Yes....you'll be safe in Memphis.... (Winchester: home, university, to live)

[Brian]

I grew up just outside of Knoxville, Tenn., currently residing in the Atlanta area.

Having visited/stayed in Memphis often, I personally feel more safer in Memphis even after hours, than I have ever in downtown Atlanta and several inner suburbs. Oh, I am white.

Memphis needs to get rid of Willie and co. to get back on track. I know Willie no longer is in control of Memphis, but he still has people in control in his favor.

[thenuegeye]

Getting rid of Willie won't make a difference at all. Won't heal any racial rifts either. Don't blame this city's dysfunctions on him. Sure, he didn't make it better but it didn't start with him. And how can Memphis get "back on track" if we were never moving ahead? I know people hate to acknowledge this but this city was even more stagnent before Herenton came into office. I wish people could put their hatred aside and use good judgement for once.

[missAR]

I really appreciate the original post of "being safe in Memphis" I am moving there soon and have read alot of different opinions on the city. I am from Kansas City where our crime rate isnt so pretty either. I have had my house broken into and ALL my stuff taken...wasnt happy about that either. But as far as Im concerned, it just depends on how u live, where u live who u associate with, and how u can make your own life drama free. I clearly wasnt living in the best neighborhood. Well I learned my lesson. Was going thru hard times and lived where I could afford. So now I am about to start school so that I can make more money to afford better living. Its that simple. I can understand ppl saying "no dont move here". I would tell someone the same thing about Kansas City. I know Memphis is on First 48 all the time. Hell so are we...almost as much...I think every big city has its pro's and con's and you just have to make it best for you. I personally think I would feel the same in Memphis as I do here in Kansas City as far as safety goes. Everyone goes through different things and experiences. So thank you for the uplifting comments about the city.

[gracie84]

Well I've been here 4 months now and haven't been shot or robbed. I'm from a city in Britain that has 1-2 murders a year.. It seems what people say is true: If you're sensible, you should be ok. Of course, burglaries can happen to everyone but that's not unique to memphis. It's not my favourite city on Earth but you can be happy here

[brentwoodgirl]

I grew up in Memphis, and it never seemed unsafe to me. I grew up in the burbs, went to private school and was apparently very sheltered. But after college I started a sales job in Memphis and was shocked at how dangerous Memphis really was. I worked by the airport, and once saw a knife hold-up at Walgreens during my lunch hour. And when I say saw, I mean the person in front of me in line pulled a knife on the clerk while I was standing there buying a Coke. I was terrified. The closest bank had telephones outside for transactions and an armed guard to protect customers while doing transactions. This was in 1998. My boss wanted us to all be out of the building before dark, so we got off early in the winter months. Any extra work we did from home. I made sales calls to lots of industrial areas and felt nervous in some of them, even in broad daylight.
I moved to Nashville in 1999, and I have never felt as unsafe here as I did working in Memphis. I lived in the city when I first moved here, in zip codes that didn't have great crime records but still seemed infinitely safer than Memphis. I used to laugh at people in college who wouldn't go to Memphis because of the crime. But after working all over the city, I understood it so much better.
Are you safe in Collierville? Bartlett? Probably. But overall Memphis is a less safe city then many other cities of the same size.

One other note, there are some great things about Memphis too. I miss the BBQ. I miss Memphis in May. I miss Raiford's . I miss the music. There is a lot to love about Memphis.

[missAR]

gracie84....what area do u live in?

[Tigertate]

Originally Posted by brentwoodgirl

I grew up in Memphis, and it never seemed unsafe to me. I grew up in the burbs, went to private school and was apparently very sheltered. But after college I started a sales job in Memphis and was shocked at how dangerous Memphis really was. I worked by the airport, and once saw a knife hold-up at Walgreens during my lunch hour. And when I say saw, I mean the person in front of me in line pulled a knife on the clerk while I was standing there buying a Coke. I was terrified. The closest bank had telephones outside for transactions and an armed guard to protect customers while doing transactions. This was in 1998. My boss wanted us to all be out of the building before dark, so we got off early in the winter months. Any extra work we did from home. I made sales calls to lots of industrial areas and felt nervous in some of them, even in broad daylight.
I moved to Nashville in 1999, and I have never felt as unsafe here as I did working in Memphis. I lived in the city when I first moved here, in zip codes that didn't have great crime records but still seemed infinitely safer than Memphis. I used to laugh at people in college who wouldn't go to Memphis because of the crime. But after working all over the city, I understood it so much better.
Are you safe in Collierville? Bartlett? Probably. But overall Memphis is a less safe city then many other cities of the same size.

One other note, there are some great things about Memphis too. I miss the BBQ. I miss Memphis in May. I miss Raiford's . I miss the music. There is a lot to love about Memphis.

The area around the airport has gotten really bad over the years. From my experience it is like that in most cities around the airport. Memphis definitely does have its rough areas that everyone would be wise to avoid, but there are also great places to live as I am sure you are aware of since you were raised here. The thing that is weird about Memphis is that the bad areas kindof surround you. In other similar size cities like Nashville and Louisville the rough areas are on one side of town. Memphis used to be like that before the destabilization created by bussing in the early seventies and annexation in the mid to late nineties. These events helped to erode the middle class core in many Memphis neighborhoods. The middle class people began to migrate south to Mississippi and to the suburban cities in Shelby County. With the middle class went the school system and so on and so on. Now they are tearing down all the old housing projects and sending the former residents to rental houses and apartments in once stable neighborhoods further enhancing the problem. It really is sad. I do not know what needs to be done to correct these problems.

[ktCakes]

*sigh* ahhhh...this feels like home already! We are going to moving from Memphis from St. Louis in the next couple of months. Every back and forth on this board reminds me so much of the back and forth we get from City vs. County in St. Louis. Including the same self-hatred, the same racism, the same cheerleaders, the same curmudgeons. LOL!

We live in the big bad Most Violent dangerous city and we absolutely love it here. We have been the victim of a car theft and a bash and grab (My husband forgot to take his iPod out of the car). But, never in any real danger. It's the same story, the violent crimes are against targeted people (It really IS dangerous if you are an Af-Am man between the ages of 16 and 24) or domestic assaults. We have 5 young children who play outside and have a close-knit neighborhood that I am going to miss terribly. The diverse population of artists and immigrants and families. The great restaurants, and cool taverns, the city events and parks. But, it sounds like I will find all of this in our new home in Memphis.

Chin up, Memphis. Peruse the other city boards. You will find that you are not alone in these things and progress can happen despite the haters and happy homes and lives can be found in the city.

btw~We have security guards outside the grocery stores and Target. You DO have Target there, right?! Crime I can deal with, but no Target may be a deal breaker!!

[missAR]

Originally Posted by ktCakes

*sigh* ahhhh...this feels like home already! We are going to moving from Memphis from St. Louis in the next couple of months. Every back and forth on this board reminds me so much of the back and forth we get from City vs. County in St. Louis. Including the same self-hatred, the same racism, the same cheerleaders, the same curmudgeons. LOL!

We live in the big bad Most Violent dangerous city and we absolutely love it here. We have been the victim of a car theft and a bash and grab (My husband forgot to take his iPod out of the car). But, never in any real danger. It's the same story, the violent crimes are against targeted people (It really IS dangerous if you are an Af-Am man between the ages of 16 and 24) or domestic assaults. We have 5 young children who play outside and have a close-knit neighborhood that I am going to miss terribly. The diverse population of artists and immigrants and families. The great restaurants, and cool taverns, the city events and parks. But, it sounds like I will find all of this in our new home in Memphis.

Chin up, Memphis. Peruse the other city boards. You will find that you are not alone in these things and progress can happen despite the haters and happy homes and lives can be found in the city.

btw~We have security guards outside the grocery stores and Target. You DO have Target there, right?! Crime I can deal with, but no Target may be a deal breaker!!

See, you get where Im coming from. You are from St. Louis and Im from Kansas City and we both know our cities are far from being crime free. But I feel the same as you do. That I will feel just the same in Memphis as I have in Kansas City. And yes the stuff about the area around the airport I can believe because the first time I went to Memphis, the person I was visting lived right down the street and I cant lie, I got there at night and was a little frightened by what I saw. But then in visits afterwards I began to see how much I like it down there.

[estona1983]

We had lived in Memphis for a total 2 weeks when my wife was mugged at a gas station in broad daylight with my 1 1/2 year old son in the back seat. The guy jumped in to the front seat of our SUV and stole her purse. We dealt with identify theft related issues for at least 2 years after that. It was not in a particularly bad location either. We have since moved but there is a lot more than "black on black" crime going on there. If you haven't either witnessed or been a victim of some sort of crime you haven't lived there long enough.