Moving To Northern Mississippi (Gulfport, Southaven: 2014, apartment, to rent)

[HTLego3]

I just have a couple questions about the towns in and around the area where I'm going to work.
I am going to be working in Batesville Mississippi from Wisconsin. What areas/towns would you say are the best to live in. I not looking to be somewhere too rural, and do not want to drive to far to work. I want to be where everything is close. Like shopping/malls, restaurants, lots of things to do. Looking to find areas that are not high crime areas. Also, looking to move into a house not an apartment if that helps. What areas that fit what I'm looking are easy to find housing. Also what sites could I use to look at housing in the areas in and around the Batesville area.

[brickpatio]

You're in luck; Oxford, MS is 20 minutes away from Batesville and is routinely ranked as the best place to live in America (literally).

With that said, Batesville itself is just fine. It's sort of a regular small, rural American town, if that makes any sense. There are pleasant neighborhoods near the country club if memory serves, which is close to the interstate near the Batesville exit.

There is also a very nice subdivision with huge houses atop high hills located along Highway 6 just across the line into Lafayette County (home of Oxford), which gets you into Lafayette County schools which are highly ranked (see schooldigger.com to review Oxford High School (for the town of Oxford), and Lafayette County High School (located just a mile or so outside Oxford proper but for all practical purposes located in Oxford. Both Oxford and Lafayette County schools rank pretty well. (If you choose to live in Batesville/Panola County, look up South Panola High School.)

A final option might be Senatobia, Mississippi. Senatobia is roughly 20 or 25 miles north of Batesville. This is a good location if you have a spouse who works in neighboring DeSoto County (Memphis suburbs) or in Memphis itself which is about 40 minutes north of Batesville. I would characterize Senatobia as pleasant, with somewhat of a "Mayberry" feeling. They have a very nice community college (Northwest Mississippi Community College) which has a nice campus and feels like a regular small university to me. Senatobia has a somewhat nondescript but thriving little downtown area, some beautiful Victorian homes and churches and some very nice, brand-new subdivisions on the southern edge of town on both sides of the interstate. They have a nice private school (Magnolia Heights), larger than I would have expected for a town this size, as well as well-rated public schools (Senatobia High School). This community is what I would consider an "exurb", meaning a little too rural and too far out to be considered a suburb of Memphis just yet, but a very easy 15-minute drive up the interstate to the heart of the Memphis suburbs (Hernando and Southaven, MS).

[viverlibre]

Honey, ain't no malls nor many restaurants where you're going. Batesville is quasi Delta, being from Wisconsin, I would mark that off your list. If you don't mind the drive (all sparsely traveled interstate) move north as the poster above recommend. You will be closer to the Memphis surburbs (shopping, etc), much better public schools and will have employement opportunities if you want to enter the work force. Oxford is a nice small town (one of the best in the state) but unless you are associated with the university, I'm not sure if that would be a good fit. A new interstate is being built and will run through Hernando, MS, which is primed for growth.

[jhadorn]

Batesville is my hometown. I lived there for 33 years. With that said, Batesville has a problem with gang mentality from a segment of the population. No, it's not a hidden racist remark, it's a fact that will become evident if you spend time there. There is also a bullying problem in the public schools. If you have children you may want to look into North Delta schools. Other than that it's ok but lacks adequate healthcare options. You will need to go to Oxford or Southaven for dining, shopping, hospitals, etc.

[3a's]

If you want to be around restaurants and malls I would suggest Southhaven, however, that would be an hour drive to Batesville. Oxford is a cool little town and is busy right now with Ole Miss college kids and Alumni. This is not your run of the mill town. No large malls with anchors it has small specialty shops and restaurants. Southhaven does not have a mall either but it does have a target if you are into box retail. It sounds like you have never visited you may want to rent an apartment for a year and feel your way around prior to buying a house. This way you do not start a thread about hating MS, those are only started when people don't do research prior to buying. Good Luck!

[Robert_J]

Southhaven does not have a mall either

Technically you are correct but we call it the mall - Southaven Towne Center - 731.668.7621

it does have a target

this is where you are incorrect. There's a Target in Horn Lake (on the west side of I-55) and there's one on the west side of Olive Branch.

Batesville is about 45 minutes from my house in Southaven. I drove down there on Tuesday and ended up driving into Batesville proper to find a branch of my bank. It's a nice little town. The people at the bank were extremely nice. Would I want to live there? I like Southaven better.

[jhadorn]

Batesville. Just a few instances I remember. Just so you are informed.

Batesville Police Investigate Monday Evening Shootings | Local 24 News | News, Weather and Sports for Memphis & the Mid-South | WATN-TV | LocalMemphis.com

Gang Members Killed in Shooting | WREG.com

Batesville Police say gang feud lead to fatal shooting - Daily Journal

Batesville elementary student says bullies pulled out handful of his hair | WREG.com

[Desert kid]

Originally Posted by jhadorn

Batesville. Just a few instances I remember. Just so you are informed.

Batesville Police Investigate Monday Evening Shootings | Local 24 News | News, Weather and Sports for Memphis & the Mid-South | WATN-TV | LocalMemphis.com

Gang Members Killed in Shooting | WREG.com

Batesville Police say gang feud lead to fatal shooting - Daily Journal

Batesville elementary student says bullies pulled out handful of his hair | WREG.com

Thing is you would never expect it by looking at Batesville externally. It could give Hooterville a run for it's money!

When I stopped there, well actually I got stuck in the mud there for a couple hours I got alot of help from an elderly black gentleman, 2 local cops and the local mechanic. But, alas, every small town has problems.

[smarino]

Have you ever been to Batesville??? Boy, are you in for a surprise! Think Norman Bates in Psycho, and you get cotton fields too! It may be a very nice place, but we didn't much like it there, waiting around at that store for someone to pick us up to go to our hotel in Oxford. It just felt like the sticks (and I'm from Mississippi and do like the state, generally, just fine). Again, I'm not knocking the town as we only spent a few hours there, but it was a tense two hours, as you'll see later in this post.

Now Oxford is a real pretty city, at least downtown, and the Rebel Bookstore is not to be missed. Some of the best gumbo and catfish po boys I ever ate outside of New Orleans were in Oxford. I thought the people were friendly, and the campus beautiful. Wouldn't want to be there during football season though. They had a special one man cab service just for drunk students on game day to get 'em back home. The other cab company (two cab companies w/ one car each, at least 8 years ago) also consisted of one guy w/ one car, and forget calling him on Sunday 'cause he ain't coming.

I wanted to move to Oxford (although the last time I tried to read Faulkner I fell asleep), but we're an interracial couple and my wife was a little spooked (probably not the right word here, all things considered). Also, and this was the deal killer, I'm an Alabama fan. The interracial issue we could have overcome I'm sure, but the Alabama thang would NOT have worked. A white guy w/ an Alabama shirt on and a black gal at his side in Oxford on game day....I don't even want to THINK about it. But you know, that's the funny thing about Mississippi, it may have been just fine. Except for those nights when the good 'ol boys rode in (from Batesville?) in their pickup trucks. We had one of them eye us out real closely when we were walking down the street. Still, Oxford and Gulfport, those are my favorite Mississippi cities. A person could do a lot worse.

[viverlibre]

Originally Posted by brickpatio

A final option might be Senatobia, Mississippi. Senatobia is roughly 20 or 25 miles north of Batesville. This is a good location if you have a spouse who works in neighboring DeSoto County (Memphis suburbs) or in Memphis itself which is about 40 minutes north of Batesville. I would characterize Senatobia as pleasant, with somewhat of a "Mayberry" feeling. They have a very nice community college (Northwest Mississippi Community College) which has a nice campus and feels like a regular small university to me. Senatobia has a somewhat nondescript but thriving little downtown area, some beautiful Victorian homes and churches and some very nice, brand-new subdivisions on the southern edge of town on both sides of the interstate. They have a nice private school (Magnolia Heights), larger than I would have expected for a town this size, as well as well-rated public schools (Senatobia High School). This community is what I would consider an "exurb", meaning a little too rural and too far out to be considered a suburb of Memphis just yet, but a very easy 15-minute drive up the interstate to the heart of the Memphis suburbs (Hernando and Southaven, MS).

Second attack on a woman in a month in Senatobia, Mississippi

Mark Senatobia off the list. When in the delta, "stay alert, stay alive!"