Ranking the best places to live in Mississippi (Jackson, Hattiesburg: house, rental)

[DoIStayOrDoIGo]

I have to agree somewhat with the list of
best towns to live in MS.
I live in Natchez, and I feel really blessed
to be surrounded by so much natural beauty.
Unfortunately, there is wide spread poverty,
and upkeep of city right of ways and landscaping
to enhance what we have been given is of low
priority except in the downtown area. Civic pride
is lacking, although there are a remote few who
do try to make changes in that area....We are definitely
a diamond in the rough........... If you
are retired or don't have to work, it is a nice place
to live, even part time....... If you are looking for a place
to move and land a great job w/ great schools, keep
looking. The public school system is a "wreck". We suffer
from "brain drain" w/ many of our brightest leaving after H.S.,
never to return. Our city has its fare share of people who
are uneducated, and have a poor work ethic....The
have's send their children to private/parochial schools.
The have not's send their kids to our lousy public school
system...... It does tend to boil down to a black/white issue.
Whites=private schools / African American's=public schools; There is almost no middle class here as well, with most of them moving elsewhere to secure employment. The shopping here is the pits---we do have a very small mall w/ small anchor stores w/ a minimal selection. The downtown area has specialty stores that are nice catering to those looking for antique furniture, gift items, cook ware, etc... We do have some wonderful restaurants for a community this size specializing in Greek (Center City Grill); Thai/Sushi (Planet Thailand); Cajun/ South Louisiana (Breaud's); The Castle (behind antebellum home Dunleith w/ continental cuisine); Pearl Street Pasta, etc...[these would be my main picks;NO STARBUCKS HOWEVER!!! By in large, Natchez is a beautiful town, but its hard for newcomers to come in and "fit" in; It has changed for the better over the last several years, thanks to Katrina evacuees relocating here....... If you need a city fix, Baton Rouge, LA. is about 1 hr. 20 min. South (via Hwy. 61 which is 4 lane for majority of trip )for Airport and shopping: Whole Foods; Super Target; Mall of Louisiana; plus great restaurants and LSU (Louisiana State University); For small town Mississippi, I give it an thumbs up.... The positives out weigh the negatives........ If you are someone who loves older homes and beautiful scenery--- this is the place for you. If you are not into "huntin' and fishin, and rednecks, move elsewhere.... We are also surrounded by some of the poorest counties/ parishes in the states of MS and LA., so that should tell you something as well..........

[abcdef]

The only comment we have on Mississippi is spend 24 hours looking & keep going to wherever. We retired there from the western states. Biggest mistake of our lives. No competition as far as grocery stores , no breaks for seniors, not alot to do be you senior citizens or be you a high school student or whatever your age is . Took us just under a year to sell up & get out of there to South Carolina. There is no middle class in Mississippi , your either very rich or trying to find a way to survive otherwise . Alot of corruption in most of the government be it on local , county , or state. Study Mississippi , compare prices , talk to people , before moving there..

[rocketx]

I reccommend u put down Vicksburg Ms as one of the worst places to live.

[jsherman9901]

Originally Posted by abcdef

The only comment we have on Mississippi is spend 24 hours looking & keep going to wherever. We retired there from the western states. Biggest mistake of our lives. No competition as far as grocery stores , no breaks for seniors, not alot to do be you senior citizens or be you a high school student or whatever your age is . Took us just under a year to sell up & get out of there to South Carolina. There is no middle class in Mississippi , your either very rich or trying to find a way to survive otherwise . Alot of corruption in most of the government be it on local , county , or state. Study Mississippi , compare prices , talk to people , before moving there..

"abcdef", the place that you live is what YOU make of it. Mississippi is not nearly the hole that you make it seem. Unless you are in a tiny town, there is certainly competition in retail, and there is most definitely a middle class and plenty of things to do. Sorry YOU didn't like it; perhaps you should have done a little more investigation before you moved here.

[Tama]

abcdef I am curious about where you were located? It doesn't sound like Tupelo, Hattiesburg, or Desoto County or the gulf area before Katrina? I don't recognize the place you portrayed although I could see that there would be locales as you describe. Here in Hattiesburg we have tons of shopping possibilities, lots of golf, fitness places with senior discounts, the university has cultural activities and learning in retirement groups, walking and biking trails, wine bars, and more stuff to do generally than I can manage.

[aiangel_writer]

I am with you two, I cannot figure out where she/he was talking about. As to middle class, well, here I am. I came from a middle class family and I am maybe a bit better off than my parents, but it was because of the education that my dh and I got which was supplied from our middle class parents.

Mississippi is not for everyone, granted, but Mississippi is a jewel in the rough, hidden for a very long time. We have come so far from the early 1900's and we know we have a ways to go, but guess what, we move forward every year.

Actually, I am kinda glad that many people do not know about us, we have less population and less crime in many areas.

I for one love my state, that is why I moved back. I could not think of any other place that I wanted to raise my children in. Yes, we don't have a lot of places that have an active nightlife or larger cities like in other states, but you know what? We don't have the crime either, and our children are not learning things at a extremely fast pace as others in major cities are either.

We are laid back, with much of our state rural and slow paced, but we do like it. If this is not for someone, they will not like our state and should not move here, but don't go downing us because you didn't know what we were like, and don't try to change us, we are happy like we are, with the changes we make. We don't want to become like some of the major states or cities, you guys are all moving out of them, why would we try to emulate these?

[usm2009]

Originally Posted by abcdef

The only comment we have on Mississippi is spend 24 hours looking & keep going to wherever. We retired there from the western states. Biggest mistake of our lives. No competition as far as grocery stores , no breaks for seniors, not alot to do be you senior citizens or be you a high school student or whatever your age is . Took us just under a year to sell up & get out of there to South Carolina. There is no middle class in Mississippi , your either very rich or trying to find a way to survive otherwise . Alot of corruption in most of the government be it on local , county , or state. Study Mississippi , compare prices , talk to people , before moving there..

Again, I have no idea where you are talking about and quite frankly am not interested in knowing. I know Mississippi has 28 Certified Retirement Communities. Hattiesburg has attained numerous accolades for being one the top 100 places to retire to in the nation. And with a place such as Hattiesburg, with a city population of 50,000 and a metro population of about 200,000, it is the best of both worlds. In the day Hattiesburg serves as the retail, medical, and educational source for much of Southern MS. There is a middle class in Hattiesburg, high class, and of course low class. Another city in MS that has an esteemed retirement reputation is Oxford. Oxford also has many opportunities for retirees. So, without much hassle, you could have easily found the myriad of magazines and other nationwide publications that name Hattiesburg one of the best places to live whether it be a college student or a retiree, we have, again, the best of both worlds. It's sad to see statements such as the ones made that make MS out to be lagging in advancement. Along with the rest of the US that makes preliminary assumptions about MS, need to do their research and see why about 2.5 million people love to say they live in MISSISSIPPI!

[Frank1938]

Originally Posted by tennreb

My list:

1. Oxford -- it has everything: good schools, unique shopping, beautiful neighborhoods, good arts scene, low taxes, low crime, great downtown, good music scene, educated populace, great restaurants, lots of history; the downside is that property values reflect this and, as a result, it is the most expensive place to live in the state

2. Ocean Springs -- beautiful town with great neighborhoods, surrounded by water, unique shops and good restaurants (though not as many as Oxford), great schools, good arts scene, laid-back people, relatively inexpensive

3. Natchez -- suffers from more problems than the other cities on the list, but wins major points for its beautiful neighborhoods, great views, nice downtown, lots of special events, loads of history, and its laid-back people (not dominated by anti-fun religious fundamentalists like most of Mississippi); however, lots of poverty and bad public schools (good private schools, though)

4. Madison -- very nice town that seems immune to the problems the rest of the state suffers from; loses points for cookie-cutter developments, dominance of chains, and an inferior downtown (though this is changing)

5. Hattiesburg -- decent town that is bolstered by a university; still, chains dominate and cookie-cutter developments are taking over; downtown is coming back and looks promising

Of course there are other good places in Mississippi, but these are my top five.

I am glad you did not mention Hernando. We have way too many people coming in now & many empty houses, some that the bulder went bankrupt & did not finish
Everyone coming here appear to be rich or good credit. Nothing bulit under $200K

[tennreb]

Originally Posted by Frank1938

I am glad you did not mention Hernando. We have way too many people coming in now & many empty houses, some that the bulder went bankrupt & did not finish
Everyone coming here appear to be rich or good credit. Nothing bulit under $200K

Hernando is a good place to live, but I wouldn't put in the top 5 in the state. Nothing against Hernando, but it is marred by becoming typical suburbia. Madison is like that as well, but it has done it in a very upscale manner that really makes a difference.

[williboy]

Is the Gold Post still operating on Hardy Street? I practically lived on their gumbo when I was attending USM.