Downtown living...Memphis or Birmingham?

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by Mandalorian

You're going to get shot in both.

These aren't cute little white cities like Portland, Austin, etc. In both, the suburbs offer the best quality of life.

For Birmingham it's Mountain Brook and for Memphis it's Germantown.

It sounds like you haven't been to either. You should get out more before spewing paranoia.

I stayed in downtown Memphis for 3 weeks back in 2012 for job training and it was absolutely fantastic! Even at night, I never felt unsafe. I always used common sense of course and stayed in well lit areas as well as kept an eye out for my surroundings.

True, Beale Street is hard to beat, but Birmingham is definitely doing amazing things in its downtown.

For now, I would go with Memphis, but not by much.

[bawac34618]

I'm going to say Memphis. Birmingham has no answer for Beale St and the soul and nightlife that goes with it. Memphis also has Harbortown, a full-fledged new urbanist community that looks like a great place to live. Not sure if Birmingham has anything like it.

[Mandalorian]

Originally Posted by WanderingImport

It sounds like you haven't been to either. You should get out more before spewing paranoia.

I stayed in downtown Memphis for 3 weeks back in 2012 for job training and it was absolutely fantastic! Even at night, I never felt unsafe. I always used common sense of course and stayed in well lit areas as well as kept an eye out for my surroundings.

True, Beale Street is hard to beat, but Birmingham is definitely doing amazing things in its downtown.

For now, I would go with Memphis, but not by much.

I've spent time in both, considerably more in Birmingham. I like both cities/areas quite a lot, but there are places to live and places to go out to.

Being in Memphis for three weeks and staying in a presumably nice hotel is a heck of a lot different than actually living there.

I'd go downtown, shop, eat, make merry, etc. But at the end of the day, I just wouldn't feel safe living and sleeping there with all my possessions. If I don't feel safe, I don't want others to feel unsafe either.