I have recently been notified that I am the top candidate for a job in Arkansas that would be big from a career perspective, but am trying to figure out where to live. Currently my 2 options as I see them are to live near work in a small town, or live in Memphis and drive about an hour to work. I have a contact who actually lives in the small town who is in a similar life stage to me but in a completely different line of work that will give me honest feedback about the town (he is moving out in a week though), but was looking for feedback on my Memphis option.

I am a single guy, mid 20s. If I were to live in Memphis, would ideally be looking for that urban/walkable feel - for reference, coming from Dallas, would be looking for the equivalent of Uptown. Would like to be around other young professionals. Just in driving through the city a couple times, seems like you can get into bad parts of the area real fast, so any guidance on where to look at will be helpful. I will actually have a chance to drive around the area later this week if I can get some good leads.

A lot of this is happening pretty fast for me, so if any more details may help, let me know.

This is a good start:

http://judgmentalmaps.com/post/76242719853/memphis

You are right. There is a fine line between cool urban living and car jacking in Memphis. What town are you working in?

I have lived in downtown Memphis for 6 years now and walk and run everywhere. The town has a rough reputation but all cities have their dark sides... Memphis' is just publicized more. There is a clear band from West to East that I would confine myself. The northern boundary being North Pkwy and the Southern boundary being the railroad tracks that run East to west along a road called Southern. If you stay between these two boundaries then you are good. The hip part of town is Midtown and wealthier parts going east to Germantown. There are always activities going on... To me the decision would be the commute but you're young and may desire a night life. Hope this helps.

Lived at Parks Edge Apartments for 26 months near Shelby Farms in Cordova. Loved it. Lots of hiking trails. Much younger and safer area

We are going to Memphis for vacation in mid October. Staying in an Airbnb on S. Main between Pontotoc and Vance. All the reviews seemed to state this was pretty safe area for walking to and from Beale Street night life. Can I get any recommendations from Ags in Memphis that this is pretty true?


Also, any recommendations for restaurants/bars? We are in our 40's and will have my in-laws and my 5 year old son. The main purpose of the trip is to take my wife and her Dad to see Graceland as they are big Elvis fans. Plan on taking a river boat tour also. We are only going to be in town 3 nights.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thanks!