Suburbs in Arkansas and Mississippi? (Memphis, Bartlett: houses, neighborhood, elementary school)

[CristenS]

I don't live in Southaven, but obviously they have grocery stores, big box stores, plenty of chain restaurants. It's not like you'd have to drive to Memphis to buy gas or anything like that. But if you're looking for "something to do" on a weekend, it's more likely you'd drive to Memphis - museums, better restaurant selection, events, festivals, etc. There are many, many people who live there and drive across the border into TN to work, so you would fit in like everyone else there.

[tigerphan]

There's a lot of shopping in Southaven.

I wouldn't consider it one of the best suburbs, but it's affordable and it's fairly close to downtown. The public schools are better than what you get in Memphis. I'm not a huge fan of the development style or the lack of control over the growth there, but I can't deny the appeal of Southaven or Olive Branch for middle class families.

[South Main vol]

<<My spouse is considering a job in downtown Memphis, and I work from home, BUT, my employer told me that I cannot live in Tennessee (something about the costs they would incur by having an employee in TN). So we are considering the Arkansas or Mississippi suburbs.

Read more: //www.city-data.com/forum/memphis/2472694-suburbs-arkansas-mississippi.html#ixzz3qZsbSp5X>>

What do you do? Did your employer tell you why the costs for it would be more in Tennessee than AR or MS? This seems odd. Is your spouse's potential downtown Memphis job better than yours? Shelby County, Tennessee far exceeds the Arkansas suburbs, and if you look at where the highly educated and top income live, Shelby and (to a lesser degree Fayette County) Tennessee easily surpasses the Mississippi suburbs, although it is tolerable living in DeSoto County.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by South Main vol

<<My spouse is considering a job in downtown Memphis, and I work from home, BUT, my employer told me that I cannot live in Tennessee (something about the costs they would incur by having an employee in TN). So we are considering the Arkansas or Mississippi suburbs.

Read more: //www.city-data.com/forum/memphis/2472694-suburbs-arkansas-mississippi.html#ixzz3qZsbSp5X>>

What do you do? Did your employer tell you why the costs for it would be more in Tennessee than AR or MS? This seems odd. Is your spouse's potential downtown Memphis job better than yours? Shelby County, Tennessee far exceeds the Arkansas suburbs, and if you look at where the highly educated and top income live, Shelby and (to a lesser degree Fayette County) Tennessee easily surpasses the Mississippi suburbs, although it is tolerable living in DeSoto County.

Sounds to me like the company she works for doesn't have a presence in TN at all. If she moves here and sets up an office it would probably obligate them to all sorts of legalities they don't want to deal with for just one location.

[SouthernTiger]

Arkansas - Marion hands down. The further east you go on 40/55 in West Memphis, the worse it gets, And there's always construction there.

Mississippi - All of them except Walls.

Tennessee - Germantown is nice. Bartlett is nice. Lakeland and Collierville are nice. Millington...hmm...I, personally, wouldn't recommend, But it's from personal experience in Millington.

[South Main vol]

<<Arkansas - Marion hands down. The further east you go on 40/55 in West Memphis, the worse it gets, And there's always construction there.

Mississippi - All of them except Walls.

Tennessee - Germantown is nice. Bartlett is nice. Lakeland and Collierville are nice. Millington...hmm...I, personally, wouldn't recommend, But it's from personal experience in Millington.>>

Actually Millington's stats beat Horn Lake, the 3rd largest city in DeSoto County, especially in $100,000-$150,000 households. After Millington, all the Shelby County suburbs easily surpass the five DeSoto County suburbs.

[Jardine8]

I spent one morning driving around Bartlett recently but was disappointed in the housing stock there. It wasn't bad and wasn't the cookie cutter stuff that you see so much in the suburbs but the homes are older (which isn't really a bad thing) and a lot of the homes clearly haven't been updated, which is sort of a letdown. I want to like Bartlett and have considered it as an option when I buy a house in the metro area but the first impression of the housing options there was a bit of a letdown. Hopefully I just didn't find the right neighborhood or neighborhoods in Bartlett.

[85rx-7gsl-se]

What specifically are you hoping to find in Bartlett?

[Jardine8]

Originally Posted by 85rx-7gsl-se

What specifically are you hoping to find in Bartlett?

I assume that you were responding to my post. I was driving around and getting a feel for Bartlett and it's neighborhoods. I was looking for some of the better, older neighborhoods. However, almost all of the older houses that I saw were pretty modest in size and didn't look like they had been really updated since they were built.

Most of the houses were clearly built in the 1970s and 1980s, which is fine but it didn't look like many of the owners had invested much in their homes since they were purchased. I imagine that most of them look about like they did in 1980, though I only saw the exterior of the houses, not the interiors.

I had hoped to find some beautiful older neighborhoods and homes in Bartlett but I didn't really seem to find them and was overall disappointed in the housing stock that I did see. I guess that I will have to drive up there and look some more and hopefully stumble upon them. I am not ready to buy yet and won't be for awhile but I've been trying to get a headstart on it and have been getting more familiar with the different areas and neighborhoods around the metro area. Bartlett was on my list, as I had read positive comments about the city on here but, unfortunately, was disappointed on my initial visit.

[sldream]

Not sure why you couldn't find anything. I'm guessing you haven't really seen that much of Bartlett. Bartlett covers a huge area including 38133, 38134, and 38135. If you're looking for some stunning and impressive homes, the area in and around Davies Plantation near Brunswick would definitely fit the bill. There are some absolutely beautiful, tastefully updated and quite massive homes.