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@MrGypsy: When we bought our retirement house, it was without having ever lived in the area or even visited. We visited after we purchased. However, we are in an unusual situation: if we don't like living there, we will move elsewhere. We have no children living with us, no one in school and we are pretty flexible people: we have lived in small towns, big towns, cities large and small, and everything in between. We have lived in Florida's high humidity and New England's black flies and freezing winters; we have lived in the mountains and on the seashores.
For you, I suggest NOT buying at this time. Live there 6 months to a year to find out whether your small town, no traffic experience can translate into a southern little city atmosphere. You might not be ok with Jackson or you might love it. Go south and visit Selmer - it's definitely different. I haven't lived in Selmer but I'd rank it in the very small town category - however I have lived in the NY metro area and once lived in a town of 800 people.
I love where we're moving - but who knows how I'll feel in 10 years - same with you - until you've been there, you can't know.
On the other hand, if you don't view buying a house as permanent and aren't worried about schools for kids, neighborhood playgrounds, then give it a shot.
Last edited by NY Annie; 11-28-2011 at 08:12 AM..
Reason: typo
Hi all! My husband got a job offer in Jackson TN. We will be moving from Panama City Beach, FL.. I can't wait to get out of this place!!! After doing a bit of research (Not to offend anyone, just what I have read!) Jackson doesn't sound like a safe place to raise our children in. The public school system has me worried as well! Seeing that I have never even set foot in Jackson or surrounding areas, I was hoping to get some input from the locals. Give me the good, the bad and the ugly! I've read that Medina/Henderson areas are pretty good. Anyone have a general idea of the cost of living in these areas, rent prices, etc? Thanks!
My parents live 15 minutes from Jackson. They've never had any trouble there.
and if you stay out of neighborhoods located on e. chester, parts of hollywood, lanier st., then you should be fine also. most tn schools are good, but their is a problem w/ uninvolved parents, uncaring children having children, and frankly, a good number of ignorant or dumb students. the public schools are well kept. three new schools brought on line last fall. pretty good teachers, but i'm sure, as is true w/ any profession, some who are interested in quitting time and payday. a large number of private schools in jackson. the sacred heart of jesus roman catholic h.s., st. mary's roman catholic k-8. jackson christian elementary (affilated w/ the church of christ), trinity christian, not sure if this is k-12, but it has a big new campus. madison alternative (disciplinary school). grace christian school, university school of jackson preparatory, lambuth memorial day school, 1st presbyterian day school, adventist school, homeschooling, and some others that i just can't remember. the star center is a special needs school, the madison co dev center for severely handicapped.
if you have some involvement w/ your teachers, the school, and overseeing your child's homework, they can do fine in public school. otherwise, get ready to shell out some bucks for private education. trinity, catholic, ch of Christ, usj are the best, from what i know through friends and professionals. i am not in this city more than two or three days per week, in order to check on properties, but i have lived in jackson, before and after living in birmingham.
chester county schools have been credited for having some of the top schools in the tn public school system. it is part of the metro jackson area, about 15 minutes from south jackson. there is a very conservative ch of Christ university located in henderson. many certified programs aa, bs, ba, bsw, bba, and master programs in divinity, education, counseling, marketing and business administration, nursing. quiet community and growing, as is jackson. toyoto plant bringing in several people, as is new tire company, and other business expansions, such a delta, inc.
jackson has jackson state community college, union university undergraduate and master programs, u of memphis at lambuth, lane college. very good medical facilities: 1 210 bed hospital- le bonheur methodist, and the medical center hospital, jackson madison co gen hospital, over 600 beds, all procedures in medicine performed. 1 psychiatric hospital, 1 specialty hospital, and clinics in over 200 specialties and sub-specialties.
medina sits on the gibson-madison county line. it is growing extremely fast, as a by pass was placed outside of the old town of medina. threeway is a community between jackon and medina. it, too, is growing as a result of subdivisions, after the creation of a four lane divided highway. next to three way is the city of humboldt, which is a city of about 11-12,000. this city and three way went before the tn supreme court over humboldt's attempt to bring three way into the city of humboldt, by annexation. the two suits failed. essentially, three way and humboldt are now less than a mile from the jackson city limits. although this area has a six lane divided highway, the traffic is bad into and out of jackson on both the north and south sides. you might take that into consideration.
as far as crime, i know of no murders, but i don't read their local paper, nor watch their abc affiliate station. i believe that crime is considered to be higher that the average city of jackson's size, in tn. again, black on black crime usually, and it is confined to know areas where drugs are sold, produced, etc. otherwise, it is nothing that would force me to turn down a job.
jackson has a large number of walled and gated communities. i have lived in many large cities in the u.s., and i have never seen anything like it. the homes are very large, but i assume these communities are hoa communities, and some of these back each other. there are a number of estate houses in the 2 to 11 million dollar range, but most of the 250,000 homes will be located in the city, about 30 to 20 years old, and in established neighborhoods.
jackson sits on I-40 east-west. it is about 50 minutes to wolfchase in shelby county, actually the area of memphis proper known as cordova. you can find most of the things you need in jackson, but memphis is a quick run, should you need something hard to locate.
best luck on your move. if you have relatives 15 minutes away from the city, you might ask them about these places. seems like that might be really helpful. i really don't know what the median family income is in this county, but i would say, as is true w/ most of tn, their is a level of poverty quite high for the elderly and young adults 18-26. as said earlier, there are many higher education opportunities in the area. the u of tn-martin has a campus, as well as bethel college, which is 35 minutes away. it also has jackson courses taught in the city.
Here's some links so people moving to the area will have actual facts:
Jackson has one the highest crime rates in the US, and the highest in TN:
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
Quote:
With a crime rate of 84 per one thousand residents, Jackson has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 12. Within Tennessee, more than 96% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Jackson.In fact, after researching dangerous places to live, NeighborhoodScout found Jackson to be one of the Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed]
And it's not just property crime:
Quote:
For Jackson, we found that the violent crime rate is one of the highest in the nation, across communities of all sizes (both large and small). Violent offenses tracked included forcible rape, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, including assault with a deadly weapon. According to NeighborhoodScout's analysis of FBI reported crime data, your chance of becoming a victim of one of these crimes in Jackson is one in 90.
There are some nice little towns outside of Jackson, but check the schools. Chester County is not "one of the best in TN." They tend to score about average in TN and have a lower ACT score than the state average. The average ACT score in Chester County in 2010 was 19.1.
greatschools.org rates Chester County a 5: Chester County High School - Henderson, Tennessee - TN - School overview
Medine & Gibson County schools rate higher, mostly 7s & 8s, but they also have really low ACT scores.
The median home price in Jackson is $95,200. Gated communities and million plus dollar houses exist, but it's definitely not the norm.
The area outside of Jackson is really affordable & close to some beautiful areas- Pickwick, Reelfoot, Paris Landing.
One must remember these types of crime statistics by a city to city basis are completely unfounded. Cities come in all shapes and sizes and carve up completely different areas & proportions of a metro. These list of "100 most dangerous", etc. are always relatively marginal and the site even quotes:
Quote:
Jackson has seen a significant amount of newer housing growth in recent years. Quite often, new home construction is the result of new residents moving in who are middle class or wealthier, attracted by jobs, a healthy local economy, or other amenities as they leave nearby or far away areas for greener pastures
Quote:
The citizens of Jackson are slightly better educated than the national average of 19.23% for all cities and towns, with 22.74% of adults in Jackson having a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
Jackson has a few neighborhoods with societal issues, but the bulk of it is a thriving middle class, small metro.
annie, when you get settled in selmer, give me a post, and i'll introduce you to a couple you will never find to be nicer. they live in finger, which is a small community outside of selmer. their house and land can be seen in a wooded area, as their land borders the 45 south highway, as does their farmland.
being so close to selmer is going to get you really close to saltillo, pickwick resort and recreation area, and j.p. coleman state park, which is at the ms state line next to pickwick. that is a pretty area. the hills, valleys, and woods in hardin, wayne, decatur, and mcnairy counties are beautiful throughout the year, and, as you probably know, that is the pickwick watershed. you will be about two hours west of memphis, about 1 1/2 hours from tupelo, ms---a toyoto plant supporting 2000 employees just opened nov 17th. support plants employing about 4,000 employees for the industry will be opening south of your area. the quad cities---florence, ala, muscle shoals, tuscumbia, and sheffield will be about 1 hour from you, depending on your location in mcnairy county.
great you are moving here. some wonderful people, and some wonderful things to do. don't forget, you will practically be in the backyard of shiloh national civil military park. take advantage of it. best of luck to all who have chosen their west tn future homes. kingchef.
p.s. central and upper new york has always fascinating. i love the catskills and lake Champlain region. too, i have a huge interest in period paintings in the upper hudson valley and down to lower virgina. we are all very lucky in this big country of ours. well, gotta go.
i personaly just moved to Finger, been here about a month and a half and LOVING it...
location wise Finger is "far out there" but in reality im half way between jackson selmer and even savannah isnt that far lol.
since getting here ive been into jackson a few times, its a typicaly sprawling city and you could easily be in any other small sprawling city...
Savannah is another "small sparalwing city" Selmer is quite small compared to jackson and savannah...
then theres henderson which is a very quaint little town.
Finger is lovely if you want middle of nowhere with easy acess, we have a post office a little convenicnestore and the community center (where theres dances every friday night.)
Henderson also offeres family dances too.
all in all as a young single woman i feel perfectly safe driving around jackson, slemer ect... but they were "too large" for this countyr girl at heart.
i find it beautiful, peacefull and incredibly frinedly...i havent met a mean person once, everyones always ready to offer a smile, some are down right chatty its just a different pace of life...
I think if i were working in jackson id probably look into Henderson... (i havent been much north of jackson yet so cant say what its like up there in some of the other communities.)
Glad to hear things are working out for you, Foxy. We're coming! Working on the pool/deck construction now - waiting for an estimate.
We did spend some time looking north of jackson and my impression is that it's a little more like suburbs of Jackson than the out-in-the-country feel south of Jackson. Note that I said "little" more.
brunedwo0dgrul should be aware of the problems w/ these statistical quotes, as she no doubt knows nashville-davidson county is, along w/ memphis, often included in several crime reporting and entertainment mags. again, very little credibility should be given to the numbers. see the city for yourself, an don't let her scare you away w/ her "official" facts. i would be surprised if most of these people have ever been to the city. take from someone who has experienced the murder of two loved ones, one in nashville and one in houston. jackson is a very decent place, and i know that it has several upscale locations for homes, and several estate homes, as i have been in them many times. tn doesn't have a city where the area would be the "social norm." most of us eat potatoes and beans, and a good many eat the poor man's cavier, mashed blackeyed peas, even in brentwood, lol.
My friend moved down to Dyersburg a few years back to get married and wants us to move down there as well. I live in dayton Ohio and I am currently a LPN. I just got laid off as the job market for nursing or really anything up here in Dayton is horrible since our GM plant got shut down. My son's currently go to catholic school up here (dayton public schools are bad). so basically I'm curious about the schools, job availability for nursing, and cost of living. I've moved twice in my life and this would be a huge move for me! any thoughts?
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its just a different pace of life...
