Moving to Memphis

[gooch66]

Relocating to Memphis soon and wanted to know some good areas for a home to rent. Garage is a must for the Bronco. Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[SteveL]

I been putting some feelers out on moving to Tennessee and people have told me avoid the Memphis area and look toward the outskirts of Nashville. That's kind of what I had in mind anyway. Close enough to easily visit but far enough out to have a little space around me.

 

[AFLtCol]

It's been a long time since I lived in Memphis but I wouldn't live there today. Germantown use to be nice...would avoid Memphis, Whitehaven or Southaven. Maybe look at Hernando or Collierville. Make sure you check out the schools if you haver kids. But if I was going to live in TN it would be east of Nashville.

If you decide to live on the Arkansas side of the river I wouldn't recommend West Memphis but I known several folks to live in Marion and liked it there.

 

[FordFarmer]

I'm here in Memphis and there are plenty of good areas around. Would I rather live in another part of TN? Yes, East TN specifically but my excellent work/life balance cannot be replicated anywhere else. Here's some thoughts for you...

Germantown: This is where I live. Arguably the best public schools in West TN. If you have a wife who values such things we have Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Target, Costco (just outside city limits), Container Store etc...you get the point. All of that is within 5 minutes of my house. Excellent city sports leagues for the kiddos. We also have AWESOME Police and Fire Departments. Germantown is VERY safe, it's NOT Memphis. No bad part of town here. What we don't have is a good auto parts store. We have an Auto Zone with less than stellar employees. I've got more but I'm trying to keep it short.

Collierville: Borders Germantown to the East. Similar in many regards, including excellent public schools (hence my "arguably" qualifier about G-Town). The only catch here is that there is one part of town that I wouldn't live in. It's south of Winchester Rd. Don't think shootings and gangs, just not a place I'd recommend. There are more options for rentals here and they will be cheaper than Germantown.

Bartlett: I don't spend much time there but the schools are good and you get more for your money.

East Memphis: This is a safer part of Memphis. It's a combination of large old money homes and older neighborhoods that haven't gone down hill. Lot's of kids here go to private school so you do have to watch what school district your in. Instead of municipal schools it's Shelby County and there are good and bad.

Lakeland: Good schools and lots of families. There are some municipal growing pains but most of my friends out there like it and don't intend to move. Used to be a better value but as the middle class creeps further East the property values have gone up.

Arlington: If it wasn't for my proximity to work and the kids liking their schools so much this is where I'd likely live. It's growing, has good schools and the property value (and rents) haven't gone crazy. Our pediatrician is out there as well as some work acquaintances and they all have really good things to say.

Millington: I see you're a Marine so you might find this to be a good option. Should find a good selection of rentals, a Navy Federal branch and of course the benefits NAS Millington has to offer if you have access to the base. Do a little more research before settling on a place here, there is a less disirable part of town.

Piperton/Eads: More for your money but schools are so so. It's all county so there are no municipal services such as Police and Fire. Those services will come from the county. You can get some land here and we looked hard at a few places but between the drive to work and the lack of good public school options we never put an offer in.

I moved here in 2011, bought our home in 2013 and did a 3 year stint in Hong Kong before returning last year. All that to say that it's not my hometown so hopefully another long time resident can add to my thoughts. I'm certain I've either missed or misstated something.

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about anything in more detail.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[sprdv1]

Same here, look North MS on the border of Memphis

It's been a long time since I lived in Memphis but I wouldn't live there today. Germantown use to be nice...would avoid Memphis, Whitehaven or Southaven. Maybe look at Hernando or Collierville. Make sure you check out the schools if you haver kids. But if I was going to live in TN it would be east of Nashville.

If you decide to live on the Arkansas side of the river I wouldn't recommend West Memphis but I known several folks to live in Marion and liked it there.

 

[half cab]

I've live within a 100 miles of Memphis all my life and growing up in 70s n 80s it was the coolest place to be...mud island-tom lee park-cook convention center. The old Rock 103 radio station. Pyramid- liberty land- lake land - mid south coliseum. Man Memphis was lit. Now I avoid downtown Memphis like it was a poisonous snake. Ford Farmer gave some great advise!

 

[sprdv1]

I've live within a 100 miles of Memphis all my life and growing up in 70s n 80s it was the coolest place to be...mud island-tom lee park-cook convention center. The old Rock 103 radio station. Pyramid- liberty land- lake land - mid south coliseum. Man Memphis was lit. Now I avoid downtown Memphis like it was a poisonous snake. Ford Farmer gave some great advise!

yessir, just got to get to the right area

 

[AFLtCol]

I've live within a 100 miles of Memphis all my life and growing up in 70s n 80s it was the coolest place to be...mud island-tom lee park-cook convention center. The old Rock 103 radio station. Pyramid- liberty land- lake land - mid south coliseum. Man Memphis was lit. Now I avoid downtown Memphis like it was a poisonous snake. Ford Farmer gave some great advise!

I grew up in West Helena, Ark (77 miles from Memphis). My radio station was always set to Rock 103 when I was in high school, had a 1970 Mustang Mach 1. And you can't talk about Memphis without mentioning The King Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Rock & Roll Express, Moondogs, Junkyard Dog, and the "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart.

 

[gooch66]

I'm here in Memphis and there are plenty of good areas around. Would I rather live in another part of TN? Yes, East TN specifically but my excellent work/life balance cannot be replicated anywhere else. Here's some thoughts for you...

Germantown: This is where I live. Arguably the best public schools in West TN. If you have a wife who values such things we have Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Target, Costco (just outside city limits), Container Store etc...you get the point. All of that is within 5 minutes of my house. Excellent city sports leagues for the kiddos. We also have AWESOME Police and Fire Departments. Germantown is VERY safe, it's NOT Memphis. No bad part of town here. What we don't have is a good auto parts store. We have an Auto Zone with less than stellar employees. I've got more but I'm trying to keep it short.

Collierville: Borders Germantown to the East. Similar in many regards, including excellent public schools (hence my "arguably" qualifier about G-Town). The only catch here is that there is one part of town that I wouldn't live in. It's south of Winchester Rd. Don't think shootings and gangs, just not a place I'd recommend. There are more options for rentals here and they will be cheaper than Germantown.

Bartlett: I don't spend much time there but the schools are good and you get more for your money.

East Memphis: This is a safer part of Memphis. It's a combination of large old money homes and older neighborhoods that haven't gone down hill. Lot's of kids here go to private school so you do have to watch what school district your in. Instead of municipal schools it's Shelby County and there are good and bad.

Lakeland: Good schools and lots of families. There are some municipal growing pains but most of my friends out there like it and don't intend to move. Used to be a better value but as the middle class creeps further East the property values have gone up.

Arlington: If it wasn't for my proximity to work and the kids liking their schools so much this is where I'd likely live. It's growing, has good schools and the property value (and rents) haven't gone crazy. Our pediatrician is out there as well as some work acquaintances and they all have really good things to say.

Millington: I see you're a Marine so you might find this to be a good option. Should find a good selection of rentals, a Navy Federal branch and of course the benefits NAS Millington has to offer if you have access to the base. Do a little more research before settling on a place here, there is a less disirable part of town.

Piperton/Eads: More for your money but schools are so so. It's all county so there are no municipal services such as Police and Fire. Those services will come from the county. You can get some land here and we looked hard at a few places but between the drive to work and the lack of good public school options we never put an offer in.

I moved here in 2011, bought our home in 2013 and did a 3 year stint in Hong Kong before returning last year. All that to say that it's not my hometown so hopefully another long time resident can add to my thoughts. I'm certain I've either missed or misstated something.

Feel free to PM me if you want to talk about anything in more detail.

Cheers,

Mark

Thanks Mark, your suggestions came in handy. I was in town during the weekend just looking at places and I have to say the pics on the internet are very deceiving. I found a place in the 38135 area code that is a contender but I’m still looking. I will be working downtown so I would like to be about 45 minutes max.

 

[half cab]

I grew up in West Helena, Ark (77 miles from Memphis). My radio station was always set to Rock 103 when I was in high school, had a 1970 Mustang Mach 1. And you can't talk about Memphis without mentioning The King Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Rock & Roll Express, Moondogs, Junkyard Dog, and the "Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart.

Three of those cats (Lawler,Dundee and big mouth did a small relive thr 70s like wrestling reunion around this area this past summer. Hey AFL we may have crossed paths back in the day;D

 

[bsmith1974]

I've lived in Memphis my whole life and love it. This is a great town and there's more going on now around Memphis than ever. The amount of construction and development city-wide is off the charts and all of it will make the city better. If all you did was watch the news and listen to the haters, you'd think I live in Iraq or something, but Memphis is no different than any big city when it comes crime, you just need to know which areas to avoid. Nashville gets all the publicity these days, but it's way overrated and the cost of living is nearly double that of Memphis. I'm not gonna go too deep in to the different areas of town to consider, Mr Farmer did a great job of that already, but what I will say is, depending on your budget, I love East Memphis. After that, I'd steer you to parts of Germantown and maybe Collierville. Depending on where you're work is, I'd steer you away from North MS, Arkansas, or anything East of HWY 385. I live near Poplar Ave and Mendenhall, right in the middle of E Mem and with kids, hobbies, work, church, family, grocery, etc. we're never more than 15 mins away from anything. People are always gonna try and trash Memphis, but they're wrong. This is one of the best cities in the South to live. Welcome