Coming back home to Memphis, TN!! Where should we look? (Bartlett: fit in, to rent)

[BacktoMemphis]

Hi y'all!!

I'm 26 years old and born and bred in Cordova, TN, in 2002 after some issues with the neighborhood and new business opportunities for my family we moved to Round Rock, Texas where I'm currently residing. I have a wife and a 3 year old daughter and an amazing opportunity has come up for me back home in TN in Downtown Memphis on Madison Ave just off Center Lane.

We stayed in Collierville which I am glad to see has held up quite nicely but I didn't get to do much exploring and since most of my family is either here in Texas or retired and left the area I don't have anyone to reach out to who still has their finger on the pulse of what's good and bad in the area, that's why I am on this forum.


Here is what I am looking for: a nice starter home (a 3/2) in a stable, safe neighborhood with great schools and good and steady property values. My personal preference is for homes in an established neighborhood, no need for anything vintage but I have lived in neighborhoods growing up that are all new construction subdivisions that just sprung from nowhere and I don't like it. Tree lined streets and access to nature are a gigantic plus! Our family's' strong preference is for a 100% Republican area, with no or very few Democrats, if y'all know what I mean. If any of y'all are familiar with the Birmingham, AL area...the suburb of Mountain Brook is a place we love and would like to find an analog too in our community. We are open to looking into MS as well if need be.

Our budget is around $300,000 for now.

Thank you in advance for helping our family find a place to call home in the Memphis area.

[SethyDuck]

It sounds like you would fit in well in Germantown or Collierville, check both of those out. Cordova has generally gone a little downhill since you've left, it is becoming rather trashy.

[jabogitlu]

I think calling Cordova rather trashy is a bit of an overstep. IKEA and Cheesecake Factory have both just announced store openings in Cordova...

[BacktoMemphis]

Yes I am avoiding Cordova like the plague! I had the oppurtunity to drive to my old neighborhood but I decided not too because I didn't want to tarnish the memories of my childhood in a safe and wholesome community. We were in one of the last portions to be annexed and within a span of nary a month it went from somewhere comparable to Bartlett to a blighted a a decaying community where my mother couldn't even walk the dog without being accosted by "urban youth".


As for Germantown and Collierville, how is the long term prognosis? Do you think in the coming years it will hold steady or decline in the way some DeSoto communities have with demographics changing for the worst. Are there certain sections of the area that are better than others? Should one try to stay close to the line with East Memphis around Poplar, or farther east? North or south?

It is my intention to find an srea that we can call home for years but given the history of parts of Shelby County experiencing negative demographic changes and decline in a very short time frame, we would like to be in an area with a good market so that we can sell and leave quickly should things take a turn for the worst. In Cordova we couldn't sell our house for a long while and even then the only buyer we could find severely low-balled us and intended to rent our home out to social services users, not use as a primary residence.

[Longtimelistener]

Your best bet is Collierville and long term it will be very steady. The idiocy of the leaders of Memphis can't touch it.

[MStoAZ]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I think calling Cordova rather trashy is a bit of an overstep. IKEA and Cheesecake Factory have both just announced store openings in Cordova...

What about the Walnut Grove area? Or east of Cordova, off Houston Levee? How are those areas?

[My_home_town]

Welcome home. Having lived in both Germantown and now Memphis, you won't have any problems living in Germantown. The city has strict codes for homes, businesses, and signage. It is well maintained. Germantown will always be a nice city and because of it's proximity to East Memphis, a great place to live. There are many homes within or below your price point in excellent established neighborhoods.

[eastmemphisguy]

Maybe we have different definitions of "starter home." $300,000, Mountain Brook, AL, and Germantown don't sound like starter houses to me. How is your tolerance for commuting? Gtown is also a pretty good drive from Downtown.

[SethyDuck]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I think calling Cordova rather trashy is a bit of an overstep. IKEA and Cheesecake Factory have both just announced store openings in Cordova...

No, it really isn't an overstep at all. Just because an ikea and cheesecake factory chose those locations, that doesn't mean they aren't trashy...wtf. They could've built it in orange mound, it would still be trashy.

Anyways, Cordova, or Cuhdova as some people say...has been on a downward spiral the last few years.

[jabogitlu]

haha, don't be obtuse. IKEA would never build in Orange Mound. Have you ever been to an IKEA in a downsliding area? Do you really think a multi-billion dollar industry would open a store in a neighborhood on the precipice of doom?

Some folks on this forum are quick to predict the downfall of Cordova. I wager that it is still one of the primary shopping districts in the Mid-South and will remain so for a number of years. Cordova has very little in common with Hickory Hill, Whitehaven or Raleigh. It's bordered by Shelby Farms, Germantown, Bartlett, and eastern Shelby County. Bartlett and Cordova may become more diverse in race and income throughout the years, but I don't think it will become an unsafe or trashy area.

(Now, do I think Cordova could become a better neighborhood - absolutely! If Memphis/SCS leaders had their heads screwed on straight, then they'd be actively promoting and investing in schools in Cordova, as I feel that's one area that holds Cordova way back, compared with surrounding independent municipalities.)