CSNbbs

Some very good friends of ours are moving from Huntsville to Memphis later this summer. They have 2 young children and are looking to buy a home. She does not work - he will work downtown. They were asking about where to buy, schools, etc... they are leaning towards 2 areas - North Mississippi or Millington / Tipton Co. I told them an East Memphis to Downtown commute is not fun. I gave them some advice but they would really appreciate some info from folks who actually live in those areas (N MS and Mton / Tipton).

Any help here? How are the taxes? How are the schools? How is the crime rate? I and they thank you in advance for any advice you can lend.

Tell 'em about the crime rate and the rest is moot

Move into the Gramwood, White Station, Richland elementary school district. You'll get the new White Station Middle School and White Station High. Property values hold well and the commute is easy.

They know about the crime rate IN Memphis. The entire country does. They are asking specifically about North MS and Millington / Tipton Co. Any help with that?

I have some family who lives in N MS. They like it a lot. I dont know about taxes, but the schools are improving, especially in the incorporated areas like Olive Branch, Southaven, etc... The crime rate is low, but it is increasing. It seems like mainly property theft from what they have told me. My uncle works at FedEx and drives in everyday, but the commute is not bad with Goodman Road pretty much connected to anything running south out of Memphis. Thats all I can really remember right now, hope it helps!

ProfDave Wrote:Tell 'em about the crime rate and the rest is moot

True, with the way things have been they will decide to move to Nashville. lol
If they are wanting a free education their best bet would be to find a house in the Richland/WSM/WSH district of east Memphis. That is if their children can qualify for the optional programs at WSM and WSH. If not Desoto is probably the better choice over Tipton. The schools in Tipton are NOT very good.
This is something I know a little bit about since I have children in KK, 2nd and 4th grades.
Send them this so they can check out the schools in Shelby and Tipton counties. I have never looked for a similar report for the MS schools. http://tn.gov/education/reportcard/

eltigre Wrote:They know about the crime rate IN Memphis. The entire country does. They are asking specifically about North MS and Millington / Tipton Co. Any help with that?

if you are middle class and live in a nice middle class neighborhood the crime rate is pretty low, no matter where you live. but tipton county or north ms is a big drive to downtown. i would suggest they look in Harbor Town.

you move to tipton county or north ms, you have the same potential for being robbed, so let's give the "downtown and the middle of the city is a crime ridden cesspool" theory a rest.

at gas headed towards $4 per gallon, any long commutes will burn more money annually than your extra city property tax.

tell them to get their tax paying butt to midtown.

BTW my relatives have never had any problems with theft or anything, but the crime seems to be increasing in their neighborhood. They live out of Olive Branch, but they are soon to be incorporated within Olive Branch which will help with more police available instead of one or two Desoto County Sheriff's Deputies!

then there is all of crime ridden east memphis with it's ghetto schools such as CBHS, MUS, Hutchison, St Marys, St Agnes, White Station, etc.

yeah, move th memphis and assume it is a ghetto and condemn youself you driving from mississippi every day. great plan.

This city, and i mean THE CITY, has great schools, great houses, and great people. you don't have to move to an entire other county to feel safe and provide your children with a fantastic education.

ah hell, let em move to mississippi.

eltigre Wrote:They know about the crime rate IN Memphis. The entire country does. They are asking specifically about North MS and Millington / Tipton Co. Any help with that?

Oh, tell them to expect to drive out to eastern Shelby County for private schooling if they mess up and buy south of the Shelby/Tipton line. Just about every schools besides E.E. Jeter elementary is awful. Probably be a good bet to try and get them transferred into the Memphis optional program or get them in with just an open enrollment transfer. Since Shelby County helps pay for the city education you are able to do it and only pay $600 per child. If you get them into one of the handful of great city schools it is money well spent.

BTW I live in C'ville and drive to campus everyday with little to no problems. The crime is low and it only takes about 25 minutes to reach campus. Downtown takes a little longer of course!

phototiger Wrote:

eltigre Wrote:They know about the crime rate IN Memphis. The entire country does. They are asking specifically about North MS and Millington / Tipton Co. Any help with that?

if you are middle class and live in a nice middle class neighborhood the crime rate is pretty low, no matter where you live. but tipton county or north ms is a big drive to downtown. i would suggest they look in Harbor Town.

you move to tipton county or north ms, you have the same potential for being robbed, so let's give the "downtown and the middle of the city is a crime ridden cesspool" theory a rest.

at gas headed towards $4 per gallon, any long commutes will burn more money annually than your extra city property tax.

tell them to get their tax paying butt to midtown.

Yep, the thought of paying $10k a year for gas plus having this sitting next to my daughter
has kept us from getting 10 acres in the country and getting away from the city.

TN_Tiger Wrote:BTW I live in C'ville and drive to campus everyday with little to no problems. The crime is low and it only takes about 25 minutes to reach campus. Downtown takes a little longer of course!

How far do you have to drive to buy a beer on Sunday? lol

Thanks for the replies. Keep 'em coming.

There is lots of inventory all over DeSoto -- at all price levels.

I got a house in mid-town they can buy. ;-)

tigertommy Wrote:

TN_Tiger Wrote:BTW I live in C'ville and drive to campus everyday with little to no problems. The crime is low and it only takes about 25 minutes to reach campus. Downtown takes a little longer of course!

How far do you have to drive to buy a beer on Sunday? lol

1 min E to Fayette Co.

eltigre Wrote:Some very good friends of ours are moving from Huntsville to Memphis later this summer. They have 2 young children and are looking to buy a home. She does not work - he will work downtown. They were asking about where to buy, schools, etc... they are leaning towards 2 areas - North Mississippi or Millington / Tipton Co. I told them an East Memphis to Downtown commute is not fun. I gave them some advice but they would really appreciate some info from folks who actually live in those areas (N MS and Mton / Tipton).

Any help here? How are the taxes? How are the schools? How is the crime rate? I and they thank you in advance for any advice you can lend.

We live in Millington and I work downtown. The commute down Hwy 51 is a lot easier then when we lived out east in Cordova. It takes about 20 minutes or so, its not bad at all.

I think the city of Millington taxes are pretty much on par w/ the other small municipalities (Bartlett, G'Town, Munford, etc...) Of course your still responsible for Shelby County taxes. Tipton County taxes are a little bit cheaper, and its not too much farther of a drive...

Not too sure about schools yet...my wife teaches in Tipton County, so we may just send our daughter w/ her when she gets to that age...I think there are a few private schools around, but I don't know too much about them to comment..

All in all, I wasn't sure how well I would like Millington at first, coming from Cordova, where everything is literally at your fingertips. But I love it and would recommend it to anyone.

eltigre Wrote:Some very good friends of ours are moving from Huntsville to Memphis later this summer. They have 2 young children and are looking to buy a home. She does not work - he will work downtown. They were asking about where to buy, schools, etc... they are leaning towards 2 areas - North Mississippi or Millington / Tipton Co. I told them an East Memphis to Downtown commute is not fun. I gave them some advice but they would really appreciate some info from folks who actually live in those areas (N MS and Mton / Tipton).

Any help here? How are the taxes? How are the schools? How is the crime rate? I and they thank you in advance for any advice you can lend.

Whaat? If she doesn't work and he's working downtown, then I would imagine they could choose Collierville or Germantown instead. The commute to downtown would be the same, and the communities are much nicer.

If they're concerned about schools, Tipton County is not the place to go. Better to stick with East Memphis (White Station, Ridgeway, Cordova), eastern Shelby County, or private schools. DeSoto would be alright, but the others are better options, in my opinion.

MemphisCC Wrote:If they're concerned about schools, Tipton County is not the place to go. Better to stick with East Memphis (White Station, Ridgeway, Cordova), eastern Shelby County, or private schools. DeSoto would be alright, but the others are better options, in my opinion.

I agree. Ridgeway and White Station are probably the two best public high schools in the city (both are in East Memphis). If they're looking for a private school, Briarcrest, St. George's, MUS and CBHS are all terrific.