What's wrong with Cordova? (Memphis, Germantown: section 8, homeowners association, high crime)

[MrsMichelle]

Bartlett can not be taken into the city it is incorporated. The prices of homes there go up every year. There are $250k plus subdivisions being built now. Bartlett is a nice area.

[Dd714]

I stand corrected. Yes you are correct. Bartlett is a fine area but make sure your address is within the city limits.

[tmm777]

Collierville is a nice town. Lot's of expensive homes. But there is still some crime there that must be from the criminals in Memphis who know where the money is.

[deidre]

I am from Memphis, born and raised. I disagree with several statements on this thread. I currently live in Cooper Young, a"hip" area of midtown MEMPHIS. I love my neighborhood and appreciate the diversity and character of the area. Memphis is statistically a dangerous city, however, there is no place on this earth where one is free from danger. The suburbs lead people into feeling erroneously safe. Crime happens everywhere. The property values in my area of town have been going through the roof and my homes value has doubled in the passed 8 years. People who attempt to flee the city in hopes of achieving some sort of safety "mirage" contribute to urban decay and are a major contributor to the problem facing our city. Taxes are cheaper in the county, however, no one has mentioned the problem Shelby County is having lately with poor ambulance response time. Several people have died or are in critical condition due to recent county ambulance times for 30-45 minutes. You get what you pay for. The city also offers a curbside recycling program that the county lacks. The county will be facing higher taxes in the near future as the council searches for ways to fund additional paramedic teams and ambulances. Some streets in the county are poorly lit, some don't have street lights at all and many are lacking in sidewalks. There are exceptions. There are pros and cons to every area. A friend who moved here and settled in Collerville laments to me that she has to drive 30- 45 minutes to go to restaurant that is not some sort of a chain. Where does she go? To Cooper Young and Downtown- in the city. On the flip side, Memphis City schools are not good and there are only a couple that pass muster. My children as a result attend private schools. As a teacher, I have had the privledge of working in city, county and Parochial schools. Honestly, there are only a few county schools I would seriously consider and they are in ridiculously (and for most prohibitively) expensive neighborhoods. One problem the county does have is that -as people have run off to the burbs to get a better education for their children they create a problem where schools are overcrowded and education is suffering. Its a catch 22. People keep fleeing East in hopes of a better situation but the problems follow. We make jokes that one day there will be suburbs extending all the way to Nashville. My husband and I are considering moving to cordova. We will keep our house in the city -but lately we have found that our Jobs have taken us to the Bartlett, Cordova and Germantown areas. Our children attend school now at a Parochial school where I teach and many of their activitites are "out there". We find that we shop "out there"(cordova) more and more often. The home prices are low enough that we can have a very large house for our children to grow up in and a large yard -we don't mind paying the city taxes- we use the city services. The neighborhood is not as diverse as the one we live in but it is diverse -a bit of diversity is good. Realisitcally, if you look at Memphis' numbers there is no place that is immune to racial diversity or crime. The people who will make Cordova fall in the future are the ones that flee. If that happens and I hope it wont- it will be quite a while before the effects are fully appreciated. And woe to Germantown, Bartlett and Lakeland. Cordova is sandwiched in between these county areas- if Crdova goes down- that will effect the surrounding areas as well- and there will be no place to turn-As i write this there is a news flash on tv regarding a "rash of car vandalisms in COllerville"

[MightyMouse1975]

Just move to Bartlett, it's the best bang for the buck, the cops patrol the streets like it's going out of style, there are plenty children, the average home value is pretty decent and increasing, the average household income is better than some of the other affordable cities, and you can still get a nice home at a decent price.
The city of Bartlett is more family oriented than Cordova, and has much less crime. The city of Cordova is decaying at a rapid pace. House prices are dropping and the criminal element is moving in. The people who you don't want in your neighborhood are moving in, and no, not "african americans" I live in a subdivision where I would say it's a pretty even 50/50 split white/black and I love where I live. I have 1 white family accross the street, and am surrounded by 5 or 6 other balck families. I'm wihte (spelling is intentional).. Do I mind it.. not really.. I mostly talk to the black gentleman accross the street from me, as he shares a common interest of motorcycles with me, as do 2 other of the balck men in my subdivision. I dont' care what color you are, as long as your keepin up with your home. Well, where I live the houses are relitively expensive for the greater Memphis area, and people who buy them are going to take care of them. Cordova is full of homes for MUCH lower prices.. Some of these homes would make perfect investment properties (rentals).. Do you think this would help your resale in that area? No.. people who rent tend to care much less. The cops can't keep up with the crime anymore, now that they're annexed (I'm talking about Cordova/Memphis) and now there are 1700 students who don't have a classroom to go to because they just don't have the room anymore.
The people moving into Cordova aren't the kind of neighbors you want. How do I know? I lived there with my in-laws while trying to find a home for my family. While there my car was broken into, their cable junction box was graffitied and recently their fence was grafittied This was something that was UNHEARD of about 3 years ago. Not it is becoming common place as the cops can do nothing about it. There just aren't enough of them. You have a man like "willie" in office who keeps getting voted in based on the fact that he is balck, which is not helping anyone. What Memphis and cordova need is a good, decent balck man to run for mayor and start cleaning the city up. Let's face it, I'm the minority in the area, and my vote doesn't stand a chance against the young african american's in the area, if they had someone decent to vote for (since they won't vote for a white man) then perhaps the city would become cleaned up a little, but .. no one wants the job as mayor anyway, or they're all too afraid to challenge the corrupt Herrington. i wouldn't put an attempt on someone's life past him.
Regardless of what the cause for decay is in Cordova, it's there, and your best bet is to steer clear of it. Bartlett is growing more each day, crime still stays low, and when they open 385 commutes to Southwind and other areas will be reduced. If you work in Memphis bartlett is an even more attractive choice as it's only 15-20 minutes driving time to Downtown. That's during peak hours too!..
Bartlett rocks!..

Germantown is too expensive in my opinion, and a crime wave is taking Collierville by surprise.
maybe they can fight it off,.. I bought in Bartlett because I felt it was the best investment for my family, the schools are decent, there are PLENTY of parks, and it's very safe. Property tax is fairly low and the housing cost is decent.
(all of my views are skewed because I grew up in NJ and cost of living is pretty dang high up there).

[MightyMouse1975]

Originally Posted by TheBigApple

I wouldn't move into the 38125 area. It is currently unincorporated, but will likely be annexed by Memphis by Dec. 31st unless the residents can stop it with a lawsuit. Although it's a pretty nice area right now, I can see it becoming the next Hickory Hill within the next 5-10 years.

To piggy back on this.. A crime spree has hit this area as well. I work in this area and so far.. 3 bank robberies, a shooting at the grocery store, a woman I know was almost raped in the bathroom of the resturant she works in, and I believe 8 or 9 robberies at gun point in the local resturants ..
that's since August or so.. by the way..

[tigergal]

Originally Posted by Dd714

Bartlett's OK for a temporary location but I wouldn't buy a house there. Again you are looking at a place that has or will be incorporated by the city of Memphis and you will probably find your home depreciating. Yikes, Don't even START with a race discussion again about Memphis - that means trolls coming in, deleted posts, and eventual the thread locked up by the mods.

Bartlett will not be incorporated by the city of Memphis because it is an incorporated town of its own. Bartlett is incorporated from the Memphis line at Old Brownsville all the way to Arlington.

[Dd714]

Tigergal - welcome to 2 weeks ago, I corrected myself already on that subject.

MightyMouse - how has your post NOT been removed by the mods yet? Anytime I even mention the mayor I get a "post removed" message and I won't even talk about what happens when race gets mentioned. Anyways I totally agree with your post. King Willie the mayor - don't even get me started.

[Dd714]

Rabbi-Torah? Mister Miester is that you again? LOL good handle. Don't let them ban you again.

[newbienc]

Collierville is nice-- Germantown is nicer.