Favorite city in the state of Tennessee? (Memphis, Knoxville: houses, neighborhoods)

[Matty1277]

I love Knoxville, the city, being close to the smoky mountains, just the city in general. What is your favorite city in Tennessee?

[jjbradleynyc]

For a bigger city, Nashville for sure.

Medium-sized city, Franklin is so nice.

Smaller town that is quieter, Jonesborough. Smaller town that is cozy and bustling, Gatlinburg.

[Shakeesha]

Big city: Nashville

Midsize: Murfreesboro

Small: Cookeville, the city has really improved for the better. The city was devastated by the recent tornado, but the community has come together.

[KY_Transplant]

Memphis...but just to visit. I wouldn’t want to live in Memphis, and not for the obvious reasons of crime, but it’s sort of isolated location.

But Memphis is an awesome city to visit with so much character and a genuineness to it. The people are beyond friendly in all the trips I have made there for business and leisure.

[JMT]

Nashville
Chattanooga
Franklin
Cookeville
Sewanee

[jcp123]

Nashville. I like the up-and-comer vibe, though it’s a bit pricey and the freeways were pretty poorly thought out. Still, looks like a nice place to live. I got to park for the night at the TA truck stop a couple of weeks ago and take a walk across the bridge and up and down Broadway. Eerily deserted for a Friday, thanks to the virus which shall not be named, which gave me this really unique first view of a place which looks really charming and more genuinely urban than I had really imagined.

Chattanooga has a really pretty setting, and bonus points for a fun name.

Memphis, I think, is something of an up-and-comer. I love its history. It has a lot of challenges, but it has used it’s fairly strategic location for logistics as an underpinning for its economy, and I feel like some people are starting to return to its musical and cultural history. Place is on a slow burn back to being in good health, I think.

[Creekcat]

Originally Posted by KY_Transplant

Memphis...but just to visit. I wouldn’t want to live in Memphis, and not for the obvious reasons of crime, but it’s sort of isolated location.

But Memphis is an awesome city to visit with so much character and a genuineness to it. The people are beyond friendly in all the trips I have made there for business and leisure.

I never thought of Memphis as isolated before. Looking at a map though, it kinda is. Nashville a little over 3 hours away, even St. Louis, is about that far. Little Rock is a little over 2 and Jackson, MS is nearly 4, I think. So yea, I guess it is isolated.

[mattec]

Originally Posted by Creekcat

I never thought of Memphis as isolated before. Looking at a map though, it kinda is. Nashville a little over 3 hours away, even St. Louis, is about that far. Little Rock is a little over 2 and Jackson, MS is nearly 4, I think. So yea, I guess it is isolated.

When I was working down there, we had a new boss come in from Detroit and he said Memphis was like a million people in the middle of nowhere.

But to be fair, most cities in the interior of the US are.

As for the question, I'd probably rate Memphis higher than Nashville at this point. There's just as much to do and it's a lot more affordable. But I don't think I'll be able to move back anytime soon.

[Bamaman1]

I lived in Nashville my first 18 years and moved to Memphis for college and stayed 18 years. Then I moved to rural Williamson County for 5 years and found heaven again.

Memphis is seeing a resurgence in the north end of Downtown fueled by a $2 billion St. Jude expansion and another huge construction centered around the convention center, etc. There's also a huge amount of construction going on in various parts of the city including Midtown and around the University of Memphis.

But there's not much you can do about crime. Every business in Shelby County must have security guards every hour they're open. That includes churches and office buildings.

Everywhere you look, you see flashing blue lights as a mental suggestion to criminals that they are being watched. There are closed circuit television cameras up on utility poles (with flashing blue lights) watching virtually every residential street in the city.

The politicians have not taken care of the city. They refused to fund the city schools and passed schools off to the county. Individual towns formed their own schools which are good, but now county schools have deteriorated to unacceptable levels. The streets are incredibly rough and approaching potholes of NYC--with no plans to support their infrastructure.

It is simply not a cohesive community, and I'd hate to think where the city would be if Pitt Hyde, Fred Smith, Mike Rose and a few business giants had not formed successful companies in the 80's and 90's.

But right now, there's no better place to have warehouses. It's got 3 interstate highways, great air freight and incredible rail facilities. And it's pretty much in the middle of the U.S.--like Nashville & St. Louis are.

[cjairo191]

I use to say Chattanooga, but Knoxville because of the Smoky Mountains and neighborhoods near the University.