Decent area for an affordable 3 bedroom? (Memphis, Midtown: apartments, houses, safe area)

[Sneezy]

My husband is working not from from Fuller State park and the rest of us are looking towards being able to join him in Memphis sometime after the new year. I am beginning to look for apartments, but not finding much that sounds good. Are there any places where our family could find a 3 bedroom in a halfway decent area for somewhere around 800 a month? The reviews of everything close to that are not so good and many that I have found are in areas that either seem very far for the drive to work or are in areas anywhere from yellow to red on the map. A plus would be something in a decent driving distance to where the Scout Shop (S. Hollywood St.) is as there is a really good chance our oldest could get on there at some point with his history of working at the one in NC where we live.

[jabogitlu]

A 3 bedroom for $800 is pretty rare here. I just checked the North Creek apartments in Southaven, MS, which has a 3x2 for $980 a month. That's a very good price for a 3 bedroom in this metro. At least in my opinion.

Affordable but somewhat safe areas between TO Fuller and South Hollywood... Yeah, not really. This is Alcy Ball, South Parkway neighborhoods, etc. - which generally have questionable reputations. If you were long-term residents who knew the neighborhoods, knew the region, knew the people? You could probably find a good place to live (e.g., Westwood, Glenview, or something similar). Moving in blind, I would not recommend living in these areas. Another thing to consider since you have kids - the schools in South Memphis aren't the best.

I would probably tell you to look at Southaven, Olive Branch, Hernando. Something in North Mississippi. Downtown and Midtown are out of your budget for the most part, and other parts of town are farther away from TO Fuller area. North MS Schools are probably generally decent. (I don't have kids so... verify this info.)

Edited to add - the other option is Whitehaven. I don't know much about this area at all, except that it generally has a very "salty" reputation in Memphis. Maybe some other posters will be able to better inform you here.

[Sneezy]

My husband is actually in a room in Hickory Hill near Kirby Dr. area and even though I have read a lot of bad on here about the area, he doesn't think it seems too bad after the past month of being there. I also ran across an apartment listing for a place called lair House apartments and was wondering if anyone knew anything about them. It looks like it is within a green area on the map, but pretty much on the edge. I knew that we didn't want anything too close to his job as that industrial area is one of the places I did get to see when I accompanied him as he came to interview. I don't know where exactly I was, but it looked extremely run down, lots of little strip malls with auto zone, mcdonalds, cvs, and the like there. All I knew for sure was that it did not look like an area that was going to be a good fit, especially since we would like to work on being able to adopt once we get moved.

[Sneezy]

Another edge of the green on the map is Mendenhall apartments, it said gated, but wasn't sure on it.

[ckdub]

Look on N. Mississippi Craigslist for houses in Southaven and Horn Lake. There are several options around $800-$900. Sometimes, apartments run more expensive than houses.

[jabogitlu]

Don't lose sight of schools. I hate to harp on a negative issue of Memphis, but schools in North Mississippi are going to be better than those in Hickory Hill. Of course, you'll have state income tax in Mississippi - you'll have to figure out if it will be better for your family to pay for better education in South-ish Memphis, or pay income taxes in North Mississippi. At least, that's what I would be focusing on. Along with other quality of life issues - Hickory Hill just isn't so attractive to me, personally.

[DubbleT]

JP Freeman Optional used to have a very good program, often giving some of the kids from other optional programs a run for their money in some academic type competitions.
I'm too many years out to say whether it's still as good, but I would imagine so. It rarely gets mentioned because it is in south Memphis and some of those n'hoods are less than desirable.

[Tigertate]

The JP Freeman optional program is still VERY good.

[Sneezy]

Thankfully, I do not need to worry about schools until such time as we are ready to adopt. For now just looking for a place we can move to so my oldest and i can join my husband in January where my son in college can join us in the summers. I figure once I move there, I will begin meeting people and learn what areas are good and what schools are good so we can begin working with the process towards adoption around the same time we move into a house somewhere that we choose the area much more knowingly. I am sure I will be learning about what this JP Freeman program is after we move there as an option :-).