Nashville VS Memphis (Murfreesboro, Jackson, Portland: crime, new home, transfer)

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Elrod

Was Memphis ever not crime-ridden? In 1900, Memphis had the worse crime rate in America. It was a transit point for people (mostly, but not entirely, black) from rural Mississippi heading north to St. Louis and Chicago. Not surprisingly, the music scene dating from W. C. Handy up to today reflects Memphis' role on the north-bound route out of Mississippi. But the transient nature of the place means less stability and more crime. I always think of the Stack O Lee song (shot a man over a $10 Stetson hat back in 1900) when I think of what Memphis was like back in the old days. Seems not much has changed...

As old-timer Memphians will tell you, the crime used to be confined to certain neighborhoods in Memphis. Now it's everywhere.

[Elrod]

Originally Posted by JMT

As old-timer Memphians will tell you, the crime used to be confined to certain neighborhoods in Memphis. Now it's everywhere.

Interesting. I wonder why that'd be the case. Has the population shifted around as of late? Construction of low-income housing in outer parts of the city?

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Elrod

Interesting. I wonder why that'd be the case. Has the population shifted around as of late? Construction of low-income housing in outer parts of the city?

It would be difficult to answer this question without sounding racist. But suffice it to say, people with money have been fleeing Memphis for the last few decades. Memphis has roughly the same population now as it did 30 years ago but covers twice the land area because of annexations. Property values in Memphis are stagnant, but the suburbs are booming, particularly those that can never be annexed by Memphis (DeSoto County, Tipton County, Fayette County, Collierville). Since no city in Tennessee can cover more than 1/3 of the land area of the county in which it's located, there will come a time when Memphis will no longer be able to annex, and that's when things will really get desperate as those with money continue to flee the city and those without money take their place. Or not. There are entire blocks in older parts of the city with nothing but boarded-up homes. It's like Detroit on a smaller scale.

[Elrod]

Originally Posted by JMT

It would be difficult to answer this question without sounding racist. But suffice it to say, people with money have been fleeing Memphis for the last few decades. Memphis has roughly the same population now as it did 30 years ago but covers twice the land area because of annexations. Property values in Memphis are stagnant, but the suburbs are booming, particularly those that can never be annexed by Memphis (DeSoto County, Tipton County, Fayette County, Collierville). Since no city in Tennessee can cover more than 1/3 of the land area of the county in which it's located, there will come a time when Memphis will no longer be able to annex, and that's when things will really get desperate as those with money continue to flee the city and those without money take their place. Or not. There are entire blocks in older parts of the city with nothing but boarded-up homes. It's like Detroit on a smaller scale.

It's more class than race probably. Sprawl has its undertow everywhere. If the business moves outward from the city-center, the poor will follow along for the low-end jobs. Low-income housing follows, and middle and upper class people flee even further out. Crime follows poverty everywhere, especially when poverty sits astride wealth. So you end up with crime moving further and further. Eventually, the city-center is left barren and the wealthy rediscover it and gentrify the beautiful old boarded-up buildings (as is happening in downtown Memphis and Knoxville and Louisville and Atlanta and just about every other city right now). What happens next is hard to say.

[logie13]

Originally Posted by JMT

It would be difficult to answer this question without sounding racist. But suffice it to say, people with money have been fleeing Memphis for the last few decades. Memphis has roughly the same population now as it did 30 years ago but covers twice the land area because of annexations. Property values in Memphis are stagnant, but the suburbs are booming, particularly those that can never be annexed by Memphis (DeSoto County, Tipton County, Fayette County, Collierville). Since no city in Tennessee can cover more than 1/3 of the land area of the county in which it's located, there will come a time when Memphis will no longer be able to annex, and that's when things will really get desperate as those with money continue to flee the city and those without money take their place. Or not. There are entire blocks in older parts of the city with nothing but boarded-up homes. It's like Detroit on a smaller scale.

Why would this be considered racist? Poor does not equate to black. And rich does not equate to white. Poverty is a class/social problem. There are poor white people, as there are upper middle class and rich black people who live in Memphis.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by logie13

Why would this be considered racist? Poor does not equate to black. And rich does not equate to white. Poverty is a class/social problem. There are poor white people, as there are upper middle class and rich black people who live in Memphis.

Thirty years ago Memphis had a slightly larger white population than black population. Even though the city population is roughly the same today because of annexation, Memphis is now roughly 30% white, 70% black with a smattering of Hispanics in there. Even between 2000 and 2005 the percentage of whites living in Memphis decreased by 4%, and that was during the "gentrification" of downtown Memphis that has supposedly brought many white people back into the city.

Therefore, it's difficult to talk about the spread of crime in Memphis in the last 30 years without also mentioning the drastic change in the racial composition of the city. And that's when some people would call me racist.

Then again, I suppose we could just blame it on global warming.

[JMSTiger]

Originally Posted by JMT

Thirty years ago Memphis had a slightly larger white population than black population. Even though the city population is roughly the same today because of annexation, Memphis is now roughly 30% white, 70% black with a smattering of Hispanics in there. Even between 2000 and 2005 the percentage of whites living in Memphis decreased by 4%, and that was during the "gentrification" of downtown Memphis that has supposedly brought many white people back into the city.

Therefore, it's difficult to talk about the spread of crime in Memphis in the last 30 years without also mentioning the drastic change in the racial composition of the city. And that's when some people would call me racist.

Then again, I suppose we could just blame it on global warming.

The entire Memphis metropolitan area is gaining in black population, not just the city. The Memphis MSA is about to become the first majority black metro area in the United States. Blacks from rural areas of North Mississippi, West Tennessee and Eastern Arkansas have been moving into the city for the last 20 years in larger and larger numbers and now many former black New Orleans residents have also relocated to Memphis. It is not just from white flight that the city's demographics have been changing.

As for crime, violent crime in the city occurs mostly in certain areas of town. Downtown, Midtown and East Memphis have VERY LITTLE in the way of violent criminal activity. But, home burglaries are a problem everywhere, except in isolated parts of East Memphis.

[JMSTiger]

Originally Posted by logie13

Why would this be considered racist? Poor does not equate to black. And rich does not equate to white. Poverty is a class/social problem. There are poor white people, as there are upper middle class and rich black people who live in Memphis.

In Memphis, poor does equate to black for the most part. By far, the most impoverished areas of the city of Memphis (and there are many) are all black. That is just the sad fact of life in Memphis and throughout much of the South.

[crystalblue]

im not seeing much good about memphis? are there any positives???

[logie13]

Not really. That is why I want to move to Nashville. I hope it is better.