Best Mississippi town for the visually impaired (Jackson, Gulfport: best neighborhood, real estate)

[Timaea]

Question for those who have traveled extensively in Mississippi and know many of its nooks and crannies: which city or town, in your opinion, would be a decent fit for someone who is visually impaired?

We are planning on moving to MS. My husband’s family hails from Gulfport, and while there are a handful of older family members remaining in the area, Gulfport is just not that town — not for the visually impaired, and not for other reasons. I love MS, and I love the people in Gulfport, but there is no ‘there’ there, to quote Gertrude Stein about Oakland, but then she needed to visit Gulfport to really grasp the spirit she was describing in that phrase.

I suffer from a congenital, incurable retinopathy, and unfortunately, I’m looking at a later middle age without the option to drive, or see in the dark, or see contrasts, etc. I’d become a shut-in in Gulfport. A visually impaired person needs a fairly compact town or city which can be accessed by foot, bicycle, public transport, scooter, and the like. They also tend to need good medical facilities within easy reach. This is one of the main reasons the Jackson area and Oxford have been points of interest for us. I’ve cast a longing eye on Madison, but wow, walkable it does not appear to be.

It would be nice to be able to invest in decent real estate.

What are you recommendations/thoughts?

[Listener2307]

First choice for me would be Bay St Louis, living right down town if I could.

[b29510]

bay st louis very nice, ocean spring. the coast has very good bus transportation

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

Oxford would be my choice, if you did not choose to stay on the Coast. Good hospital, and close to Memphis for the bigger things. More walkable than other places I suppose, but most cities in the South are NOT very walkable.

Like others said, BSL and Ocean Springs are good if you stay on the Coast. And Oxford is a long way from there, so not sure how that works out with your family.

[Timaea]

Thank you all for your suggestions / thoughts. My husband has been away from MS since he was 20, and we have only visited the Gulfport and Gulf Coast area sporadically since then, so we are not at all familiar with the rest of MS, aside from his vague boyhood memories of little side trips to the Delta, Hattiesburg, and Meridian. He loves the Gulf Coast, but the hurricane / flooding risk is just ridiculous. Still, BSL does have a powerful charm. Neither one of us has ever traveled to Oxford, but it clearly looks to be a good fit. I don't have illusions that any city perhaps in the entire US is truly walkable in the way some old European towns are, but that's OK. Just so long as it can be navigated on foot and non-motorized wheel for most necessities is just fine. Safe neighborhoods and some prospect for real estate appreciation are important because we have a young teen to raise and want to have her inherit the property someday.

[An Einnseanair]

I sincerely wish you luck in your search for such a place; I'm sure there are a few small towns hidden around the state with such amenities.

Although I haven't been there in quite a few years, I remember Columbia (west of Hattiesburg) as meeting some of your criteria. No regular public transportation, but a small friendly town with a hospital, reasonably walkable downtown, and reasonably near the coast.

The only cities I know of with regular public transportation where they follow schedules and maps are Jackson, the Coast (yes, really), and some of the university towns.

Everything else is a "call to schedule a ride" type of public transit. Check out Connect Mississippi, which provides transportation in some rural areas. They may be able to point out areas that would be better for you.

[Opinion]

Spoiler

Unfortunately, Mississippi voters and taxpayers don't care about people like you. Well, if they know you personally, and they consider you to be "good people", they'll definitely help you out and be all kinds of friendly.

But you see, things like public transportation and walking are only done by the poor folk, and they don't deserve anything from the taxpayers because they are obviously just lazy.

If there's a choice between a politician who wants to spend public funds to make a town more walkable and one who wants to cut taxes, the tax cut guy wins every time.

[/Opinion]

[viverlibre]

Originally Posted by Timaea

Question for those who have traveled extensively in Mississippi and know many of its nooks and crannies: which city or town, in your opinion, would be a decent fit for someone who is visually impaired?

We are planning on moving to MS. My husband’s family hails from Gulfport, and while there are a handful of older family members remaining in the area, Gulfport is just not that town — not for the visually impaired, and not for other reasons. I love MS, and I love the people in Gulfport, but there is no ‘there’ there, to quote Gertrude Stein about Oakland, but then she needed to visit Gulfport to really grasp the spirit she was describing in that phrase.

I suffer from a congenital, incurable retinopathy, and unfortunately, I’m looking at a later middle age without the option to drive, or see in the dark, or see contrasts, etc. I’d become a shut-in in Gulfport. A visually impaired person needs a fairly compact town or city which can be accessed by foot, bicycle, public transport, scooter, and the like. They also tend to need good medical facilities within easy reach. This is one of the main reasons the Jackson area and Oxford have been points of interest for us. I’ve cast a longing eye on Madison, but wow, walkable it does not appear to be.

It would be nice to be able to invest in decent real estate.

What are you recommendations/thoughts?

Unfortunately, I can't think of any city in the 'Sip that will even come close to meeting your needs. Those who have recommended Oxford haven't been there, because it is certainly a car town (you can walk the square, but that's only getting you overpriced retail and some good restaurants - but don't do it a night when school is in session).

If you factor Uber in, that certainly opens up many more possibilities. I wouldn't want to be an older person on a bicycle "sharing" the road in the 'Sip. The biggest issue is many times medical facilities are not located near decent housing or other amenities. There are medical transport shuttles in many areas though.

I don't see where anyone has mentioned Ocean Springs, you may want to add it to your prospects.

[brickpatio2018]

Hernando has a great town square and is on the rise. Highly recommended.

Downtown Tupelo is great, also on the rise.

Starkville and Oxford both of course are great. The Cotton District in Starkville would put you smack in between the university and downtown. Oxford is hard to beat anywhere.

In metro Jackson, look no further than District at Eastover, downtown Fondren, Township at Colony Park, the new Flowood town center Waterpointe now under construction, the Renaissance (now adding apartments), and downtown Madison (soon to be under. construction).

Downtown Brookhaven is actually very nice and adjacent historic neighborhoods are wonderful.

Downtown Laurel and adjacent neighborhoods...couldn't be cuter and prettier and downtown has made a big comeback.

Definitely downtown Ocean Springs and Bay St. Louis as noted.

[brickpatio2018]

As far as Oxford's walkability, it's definitely the square and streets that radiate from the square. The historic residential streets radiate in each direction from the square for about half a mile to a mile, and of course leading directly into the university campus. For quality of life it can't be beat, unless you want something bigger, which would be a different thing.

There's a reason that espn selected Oxford as the nation's best college town, and USA Today chose Ocean Springs and Bay St. Louis as the nation's two best coastal towns. They also chose Natchez among the nation's top 10 historic towns.

Both Madison and Hernando were selected among the ten best places to live in the nation for families, by Family Circle magazine. Hernando schools this year rocketed to number one in the state in terms of test scorers, just surpassing Lewisburg schools in neighboring Olive Branch.

Both Tupelo and Columbus have been featured in major pieces by 60 Minutes as model cities for economic development, in terms of attracting high-paying industrial jobs, in comparison to other rural areas that have been unable to do so anywhere in the nation.

Laurel has its own tv show (HGTV Home Town) due to its lush southern beauty. Hattiesburg has been featured many times as a best place to retire, due to combination of university influence, military presence, economic dynamism, low costs, and location in the middle of New Orleans, Mobile, Jackson and Miss Gulf Coast.

Jackson's historic Belhaven neighborhood was chosen as the nation's best neighborhood by the American Planning Association. In combination with Fondren, there are few places in the nation that are cuter.

I'm actually a huge fan of Greenwood. If someone could pick up downtown and North Greenwood and place it in Washington DC, it would be the most desired neighborhood in the city for charm, character, elegance, and a certain je nais se qua.

[Mississippi Alabama Line]

Originally Posted by viverlibre

Unfortunately, I can't think of any city in the 'Sip that will even come close to meeting your needs.

They are planning to move to MS. So why are you commenting?

Originally Posted by viverlibre

Those who have recommended Oxford haven't been there, because it is certainly a car town (you can walk the square, but that's only getting you overpriced retail and some good restaurants - but don't do it a night when school is in session).

OP - if you just want to hate everything related to MS, listen to this poster. He's stated constantly that he is simply ready to retire and leave, and wants his kids to leave.