1st review these statistics:
http://www.city-data.com/city/Memphis-Tennessee.html
FYI, Memphis is the highest population city within the state of Tennessee.
It is true that Memphis is the
most sedentary city of the most obese nation of this world.
The public school system here is in shambles, textbooks from the 80's, gangs, drugs, & rampant teen pregnancy. This city has managed to regress to full scale segregation where the public schools are 99.9% black and the private schools are predominantly white.
Violent crimes are more concentrated in the blighted areas which are predominantly found in North and South Memphis. The road known as Poplar is the lifeline of Memphis and a residence close to the lifeline would be wise.
The safest and most established residential areas include Harbor Town (the Bluffs facing the Mississippi River), Chickasaw Gardens, River Oaks, Red Acres, and Central Gardens.
I’ve been living in Memphis for 7 years and I’ve never personally seen or been a victim of crime. My car has never been so much as “keyed”. The people here are generally very hospitable & courteous. The cost of living is low compared to other metropolitan areas of the USA. The average cost of rent is $670 per month. You can find a smaller home in a good area within the City of Memphis for $150,000 but if you go out to Cordova, Lakeland, Desoto County, or Bartlett, you can buy much more house w/ larger lot size and pay less property tax and have a short commuting distance to the City of Memphis.
Midtown is probably the best midrange area of Memphis that I can recommend. It's known for it's culture and open minded residents. Senses is currently the most popular club, Beale St. is a fun for the weekends, Oak Court mall is the safest. If you need a church or a pawn shop, Memphis has more than perhaps any other city in the nation. There are also a ton of strip clubs here, 2nd only to the quantity of Startbucks coffee shops that you will find.
Major industry for Memphis includes:
FedEx World Headquarters
International Paper World Headquarters
Autozone World Headquarters
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is in Memphis.
We have Pandas at the zoo!!
People mostly travel by automobile here. Although we do have a bus system, it’s slow & inefficient. We do have the “240 Loop” which is a fast, multi-lane highway that circles Memphis. It’s relatively effective for traveling across expansive distances of Memphis. Keep in mind that Memphis is approximately 280 square miles in size (the Mayor is aggressively annexing).
Unfortunately, racism is alive in Memphis. I mostly hear complaints about black on white racism, whites being the minority. I’m half Chinese so I’ve managed to remain on the sidelines in this regard.
Races in Memphis:
Black (61.4%)
White Non-Hispanic (33.3%)
Hispanic (3.0%)
Other race (1.5%)
Two or more races (1.0%)
Mayor Herrington just won his 5th term to office (he’s acquired the stigma of being corrupt). His campaign slogan was “Shake them haters off”. I don’t follow local politics but supposedly this event has further stimulated the “white flight”, where white Memphis residents are moving further East (Germantown, Collierville, Piperton) or fleeing to Desoto Country in Mississippi.
If you have any other specific questions or concerns I’ll be happy to oblige.
