Memphis/N. Miss

[MrCoffee]

Anyone living in the area care to share info. Good, bad, ugly? Got a wife and two toddlers, poking around the area, thinking about making the move.

 

[qratez]

Dont do it unless your moving from Oakland or Detroit. Other wise you will be downgrading for sure.

 

[Gregorio]

First, don't do it. However, if you do do it, get at least an hour away from Memphis. North Mississippi is much better than anywhere in tennessee around Memphis. I'd consider going about 2 hours east of memphis. There are some pretty nice areas around Corinth, Mississippi, or a little to the north around Shiloh park in Tennessee. Don't base your decision around the need to sit reserve, you won't be on reserve very long and it's better to hold a crash pad for a few months than commit to a place you can't stand for several years. A two hour drive to work is no big deal if you only do it two or three times a month, which is the norm once you hold a line.

Basically, get outside the Memphis sphere of enfluence and you'll be okay. Life's too short to live in a $hithole.

 

[JDriver]

I am moving to Olive Branch. Coming from New Orleans, Olive Branch is nice. Home prices are more affordable. It is only about a 20 minute drive to the terminal.

 

[VaB]

Anyone living in the area care to share info. Good, bad, ugly? Got a wife and two toddlers, poking around the area, thinking about making the move.

Beats commuting.

There are definitely better places in the world to live, but if you like to see your wife and kids, this is the place to be. Collierville, Germantown, most of the places outside of the 240 loop are good. I don't know a lot about the places in MS just south of Memphis, but I hear they are good. If you do a F.I. search on the subject, you'll find a bunch of stuff has already been said about it.

Good: Drive to and from work. Home a lot more. Low cost of living.

Bad: Crime in the city. City government is run by a bunch of criminals. Racism. Bible thumpers abound (most of them are OK, just a run in with one every now and then). The weather is goofy, it's to hot in the summer and to cold in the winter and usually there is nothing in between (like spring and fall). 7-8 hours to the closest beach, unless you count a lake.

Ugly: The Grizzlies suck this year (4-13, but they have a bright future)


I think the positives out far outweigh the negatives. But, I guess since I live here, I'm not very impartial. The people that need to speak up are the ones that have either 1) moved away but have positive things to say or 2) live here and don't like it (LIVE here does not mean have crashpads, I know you guys don't like it)

Good luck in whatever you choose.

 

[Longhorn]

C'mon guys, east memphis is really nice.....like nashville, and knoxville

 

[Enterprise]

I lived in Germantown for 10 years. It is a very nice place to live. Just don't plan on venturing too far west. If I went back I would either go to Collierville, Lakeland, or down into Olive Branch. Shelby County Schools are a must if you live in TN. I hear that North Mississippi schools are nice but the county school system has more money.

 

[Pinkslip]

Memphis is the worst city I have ever lived in!!!!! I cannot begin to tell you the things I have seen. STAY AWAY. FAR AWAY!

 

[kc10/c130]

Be smart and bring your family down for a week "vacation" to explore MEM and northern Miss. I grew up here and most of my family still lives here but it takes getting used to. I have several friends who moved here to only move away in a couple of years. Two points to emphasize: 1: East Memphis isn't all its cracked up to be, although EAST Memphis (Nashville and Knoxville) is. 2: I live in Indiana now. Good luck and make an informed decision because commuting is pretty great.

 

[Huck]

Check out Oxford, MS. ~1:20 to the airport and a nice college town. I'd move there, and I still may.....

 

[AlbieF15]

STFU Huck.

North Mississippi sucks. Stay away. Its awful. State income taxes, Mississippi Burning, racism, rednecks, 2 awful college football teams...

Go to Collierville or Germantown.

(Huck--if we wanna keep our duck blinds private I've GOT to get you to shut up!)

 

[Huck]

And while we're at it, the gulf coast blows too.....

 

[MrCoffee]

I appreciate all the input, I guess I'm wondering if there is ANYone that really enjoys living there and are glad they moved there. The best I've heard from anyone is that it's not AS bad as people make it out to be. I'm just looking to make life easier on my wife and kids by being home a little more often. Every time we decide we are gonna make the move though, I hear so much negative discriptions of life in the Memphis area, kinda stops you dead in your tracks.

 

[kc10/c130]

Where is that number for the realtor in Oxford? Hmmmm. Next thing Huck and Albie are going to tell you is how ugly Ole Miss girls are. But I digress.

 

[Falconjet]

Mr. Coffee: I moved to Collierville 4.5 years ago from Mobile, AL. I like Mobile, spent 9 of 20 years in the CG there. I am a southerner at heart (born in Canada however, CG brat).

I like Collierville, and my family LOVES Collierville. Yes, Memphis is a pit, we don't go there often. It is not really any different than any other large city in my opinion, I don't like any big city. I would love to live in Knoxville or somewhere outside of Nashville, but for now the family life here is way too good for us to consider moving.

Coming from Mobile (my adopted hometown) we upgraded in schools significantly, neighborhood, and community. We are very happy here and there are plenty of other places in the surrounding area that would be nice also, as mentioned by some of the other posters.

If you'd like any more specific info feel free to pm me (no my wife isn't a realtor and I don't sell Amway on the side). Try not to let those who bash the place influence you too much. Visit, look around and make up your own mind.

Growth at FedEx could stop or slow down any minute, and being able to drive into work each day or fly pm out and backs (if that is what you like) in order to spend MUCH more time at home with your young family will WAY more than offset the downside of living around Memphis. I was stuck on reserve for 2 years and probably wouldn't have stuck around if I wasn't living here. But even on the bottom of the list living here was too good to pass up.

Good luck.

FJ

 

[AlbieF15]

And like other things in life--FJ "decided" to be happy and make the best of it. I've been with guys who loved Shaw AFB, Alaska, and Germany...and guys who DETESTED those same places. Life is an attitude.

If you CHOOSE to move to MEM, you can make it work and have a great time. If you CHOOSE to commute, you'll likely make the challenges work too.

Life is an attitude. I love my home...but I also seem to manage to have fun whenver I am in town between trips. There are a LOT of great people at the company, and I"m sure some of them will become your friends for hunting/fishing/sports car racing/furniture refinishing/motocross/Harley riding, or whatever floats your boat.

Panama City sucks however. Don't move here...

 

[HoursHore]

I live in Memphis and Like it. Originally a Midwesterner.

I think the flexibilty that living here gives with your schedule is great. I usually bid Reserve Carry Over, which increases your pay about 20% with out haveing to do one more lick of work thanks to levelling. Ona average I was used 4-8 Days a month in the back of the 10. We'll seee how it is in the 11.
Its easier to Flex if you live here, and pick up trips. And no waiting for a jump seat after a trip.

I live Downtown, by the river, and love the parks and retaruants that are down here. My commute is 13 minutes to the Parking lot. Next summer we are thinking of moving to a house, but we are mainly looking to live in the City, which has some great tree lined neigborhoods. (East Memphis, Central Gardens)

Now, everytime I watch the evening news, I feel like packing up and moving. But they really emphasis crime on the nightly news. However, My Brother lives in Downtown Philly and they have the same problems. And If we do move to afore mentioned neigborhoods, I will be buying a Bull Mastiff and an invisible fence for its nightly patrolling. Also, I am resigned that my kids will have to go to Private Schools, so its like having three sets of property taxes. City, county and Private. But My overall impression is that Living in Memphis makes a good job a great job.

But everyone has a different story.

 

[AlbieF15]

HH...is that a VAN...down by the River? (with apologies to Chris Farley...RIP)

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Nope

HH...is that a VAN...down by the River? (with apologies to Chris Farley...RIP)

...or the busted-up van in the Democrat lot. Not to steal the thread, but there should be a thread about the average car in the Democrat vs what the dude really drives / earns.

BS

 

[stonewall]

1992 Acura Integra with 200,000 miles v. 2004 Chevy Tahoe Z71.

 

[Purpledog]

I thought about it for the above reasons. The wife said no though. I dragged her to enough sh*tholes in the military. Commuting is easy if you don't chase the money and upgrade at every opportunity. I haven't flown a line that I couldn't drive to in years. However, if you have a need to make as much $ as possible and don't want to be gone from home a lot, MEM is your only hope.

 

[ictflyer23]

Good advise falconjet

I lived in Detroit for 6 years and after visiting the Memphis area (to include Collierville and Germantown), I decided to NOT move to Memphis -- MrCoffee, don't forget to check out the school systems -- Tenn and Miss are not known for their education system.

Happy to commute

Good luck

 

[Wildmanny]

I don't remember who started this thread, but my .02: Stay far away. Like the guy said, unless you're moving from De-toilet, it's a MAAAAAAJJJJOOOOORRR downgrade.

I thought about moving to Mempho for about a nano-second. Then I got my brain back.

Yes, it will make your life easier, but at the cost of being in the most racially divided (brought about by the current political scumbags), ungodly hot, nothing to do, backwards sounding, no good restaurant, illiterate, SEC football loving, muddy truck driving, redneck, Yankee hating, no service giving, dump of a town I've ever seen. Most of Tennessee hates Memphis and considers it part of Arkansas.

It's just about a tad better than my crashpad in Detroit and there were bullets flying there!

Come to big Purple, we need the seniority. Do your family a favor and live somewhere else.

Any questions on where I stand? LOL

 

[stonewall]

SEC football loving, muddy truck driving, redneck, Yankee hating

,

Is that supposed to be a negative?? I'm on my way!

Besides, there are some rich white folk living in the area...they just can't keep their kids out of trouble:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/football/article/0,1426,MCA_478_5218222,00.html


Fred can't be too happy about this, but I imagine he wasn't too happy about the first one, either.

 

[flagshipper]

I have lived in Memphis most of my life and is by the far the worst city I have ever lived in. When I finally got hired and held a line I immediately moved out west. Yeah the commute sucks but I don't have to worry about my car being stolen (4 times in 20 years in memphis this happened to me) Being hassled at every gas station and quick mart for money. Yes the suburbs are ok but everything is catching up. I grew up in bartlett but even that area, particularly the older part is going downhill quick. In 20 years gtown may be the hood at the rate things happen in memphis. Also you can't totally avoid the city by living in the burbs. The first thing to do in memphis is get your carry permit before you even turn on the cable. There is less racism in a KKK meeting than there is in MEM. I had never heard "sir may I take your order" until I went up north. I was used to "wutch ju want?" and sitting for 8 minutes while the dumba$$ figured out how to count to 12. That kind of stuff is over the whole midsouth area and cant be avoided by simply moving to the burbs. County schools test scores are only 1.8 percent higher than city school scores. No wonder every private school in memphis has a waiting list. I feel I owe it to my family and my children to live somewhere that will allow them to play safely outside and receive a good education and not deal with the racial tension. So if I have to commute for the sake of my family I consider it a good cause. Every pilot has to make that decision but if you choose simply to ignore the dangers of memphis for your own selfishness then you have some screwed up priorities

 

[TheBaron]

Commute...

Instead of living an hour + outside of town, so that your family can be safe, why not commute from one of our closer ramps. When I was Memphis based, my commute flight was only 50 minutes ( + the 1 hour show). It does take a little extra time away from your family but it allows a lot more flexibility in where you can to live.

 

[Wildmanny]

Flagshipper:

You got it brother! For all the right reasons. That is what it finally came down to for me: there was no way I was willing to put my family in that sort of environment. I'd rather commute than worry about my wife and kids at home waiting to be accosted. I'll be following you west shortly, from FL.

WM

 

[WorldOnTime]

That's what you think. You know you will be staying in S. Florida. I'll keep a cold beer in AK for ya! LOL!

Flagshipper:

You got it brother! For all the right reasons. That is what it finally came down to for me: there was no way I was willing to put my family in that sort of environment. I'd rather commute than worry about my wife and kids at home waiting to be accosted. I'll be following you west shortly, from FL.

WM

 

[Goose17]

I used to live in Memphis

I lived in Memphis for 4.5 years. I spent 1 year in Bartlet and the rest in G'town. I got a wife and two little boys...

The best thing about Memphis is FedEx. Living there gives you lots of scheduling, upgrade and extra cash options, but at what cost? We had a nice house in G'town, but we always wanted to get out... it just took awhile to get financially ready for the big move. Most of the problems I saw with the greater Memphistan area are listed above. Add too, we really had a hard time coming up with things to do. We would hit the zoo and play in the yard, but when it came right down to it, we were board.

We up'ped and moved to an area outside of Fort Worth.

Differences we have enjoyed: First off, we are living on a lake. We can jump in the water at any moment vs. an hour drive to Sartis Lake. People here are friendly and curtious! Not the case in Mem. People use their blinkers and actually let you into traffic (total shock coming from Mem!)

I also have to use my Walmart story... I avoided Walmart in Memphis like the plague. It was painfull going in there no matter how you sliced it. Occasionally, there was something I needed that I could only get there so I would suck it up and head in. The employees there could give a rats ass if they helped you or not and they would actually work at not helping you. Then you could not understand what the heck they were saying - totally different language. Next comes the checkout... if there are two people in front of you, get ready to spend 30 minutes in line.

Now in rural TX, the only store nearby is Walmart. I reluctantly went in there shortly after the move and a guy approached me in an isle and asked if he could help me. I thought I was about to get robbed! He walked me clear accross the store to show me where something was. At checkout, I was waiting in line when a clerk a few isles away came out to the end to announce she had no waiting in here lane! People smile, speak English, help you out and are just down right pleasant! Not so in Memphis.

We have a lot of guys that live there. Many guys move there and many move away. It really boils down to are you and the family happy there? If so, great - your career with FedEx will be easy. If you are not happy there, move to a location with a somewhat easy commute (near a bigger airport and not in the corners of the country).

I am off my soapbox now.

Good luck in your decision to move.

Goose17

 

[1stCivDiv]

Bah

We live in the Southaven/Olive Branch area. The schools are good, housing is way more affordable, and there is plenty of stuff to do. Desoto county is exploding right now. And as previous guys have posted you can make way more money and have so much more time off than you can commuting. Albie is just jealous cuz he doesn't have any duck blinds in FL! My sponsor actually was living here and recently decided to move to OR to be closer to his kids, and now realizes how spoiled he was living here. Commuting is a pain no matter how you look at it plus the extra days off you miss just wasn't worth it for me. North MS is a very nice area and growing. I will take the state tax any day to stay away from Mayor Willy. Although, there is no state tax in TN the property taxes are triple what they are in MS. So either way they are going to get you. Hope that helps and if you have any other questions feel free to PM me!