midtown for bars and restaurants....but if you go more than 4 blocks around the C-Y intersection, it *can* get bad. Again, you have to come see for yourself. You can have a beautiful home but if your neighbors are letting their homes fall apart, who wants to live there?

[Pearlbob]

P.S. Clarige House downtown are CONDOS...for sale. Not apartments for rent.

[AznTO]

Originally Posted by Pearlbob

P.S. Clarige House downtown are CONDOS...for sale. Not apartments for rent.

The person who owns it is renting it 800/month, parking included.

I have time to think it over, I won't be moving to Memphis until September anyway, and by that time, if another company offers me a better job - I might just as well stay in Toronto

It will be tough to adjust to Memphis I think - I will miss Little Italy, Little Portugal, Greek Town, China Town etc --- Afterall, Toronto is the most diverse city in the world ... p.s Chinese/Buddists don't go to Churches...we go to Temples...and you probably don't have one there...?

Someone mentioned good Chinese/Japanese/Vietnamese food -- *sigh* is it "Americanized"? Sushi is probably good there seeing as u have so much water around you

BTW - you guys sure answer these posts quickly...you must be bored at your jobs...haha. As for me, I'm on vacation now...

[Pearlbob]

I would not live in Claridge House. It's at the far north end of Main where the homeless people congregate. It may be better now, but Claridge was always the CHEAPEST apt downtown, so lots of cheap people lived here. Since it went condo, the same sort of applies because they are by far the cheapest condos downtown. By far.

I dont' know what it's called, but there is a huge chinese church at Poplar and...(mendenhall? white station?) I searched quick on the internet, and also found a big chinese baptist church out east. Now, of course that's baptist, but it does show that there is a fairly large chinese population here if they have 2 major churches in town.

There's no water around Memphis. ??? There's the river, but I'd jump off a cliff before eating anything that came out of the MS River.

I'm not asian so I have no clue if the thai/chinese/japanese food here is americanized. I would imagine the easy answer is "yes" much like anywhere else in the US. But, most places have only asian people working there, and definitely all japanese sushi chefs, so who knows.

[defiepilex]

yes, it is a chinese church. i cant remember what the intersecting street is, but i think Pearlbob and i are talking about the same one. there is also a Korean Presbyterian church of off Summer/Hwy 70.

most of the Chinese eateries that ive eaten at are what i would consider "americanized", but i think the Thai, Vietnamese, and most of the Japanese places are authentic. my Japanese friend is a big fan of a Japanese place called Sakura located in Germantown.

[strumpeace]

I always wonder why people just assume that because a person is young, that person has to live near bars.

When I was single, I couldn't have cared less about bars. Or how close I was to the nearest 'non-chain' restaurant. Seriously, no offense, but let's not be so shallow.

Different people are looking for different things. Downtown suits some people. Cordova suits some people. Collierville suits some people. Heck, Somerville suits some people.

There's more to life than bars.