Safe towns within a 45 min drive of greenwood (Jackson, Starkville: fit in, best towns)

[Anavrinwellness]

My husband has been offered a contract that is too good he can't refuse. The job is in greenwood, my husband's company will be building the fiber optic networks in greenwood and surrounding cities for the next 5 years. We currently live in Asheville nc, and homeschool our 3 kids so schools are not a worry. However a safe city is, my number one worry is where to rent while getting settled in. My husband is okay with a 45 min commute at the most and he rather be under that commute. I love the way the greenwood homes look but I have researched the city and it doesnt have a good crime rating. If there are parts of greenwood that would be safe that would be great. If not we are hoping some where close. We look forward to becoming a part of your community. Also if you know of any homes for rent or rental companies that would also help out a ton. We will be arriving January.

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

I would definitely recommend a local realtor. While most Mississippi towns will have a bad crime rating, it's usually not everywhere, and there are decent places in Greenwood. However, the best towns will likely be Cleveland, Oxford or Starkville. Maybe Kosciusko, Grenada or Winona, but it won't have as much going on as the college towns, and they likely won't have much homeschooling. Truth be known, Grenada, Winona or Cleveland are the only ones within your commute. But you're still going to need a realtor to be able to put you in a safe area in any of those places. I guess I'd probably find out which exact area your husband will be driving towards, then go from there.

The Memphis Metro, and maybe Oxford, is going to be the best, if you can make that work. That's a long haul though.

Prepare yourselves, living in and around the Delta is going to be a good bit different than you are currently used to. It's going to be cliquey in the small towns. I wouldn't necessarily recommend Grenada or Winona, but I do think they've had some good economic things going in up there in recent years.

We homeschool as well, but our community is in Jackson, which is a good ways away. Are you looking for that, or are you OK on your own?

[viverlibre]

Easy, Carrollton, four lane and 15 minutes to Greenwood. Carrollton is extremely safe, you will see school age children walking through town just like Mayberry. However, it is a tight knit community, best broken into via church involvement. If you and family are gregarious and make friends easily, you'll have no problem. No much going on in town though and the closest Walmart is in Greenwood or Grenada.

There are plenty of safe places to live in North Greenwood on the east side of Grand Blvd. Unless you go looking for trouble you are likely not to find it, but property crime is always a possibility. Greenwood is an old town and it can be tough to get into a social circle (again church is you best avenue).

Grenada and Winona are also safe places, if looking in Grenada, stick to the south side so your husband can take 55 to 82 (all four lane) and be in Greenwood in under 45 minutes. There is a shorter route, Highway 7, but it a curvy two lane, that can be frustrating. Glenbrooke (?) I think is the hot neighborhood.

Cleveland will have the most going on, but you're looking at close to an hour drive and a lot of that drive is two lane.

I own property in the area and spend a lot of time in Carrollton, Greenwood and Grenada. PM me if you need detailed info once you settle on a place. At one time we had a regular contributor on this forum who is from Greenwood, but I'm not sure if he still posts.

As stated above, there's not much going on in any of these places compared to Asheville - it's going to be a huge culture shock.

As far a Greenwood realtors, Mel Harris is likely number one, but Pam Powers, Tish Bowie and Karlie Morgan and good too.

[Anavrinwellness]

Thank you both I will look those places up. We Waldorf homeschool so normally we do alot of outdoor learning. We have traveled all over the United states and are not from asheville but spent the last 2 years there. We love new experiences but church isn't where you will find us. I have my own relationship with god and never found it in a church. Churches tend to judge a bit too much and I'm a young mom covered in tattoos so I'm sure I wouldn't fit in to any church environment , I may have a hard time fitting in ,in any part of Mississippi. Luckily I don't care about fitting it we keep to ourselves usually doing family things. I appreciate all of your suggestions going to look them up now.

[viverlibre]

I just sent you a house in Greenwood that is not yet on the market.

Grenada is a factory working class, "tatted up" town - so no worries.

If "country" living is ok with you, look at rural areas in Carroll County.

[Anavrinwellness]

I'm fine with whatever setting we love all types of scenery, before asheville we were in a town with only 5k population and half of the people were only there on vacation so it's okay. I tried to reply to you in the message but it wouldn't let me. Do you have any city recommendations between greenwood and Jackson? I'm a whole foods shopper and I'd like to be able to still drive there without it being over an hour.

[viverlibre]

Originally Posted by Anavrinwellness

I'm fine with whatever setting we love all types of scenery, before asheville we were in a town with only 5k population and half of the people were only there on vacation so it's okay. I tried to reply to you in the message but it wouldn't let me. Do you have any city recommendations between greenwood and Jackson? I'm a whole foods shopper and I'd like to be able to still drive there without it being over an hour.

Vaiden is safe (but little to it), you'd be 75 miles from Whole Foods and he'd be less than 40 miles from Greenwood (four lane both ways). Winona would add 10 miles to Whole Foods, but take 10 miles off his drive. Carroll, Montgomery and Attala Counties are fine, you want to stay out Yazoo and especially Holmes Counties if at all possible.

There is a Fresh Market in Ridgeland and there are (were?) plans for a high end grocery store in Gluckstadt, but I don't know if has been built.

[brickpatio2018]

North Greenwood is beautiful. If you check out crimegrade.org and find Greenwood on the map, you'll see that all of North Greenwood is safe, but the part east of Grand Blvd is shaded dark green which means maximally crime-free. The area is surrounded on three sides by rivers and is remarkably urbane and picturesque.

Carrollton as noted above is tiny and village-like and picturesque due to the pretty rolling hills and forests and quaint architecture in the area. That exit is 82 miles down I-55 to shopping in Ridgeland, MS, so just over an hour. The Whole Foods is another five minutes into Jackson.

Grenada is 30 minutes from Greenwood, right on I-55, and has a slightly more modern feel compared to Greenwood. On the crimegrade.org map, you can see that some of the nicer residential areas around the University of Mississippi Medical Center-Grenada are shaded light green which means quite safe. It gets even safer (maximally safe dark green shading) in the neighborhoods on the southern edge of town along Perry Rd, with some newer homes including some pricier homes and some on big lots with acreage.

These are pretty much your only options for this area within a 30-minute drive from Greenwood. It would just depend on the vibe you prefer. Greenwood has a sizable area of poor neighborhoods, but if you could carve out the downtown and picturesque residential area north of the river and put them in Chicago or Atlanta, it would be an expensive and ultra-hip place to live. That's because of the tree-lined streets and houses that mix quaint cottages with elegant, larger homes - plus the, o cute and very authentic downtown.

For a vibe that gets you closer to nature, surrounded by hills and forests and a place that feels like a historic village or hamlet, Carrollton could be great. Very spacious, lots of trees and fresh air but also super-quaint. But very tiny, only one gas station. Greenwood is 15 miles down the highway.

Grenada actually does have beautiful hills and a giant lake in town and feels a bit more modern somehow. And it's right on I-55. It's not nearly as quaint as Greenwood, sort of split in half by a busy commercial road, but what you get is a more growing vibe, access to the interstate, and surrounding hilly, wooded terrain with huge Grenada Lake right in town. This is a place where you might could find a house perched up on a wooded ridge surrounded by forest but five minutes from town and from the lake. That could be neat.

[Anavrinwellness]

Thank you. We will be there January 5th I’m hoping to buy a home in the area you suggested around blvd it looks beautiful.

[viverlibre]

The more east of Grand Blvd the better.