Olive Branch/Desoto County (Southaven, Horn Lake: middle school, to move, car)

[jco]

This thread is veering off the original subject matter. Please get back to the original topic or the thread will be closed.

[Kevin64]

I think you would be very happy with the choice of Olive Branch. We are in the Eastern part of Desoto County, with good access to Germantown and Collierville. My two cents? Southaven hasnt seen a development it didn't like or approve. Thousands of apartments, awful traffic congestion, and a mayor who seems to think that bad traffic is a good thing. It has also become a major shoping destination with the opening of a new "lifestyle center" in late 2006 and another in the works. The Apartment boom continues, even South of hwy.304 (church Rd.), Plans are underway for another I-55 intersection Star Landing Rd. I think it is safe to say this too will be developed half-hazardly, making future home valuations something less than a sure thing. Basically history repeating itself. The over abundance of Apartments in Southaven has created a very transitory population, a populace without interest in the long term viability of the Community and more property crime than anywhere in Desoto County except for probably Horn Lake. While both Southaven and Olive Branch border Memphis, this is much more apparent in Southaven. Interstate 55 has provided excellent access for the poorer, less educated and more dangerous elements of Memphis to come in commit crimes and disturbances and then flee Northward on what will soon be a ten lane interstate highway. In the area of Highway 51 and Church Road, the City allowed giant distribution centers to virtually abutt a pre-existing subdivision. Homeowners complained loudly about these warehouses, but in the end, many homowners here have nothing but a small berm seperating there backyards from the Sodium lights and constant truck traffic at all hours nearly in there backyards.Property values here have plumeted. While that presents a rather negative view, I must say that the newest hotspot in Southaven,the Church-Getwell Rd. area does look much better than the rest of the town. Here, developers themselves planned mixed use developments that are attractive and are in the desirable Desoto Central School District. Other than here, I would not consider any part of Southaven, it's a suburb that was so poorly planned that it began to decline, nearly as quickly as it developed.While also sharing a border with Memphis, Olive Branch is much more liveable.Public schools are good and devlopment is much more scrutinized before just letting anyone build giant tracts of disposable housing anywhere. The border traffic here is Hwy 78, and Riverdale/Germantown Rd. primarily, though traffic along Hacks Cross Rd into Memphis is rising rapidly. Once Hwy. 78 enters TN. it beomes a traffic nightmare, and enters another major distribution area, not residential. this is a big plus. It is not convenient for Memphis criminals to get in quickly and get back to TN., where along the corridor traffic a real nightmare . This is due inexusable bad panning by City of Memphis and Shelby County, They failed to upgrade hwy.78 (Lamar Ave) to to freeway status, as it is in Mississippi. This area has many stoplights, and extremely heavy truck traffic often bringing traffic to a crawl. This is a plus for Olive Branch. The Riverdale/ Germantown Rd corridor is a bit of a problem. This is a surface Rd. that is busy and has recently been widened to five lanes in MS., then becomeing seven upon entering TN. This enters Unincororated ShelbyCounty, an area that is nearly. but not quite as bad as the area I-55 enters in from Southaven. Some criminals in Memphis do use this Rd., but is does have a few stoplights that help the Police to carefully watch the border. The same is true for the Hacks Cross entrance to TN, though housing in this area is a bit better in TN and less dangerous. Both Riverdale/Germantown Rd, and Hacks Cross Rd, give Olive Branch easy access to Hwy 385 (a freeway) that connects to I-240 with easy commutes to what I consider the only areas in Shelby County worthy of visiting. These are far East Memphis, Germantown, Collierville and Midtown. Southaven only has easy access to Downtown and Midtown. Hacks Cross Rd. delivers you from Olive Branch directly to the front door of Fed Ex's world Headuarters, Germantown, and a beautiful high end ,well planned regional shopping center in nearby Collierville. This is much better than the Mess of a lifestyle center in Southaven, it has lower end shopping , (Though Dillards is nice) and a traffic pattern that resembles a bowl of spaghetti. Olive Branch has almost no Apartments, and new residential proprosals are very closely scrutinized. It is nearly impossible to get apartments approved in Olive Branch, and you wont find many new homes here that have less than 2500 square feet. Olive Branch is not perfect, but has made an obvious effort to plan it's growth, and wont hesitate to axe a proposed development that might not be benefical to the community. Housing is more expensive in Olive Branch than it is elsewhere in Desoto County, and it is considered in the Memphis Metro area as a more desirable suburb than Southaven. This trend is not new and is clearly reflected in the 2000 census and census estimates for 2006. Olive Branch is a much more residential subdivision than Southaven. It is a bit smaller than Southaven, but has far fewer big box stores and endless unsightly strip malls. Olive Branch the basics are covered with Walmart, Kroger, Lowes, Home Depot, and a handful of restaurants and two Starbucks!! Southaven, a bigger suburb just has one. Again a indication of sophisticaion, and higher disposable income of Olve Branch. Dining is usually a pleasurable experience in Olive Branch. Not so much in Southaven, again, this is because of less of the Memphis element, Southaven refelcts more of Memphis in all regards to service. Memphis area service workers are known for ignorance, horrid communication skills, poor, hostile attitudes are very easily distracted, Plan on repeating your order at least three times. Again, neither place is perfect, and can't be, due to our mutual ugly neighbor to the North, but If I were moving to the area and working in the Eastern part ofthe Metro I wouldnt even consider Southaven, it is uncontrolled growth at it's ugliest. Of the other Desoto Burbs, I'll be brief. Horn Lake is disturbing, but if you ever need a check cahsed or a title loan, it's definetly the hot spot. Of Hernando, I have nothing bad to say, it has a town square that is nice, and also many upscale housing areas, it is growing slower than Southaven and Olive Branch, and appears to have knowlege of sound zoning principles(except for the East side where a Walmart was planted in the backyard of luxury homes). Hernando is a bit further away from everything, but around Memphis, that's certainly not a bad thing, and with a little sprucing up may be a decade away from being a hot spot.

[forestpixey]

My family is considering a move from Ca to Ms. We are looking at the De Soto County area. Olive Branch to be exact. We are going to have to rent a first. What I need to know is can you find houses for rent out there that are'nt to expensive. We have 2 school aged children and want the De Soto Co school district.

[gdriver]

To anyone who is considering a move to Desoto COunty schools-- My daughters have attended Desoto Central and now attend Lewisburg. Lewisburg and Center Hill were both new schools last year. I cannot speak for Center Hill but at Lewisburg, we personally had no major issues. We worked had to form PTO and booster clubs for the kids. We worked with the staff at the school to do what was best for our children. Lewisburg would definitely be our choice over Desoto Central simply because it is smaller and more personal.
As far as crime in Olive Branch, it is not bad. We did have a shooting of two police officers last year but that criminal element most like came visiting from Memphis. There is the occasional property crime but for the most part, we are a close knit community that is interested in keeping the community nice and safe. It is very family oriented.

[strumpeace]

his is due inexusable bad panning by City of Memphis and Shelby County, They failed to upgrade hwy.78 (Lamar Ave) to to freeway status, as it is in Mississippi.

Highway 78 is a U.S. highway. Thus, neither the City of Memphis nor the County of Shelby have control over it. What happens on U.S. Hwy 78 is at the discretion of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, which can use federal appropriations to do whatever it chooses to do.

[durhams]

I have lived in SH over 20 yrs. Your entry is the most informative reading regarding this area I have run across in all that time. Wish I had the same info awhile back but now that I am looking to sell and relocate it will be most helpful, so thanks!

[gdriver]

For anyone thinking of a move to Desoto county in need of schools, please be aware that school boundry lines are being redrawn. These should be published in The Commercial Appeal in September and go into effect for the 08-09 school year. I keep hearing rumors of lots of changes.

[Starshine480]

[quote=jriecke;34826]It looks like my family and I will be moving to Olive Branch in the next couple of months. I'm really confused about the school districts. Are all of the schools in the county good? I wanted Olive Branch schools, but depending on where we find a house I may end up in another school..........

It looks like all the schools in the county are one district. Here in NY each town/city has it's own district (example, I live in Broome County and there are7 or more school districts in the county), so this is why I am confused I guess..lol

Can anyone enlighten me?

[color="DarkSlateGray"]I really don't have any experience with the Olive Branch schools, but the girls who live there that I used to work with said the schools are great and their kids are really happy.

[Frank1938]

Originally Posted by forestpixey

We are considering a move to ms... Looking to go to De Soto county, I have a 6year old and 11 year old.. want to have a good school district.. I like the sound of Hernando, small but close to everything else.. my husband would be working in Memphis and that is most likely where I will have to work as well. My question is, we are going to have to rent first and buy a couple years down the line.. What are home rentals like out there... We need a 3 bedroom, that will let us bring our 2 dogs, they are behaved, outdoor and quite? any ideas?

I live in an older section of Hernando & there are 2 rental houses on my street that are 3 bedroom. They rent for $1,000.00 & $1,100.00, so I would expect to pay that. I know some of the newer ones are $1,400.00

[OBHS_Senoir_07]

I recently graduated from OBHS and i've moved around a lot, from Arizona to New Mexico to Texas and finally to Olive Branch, and I have to say that in the two years I went to OBHS it was the best school i've ever been to. With what i've heard about Center Hill High School, I think the principal should've been a little more understanding that these kids have come from a bigger school and need time to adjust to a smaller school.

I also agree with how he is running the school, he has a lot of pressure to make the school as up to par as possible.

And to the local rental area's in olive branch are from $900-1200 a month and the Desoto county school district is a very great district.