Crime in Memphis

<p>My D revisited Rhodes (overnight) this past week, since she's trying to make her final decision. (She was accepted at all seven schools she applied to, including WashU and Rice.) She had a wonderful visit, and she was just bubbling over about all she had experienced. The final decision will come down to scholarships, but her parents--both Rhodes alums--would be quite happy for her to attend. </p>

<p>As for safety, if you want the benefits of attending college in a city, you have to understand that most cities do have some crime, poverty, and less than desirable areas. We had our daughter take a self-defense course several years ago, and it certainly made us feel better about her awareness of personal safety in her travels on mission trips to inner-city Vancouver and Jamaica.</p>

<p>Thanks, Curmudgeon, for all your posts. I've been lurking and enjoying your posts for several months now.</p>

<p>Just to add another perspective, I live about 1/4 a mile west of Rhodes. I did not attend, but have made friends with many current students and recent grads. I am slightly sad that people describe the area where I live as 'not so good'. Rhodes is in a historic neighborhood that is 60% black and 40% white, and the neighborhood association works at keeping a diverse racial mix. There are large mansions both to the southwest and east of campus, but if one does not venture off the main roads, you probably wouldn't see them. I frequently take walks and go jogging, usually in the evening or at night, in the area around Rhodes, and always feel safe. True, I don't venture too far north, but really I'm much more at risk of getting hit by a car as I run across a street than I am getting mugged while on a jog. </p>

<p>While I first was not thrilled to live in Memphis, I've found that crime is mostly clustered in certain areas of town, and the victims and perpetrators are usually not middle class white people. (don't flame me, look at the crime stats) Memphis is not the most progressive city, but in the year and a half I've lived here, I can rattle off the stores, bars and restaurants that have opened up in the downtown and midtown area (where Rhodes is). Currently, downtown Memphis is the safest zipcode in the city, due to police protection and the constant presence of tourists. The parts of town that Rhodes students frequent are quite safe, even though the city looks kind of rundown and ugly. (Though I do admit Memphis looks pretty in the spring. Now is the perfect time to visit to get a good impression!) </p>

<p>Don't worry about your prospective student, as people have mentioned, there is a huge iron fence that winds around the whole campus with only 2 or 3 entrances. Just in case you assume I am some tough Memphis native, I'm a young white woman who grew up on a farm in the midwest, went to a rural college in the midwest, and now am happy and safe in Memphis. </p>

<pre><code>The only misgiving I would have about Rhodes is the large amount of students who seem to drive really nice cars and aren't good at hiding that they are wealthy. That didn't happen at my college, but maybe it is more typical in the South.
</code></pre>

<p>Memphis is a bad city for crime. Truth. However, the overwhelming majority of the crime involves those who surround themselves with the drug trade or gangs. The neighborhood Rhodes is in I find to be very special. Midtown, Cooper-Young, and Downtown Memphis all have plenty of great art, music, and restaurants. While I do agree with the negative posts about crime and school spirit, I was a bit stunned to read about people complaining about food. Memphis, and the area around Rhodes, have a ton of wonderful restaurants. But back to crime, exercise caution, don't go walking off campus alone at night, and you'll be fine. The campus itself is extremely secure.</p>

<p>As a parent whose D was just accepted I have followed this thread from its beginning last spring. My concerns with Rhodes centered on the urban environment and the safety. My daughter never pictured herself attending college in an urban environment - however after visiting and overnighting she fell in love with the place and our safety concerns were erased. Rhodes is in an urban environment but the opportunities the location offers far outweighted any negatives.<br>
An earlier post noted Rhodes as "Davidson Lite". Our other daughter is a Senior at Davidson College and has had an outstanding experience there. Younger D did not want to follow in older D's footsteps and chose not to apply to Davidson. I confess that I do find myself comparing Rhodes and Davidson for students, faculty, campus. I anticipate my younger D will have a college experience as good (or better) as her sister.</p>

<p>Rhodes is an intriguing place, easy to fall in love with in light of the campus and how much thought, planning and $$ has been put into making it such. As Furman, Wake Forest, and a few other places along w/ Rhodes have discovered, there is usually great advantage in being able to start over with a campus. Rhodes used to be Austin Peay in Clarksville. We lived and worked in Memphis/Rhodes numerous years. </p>

<p>Rhodes has done probly about as good a job as could be done in isolating itself in a crime-laden urban community. Memphis is particularly challenging because of the checkerboard effect of the poor, black neighborhoods where most of the crime is generated and perpetrated. The drug proliferation and need to fuel that with cash unavailable in many of those areas leads to the problem leaking ...or flooding into the community. And unlike many urban areas where those low-end neighborhoods have been somewhat concentrated and contained, Memphis' poor public transportation system joined with the reality that historically blacks have served whites in their homes and their businesses, leads to a complex and pervasive crime scene. Pragmatically, that's why Rhodes has that fence. That's why bicycles get stolen. We lived in what was considered the "best" central city neighborhood and were robbed numerous times. Make no mistake, Memphis is a very poor, dangerous city.</p>

<p>In reality, crime is very real and substantial. However, if students are cautious about going beyond the campus into areas of the city and they are careful about securing bikes, autos, etc. then they'll likely have a neat, productive experience.</p>

<p>I think the description of Rhodes aspiring to "Davidson Lite" is on the money. A good place, working to get better, attracting and supporting decent students. But not close yet to Davidson, imo.</p>

This entire thread should really just be deleted as its so old its no longer relevant. The area in question is completely different in 2016 than it was in 2008. Though crime north of the campus is about average for the area, crime to the east, west and south (which is a park) is lower than the average crime rate in the city and lower than even some of the best neighborhoods. The school is a block away from the Memphis Zoo, a world class zoo, and is directly across the street from the historic Overton Park which is home to the Levitt Shell, The Brooks Museum, the Memphis College of Art, and as previously mentioned the zoo. It is true that there is not a lot of food directly around campus but within a short drive…like under 3-5 minutes depending on traffic lights you can be in either the Overton Square or Cooper-Young entertainment districts. In fact you could probably bike to Overton Square in 10-15 minutes if you cut through the park.

Odd that your first post, twiz123 is to resurrect this thread. Was there a point to resurrecting it to suggest it not be resurrected? What’s your goal here?