Ok guys I posted in GD yesterday and got mixed results.

Stay where you are........

No shit, or move to Nashville.

Germantown is a decent area, or at least it seems to be.

Hank will be along shortly to give hometown advice.....................  

so you got a promotion huh?

For public schools, the best in the area are in Collierville and Germantown (Houston).  The downside to this is that the commute to Mud Island will be pretty long.  It will be 30 - 45 minutes to make the trip downtown.  I would definitely recommend that you stay out of the Memphis school system, there are a couple of decent ones but the rest are pretty bad.  

http://www.greatschools.org/tennessee/memphis/Memphis-School-District/

http://www.greatschools.org/tennessee/memphis/Shelby-County-School-District/

If considering Germantown, you have to watch which district you live in.  You don't want your kids in the schools named Germantown.  The city of Memphis got those when Shelby County Schools broke up.  They are going downhill pretty quickly.

I'm ok doing a 40 min drive if it gets my family into a better school district.   I should find out more on Monday about this and possibly fly down and check out the area.

 

When you survey the area, make sure that you go though during the day and in the evening.  The weather should be good, try to interact with some people and see what the neighborhood is like.  

What kind of price range are you looking at for a house?  That will help with the recommendations that we can make for you.

While I could go up to $220 s I would like to stay under $175

 

Titpon county just north might be good for you working on Mud Island. Rush hour traffic will suck, but there are good schools and nice neighborhoods. Lower property tax. 20-30 minute rush hour commute.

Desoto county MS, is nice with good schools, fairly low crime, getting very crowded and rush hour traffic will really suck. Lower property and sales tax. 25-40 minute rush hour commute.

Across the bridge, Marion AR is a nice little town, but the bridges' traffic can be awful. Stay out of West Memphis, AR. 15-20 minute rush hour commute when the bridges are clear. Lower property tax.

Fayette county just east of Memphis is nice and very low crime rate, but it could be a 40 min drive in rush hour traffic. Very low property tax.  For high school, I would recommend a private school.

The east Memphis, Shady Grove areas are nice. Lower crime, but has issues at times. Maybe 20 minutes or less with rush hour traffic. This might require private schools. High property tax.

Lakeland Tn and Arlington Tn are nice, fairly low crime but school districts can be tricky. High property tax.

Collierville is nice, fairly safe area, school districts are good, very crowded, 30-40 commute in rush hour traffic.

If the promotion is not of such magnitude that the pay raise changes your life dramatically, or that taking this job and sucking it up for a year or two is the pathway to a BIG promotion
that launches your career into the stratosphere, then don't take it.

Memphis sucks.

We have some really nice people here.
There is good food here.
The cost of living is among the lowest in the country.
Winters here are very mild compared to Minnesota.
If you like to fish or go boating in the summer, there are lots of area lakes.

But that is about it.


Crime is out of control.
The MPD is not what they used to be, and from this citizen's perspective, the bad guys are winning the war on the streets.
Liberal FSA mentality runs the city at all levels of local government.
The schools suck and are dangerous, and the good private schools cost more than college tuition at many Universities.
The racial tension here is as bad as it gets. (This ain't Minnesota dude, if you have never lived in the south, you will be overwhelmed and not in a positive, warm fuzzy kind of way).
Memphis is probably 10 years behind Detroit as far as dying cities go.
In the summer, the mosquitos and humidity are unbearable.
Besides visiting Nashville, (which is an awesome city), there is NOWHERE cool to visit or vacation with mountains or beaches without driving 6 or 7 hours to get there.

I hate to sound so negative, but the Memphis of today bears very little resemblance to the city I grew up in during the 70's and 80's.

My family is here.
I have very good friends here, (all of which are members on arfcom) that I trust like brothers and love to hang out with.
I was born and raised here.

I would not choose to live here again, and am looking at moving to the Nashville area within 5-7 years.

And when I finally do put Memphis in the rear view mirror, I have no intentions of ever coming back.

I agree with most of what Snerd said. About 8 years ago, I wanted to move to east TN or North Carolina. My wife would have none of that. Now, my kids are almost grown. When they get out of college they will move away. There is nothing for them here. My wife now regrets her choice. Once my youngest is out of college, there is a good chance we will move. It is a shame that the area I was raised and I raised my kids will not raise my grand kids.

I still love Memphis and the area. I am hoping it turns around, but I will not hold my breath.

What was the shooting count this weekend like 9 reported?  

OP, tried to PM you, but the system said your box was full.

I agree with what Snerd and tigers have said.  I love Memphis its home for me, but it truly has a dark and dangerous side.  The schools are terrible and the city government try's its best to find ways to drag the suburbs down (like the school merger).   With a few exceptions everyone I know is looking for an out,  IE their building another home in Arkansas, Mississippi, or further east in Tennessee.  Or they are flat out trying to jump ship and get the heck out of here, its sad.

I didn't even hear about this until you mentioned the count.  This would be pretty weak by Chicago standards.  
http://wreg.com/2014/09/21/9-shot-2-dead-after-violent-weekend-in-memphis/

With Memphis, as long as you don't go venturing where you don't belong, you will be as safe as you would in any other metro area.  If you spend a lot of time in the hood or in the club scene, then your chances of getting into shit increase dramatically.  If you choose to move down here, you need to be careful with where you move and who you allow your kids to associate with.  Frankly, I am tickled pink that my sister and her kids are getting ready to move up to Ohio.  My nieces are hitting the teen years, and I am glad that they will not be doing it here.  

Who's going to stay behind and blow the bridges over the TN River now? Without being able to cross at 40, 64, and 70, the Memphis FSA won't be able to make it to Nashville as easily.

Yeah,  I think they said several of those shootings were at 2am Saturday outside a club in Hickory Hill.  This often applies for the Memphis area........... Don't do stupid things, in stupid places, with stupid people.

Dang it!   For some reason, I had the idea stuck in my head that we only had to worry about blowing the bridge at 40.  

I must be getting old.

How nice. They formed a Drum Circle. At least they are doing something about the high violent crime rate. Bless their hearts.

I live 3 miles across the Fayette County Line. I have a little over 5 acres. Property taxes on the land and house appraised at 130,000 is 369 a year.

The schools out here are what YOU make of them. My wife was room Mother for both my kids. Both my kids went to public schools, both were in the gifted program both were in the Governor's school. Daughter was Valedictorian, son played around, but finished 7th in class. Both had college scholarships.

Never had anything bothered at my house since I built here in 85.

I work in the city everyday, in all the industrial areas, and never had a problem.

Not a sunshine pumper, it is what it is........

Germantown, collierville, Bartlett.

In that order.

If you want to go further out, Oakland isn't bad either.

Eta,
Everything everyone has said is 100% true.  Most of us dislike Memphis and mainly stay for the "friends and family" thing.  Some people love Memphis though.

Memphis has so much potential, we just blow it every time.

Looks like I will be flying down next week to check out the area, any suggestions on what areas I should check out to live at? If I get time anyways, is going to be more of a business trip.

I'd probably be looking out in the collierville area.  Well, if I could afford it, I'd be looking out there now.  But its above my budget.  I'm planning a move within the next year, two max and that has become my ideal direction.  However, due to budget and staying closer to work, I'll be looking in the Bartlett and Lakeland areas.  Outside of Shelby County would be ideal but not likely possible for me.

Pull up Zillow and start mapping out houses in your price point.  You can find some houses in your price point range.  If you do look in Collierville, you want to stay north of the railroad tracks.  Also, since you have kids you may want to check out some of the houses near Johnson Park.  

Here is a foreclosure that may be worth looking into.  http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1394-Milestone-Dr-Collierville-TN-38017/42306442_zpid/

Here is the info page for Johnson Park

Bartlett is doing a pretty good job of dealing with crime and Copland and Arlington would probably benifit from forming their own JBT style PDs.

Memphis has a lot of problems that aren't going to get any better. You might want to rent a place for a year until you can see for yourself what you want to do. Plan on private schools. You must really be on the bad list if they are sending you to Memphis




Jack was sitting in an airplane when another guy took the seat beside him. The new guy was an absolute wreck, pale, hands shaking, biting his nails and moaning in fear.

"Hey, pal, what's the matter?" Jack asked

"Oh man... I've been transferred to Memphis," the other guy answered, "there's crazy people in Memphis and they have shootings, gangs, race riots, drugs, the highest crime rate..."

"Hold on," Jack interrupted, "I've lived in Memphis all my life, and it is not as bad as the media says. Find a nice home, go to work, mind your own business, enroll your kids in a good school and it's as safe as anywhere in the world."

The other passeger relaxed and stopped shaking for a moment and said, "Oh, thank you. I've been worried to death, but if you live there and say it's OK, I'll take your word for it. What do you do for a living?"

"Me?" said Jack, "I'm a tail gunner on a beer truck."

As most have stated, Collierville and Germantown.  Also, Lakeland and Arlington would be nice as well.

 

OP, you need to live in Lakeland.

Low crime (for the area), direct access to I40, close to Wolfchase, and a self contained school system.

It just so happens I have a house here that I will let go for a great price.

You forgot "Close to MSSA."

I stand by what I said in the GD post :D. Mississippi is no good, Arkansas is worse and Fayette county is trashy. Unless money is your only concern, stay in Shelby Co.
























 

Off topic but there are a lot of other options in the area. T1G just across the river hosts civilian classes occasionally, as does DARC over in Little Rock. Then there is Ronin that does classes in Shelby Co and Desoto. There are a couple of other neat places that aren't open to the public normally too. The MPD range has outside instructors running classes open to non-JBT sometimes too.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I should know by the end of the day weather or not it's going to happen.  We are looking at houses in Collierville, atoka, Germantown,  and lakeland.  Not necessarily in that order.

I understand the desire to not rent, but situations such as yours is are really the time to rent. Moving from a long distance, no knowing the area well, not having relatives or friends there, etc., etc. are the reason why renting makes sense. Coming down for a weekend visit and tying yourself to a real estate investment might end up biting you in the ass.

My advice would be to rent for at least 6 months in order to have a much better understanding of the area and seeing it at day and night and throughout the season. Schools, traffic, new friends, may very well make you regret a home purchase having only spent a weekend or week looking around, especially with a city such as memphis.

Just my .02 worth.

No shit.


It won't kill you to rent for a few months while everything settles down. What if you don't like it, or the job doesn't work out, or your significant other misses Minnesota too much to stay? These things can and do happen all the time, and impulsively selling a house is as much of a pain as impulsively buying one.

Contrary to some public opinion, there is no shame in renting.

I totally agree with this and we are considering renting something for short term.  My son has several allergies to animals making things more difficult to find a place to live, ie cats and birds.  

 

Does your son have allergy issues with plant life?  If so, you may want to have your son's allergist speak with someone at Memphis Allergy and Asthma care to see what problems your son may have down here.  Memphis is a city that is pretty rough on allergy sufferers.  I have always had allergy problems, but they are much worse in this area of the country.

http://allergymemphis.com/index.html

Well said.

Until you know an area very well, you may be at the mercy of a realtor who all they want to do is make a quick sell and get their commission. I would not at all be surprised if some realtors with crappy listings are looking for someone like the OP, no offense.

The OP can't understand Memphis until one gets there. Coming from Minnesota it will be a huge culture shock that I think the OP has not yet realized.

Now that he also mentions allergies his son has.........

Thanks guys, will take all of this into consideration.

 

I go to Dr. Hill at their Bartlett office.

I liked Dr. McCulley, at the Wolf River office.  She is rather easy on the eyes.  

We really appreciate the recommendations guys, I told my wife that you guys are giving us doc recommendations and it brought tears to her eyes.

 

Shit....I'm going to break radio silence for this because it's important.

As someone who was in your shoes four years ago, I also chose to ignore the good advice given in this forum and by these same good folk to basically keep the hell away and moved here. It wasn't the worst thing I've done in my life but it's probably in the top five.

That said, things have worked out well for me but it easily could've gone the other way.

Allow me to wax philosophical for a moment.... You're probably thinking that the new position sounds great, the money looks good, Elvis and the Blues grew up here, you've heard Tennessee is a cool place and frankly with some minor regional variety the USA is kind of the same wherever you go.

Unfortunately Memphis is it's own kind of bizarre, and not always in a good way.
I've never been to MN outside of MSP airport but I can state without the least bit of equivocation that you're in for some fairly major culture shock.

If you take nothing else away from this, please rent for at least 2-3 years. Please.

The problem as I've found with memphis is that it can be difficult for people to leave due to economic forces (it's is inexpensive to live here and you compare your purchasing power to other locations and it's not easy to leave) but trust me there are good reasons to avoid settling here. I have NEVER been to location where as many of the residents (including natives with their entire extended family here) were so open with their desire to get the hell out of the place if given the slightest opportunity.

Honestly, there are certainly worse places to live in the US, but I hope to never settle there either! With a young family I wouldn't recommend settling in New Orleans or Meridian Mississippi either.

If you want a new job away from the frozen north then look to Nashville/Knoxville/RDU/San Antonio/Huntsville/Denver/Atlanta/savannah/Orlando/Dallas.... Seriously just about anywhere.

Again it's not terrible but that shouldn't be misconstrued as an endorsement.

That said, the folks in this forum are some of nicest, most welcoming and selfless people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Unfortunately the rest of the city isn't even in the same league.

You should really reconsider the job offer.

With that out of the way, I'll see the rest of you next weekend.

ip link eth0 $: <NO CARRIER, BROADCAST.....ether 00:22:8d:09:16:c1>

I think he means 10/4 at the beer and pork place with the funny name.

Truly The Snerd abides. (Thanks for the translation!