Is Jackson, Tennessee really that beatiful? (Memphis, Knoxville: real estate, apartments, loft)

[JMT]

Originally Posted by DGF

No need to to be so aggressive there jmt. I only responded honestly to the author's post. Your preference for east TN is obvious judging by your numerous posts but you shouldn't be so judgmental about a town 300 miles from your own. We could have moved anywhere we wanted including Knoxville but we chose Jackson and are very content with our decision.

Who's being aggressive? The original post asked about the mountains and lakes near Jackson. The nearest mountains are hundreds of miles away from Jackson, and there are precious few lakes anywhere in all of West Tennessee, especially compared to the rest of the state.

I have never lived in Jackson, but does that mean I don't know that the countryside around there isn't mountainous? For the record, I've driven through that city and around it probably 200 times. I lived in Memphis for 5 years and North Mississippi for 3 years, always driving through, in, and around Jackson on my way to/from East Tennessee. I even used to drive from Memphis to Jackson to go shopping, just for a change of pace from Memphis. I don't recall ever seeing any mountains in the area.

And no, I have never heard anyone use the words "beautiful" or "gorgeous" in reference to Jackson or the area around it. I'm sorry if that offends you, but I'm just speaking from my own experience. I don't think Knoxville is beautiful or gorgeous, either, and I have said so in here. The countryside, however, is gorgeous.

If you think that Jackson is paradise on earth, then more power to you. You are certainly free to post pictures of the gorgeous mountains and lakes that I must've missed. And now that Jackson has been ranked America's 15th most dangerous metro area by the FBI, maybe more and more Californians will come flocking to your town and make it even more gorgeous.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by perszona

I would like to move from SF to a not so expensive, beautiful place with mountains and water and lots of green, but not too far from a city. Someone told me Jackson is really gorgeous and inexpensive and is near Memphis. Is that true? Any other suggestions? Thanks...

I wonder if maybe you're confusing the city of Jackson with Jackson County? Jackson County is in a very mountainous area, very beautiful with lots of water and is about the same distance from Nashville that the city of Jackson is from Memphis. Do you suppose that's what they meant?

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by JMT

I wonder if maybe you're confusing the city of Jackson with Jackson County? Jackson County is in a very mountainous area, very beautiful with lots of water and is about the same distance from Nashville that the city of Jackson is from Memphis. Do you suppose that's what they meant?

I wondered about that too; whether the original poster's friend actually meant something else. I mean, it's a little hard to get so confused as to think there's mountains near the city of Jackson.

[strumpeace]

I grew up in Jackson and went to college there. 'Beautiful' is probably not the word I would use to describe it. As far as lakes, the only one of any size I can think of is Lake Graham, which is a decent fishing lake. It's too stumpy for swimming or recreational boating, though.

[ROBERTLOVELACE]

Originally Posted by perszona

I would like to move from SF to a not so expensive, beautiful place with mountains and water and lots of green, but not too far from a city. Someone told me Jackson is really gorgeous and inexpensive and is near Memphis. Is that true? Any other suggestions? Thanks...

I have just gotten on this website and it is very interesting to see the posts to you from folks in places like Knoxville ( which is East Tennessee ) trying to knock Jackson, Tennessee.
I have lived in Jackson for several years and it is my favorite city to have ever lived in. This area is beautiful ( as is all of Tennessee). If I were you I would visit the city and get my information from someone who knows what they are talking about. Jackson is a beautiful college town of about 114,00 residents in the metropolitan limits. There are 4 colleges and universities with over 10,000 students. Jackson is the trade, manufacturing, and medical referal area for about 500,000 Tennessee residents.

Although Jackson is the sixth largest city in Tennessee, many East Tennessee residents don't even know where it is located ! Jackson is located conviently halfway between Nashville and Memphis the state's two largest cities.

As I said I have lived here for several years and many people are moving here from all over the country to retire. The population increase between the 1990 and 2000 census was an increase of nearly 20%. To verify any of this information it is easy enough to check the Federal census bureau information online.

In my neighborhood I have two families from Arizona, one from Lousiana, and two from Florida who have moved to Jackson in the past five years and we all love it !

[TN-rox]

If you havent visited Jackson, please dont "Knock it til you try it".Jackson is a great city! Especially compared to some of the other large town/cities in West TN... It is just far enough away from memphis to have all the big city comforts, just an hour away I think, and not all the crime, povertish problems associated with Memphis. Alas there are most certainly no mountains, and Kentucky Lake would be the best, closest lake. The Tennessee River is really nice, not too far from Jackson.

[Pookie]

Originally Posted by ROBERTLOVELACE

I have just gotten on this website and it is very interesting to see the posts to you from folks in places like Knoxville ( which is East Tennessee ) trying to knock Jackson, Tennessee.
I have lived in Jackson for several years and it is my favorite city to have ever lived in. This area is beautiful ( as is all of Tennessee). If I were you I would visit the city and get my information from someone who knows what they are talking about. Jackson is a beautiful college town of about 114,00 residents in the metropolitan limits. There are 4 colleges and universities with over 10,000 students. Jackson is the trade, manufacturing, and medical referal area for about 500,000 Tennessee residents.

Although Jackson is the sixth largest city in Tennessee, many East Tennessee residents don't even know where it is located ! Jackson is located conviently halfway between Nashville and Memphis the state's two largest cities.

As I said I have lived here for several years and many people are moving here from all over the country to retire. The population increase between the 1990 and 2000 census was an increase of nearly 20%. To verify any of this information it is easy enough to check the Federal census bureau information online.

In my neighborhood I have two families from Arizona, one from Lousiana, and two from Florida who have moved to Jackson in the past five years and we all love it !

I didn't notice people trying to knock Jackson. They sounded like honest opinions to me. I did notice that there was nothing 'beautiful' in your description of Jackson...just that there were several colleges. This does not make a place beautiful.

[Eliott]

I was born in Jackson; I live right outside of it and commute to it daily. Here's the honest truth about Jackson:

Jackson USED to be beautiful. Back ten or more years ago when Jackson was still relatively small, it used to be a good city. However, the town has gone downhill since then. The built-up areas are little more than strip mall, cookie cutter type developments. So, almost all new construction and city-wide expansion is like this. There's very little if any original architecture being used, just white concrete strip malls with no originality. If you want to live in a giant strip mall, then yes, Jackson is VERY beautiful.

Also, the growth isn't that much true growth. Instead, it's largely relocation of existing stores. The end result is a lot of unused buildings throughout the area and once-thriving areas that are economically dead. This is partly responsible for the growing crime in Jackson. All of these nearly-abandoned and unused areas are overrun with criminal types.

As far as the housing areas themselves, they're much the same. You see a lot of new, cookie cutter, half acre with a 3 bedroom McMansion that looks exactly like every other one for the ten blocks with no trees and natural landscaping. The older housing areas, like the older economic areas, are largely abandoned in this "expansion" and are either derelict, run-down and outright abandoned or else inhabited by young people wanting a starter house or criminal types who want a cheap area to run their criminal activities out of.

So, Jackson is a VERY run-down city. The old areas used to be nice, but it has the look of a very run-down city. The newer areas are entirely artificial. When they want to build a new neighbourhood, they simply rape the land and plant mini-trees and sod instead of leaving the natural grass and trees. The economic areas are entirely cemented and concreted. They leave nothing of nature to be seen.

So, within Jackson itself, there is little incentive if you want a charming town with lots of green, trees, etc. Now, there are plenty of areas outside of Madison County (where Jackson is) that are like that, but really I can't think of a single city in West TN that is charming and has a population over 15,000 people. There's a lot of beautiful countryside an hour or so from Jackson in the area near Selmer, TN and Corinth, MS, but it's just open country and no real city.

The next problem with Jackson is that there is practically nothing to do. There aren't that many good restaurants in Jackson. I can remember growing up, there were a LOT of really good restaurants. But, in the past five to ten years, they've all disappeared. The few remaining ones, such as the Old Town Spaghetti Store, Old Country Store (which was once my favourite restaurant, but now you couldn't pay me to eat there), Backyard BBQ, TJ Mulligan's and some others, due to profit losses, have all gone downhill as far as quality of food, service and the whole nine yards. There are very few true home-town restaurants any more. Even the fast food and the few casual dining places here (like Friday's) aren't as good as the ones I eat at pretty regularly in larger places like Memphis and Nashville.

There're two movie theatres in Jackson. The one only plays movies from months ago that are often B-rate flops. The other one has SOME of the new hits along with lots of flops, but they're NOTHING like the ones that I've been at in Memphis as far as both cleanliness, upkeep and overall movie selections.

There are a few Wal-Marts in town, but even they aren't as good as some of the Wal-Marts in the surrounding area. The K-Mart is so entirely run-down that I'm surprised it's even still open. The Target is pretty good, but you can't do all of your shopping at Target given their limited selection. The mall is ENTIRELY GONE. It is never going to be able to come back, and the few stores still there aren't even worth going to. I'll travel 100 miles to Memphis to go to the mall there before I'll go to the mall here in Jackson because it's gotten so bad in the past five years. Other than that, there aren't that many shopping places in Jackson at all, and most are run-down.

Beyond that, there's a very run-down bowling alley, a few trashy nightclubs and not a lot else as far as recreation goes in Jackson.

Then there's the traffic. Jackson has some of the worst traffic in West TN. People don't go when the lights turn green. Turn lanes are even worse. A majority of the time, people don't turn when the turn light goes green and instead wait until it's yellow. This is especially true in the Old Hickory area near PM Music. People stop randomly in traffic, don't know how to keep a consistent speed, stop at yield signs and don't stop at stop signs and lots of other just general poor driving.

Then you have to mention the crime. Jackson is one of the top cities in America for crime according to the FBI statistics. Drug-related violence is VERY common, almost daily. Gang-related violence is also coming in as people from Chicago, New York, Memphis and other larger cities migrate en masse as is happening in Jackson. Theft is very bad. The Wal-Mart, which is technically open 24/7, is only safely accessible until around 7PM. After that, they have to have security monitor the area because crime is so bad. In short, Jackson is a city where I do NOT feel safe. I rarely go anywhere without having at least a knife on me. There are very few areas I can ever let down my guard.

Pretty much, Jackson has nothing to offer other than affordable housing (and with all the downsides, the price isn't surprising). The public schools are nothing but a hotbed of violence, and if I still live in this area when I get married and have kids, I will homeschool them before even thinking of sending them to the public schools. The colleges are a little better, but good colleges don't make a good city as someone else said earlier.

In short, once I graduate college in a few months, I will be GLAD to leave the Jackson, TN area forever and never come back. Ten years ago, if you had've asked me what I thought of Jackson, I probably would have bragged about what a great city it was and how much I loved it. It was a great place to grow up. The keyword is WAS. It WAS a good place. What is it now? Probably one of the worst places in the state of TN if not the Southern USA as a whole. I don't even think that if I were to be offered a million dollars to live in Jackson I'd be able to take the offer.

[JoAnn5]

Wow... Thanks for your honesty and the time taken to express it so well!

[McMar]

Chattanooga & surrounding area are beautiful, with a nice lake and the big ol' Tennessee river. Dunlap and South Pittsburgh are nice small towns nearby.

Crossville, on the cumberland plateau, is pretty. Small, but growing quickly and has many amenities. Great hiking and state parks nearby. Knoxville is an hour away, and Chattanooga a bit further.

Johnson City and Jonesborough are beautiful, at the foot of bigger mountains. Elizabethton is an absolutely lovely small town near Johnson City, and at the foot of the Appalachians. With the Tri-cities area nearby, you'd have easy access to "city stuff".

Maryville is nice - close to the Smokies, also growing really fast, and about 40 minutes (if I recall correctly) to downtown Knoxville.