Renting in Memphis (Jackson, Bartlett, Germantown: 2015, apartment complexes, rentals)

[LI2Texas]

Hi y’all,

We are looking at a job opportunity in Memphis. We currently live in Texas. Do you have a recommendation of parts of town to look? Budget is $1,500 for a 3 bed/ 2 bath. Looking for close to downtown, we are ok if the area is transitional. We’re looking to come visit over the summer, so would love to have a few areas to explore. Thanks in advance ☺️

[Comingtomemphis]

Your best bet may be the Forum Flats or South City, both off of Danny Thomas. They are subsidized housing projects, aiming for mixed income. South City is being built with federal funds on the site of what were the Foote Homes, a housing project for black families built in the 1940s when Memphis was strictly segregated. There are a couple other subsidized apartment complexes, like Patterson Flats, but income limits tend to be low. You are unlikely to find a 3-bedroom market-rate apartment near Downtown. I haven't seen the ethnic makeup of those developments, but am guessing they are all or largely black.

Which raises the next question, do you have children? Most people base their choice of area on schools. Memphis City Schools (now called Shelby County Schools) are some of the poorest performing in Tennessee. Only 25% of 3rd graders read at grade level. The Downtown high school, BT Washington is 100% black, Downtown Elementary is over 90% black. The public elementary schools in Midtown, namely Peabody, Idlewild and Snowden perform somewhat better and have more white children, although I believe they are all majority black. Many white families, and others who can afford it, send their kids to private or parochial schools. This was particularly important this past year because the public schools didn't open.

We live Downtown. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

[LI2Texas]

Originally Posted by Comingtomemphis

Your best bet may be the Forum Flats or South City, both off of Danny Thomas. They are subsidized housing projects, aiming for mixed income. South City is being built with federal funds on the site of what were the Foote Homes, a housing project for black families built in the 1940s when Memphis was strictly segregated. There are a couple other subsidized apartment complexes, like Patterson Flats, but income limits tend to be low. You are unlikely to find a 3-bedroom market-rate apartment near Downtown. I haven't seen the ethnic makeup of those developments, but am guessing they are all or largely black.

Which raises the next question, do you have children? Most people base their choice of area on schools. Memphis City Schools (now called Shelby County Schools) are some of the poorest performing in Tennessee. Only 25% of 3rd graders read at grade level. The Downtown high school, BT Washington is 100% black, Downtown Elementary is over 90% black. The public elementary schools in Midtown, namely Peabody, Idlewild and Snowden perform somewhat better and have more white children, although I believe they are all majority black. Many white families, and others who can afford it, send their kids to private or parochial schools. This was particularly important this past year because the public schools didn't open.

We live Downtown. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thanks so much for the response. We are looking to rent a house, not an apartment. By close to downtown, are there residential neighborhoods within 5 or so miles from downtown that you would look at in that budget? If not, maybe something a little further out? We do have children that will be in grade school in the next few years.

[brickpatio2018]

Evergreen, Rhodes College area, Central Gardens, Cooper-Young...these are full of turn of the century bungalows with front porches, all in Midtown Memphis. Midtown is a great area but it drops off into bad areas quickly, so you have to know where you are looking.

All of these neighborhoods have neighborhood associations except for the Rhodes College neighborhood, but those streets are across the street from the boundary of the Evergreen district. Actually I think the Rhodes area is called Volluntine-Evergreen...I would suggest staying south of Jackson Ave but if you're okay with transitional areas then anything in that neighborhood might be okay).

For schools that's another matter entirely. You would need to go to DeSoto County, Mississippi or eastern suburbs. There is also Marion, Arkansas which is across the river from downtown and not a bad little town. Currently the bridge over the river to Arkansas is closed due to repairs so it's not ideal at the moment but bridge should be fixed in a few months.

[Comingtomemphis]

Schools really need to drive your search. Do as much online research as possible. Are you good with an urban school experience? It is possible to send your child to a school outside your catchment area, but the better the school, the harder to get your child in.

The best-performing public schools are the municipal schools in Germantown and Collierville. Arlington and Millington are also okay, maybe Bartlett. Or in Mississippi. Obviously none of those are within five miles of Downtown.

Look online for a three-bedroom rental house in the Idlewild or Peabody catchment zone. It won't be easy to find one for $1500. There is a color-coded map at the top which is still helpful. Areas can get bad quickly - literally two streets make a difference. The Evergreen area is also a possibility.

[LI2Texas]

Appreciate both y’all’s help! Will be looking. Hoping to visit in the next few months to get a good look for myself.

[shinestx]

My secretary has a daughter who is moving to Memphis out of college. She is looking at various areas. Will work in the east suburbs (I think Cordova). So she's 22 and single. She wants to know if Mud Island is a good place for young single women?* If not, where would you all recommend?*

[Jardine8]

Originally Posted by shinestx

My secretary has a daughter who is moving to Memphis out of college. She is looking at various areas. Will work in the east suburbs (I think Cordova). So she's 22 and single. She wants to know if Mud Island is a good place for young single women?* If not, where would you all recommend?*

There are others that can provide better, more updated info, as I don't live on or visit Mud Island very much but it's a popular spot with several apartment complexes. It's one of the areas that I looked at when I moved to Memphis in early 2015, though I ultimately settled on an apartment in Midtown. You'll see people out and about on foot on Mud Island and it seems to be pretty safe in general. There is one smaller market (Cordelia's Market) on Mud Island and no full-sized grocery store, so she might find herself driving elsewhere to buy groceries from time to time. Cordova would be a little bit of a drive to make 5 days a week for work, since Mud Island is on the river and Cordova is way out east though I don't know exactly how many minutes it would be. I'm sure someone else will chime in with their thoughts on Mud Island.

[AppalachianAngler]

Originally Posted by shinestx

My secretary has a daughter who is moving to Memphis out of college. She is looking at various areas. Will work in the east suburbs (I think Cordova). So she's 22 and single. She wants to know if Mud Island is a good place for young single women?* If not, where would you all recommend?*

When I was dating my wife she lived on Mud Island. It is a pretty popular area for young single professionals. You are close enough to downtown but separated enough to avoid the bad foot traffic. It has one little grocery store with a very limited selection of food, beer, toiletries, etc. She would have to do her everyday grocery shopping elsewhere, but it is nice to have something nearby. I hear downtown is getting (or has?) a full service grocery store. There are a couple of bars/restaurants and a nice hotel on Mud Island as well. Good views of the river.

You can get on 240 pretty easily to go to Cordova from Mud Island. The commute is probably ~25ish minutes. I wouldn't recommend living in Cordova as a young single professional--not much to do there for that age range and the only other single people are likely older divorcees. Besides, Cordova has its own issues and is not really much safer than Memphis.

The other places would be Downtown or Midtown. I lived downtown and mostly loved it. Plenty of single early 20s women live downtown, but a lot with roommates. Midtown is probably more dangerous than downtown. Midtown has a funkier vibe (also plenty of younger single folks like DT) with mostly older bungalow type houses, but it gets dicey very quickly. Hard to find rentals there as well. I also lived in midtown when I bought a house and enjoyed it, but it definitely felt more dangerous than downtown.

If her only concern is safety and proximity to work, and she doesn't really care about getting out and about and doing the young single thing, Germantown is your choice. Close to Cordova and nice.

I always worked out East when I was single but lived either downtown or midtown. Much more fun to live where you play than live where you work.