Canyonman

Well Biage. Get an ear full? Sounds like you already made your mind up and want to live on campus. I'm not going down that road on the pros and cons of the commute (you can also search this forum on past threads as well). If you want to spend max time with the family and watch those toddlers grow up I think you are making the right choice.

Most pilots live in the Germantown or Collierville (does this meet your definition of a small community?) the rest on the fringe as stated in other posts. As for schools, public or private? You have a very good selection to choose from in the private sector. The best public elementary schools in Germantown are Dogwood and Farmington. In Collerville Bailey Station. No info on middle schools. The high schools everywhere are over crowded. Some relief is on the way with a new HS south of Germantown. The commercial appeal (Sunday Jan. 14th edition) has a good break down of the Shelby county school system. Overall the public system in TN, MS or AR are just average to below average compared to the rest of the nation.

As for crime. Not going to sugar coat it. It is on the rise IMO. We had both our vehicles broken into and that was in the burbs during the day. But my wife has not asked for judo lessons or hand gun training yet . Plus I have 2 retrievers and they can out hunt any lab in New England . Don't be fooled into thinking if you move across the border to MS that crime will not follow. The growth in Olive Branch, South Haven, Hernando, Lakeland etc.. are experiencing growing pains with traffic and infrastructure, but I think they are just as nice to live in as anywhere around mempho. No doubt the drive to work from all the areas mentioned will fit your criteria.

As for me. Coming on the 11th year. Use to live in Cordova (was going to become a commuter, but got spoiled being a homebody ). Got out of Cordova in time as stated in other posts. Now live on the fringe near Eads. Kid in private school spend lots of time at home yada, yada, yada. Send me a pm if you want more info on the private school system.

Cheers

roughair

[QUOTE=OHab;102438]Since nobody else is saying it, I will. There's no way I would subject my family to that city. If you don't believe me, before you decide, spend 6 months sitting reserve in a crash pad watching the evening news . At the same time send a 6 month subscription for the Commercial Appeal to your wife. Spend your time on reserve exploring the city and it's environs. It'll cost you 3 extra days a month, and you'll get one HELL of an education. If after all that you still want to move to the planet, get yourself a carry permit, teach your wife to shoot, enroll your kids in Tae Kwan Do, and knock yourself out. I've been 1 leg (2+30) commuting for 10 years, and it's been worth every second. I live in a small town in New England (20min from the airport) where we don't lock our doors, the most popular dog is a Lab, not a Pit Bull, and there aren't any metal detectors in the high school. There are very few people who can live anywhere in the country they like. Take advantage of it. Life's too short to live in Memphis.[/QUOTE]

AMEN Brudda!

If you do move to Memfrica, maybe CaptainMark will show you the best things about living in Memphis. Naw... that would be a wasted 10 minutes.

T-tail

Well you have heard a lot of advice, but no one has quoted the Welcome Sign in the Olive Branch Town Square.

"Welcome to Olive Branch; 2 miles and a hundred years from Memphis"

We have spent a happy 6 years here and would recommend it to anyone.
By the way, I have a house for sale in OB, send me a PM if you want to talk!

CaptainMark

[QUOTE=roughair;102723]
the best thing is not commuting and flying daytrips....and being home alot....that's about it...but eveyplace has its problems...i have a florida home as well to escape...commuting takes years off your life...just look at this pic of foxhunter ..he is a commuter...


http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/showthread.php?t=8584

Albief15

Got accosted by a black teen today at IHOP on Perkins road getting out of my car. "Hey man...can I get three dollars from you? I ran my car out of gas...." I said "I'm not giving you anything...." as I saw no car and just got the vibe I was getting jacked up. Keep in mind--this is 1pm, carlot full of folks, but the kid still took an "intimidating" pose. When I stood up out of my truck he decided to move on. Probably no malice intended, but as a husband and father of 3 girls I wonder how THEY would have had to deal with the situation had I not been there.

I may yet buy a place in OB, Hernado, or Millington one day as a crash pad--especially if I ever (gulp) upgrade to captain and face a reserve/bottom VTO kind of life for a while. I LIKE running around the Memphis area--I no kidding have a good time whenever I am running around here puttering from the Casinos to the Navy base in Millington and anything in between. But--damn there are some rough spots--and I wish there was a way to fix the problem. Until those problems are solved (like getting acosted in daylight in an area that doesn't look rough...) I'll keep my family elsewhere and accept being a commuter.

Its a shame--'cause 50 acres and some horses in North Mississippi wouldn't be a bad lifestyle. But I know my girls...and they'll make mall runs to MEM all the time--and about once a year there is something that happens that gives me the willys.

I really want to be part of the solution instead of just a guy who complains all the time...but I'm afraid it will take the folks who live inside the 240 loop deciding to fix these problems before things get better.

Huck

When I was a new-hire I brought my family up for a look around - drove down to Mud Island to see the Memphis Belle before they moved it.

No parking around the overhead tram, so we parked at the tourist information center next door. I went to the rear left door and started unbuckling my 3 year-old from his car seat. Suddenly a man appeared about two feet behind me. Now, it was August and about 100 degrees in the shade, and this dude had on a zipped up parka and ski hat. He held out a fistful of brochures from the Lorraine Motel museum and said, "Hey man, you want to give to the civil rights museum?"

I'm suddenly in full-bore alpha male mode, "bowed up" as we say in Alabam'. My kid's behind me saying, "What's that man want, Daddy?" I said I wasn't interested, and he moved on. He never took his other hand out of his pocket (one remembers these things). Welcome to Memphis.

FedExBusBoy

Tara Oaks elementary on the NE side of Collierville is one of the top rated schools in the state. My kids go there and love it. Teachers are fantastic. The neighborhood is great too.

Canyonman

I stand corrected Another good reason to live on campus.

U2FDX

Captain Mark,

Do you ever have anthing of value to post or are you just relegated to stupid one line insults and retorts to others on how large your pay check is and how early you made Captain???

OHab

I'll just roll in one more grenade, I mean personal observation... For ME, the no-harm / no-foul jumpseat takes nearly all the stress out of commuting, I never sweat getting to work, and I don't worry about my family while I'm away. Like I said we do have a dog As has been pointed out by others, no place is perfect for everybody so, I stand behind my original advice. Do your homework. Get the facts, then decide. Just to get you started...


2005 Population : Murders
Memphis 678,988 : 137
MA 6,398,743 : 175
ME 1,321,505 : 19
NH 1,309,940 : 18
RI 1,076,189 : 34
VT 623,050 : 8

http://memphis.areaconnect.com/crime1.htm

http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/
Good Luck!