Moving to Memphis?

[vinemp]

Part of me is happy I didn't read this thread prior to moving to town three years ago. 

 

Sure, Memphis could be soooooooo much more...everything than it is at present! 

 

Still, it's not the dangerous drag that (too damn) many people made/make it out to be---not everywhere. Oh, and how I scoffed at the (seemingly strident) ¨Midtown is Memphis¨ bumper stickers when I first moved here, even as I immediately liked my own Midtown hovel. 

 

Truth be told, I have never lived in a more accessible and convenient neighborhood in my life---on three different continents. (Yes, Memphis has proper neighborhoods!) And, certainly, it is impossible to find comparably affordable ¨urban living¨ (however that's bandied about) in NOLA, Nashville or Atlanta, three cities that are very close to my heart.

 

Hell, I am as spoiled as could be! 

 

Move to Memphis. Use MATA. Make us better.

[BrandonTO416]

You DO NOT need a gun, period. That is nonsense. Is crime high in Memphis? Yes, it is. But the likelihood of you having a violent crime encounter is still very low. If you aren't involved in drugs, if you aren't involved in domestic violence, and if you aren't involved in a lot of the reasons why people get shot you have very little to worry about. Even in Memphis, most of the violent crimes are related to things you can avoid.

 

What you really need to be concerned with, and this is true in any city, is petty crime. Don't leave your cell phone or a bunch of CD's or expensive items laying out in a car if you park somewhere. Don't go walking in an area where there are drug dealers and its a noticeably bad area. Memphis statistically may have high crime, but it is no Detroit. There are plenty of nicer areas you can stick around. Downtown, midtown, the UofM area, and eastward are all contiguous areas that are fine. Don't let people scare you into thinking the city is a place to live in fear.

 

Take it from someone who grew up in eastern Middle TN around people who told me the exact same thing when I went to school in Memphis back in 2001/2002, they had me hyped up as a kid on a bunch of misinformation and I'm glad I ignored them. I was told to "get a gun" over and over and over, and the truth is more guns really just makes it more dangerous. If you have a gun, an intruder is more likely to shoot you in defense than you are to get him. A gun isn't worth it...

[BrandonTO416]

Part of me is happy I didn't read this thread prior to moving to town three years ago. 

 

Sure, Memphis could be soooooooo much more...everything than it is at present! 

 

Still, it's not the dangerous drag that (too damn) many people made/make it out to be---not everywhere. Oh, and how I scoffed at the (seemingly strident) ¨Midtown is Memphis¨ bumper stickers when I first moved here, even as I immediately liked my own Midtown hovel. 

 

Truth be told, I have never lived in a more accessible and convenient neighborhood in my life---on three different continents. (Yes, Memphis has proper neighborhoods!) And, certainly, it is impossible to find comparably affordable ¨urban living¨ (however that's bandied about) in NOLA, Nashville or Atlanta, three cities that are very close to my heart.

 

 

I should have read your post before my last response. I've likewise moved about this continent over the past decade and have quickly learned every city has its perks and pitfalls. Nashville's current condo boom is nothing short of amazing given that the city sat void of development for so long, but Memphis did a number of things right that Nashville didn't. It has a better connection to the river and a better park system (Nashville is trying, but there is nothing like Mud Island Park or Tom Lee Park even remotely in the planning stage). Memphis fought to keep I-40 out of Midtown successfully, Nashville is cut apart with a mess of highways that don't have good traffic flow. Memphis built and had a running trolley system in the early 90's (which now has 6 miles of length throughout the core), Nashville is still fighting bitterly over whether their first BRT system should even be built at all (a laughable joke that its even a debate at all).

 

Nashville can be an impressive city, but its still got plenty issues to be addressed. I easily remember 10 years ago when Nashville had virtually no housing construction downtown and Harbortown was already in its final stages of completion along with numerous other housing renos/new builds around South Main and on the Bluff and right in downtown.

 

What Memphis currently faces is a need for economic development since other cities have rebounded better since the Great Recession. I was disappointed to find out Peabody Place closed a few years ago. I remember when Peabody Place first opened, I had just moved to Memphis and went there often. It was the highlight of a resurgent downtown with lots of action and lots of things to do. The fact the developer ran out of money for the south bluffs condo that is sitting empty is also kind of sad (although I read reports it was recently bought and is being completed).

 

What would be Memphis' economic magic formula? I have no idea, but if Peabody Place can be revamped into something, they get the trolley fixed, and jobs flow in and several new high-rise buildings go up the city will be on the move again. All of these things are certainly possible.

[weisenheister]

Nashville is light years ahead of Memphis right now, with more coming. Memphis IS a dangerous city-broken into twice in east Memphis, then Germantown- cars broken into and/or vandalized. I have no idea what you're saying that Memphis is not crime-filled - all you have to do is look at the MPD's own numbers, Shelby county stats and FBI stats - and if you live in Midtown, 3 block in any direction you're in a bad neighborhood. I wish people would stop lying about Memphis - it's not a forward-looking, cutting edge city or region! Nashville folks don't even care for it! go ask what they think about west TN, and they are likely to tell you more of the truth, or anyone who is not from that hole and had to move there for business or a promotion. Iwouldn't tell anyone to choose Memphis, period...full stop.

[UTgrad09]

Nashville is light years ahead of Memphis right now, with more coming. Memphis IS a dangerous city-broken into twice in east Memphis, then Germantown- cars broken into and/or vandalized. I have no idea what you're saying that Memphis is not crime-filled - all you have to do is look at the MPD's own numbers, Shelby county stats and FBI stats - and if you live in Midtown, 3 block in any direction you're in a bad neighborhood. I wish people would stop lying about Memphis - it's not a forward-looking, cutting edge city or region! Nashville folks don't even care for it! go ask what they think about west TN, and they are likely to tell you more of the truth, or anyone who is not from that hole and had to move there for business or a promotion. Iwouldn't tell anyone to choose Memphis, period...full stop.

 

1) You don't speak for the whole of Nashville. Unfortunately, the Memphis forum is not as active as they used to be (most of them post on other sites). I can speak for a number of Nashvillians on this website that are most definitely interested in developments in Memphis, and want to encourage those that are in the know to post here.

 

2) This thread is nearly 9 years old, with the bulk of the responses being 7+ years ago. If your plan is to discourage people from moving to Memphis, your advice isn't going to fall on deaf ears. It's going to fall on no ears.

 

3) Nashvillians (and I say this as a Nashvillian) should be careful about talking crime statistics. While the murder rate in Nashville is respectable for a city its size, the rest of the violent crime rate does not fare so well. Is it safer than Memphis? Sure. But it does not stack up well against most major cities. Glass houses and such.