Rhodes College & City Info. (Memphis, Sewanee: spring break, hotel, houses)

[Nikias]

Hey, everyone,

I'm really glad that I found this site! From what I've read so far, people seem to be very helpful.

Anyway, I've been accepted into Rhodes College and it's on my "short list" of choices. Really, it's my favorite choice of the schools that I applied to. And what I would like some people to respond to is how the college interacts with the community, how the community views it, and any other thoughts they may have. I'm just having a hard time breaking through the haze of all the admissions people and those fancy brochures. ha-ha

I was able to visit the college and Memphis in August, but it was only for a night and part of a day. I was on a trip visiting several schools (the next one was Sewanee), so I didn't have much time to visit the city. One of the things that I was a little concerned about was that,in the midst of having my Garmin direct me to the Doubletree hotel, I seemed to pass through a very seedy neighborhood just a road or two over from the college--people milling about in the middle of the road, dilapidated houses, etc. For those of you familiar with the area, how is it in general? I can't help but wonder why the college has a large fence around it with a security guard...

Well, thanks for taking the time to read my longer-than-expected message. I always tend to write too much . I look forward to reading the responses!

***
I thought that I should include that I would be moving to Memphis from a smaller, rather homogeneous town in eastern Michigan, so I wouldn't be exactly accustomed to the problems that come along with living in a city like Memphis, but I do understand that all cities have their problems. Detroit is in Michigan, after all.

[jnr4411]

Rhodes is a great school, but it is located next to a very poor (and sometimes scary) neighborhood. However, it's also located next to one of the wealthiest, on the other side. There isn't anything nearby "off-campus" you would be walking to that I could think of, anyway. A security guard is a good thing to have no matter where you go to school. Next time you visit, drive the other way down N. Parkway, and you may feel better about it! Sorry, I'm not much help, but congrats on being accepted to Rhodes!

[Nikias]

Thank you for your post, jnr4411.

I wasn't aware that some of the nicer neighborhoods also surrounded the college area. I would have liked to drive around more while I was there, but I got into town right during the evening rush hour, so that was pretty hectic! Especially since I had absolutely NO idea where I was or how to get anywhere, aside from what the GPS said.

I look forward to some more helpful replies!

[(901)]

Congrats on your acceptence to Rhodes College. Without doubt, Memphis' premeire College

The are around Rhodes (North,West & East) is shifty. If you will be living on campus though you have no worries. If your looking to live off campus, post the areas(not the address) you are looking at and we will advise you on its safety record

My neighbors Son just entered Rhodes on a scholarship this year. He and his friends seem pretty normal

Rhodes also interacts/gets involved tutoring impoverished children in there neighborhood schools. So, thats a good thing

[Nikias]

Okay, since north, west, and east are bad neighborhoods, at least I'll be able to head south.

I plan to live on campus, so you're probably right that I shouldn't have anything to worry about. And from what I could tell, there's not much within walking distance of the school that would be of any interest (maybe the park across the street--there is a park or something there, right?). So unless there's a problem with driving through those areas, I'll be fine. Of course, it's possible that I wouldn't need to go through those areas because all the city's attractions may be to the south of the college. But I really don't know that.

Hopefully I'll get to visit Memphis again in April, so I'll post a topic about some places I should visit. I only went four places last time: the college; Doubletree hotel (not the downtown one, but there's a funny story about that ha-ha); a gas station where a woman pulled in on the wrong side of the pump and pulled the hose over her car, turned it upside down, and tried to pump; and Bogie's Delicatessen, only because it was on a little "recommended restaurants" list from the college admissions. Strange that I remember all that, maybe something about the city grew on me so I stored those bits away to memory.

I did know that Rhodes is focused on community volunteerism, and I think I would be interested in that, I've just got to find the best match. I'm sure there are lots of ways to help!

[Rotor]

Hi, Nikias. Don't get too scared of the neighborhoods around Rhodes. Many of the faculty and staff live in those neighborhoods! While you might have run into some of the poorer areas to the north, you may have missed out on the good things happening there, especially the partnerships between the college and those areas to improve the schools, the neighborhood associations, and the "green line" (a rails-to-trails project). The area immediately to the south has an old, large urban park with a zoo, where Rhodes students can hold internships. Without a doubt, the area is a mix of characteristics, and it's place to get involved and make a difference. It's not scary, though. Visit it again, take some time to walk around, and ask the students and employees how safe they feel and how they make a difference.

[Nikias]

Thanks for the comment, Rotor.

I will be on spring break starting April 2, so I hope that I'll be able to make it down to Memphis for a few days to get one last look at the city and school.

[ladybug35]

One piece of advice I would give you is to turn off you GPS and get a paper map or GoogleMaps printout. During the day, you can just drive around and get a sense of things, but if you try to follow a GPS, it will take you all kinds of crazy ways. I live in midtown a little ways south of Rhodes, so I don't know a whole lot about the area; it was one of my top choices for undergrad but I ended up going to Lyon in Arkansas. I go to the U of M now, and whenever I do go up that way, most of the area seems pretty okay. If you live on campus, you'll definitely be fine.

One example of how GPS makes it harder is that it tells you all kinds of ridiculous ways to go. To get to my house from the interstate requires one exit and two turns. On the GPS...it takes an exit and about 7 turns, plus an illegal u-turn. I have nothing against them, but one of the best ways to see the area would be to just drive. Some really nice areas that you might be interested in seeing are Cooper-Young, Madison Ave (Overton Square area), the Brooks Museum in Overton Park, the zoo (also in Overton Park), all along Poplar, etc. These are areas you'll probably go to if you go to Rhodes...I see kids with Rhodes stickers on their cars at the Madison Ave. bars all the time.

[ColliervilleMom]

That's funny ladybug, but so true, my GPS does the same darn thing!

[Nikias]

That's strange, I haven't encountered problems like that with my GPS. The only thing that it can't help me with is steering me away from or out of the bad neighborhoods of cities.

But I do think you're right that just following the routes of the GPS may not allow me to see a lot of the city. I'm missing out on the whole feeling of being lost! I generally don't like driving around in a strange place without my GPS on. It just makes me feel lost, and I never know if the road I am currently going down will turn out to be a dead end.