Cleveland, MS My PAST/PRESENT And FUTURE!!! (Jackson, Indianola: new home, neighborhood)

[Edward Hunt]

I was raised in Cleveland, MS from 1954 to 1972! I am from a lineage
of "Hunts" originally from Indianola, MS (Edward Hunt-My GrandFather)
who I never met or seen a picture of-but will try for picutres in the future!
(Note- "raised" but not borned) because I believe I was borned on the "Wilson plantation" way out in the countryside of Cleveland off Highway 8!
I "remember" going back there at 4 or 6 years old to see this "green"
house out in the middle of "no where" surrounded" by cotton fields!
My family "moved" to Cleveland when I was 1 or 2 years old into a brand
new home that was "heaven" for a minority family (I guess) at that time!
I remember a time in the sixties when "Robert Kennedy" came through our
area for political reasons to understand the plight of Mississippians through
out the "Delta"! Fast forward to the 80's; I remember a documentary about the extreme "poverty" in "Tunica, MS" just outside of Memphis that "Robert" past through but growing up I never thought it was there?
I remember high school bands trips to Tunica but we never went into
the community side of town since it was just for football games.
My hometown of Celeveland didn't have "shotgun" houses per se; but
I know of some "today" in North Memphis blocks from my uncle's nice home
that literally "blew me away" when a made a turn to his home driving
through the neighborhood to his home one year in the seventies that
I had "no idea" they were even there in "Memphis!
The "key" was showing the "shotgun houses" that is poverty but I knew
about those types of homes and the people who lived that life in the South! Eventhough I grew up with "Delta State University" in my
own backyard: I never considered going there? I never had any friends
"talk" about wanting to go there. Back then, it was "Delta State College".
I received a "scholarship" to "Alcorn College" (Lorman, MS) just outside
of Jackson to play percussons-drums! (The "movie" "DrumLine" fascinates
me because I knew of musicans who could play by ear and not by sight
reading music sheets!........signing off for now! {Go "T-R-O-J-A-N-S"}

[hurricom]

I'm considering a potential "dream" job in Cleveland, MS, but I am definitely someone who does not like rural living, and I thrive on lots of culture and diversity, probably because I was born and raised in New Orleans. Since I know I won't want to live in Cleveland, MS, I'm thinking of commuting from either Memphis or Oxford (both are apparently 90 minutes away from Cleveland). Can anyone provide any advice about either/both? I realize Oxford is a great deal smaller, but it seems to have a thriving arts scene, and I like Baton Rouge (which I've heard is very similar to Oxford). Also, I have a bit of a tornado phobia, so please let me know if I need to factor this into my decision.

Thanks in advance,

Chris