City Of Tupelo (Jackson, Gulfport, Biloxi: homes, neighborhoods, movie theaters)

[bigboyz06]

What are your thoughts on Tupelo? I've read that it's a city with a bright future, growing population etc. For those of you who have lived/spent time there/passed through it etc., what are your opinions of the largest city in northeastern Mississippi and how does it stack up to Mississippi's other major cities?

[brickpatio]

Yes, Tupelo is clean, safe, and growing. The small downtown area is nice and actually has some impressive new buildings.

There are a few historic streets but the city pretty quickly transitions to newer homes, including several very affluent areas with large suburban homes and some mansions on large lots as well. Somehow Tupelo doesn't seem to have any run down neighborhoods, maybe due to the small portion of older homes.

The mall area is also new has all the stores that larger cities have (Lowes, Home Depot, Kroger, movie theaters). And about 15 minutes outside Tupelo near New Albany is the new Toyota plant, establishing Tupelo as a major center for business in the future.

[Listener2307]

Tupelo is not really growing much. I don't look for strong growth in the future, either, for the same reason that most cities of similar size are not growing - industry has no reason to move there.
It's a pleasant enough place and compares very well with other cities in Mississippi and Alabama. Housing prices are reasonable; there is some new construction going on.

Toyota moved in and their plant contributes an awful lot of stability to the area. Those are good jobs and I view Toyota as a fine opportunity for someone who wants to stay in the area.
And the medical community here is huge, and that provides good jobs.
North Mississippi Medical Center :: Home

Educational system in Tupelo is pretty darn good. The high school offers a complete package of performing arts and produces scholars every year. And then there is the fuhball team.....

Socially, Tupelo is tough. The running joke is, "Are you from Tupelo"?........."ME?! Heck no, I'm from way up in Saltillo"!!
And that's funny because Tupelo and Saltillo are joined by an unnoticeable border. If you are not from Tupelo area - especially women - you will find yourself on the outside of most conversations. It used to drive me nuts, and I complained that when you get together in Tupelo, you mostly talk about the people in Tupelo. My wife and her daughters would have nothing to talk about if not for the people they all know.

A study some years back showed that 70% of the people in Mississippi had never lived anywhere else. Tupelo would be about like that.

If you are looking for a place to build a career, I would say look elsewhere. But for us retirees, it is great! We have every service we need here; the medical community here is huge; we can get to the coast in 5 hours or so; get to Memphis in 2 hours; go to the various state parks; enjoy the weather 12 months of the year; enjoy a low cost of living, and so forth.

I have said many times that one of the best things about Tupelo is the race relations. We all just get along. Our neighborhood, like almost all neighborhoods in Tupelo, is fully integrated. Drive by the pick up basketball game at the park and you'll see about the same number of white kids playing as black kids; go to the mall and the cluster of kids will contain Black, White and Asian kids.

Tupelo ranks above most towns/cities in Mississippi, I think.

[Desert kid]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

Tupelo is not really growing much. I don't look for strong growth in the future, either, for the same reason that most cities of similar size are not growing - industry has no reason to move there.
It's a pleasant enough place and compares very well with other cities in Mississippi and Alabama. Housing prices are reasonable; there is some new construction going on.

Toyota moved in and their plant contributes an awful lot of stability to the area. Those are good jobs and I view Toyota as a fine opportunity for someone who wants to stay in the area.
And the medical community here is huge, and that provides good jobs.
North Mississippi Medical Center :: Home

Educational system in Tupelo is pretty darn good. The high school offers a complete package of performing arts and produces scholars every year. And then there is the fuhball team.....

Socially, Tupelo is tough. The running joke is, "Are you from Tupelo"?........."ME?! Heck no, I'm from way up in Saltillo"!!
And that's funny because Tupelo and Saltillo are joined by an unnoticeable border. If you are not from Tupelo area - especially women - you will find yourself on the outside of most conversations. It used to drive me nuts, and I complained that when you get together in Tupelo, you mostly talk about the people in Tupelo. My wife and her daughters would have nothing to talk about if not for the people they all know.

A study some years back showed that 70% of the people in Mississippi had never lived anywhere else. Tupelo would be about like that.

If you are looking for a place to build a career, I would say look elsewhere. But for us retirees, it is great! We have every service we need here; the medical community here is huge; we can get to the coast in 5 hours or so; get to Memphis in 2 hours; go to the various state parks; enjoy the weather 12 months of the year; enjoy a low cost of living, and so forth.

I have said many times that one of the best things about Tupelo is the race relations. We all just get along. Our neighborhood, like almost all neighborhoods in Tupelo, is fully integrated. Drive by the pick up basketball game at the park and you'll see about the same number of white kids playing as black kids; go to the mall and the cluster of kids will contain Black, White and Asian kids.

Tupelo ranks above most towns/cities in Mississippi, I think.

Sounds like the ideal Southern place in a lot of ways. Not too different from parts of Tennessee even, if you had to make a comparison.

[bigboyz06]

Originally Posted by Listener2307

Tupelo is not really growing much. I don't look for strong growth in the future, either, for the same reason that most cities of similar size are not growing - industry has no reason to move there.
It's a pleasant enough place and compares very well with other cities in Mississippi and Alabama. Housing prices are reasonable; there is some new construction going on.

Toyota moved in and their plant contributes an awful lot of stability to the area. Those are good jobs and I view Toyota as a fine opportunity for someone who wants to stay in the area.
And the medical community here is huge, and that provides good jobs.
North Mississippi Medical Center :: Home

Educational system in Tupelo is pretty darn good. The high school offers a complete package of performing arts and produces scholars every year. And then there is the fuhball team.....

Socially, Tupelo is tough. The running joke is, "Are you from Tupelo"?........."ME?! Heck no, I'm from way up in Saltillo"!!
And that's funny because Tupelo and Saltillo are joined by an unnoticeable border. If you are not from Tupelo area - especially women - you will find yourself on the outside of most conversations. It used to drive me nuts, and I complained that when you get together in Tupelo, you mostly talk about the people in Tupelo. My wife and her daughters would have nothing to talk about if not for the people they all know.

A study some years back showed that 70% of the people in Mississippi had never lived anywhere else. Tupelo would be about like that.

If you are looking for a place to build a career, I would say look elsewhere. But for us retirees, it is great! We have every service we need here; the medical community here is huge; we can get to the coast in 5 hours or so; get to Memphis in 2 hours; go to the various state parks; enjoy the weather 12 months of the year; enjoy a low cost of living, and so forth.

I have said many times that one of the best things about Tupelo is the race relations. We all just get along. Our neighborhood, like almost all neighborhoods in Tupelo, is fully integrated. Drive by the pick up basketball game at the park and you'll see about the same number of white kids playing as black kids; go to the mall and the cluster of kids will contain Black, White and Asian kids.

Tupelo ranks above most towns/cities in Mississippi, I think.

Very informative post Listener, thanks.

[ColdAilment]

Historically Tupelo has grown between 10-20% each decade, with the exception of the 2000's for some reason, however its most recent estimate shows that Tupelo has grown by nearly 3% in just 3 years, which may be a good sign for the future.

Tupelo is economically in a LOT better shape than most other cities its size in Mississippi.

Tupelo > Meridian
Tupelo > Greenville
Tupelo > Columbus
Tupelo > Vicksburg

Of course Tupelo doesn't really stack up to cities like:

Hattiesburg (Southern Miss is here, large college town)
Biloxi/Gulfport (on the coast and tons of casinos, large tourist destination)
Jackson (on account of sheer size, Jackson is over 5 times larger than Tupelo and just has a lot more going on)
Southaven (Mississippi's third largest city now, an extremely wealthy suburb of Memphis that has really taken off in the past few decades)

Tupelo's downtown, while small, is in surprisingly good shape with a lot of businesses and a decent amount of activity. It's a mix of modern buildings with well preserved older buildings. Tupelo has its own arena! Which they will use as an ice skating rink in the winter time and hold various events and concerts in throughout the rest of the year.

Tupelo has a rather large shopping area for a city of its size, just 35,000 people. The mall is very well developed and is a huge regional draw, people from all over the northern part of the state flock there. Tupelo also has an enormous flea market which is probably almost twice the size of the mall itself.

In my travels through there the people of Tupelo have been extremely friendly, no issues at all. It really is the quintessential southern city in a lot of ways.

The only disadvantage to Tupelo is its lack of access to an interstate, so if you are traveling you will likely have to take a state highway or county roads for awhile before reaching an interstate. Tupelo is kind of isolated also, no other large cities around it or even close to it. And obviously, Tupelo has some tourism draw to it as well since it is the home and birthplace of Elvis Presley.

[sammyreynolds1977]

Tupelo from 2000 to 2010 according to the census only grew 1%. One of the factors in that was areas around it were growing. So far this decade it's on pace to grow at substantially more than last decade.

[sunshine3577]

I am also thinking of moving to the Tupelo area. I am a single female from Alabama. Anything you can tell me about the economy, rent, people, and just anything would be deeply appreciated.

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

The only disadvantage to Tupelo is its lack of access to an interstate, so if you are traveling you will likely have to take a state highway or county roads for awhile before reaching an interstate.

Highways 45 and 78 are almost up to Interstate standards.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo

Highways 45 and 78 are almost up to Interstate standards.

Interstate standards and interstates are two completely different things. Tupelo doesn't get the same kind of out of state traffic as cities on I-20 do. It doesn't seem to affect the city too much, as it is a huge regional draw, being the largest city within over 100 miles in any directions has its perks, and Tupelo is a large shopping center and boasts a nice and well maintained downtown.