Moving to Memphis/ University of Memphis (Jackson, Germantown: real estate, apartment complexes, rentals)

[Anne81]

Hello. I just found this website and have read some of the shocking things written about the high crime rate in Memphis. I am looking to rent an apartment that is in a safe neighboorhood, I will be new to city life, and do not want to live in fear. I will be attending the University of Memphis so I hope to find a place that is not too far away, but if I have to I am willing to commute up to 15-20 minutes. I would greatly appreciate some advice because I have tried contacting the apartment tenants over the phone and they will not give me a straight answer about the neighborhoods.

[Pearlbob]

There are a zillion good areas to rent an apartment near UM. Don't worry!

A lot of the UM/midtown area has homes for rent, or duplexes. Not really "apartments" so to speak. Same thing though.

It's hard for anyone to give a generalized area that is "safe." UM to the north/west/east is fine...but go south and it's not great. My word of advice: stay north of Central, or just a couple blocks south of it max.

What is your price range? roommates? 1 BR, 2 BR?

Midtown also will have TONS of places to rent. It would be about a 10 min, very easy, drive to UM. Straight down Central. For midtown, general area would again to stay north of Central, east of Cleveland, and south of North Parkway. If an says Central Gardens or Evergreen, it should be an okay area. Those are national historical neighborhoods with lots of expensive mansions but also lots of places to rent.

If you have found some things that you like, and have specific addresses or an intersection, I or others on here could let you know what the neighborhood is like.

[Anne81]

Thank you Pearlbob. I have a few places that i've been looking at, I found them all on rent.com. I will post the apartments below, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me if it is a good area. Oh, I am looking for a 1 bedroom, price range under $550 a month if possible.

1. Kirby Station
6653 North Quail Hollow Road
www.KirbyStation.com

2. Audubon Downs
2639 CENTRAL AVE

3. University Cabana Apartments
2059 Cabana Circle North

4. Park Lane
2095 POPLAR AVE APT 41A

5. Highland Gardens
491 N HIGHLAND ST APT 1

6. Brister Square
3571 MIDLAND AVE

7. Mynders Village
3549 MYNDERS AVE

[Pearlbob]

Let me print this and look at it this morning.

For that price, you could potentially get an apt downtown, or on Mud Island (next to downtown). Just an idea. Would be about 15 min from UM. Mud Island is very residential, sort of the new rich area of town, with lots of huge new houses, as well as apartment complexes. Along the river, has a big park and jogging area.

Downtown is the new "hip" area of the city, with tons of condos (expensive ones), lofts, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. Tons of 20-something year olds live downtown. Only problem would be parking for your car; you'd have to park in a garage and pay for that, and then walk to your building everyday. I did that for years and didn't mind it; some people hate it.

[Pearlbob]

Okay, here you go:


1. Kirby Station
6653 North Quail Hollow Road
www.KirbyStation.com
This is near Kirby/Poplar. Great area, but pretty far from UM. Traffic is very bad along Poplar in the mornings, although I guess if you have other hours to be on campus, it wouldn't matter. It's more suburban though, even though it's in the city limits.

2. Audubon Downs
2639 CENTRAL AVE
I think these are condos to buy now. I'm actually pretty positive, because when I saw it I thought, Who would buy these?! The railroad tracks go RIGHT over the buildings.

3. University Cabana Apartments
2059 Cabana Circle North
No. These are around McLean and Jackson. Not a good area. I'd argue that nothing north of North Parkway is that safe, and these are quite a bit north. I imagine they are aimed at Rhodes kids, who are stereotypically white and wealthy, but it's still not a good area of town.

4. Park Lane
2095 POPLAR AVE APT 41A
Are you sure it's on Poplar, not Park? If it's on Poplar, they are right across from Overton Park. Very nice cute area. There are expensive homes all around, and these are probably the old brick apts in between. I don't think they have A/C though - may want to watch for that as a lot of apts in town don't have A/C. (window units only) You'd be walking distance to the huge park, the zoo, the art museum, tons of bars and restaurants nearby. I live not far from there. I'd live there, so I definitely give it a thumbs up


5. Highland Gardens
491 N HIGHLAND ST APT 1
Around Highland and Sam Cooper (interstate). I'm indifferent, it's pretty bad to the north, but that specific few blocks there are still okay. I personally wouldn't live there, but that's me.

6. Brister Square
3571 MIDLAND AVE

7. Mynders Village
3549 MYNDERS AVE

These last 2 places arre RIGHT next to UM. The housing right around campus is pretty bad, because it's 19 year old college kids all around so the places are beat up, worn down, not taken care of. Midland is a little further north, and Mynders is further south, near the railroad tracks. I think a friend of mine lived in Mynders Village back in college and hated it. The draw is that you can walk to campus and the few bars nearby, but it's just trashy student housing. I personally wouldn't live there, it would be lound, dirty, and UM itself isn't in the best area of town (north is good, to the south is bad).


The hard thing is that most people find apts based on ads in the newspapers, or word of mouth, or just seeing a "for rent" sign in the yard. It's almost impossible to find an apt without just coming here and driving around and looking at them/the neighborhoods. Are you going to be here to look around at some point?

[Pearlbob]

FYI, I looked at commercialappeal.com 's real estate section. If you go to "rentals" and then look at "midtown memphis" rentals, there are plenty that pull up for $500 or less that are in fine areas of midtown. Might want to check some of those out.

[Anne81]

Any other apartment recommendations?

[Anne81]

Here are a few more apts. I found. Are these any better?

Stoneridge at Germantown Falls
6895 Club Ridge Circle

Allison Arms
427 N GRAHAM ST APT 31

Rosecrest
45 S IDLEWILD ST

Blair Tower
810 Washington Avenue

Kimbrough Towers
172 Kimbrough Place

[Pearlbob]

Stoneridge at Germantown Falls
6895 Club Ridge Circle
This is one of the worst areas of town. Down by Raines/Winchester/etc. No no no.

Allison Arms
427 N GRAHAM ST APT 31
Around Walnut Grove and Graham, should be a good area, mainly houses.

Rosecrest
45 S IDLEWILD ST
Between Madison and Union, one block west of McLean. Fine area, in the heart of midtown so there are a lot of bums walking around at times. But a good area, near a ton of things (Starbucks, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Sekisui, Pei Wei, Schnucks, etc). I live nearby, so I'm biased.

Blair Tower
810 Washington Avenue
No. Bad area. Basically all poor, lower income, african american people there. Just not a good area, by the hospitals so you have some pretty shady people wandering around all the time.

Kimbrough Towers
172 Kimbrough Place
Another place by me. All window unit A/C though. I've never been inside, but the building itself on the outside is gorgeous. Art deco style. The only problem I've thought is parking...I don't know where they all park but maybe there is something I don't see underground? It's above a nice liquor store (I know, that sounds shady but it's upscale) and next to a really good NY style pizza place. In midtown (Union and Kimbrough, across from Danver's for anyone else reading).

[jimlacas]

Pearlbob and others, I am moving to Memphis by the end of the summer to attend UofM as a graduate student. I will be bringing my wife and 3 year old (almost 4) son. I will work at the university and my wife will likely work in the financial industry. I have been searching for housing for a number of months and in general find this forum a good, often negative contrast to other sources of information. We are interesting in buying a modest house (under 100K) within 1-2 miles of the university and I plan to walk or bike to school/work, maybe city bus if the weather sucks. My wife doesn't care as she will drive to her job. I have mostly looked at houses between the university and the liberty bowl (Boston St, Buntyn, Josephine), the area within a mile radius south of the university (Normal, Sherwood), even considering midtown or downtown as close seconds. At some point during the summer I will come down there from Alaska to look at houses. In general we want a reasonably safe area with houses with decent lots with fenced backyards in the 38111 zip. Specifically, I found houses at 3319 Barron Ave and 3525 Stuart Rd, and several on Buntyn St, Carnes and Carrington Rd that meet our needs. I noticed that both are in areas that you generally dont recommend. My biggest concerns are burglary, bum traffic, and car theft. Right now we live in a very diverse working class neighborhood that is close to work and shopping and we sort of prefer to live on the edge of the action, but not in the middle of dangerous crime. I don't have any interest in living so far out that a long commute is necessary, and the small yards and duplicate houses of suburbia are not appealling in the least.

Any thoughts?