Moving to Memphis Q's (Central, Midtown: rent, how much, home)

[Randal Cher]

I am a 23 year old single male moving to Memphis to work at Univ of Memphis and need info on best places to live. Can someone tell me some good areas to live in. I am looking for a safe, hip area, with a lot of bars, restaurants,, nightlife, etc. I I really do not know anything about the area. Any suggestions and tips would be appreciated

[Tigertate]

Based on what you are looking for, I would suggest downtown, midtown, or East Memphis. Check out the Cooper Young neighborhood and High Point. Both of those areas are very close to the U of M.

[yaeger07]

Downtown. It'll be a 20 minute or less commute to work, but you'll be able to walk to bars, restaurants, and nightlife. How much are you looking to spend? Are you looking for a 1 bed?

[ladybug35]

Midtown. Overton Square is great, and the rent is still reasonable, unlike Downtown. Plus Downtown to campus is an awful commute sometimes.

[jabogitlu]

I agree with ladybug. I drive from downtown to campus a few times a week and it always takes me at least 30 minutes. That's peak times.

Cooper-Young is the hippest Midtown neighborhood with lots of bars and restaurants. There's a ton of small bungalow housing in that neighborhood and shouldn't be too hard to find a rental.

Overton Square is about a mile on north up Cooper Street from Cooper-Young neighborhood. It's getting an infusion of new bars, restaurants, and it's the theatre district (two stage theatres, one more being built, and Midtown's only cinema). The housing supply is more limited there but it's still possible.

Other Midtown neighborhoods (Vollintine Evergreen, Evergreen, Central Gardens, Annesdale Park) are much more residential in nature and thus quieter.

I would rule out East Memphis based on your qualification of "hip." East Memphis is a lot of good things, but it just doesn't say hip to me.

[Blutbad]

I think you'll want to check out downtown. I moved here from out of state less than a year ago, and live in a high rise right along the trolley line. It's been incredibly easy to find a good time even without much knowledge of the area, given all of the events and amenities available within walking distance. And rent is more than reasonable if you ask me.

Midtown is just a short drive away. The drive home from midtown and other areas further east of downtown in the evening can be pretty enjoyable, too, thanks to the views of the skyline silhouetted against the setting sun.

In terms of what you say you're looking for ("a safe, hip area, with a lot of bars, restaurants,, nightlife, etc."), I think that the downtown area will satisfy your needs most easily. Not to say that other parts of town do not have plenty to offer as well or anything like that - it's just that that downtown, you have a walkable area with everything you've just listed. Many of the biggest attractions in town are no more than a 15 - 20 minute walk away.

Of course, it's all going to come down to your personal preferences with respect to aesthetics, basic amenities and such. Based on what you've said, though, I rather strongly suspect you'll get most of what you're looking for within zip codes 38103 (downtown) and 38104 (most parts of midtown, by my newbie understanding of it).