Desoto Co question.... (Memphis, Germantown, Collierville: neighborhoods, public schools, live)

[tigerphan]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I think one difference is that Frayser, Raleigh, Whitehaven, Hickory Hill, etc. were annexed by Memphis. DeSoto County seems much more stable at least for a mid-term buy. Who knows what will happen in 25+ years in any neighborhood!

For most suburban areas, the quality of public schools are of key importance. Hickory Hill's residential and retail development pattern depended on good schools for the neighborhood to remain viable. Shoppers from other part of the metro went there because it was, at the time, a safe middle class area with reasonable levels of traffic and plenty of shopping. Becoming part of MCS eliminated the reason for middle class families to remain there. The exodus of that tax base eliminated much of the reason for much of the retail to remain- and the retail in that area was largely overbuilt for basic nieghborhood shopping. It was a regional destination for shopping at one point like Germantown Parkway or Wolfchase is right now. Once crime started becoming a problem, the bulk of the development on the Winchester corridor between Riverdale and Mendenhall became obsolete.

Desoto Co. has very decent schools and probably will be for a while. If anything, the new development coming in the future will bring in more tax base and more stakeholders. Mississippi is aggressive with tax incentives for new corporate offices as well, which could bring in even more people along the new I-269 corridor. My big concern is land use. I think like Winchester in Hickory Hill or G'Town road in Cordova, Goodman Road is overbuilt for neighborhood retail. When it stops becoming a regional destination (and it will after I-269 opens up), property values in that north western Desoto area will decline.

Horn Lake and parts of NW Southaven may have some crime issues 20 years from now as the welfare class from Memphis creeps in, but I think Desoto as a whole will remain a desirable place for middle class families for a long time....certainly far better than the neighborhoods where I grew up .

[sammyreynolds1977]

Desoto will keep growing for the next 20 years or longer. Southaven is already over 50,000 in just ever 10 years, Horn Lake is about 25,000 and Olive Branch is at 35,000. Hernando is next and then it will go south towards Sentatobia. I wish it would start extending down towards Tunica Country though.

[tigerphan]

Originally Posted by sammyreynolds1977

I wish it would start extending down towards Tunica Country though.

I think some of the distribution and light manufacturing may slowly start moving that direction. The placement of the "southern gateway bridge" will probably contribute to it more than we can imagine. Last I heard the gateway was going to connect to I-269 west of I-55 and go north, crossing the river around stateline road and meeting up with I-40 5 or 6 miles west of West Memphis.

History has given Tunica the shaft with agriculture being more mechanized. The highway connections there now are very important to the future of that area.

[Robert_J]

Originally Posted by tigerphan

.....
My wife and I very nearly bought a home off Getwell near Snowden Grove ......

I've been in this area for 11 years and it has grown like crazy. The addition of the amphitheater, Desoto Central High, the 4 lane upgrade of Getwell and Church Road, etc. At one point there was a Pizza Hut takeout and a Sonic in the area. There's over 20 restaurants now and it's about half major chains and half locally owned. Same with the shopping.

With all of the additional people and traffic, I have not noticed an uptick in the crime. I follow the OBPD, City of Southaven and Desoto County Sheriff on Facebook for the crime information. My neighbor also has a police scanner and he keeps me up to date on emergency incidents.

Now that I say good things about Southaven and crime, I go to the Southaven city site, Police > Crime Reports and find a homicide in my zip code. I can't find a single detail on it though. It looks like the thefts are concentrated around retail locations and the assaults are at restaurants/bars.

[acarsme]

Hello all,
Me again. I am finally here in the Memphis area and have been for about a week now. I took a day to drive around Olive Branch and Southaven. I was really impressed with a lot of the houses and neighborhoods......I wasn't quite as impressed with some of the shopping/restaurants and what appears to be an abundance of strip shopping centers. I dunno, it just didn't seem quite as polished as some of the eastern Memphis suburbs I've also briefly explored. I can tell that this area seems to have a ton of room to grow yet though....I'm not sure if that's really a good thing or not though.

If I may, can I ask a question a little more specific to this area......out of the schools in Desoto Co, are there any that are better than others? Looking at that Great Schools web site, Desoto Central schools seem to get the best ratings, even though I believe that site is a lot of user based reviews. Are they really better than say Southaven or Olive Branch? Most of the houses I looked at were in the areas just off of Getwell, near Desoto Central High School.....I really did like the looks of a lot of these neighborhoods. Thanks for answering my questions.

[Darkseid]

The word amongst the locals is also that Desoto Central is the best as well. Southaven High School doesn't have as good of a reputation, but I think that is because the population that attends that school is generally of lower socioeconomic status.

You certainly can get a lot more house for your money in Desoto County.

[acarsme]

Can anyone chime in on the difference maybe between Desoto Central, Lewisberg, and Center Hill school districts? I knew Desoto Central was good, but I have also been told by some coworkers to check out Lewisberg and Center Hill.....seems like maybe house prices are even less in Center Hill school district, and according to GreatSchools.com, they get good scores, though I'm still not sure yet what those scores are completely based on.
Thanks.

[eastmemphisguy]

You're right. DeSoto isn't as polished as Gtown, Collierville, or even Bartlett. And that's why it's cheaper. Their schools are fine, but not as good as the better Shelby County Schools. In DeSoto, you have one foot in the Mississippi countryside. You have to decide if that's right for you.

[Robert_J]

Originally Posted by acarsme

Can anyone chime in on the difference maybe between Desoto Central, Lewisberg, and Center Hill school districts? I knew Desoto Central was good, but I have also been told by some coworkers to check out Lewisberg and Center Hill.....seems like maybe house prices are even less in Center Hill school district, and according to GreatSchools.com, they get good scores, though I'm still not sure yet what those scores are completely based on.
Thanks.

All under run by the Desoto county - Welcome to Desoto CSD :: Welcome to DeSoto County School District so if there are any differences, they are minor. DeSoto schools score an A in statewide accountability rankings » The Commercial Appeal

It's not the school, it's the effort you and your kids put into it. I graduated from the 5th worst high school in Arkansas in the 80's. I missed graduating college with honors by 2 hundredths of a point and I went on to get an MBA. I have been officially unemployed for one weekday when I was between jobs in the past 20 years. There are two newscasters in the Memphis market that came from the same high school and one is a classmate of mine (best local example I could think of).

[latunafish]

Originally Posted by Robert_J

All under run by the Desoto county - Welcome to Desoto CSD :: Welcome to DeSoto County School District so if there are any differences, they are minor. DeSoto schools score an A in statewide accountability rankings » The Commercial Appeal

It's not the school, it's the effort you and your kids put into it. I graduated from the 5th worst high school in Arkansas in the 80's. I missed graduating college with honors by 2 hundredths of a point and I went on to get an MBA. I have been officially unemployed for one weekday when I was between jobs in the past 20 years. There are two newscasters in the Memphis market that came from the same high school and one is a classmate of mine (best local example I could think of).

nice post and congratulations on your success and others from the "delta."