It bugs me when you get in the jet and the other guys ask you where you live and when you say Memphis they have to go off on a tangent about how they hate Memphis and they are so glad they commute and blah blah blah. Meanwhile you just sit there and listen to "your" area get lambasted. They have absolutely no thought about the fact that they might be offending you or your family. We have a lot of guys at FedEx who are from the local area and I'm sure they really appreciate the 10 minute barrage about how their hometown sucks. Its fine that you don't like Memphis, but remember to keep your comments to yourself if the other guy hasn't asked. You can justify the fact that you commute to make yourself feel better, I can justify to myself why I like living here and don't have to commute. We can all be happy without people slamming their hometown.

Now, all that being said, and since the question was asked. I will again say that my family and I have lived in Collierville for 4.5 years and my family loves it. Yeah, I don't like Memphis. In fact, I hate ALL big cities. I would love to live out in Montana on about 5000 acres and never see another soul. BUT, I have this job here in Memphis and thus I will live in Collierville. I love Mobile, AL (my adopted hometown) and feel safe there because I know where I can go and where I should be more careful. I still keep my guard up all the time, though, because you never know when you will be in the wrong place at the wrong time, no matter where you live.

I did 4 years in Washington DC. Lived in Springfield, Va. Beautiful place, WAY too many people, WAY too high taxes, and WAY too close to DC for my tastes. I had DC as my second least desired area (behind Miami) on my dreamsheet my entire career. Never wanted to go there, no matter what. I made the best of it and tried to not watch the local news at night. One of our friends was carjacked at the Springdale Mall with her 2 kids in the backseat. She barely got them out before the guy tore off. There was plenty of crime, and I insisted that my wife keep the doors locked all the time, no matter where we were.

Now, when somebody tells me the live in Northern VA I just say man that is a beautiful place to live. I don't sit there and give them a ten minute dissertation about why I hate NoVA and they must be an idiot for living there. A little tact goes a long way.

Give the area (Collierville, Lakeland, Desoto county, Fayette county) a look and see if you and your family like it, you might be surprised.

FJ