Moving to Memphis/ University of Memphis (Bartlett, Germantown: houses, neighborhood, buy)

[jimlacas]

i am glad someone said something here to challenge the status quo. In my search for housing I never once considered Midtown. I wanted to live in East Memphis within 1-3 miles of the University. I was told it was mostly dangerous. Why is Midtown safer? Do the police not patrol and respond in areas people have deemed unsafe?
I have recently been looking at places in Bartlett, especially small older houses with 2+ acre lots. I think I would trade space and privacy for "convenience" and prestige any day. I enjoy going to Home Depot or Target or even a Walmart when I need to do shopping, and having places like this nearby is a major selling point for me.
I might live near the university for a while to get a feel for the area, but I think the more undeveloped areas around town seem more appealling. I am not in love with strip malls or coffee joints, in fact I usually use neither, but I like the wide open spaces that are either farm or forest now. It reminds me of growing up in Washington, DC on the far edge of suburbia back in the early 70s. We had fun exploring the woods and its wildlife.

[Pearlbob]

Midtown and east Memphis are pretty similar. Midtown is just older, by a little. It depends on what "east" you mean. Southeast is not good. Plain east (staying around Poplar) is fine. Northeast is okay.

I consider UM to be in east Memphis, however I have heard hundreds of people refer to it as being in Midtown. People who don't live in the city tend to blend it all together

You can't generalize areas like this as safe or unsafe. Areas with heavy crime, like south or north Memphis, duh, are unsafe. But within the middle part of the city, it's very finicky. Just depends on the particular neighborhood. One of the main police precincts is on Union in Midtown, in Central Gardens. There is constant police patrol in the area due to this. (that station is moving to Lamar in the distant future however)

There is a Target near the UM. There is also supposedly a new Target being built in Midtown, near the new Home Depot off of Avalon. As for Walmarts...I have no clue. I haven't been in one for years. There are plenty of grocery stores all over midtown and east Memphis. To me, I like being further away from big chain stores like Wal Mart because if you are near one of those, you are near traffic. I have mixed opinions about the Target planned for Midtown because of that. The Home Depot has been a very nice addition, although it's abuot 1/2 the size of a regular one so it's not frequented by companies as much, just regular people.

[Pearlbob]

On wikipedia, they list the major Memphis neighborhoods...pretty imformative.

Category:Memphis, Tennessee neighborhoods - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[jimlacas]

Are the following parks major bum hangouts, or are they more family/exercise oriented?

1. Shelby Farms
2. Sea Isle Park
3. Audubon Park
4. Marquette Park

Also, are the neighborhoods within a block or two of these parks decent areas?

[Pearlbob]

Shelby Farms is huge. The largest urban park in the country I think. It's out towards the burbs. So it's waaaaaay too far for bums to walk out there There are buffalo roaming sections of the park, if that gives you a hint of how big it is. There are big suburban neighborhoods nearby, but not really walkable...I guess some are to the immediate north, off of Whitten I think.

Audubon is the one off of Park, right? It's nice, there is a golf course, tennis, and the Botanical Gardens. It's near UM and Oak Court Mall...maybe a bum or two but again that's pretty far for bums to be walking. The area around is okay, not to the south though. The Southern railroad runs right next to it.

I've never heard of Sea Isle...Marquette rings a bell but I'd have to search to see where it is.

[Pearlbob]

Oh okay Marquette is Park and Mt. Moriah. It's okay...getting towards an iffy area. Further SE is not good, Hickory Hill.

[jimlacas]

pearlbob,
Sea Isle Park is located just to the east of S White Station Rd, roughly halfway between Park and 240. It is not very large, but it is surrounded by Colonial Acres.

Thanks

[jimlacas]

I was wondering how the area around Walnut Grove and N Holmes is? I noticed there are several duplexes for sale and rent there.

[Pearlbob]

N. Holmes is exactly where my friend lived, the one who was scared in her house due to the bad neighborhood, who's husband worked nights. It's very, very bad. Right to the east of Holmes are expensives houses, but to the west are tons of boarded up homes. Right behind East HS...it's scary.

I just can't recommend anything south of Park near I-240...but maybe there is something I'm not aware of down there. White Station would be more east, which would be better. I don't know where the park is that you're speaking of, I don't go down that far ever. I had a friend who owned a home further east, and he was trying to sell because the area was slowly getting bad. We'd hear gunshots at night often...the neighborhood was good but the crime from the south was rising up north.

[pearlieBOBbieQ]

that's the thing about living anywhere NEAR Midtown in Memphis....one block can be nice (like Chickasaw Gardens), and 2 blocka over it looks like the ghetto, for sure there are some nice OLDER homes in Midtown, but I wouldn't bother given the choices of much newer homes east of Perkins, to Germantown, Collierville, Arlington, Eads, and even further out...you couldn't pay me to live even in Chickasaw Gardens when there are other just as nice or much better areas like River Oaks/Massey, Bray Station, north Houston Levy, etc....