First Trip to Memphis (Knoxville, Bartlett: apartment complexes, rental, condo)

[jabogitlu]

There's a ~75% chance that my husband and I will be moving to Memphis in July to go to UM. He'll be transferring from ETSU (another TBR school) and I'll be in grad school. I'm posting this for people in a situation similar to ours or for anyone else who wants to read. For the record I know very little about Memphis, like its politics or past or anything like that. This is just an opinion on the physicality of the city.

We came down last weekend (Sunday/Monday) to check out the city, since neither one of us had really been in Memphis before. First of all, I have to say that we both LOVED the city. We stayed downtown, and, although we didn't get to see much of it, we did walk some along the trolly line down to a market to get some food, and we liked what we saw. Didn't get to check out South Main or Beale St. or anything like that. Downtown felt very safe and clean. We were right on Court Square (I think?).

We were trying to figure out which neighborhoods were good, bad, ugly, etc., so we spent most of our time along the Poplar corridor. Getting from downtown to midtown, the area was a little rough, but nothing terrible. Midtown, Evergreen, Central Gardens and Cooper-Young were much closer-in to the core than I had imagined. We actually didn't make it to Cooper-Young, and didn't spend a whole lot of time exploring any of these areas, because we focused our efforts closer to UM. But we did comb through Central Gardens (thanks, JMT!) and liked what we saw.

I really liked Chickasaw Gardens as well. The northern part of Normal Station, from the university on up, and the Galloway area were SUPER nice. I guess we came into Memphis expecting to see one large ghetto city, but what we found was diametrically opposite to that.

Audobon, Colonial and Eastgate were our favorite parts of the city, though. I was initially set on trying to find a rental in the Midtown area, but after having left the city I'm trying to find a condo or townhouse for rent out this direction. Our jobs will be at Target and Fresh Market, so this area would be really convenient to those stores, to the university and to Germantown.

On the big neighborhoods map that's posted in this forum, all of Cordova is colored purple. I'm sure there are dicey areas in there, but everything that we saw and drove through was pretty nice. Just judging from what we saw in a drive-by, I wouldn't mind living there.

Pros:
- All of the neighborhoods along Poplar are super nice, especially Evergreen, Galloway, Audobon and Colonial.

- The city is really easy to navigate. I turned off my GPS after a couple hours, unless I needed it to find a small road to look at an apartment building or something.

- Downtown has a lot going for it. It's going to take some more work, but if Memphis can stitch together downtown and midtown you guys could have a really great, dynamic city.


Cons:
- The area south, around west Orange Mound and Alcy-Ball/Alcy-Dunn (not 100% sure of names) was really, really rough. I didn't really expect that bad areas could look that bad. Then again, I grew up in the countryside and the biggest city I've lived in is Knoxville. So... We drove through there (to Graceland) in the daylight, but I didn't necessarily feel unsafe. Still, I wouldn't have walked around. If we bring visitors to Graceland, we'll definitely take I-240 to Elvis Presley Blvd. After that interchange, it gets somewhat better.

- The northern areas of the city, around Sam Cooper Boulevard, have so much potential, but it's just wasted. (I guess that would be Berclair, and northern Brennan?) Is there any inertia towards urban pioneers renovating these areas, or are they still just lost?

- I appreciate all of the big, nice roads in Memphis but some of them felt like overkill. It's time to renovate East Parkway North and Sam Cooper Boulevard into smaller boulevards and disperse traffic into the street grid. Lots of experiments have shown that big highways kill local investment, and the proof is in the pudding in this area. Is anyone in the city talking about progressive planning movements like this?

- We passed through a pretty urban area that had a trolly line and went by the UT Memphis area. I'm having trouble figuring out where that was now, on a map. Any help? The area looked rough overall but I'm just trying to figure out where it was at. It also had quite a bit of potential.



All in all, we've decided to make the move. Memphis looked like a great, dynamic city. There was a lot of hustle and bustle, and the city was working on many projects. The HOPE VI development near downtown (forget the name) had a very nice look to it, much better than the housing projects of decades past. I've never been in a city where, for the most part, the urban areas were safe and the suburban areas were real trash pits. I liked this set-up, though, because we get to live in an urban area that is very convenient to everything we need. The area around the university was absolutely beautiful, as was the campus itself.


One more question. We decided on Centennial Gardens as our backup plan, in case we can't find another house/apartment/condo that we like. This complex is on Centennial Drive, just off Winchester Road. Any opinions of the complex? I have lived in both big apartment complexes and in rental houses in sketchy neighborhoods and I felt much safer in the latter. Is that the same in Memphis, generally? Also, this area is pretty close to Hickory Hill. Anyone have experience living in the area? Lots of petty crime? There looked like a nice Target and Walmart right there. We also ate at TGIF and everyone seemed very middle class and nice. But am I totally overlooking something?


Thanks for reading guys!

[Donnie Darko]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I guess we came into Memphis expecting to see one large ghetto city, but what we found was diametrically opposite to that.

Agree with your post and especially this comment. I had been reading this board for a few weeks before I made the trek to Memphis and came away with a much higher impression of the city than some residents on this forum. Maybe it is just a case of unhappy people being the loudest?

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I guess we came into Memphis expecting to see one large ghetto city, but what we found was diametrically opposite to that.

Finally, a bit of reality from someone who has actually visited Memphis!

Thanks for sharing your views.

I grew up in Midtown, but my parents later moved to the Eastgate area. I have always loved that area and understand why you would want to live there.

[JMT]

I'm so glad you had a good trip to Memphis! The 8 years I spent living in Memphis and the Memphis area were glorious.

I hope you'll get to Cooper-Young on your next visit. Remember to eat at Café Olé and eat one of their bacon-wrapped stuffed bbq shrimps for me!

[Tigertate]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

One more question. We decided on Centennial Gardens as our backup plan, in case we can't find another house/apartment/condo that we like. This complex is on Centennial Drive, just off Winchester Road. Any opinions of the complex? I have lived in both big apartment complexes and in rental houses in sketchy neighborhoods and I felt much safer in the latter. Is that the same in Memphis, generally? Also, this area is pretty close to Hickory Hill. Anyone have experience living in the area? Lots of petty crime? There looked like a nice Target and Walmart right there. We also ate at TGIF and everyone seemed very middle class and nice. But am I totally overlooking something?


Thanks for reading guys!

Great post!!

I do not know much about the Centennial Gardens complex (is this the new one behind Target?), but if I would definitely feel better in a rental property in Normal Station, Eastgate, or Colonial Acres, that I would in a large apartment complex. in my opinion there are just too many people on top of each other in large apartment complexes. Apartments in Memphis are also very tricky. They can look very nice, but have several really bad tenants and a lot of crime. You mentioned the hope 6 projects near DT Memphis. Well, several of the former residents were moved to apartments in the Hickory Hill area. Before I made the move to this complex I would try to get a feel from the staff if they are offering subsidized rent to former project residents. From my experience it seems that the larger the complex, the higher likelihood of them offering subsidized rent (mainly because of the need to keep occupancy up).


Also, Codova is not nearly as bad as some would have you believe. In my opinion the area is still quite nice; just way over developed.

[sillykriss83]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Those apartments are cute from the outside, but are a hot mess! I know a former tenant who lived over there, and she told me that the management TERRIBLE, kids all in the middle of the street. Just don't do it! I wouldn't advise my worst enemy........well I would (don't judge me) to live in Hickory Hill. It brings me to tears on how nice and quiet that part of town used to be as recent as 2001. The Colonial/Evergreen/Audubon would be your best bet. Those nice apartments that were built where those projects off the interstate used to be is a good choice as well.

[jabogitlu]

Sillykriss, thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I'm 8 hours away - any tips on identifying what new apartments you're talking about?

Since I posted in this thread, I've found several new complexes in Midtown and Mud Island that we're considering instead of Centennial Gardens. I agree that it's a little close to the heart of Hickory Hill plus it's just a huge complex anyway... always lots of issues in those.

[rocketxko]

Personally, I would stay out of midtown. I've only been here two years, and while the area is nice and there are some cool places there, it is pretty close to bad areas. Winchester and hacks cross isn't that bad, but it isn't great. I considered that area when moving here. I don't know much about mud island. I eventually decided to go a few miles further east on Winchester, and I think it is much nicer at the edge of collierville.

[lulubrown]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Sillykriss, thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I'm 8 hours away - any tips on identifying what new apartments you're talking about?

Since I posted in this thread, I've found several new complexes in Midtown and Mud Island that we're considering instead of Centennial Gardens. I agree that it's a little close to the heart of Hickory Hill plus it's just a huge complex anyway... always lots of issues in those.

Hickory Hill is just a crying shame. Truly. Sad but true. Just scratch anything in or rather near Hickory Hill off your list, dear. I take no remote pleasure in typing that out by the way.

Mud Island is very lovely. That whole area is tended to quite nicely and it is also just gorgeous.

Midtown is super cool. But you have to be mindful of where you will ultimately be hanging you hat. Revid Realty has scads of listings and I have more than a few friends who have spoken rather highly of them. You could use their web site as a starting point and then go to the crime listings area of The Memphis Daily News web site and do a bit of double checking on a thing or two.

Here is the web site for Revid...

Revid Realty

Here is the web site for the crime listings area of the Memphis Daily News...

Memphis Daily News - Crime Report Map - A map of reported crimes for Memphis and Shelby County - Updated Daily - Business, Government, Politics, News, Public Records, Public Notices, Crime Report, Neighborhood Report, Marketing Lists, Research

Memphis as a whole is a highly under-appreciated city of the American South. But, we do have our fair share of crime here and I am not one to mince or parse words over that because I truly believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure on that end.

[GrittyKitty]

I live in what is considered Berclair, but it is real close to East Memphis. We are in the 4900 block of Durbin between Mendenhall and Bartlett Rd. Very convenient - Sam Cooper can take you into midtown, Mendenhall or White Station for Eastgate or further south (if the interstate is clogged), Summer Ave is a major artery. We are also about 3 long blocks up White Station from the new green line - a popular walking and bike path.

http://www.greatermemphisgreenline.o...ip-Academy.pdf

I feel safe in my neighborhood. Someone is always out in the yard around here. Can name about 75% of the people in the 22 houses in our section of the street. We look out for each other without being nosey. Good mix of folks - some young families, some older folks, some childless couples like us. Smallish homes, but a real cool area.

There is one house on my street that the man is trying to sell, but may rent it out. It is his mom's house - she passed last summer. It is 2 doors down from me - has a screened in back porch. He lives in Lebanon, but he has a realtor who can contact him.

I work for a TBR school. Good luck with your move. Let me know if I can help you with anything.