<p>I have heard some less than positive things about the city of Memphis. I have been told it is a crime-ridden, generally corrupt place, and I was wondering on the validity of this and how it effects Rhodes. </p>
<p>My source lived in Memphis about twenty years ago (and still has family there), but I am hoping that the city - and Mid-town especially - has begun to clean itself up. I am less concerned about my safety on campus rather than feeling trapped.</p>
<p>No, Memphis is not scary. I live in Birmingham and I would say they’re both equally dangerous (don’t pay attention to rankings. They really don’t mean anything. It’s all about where they draw the line on where the city ends and the suburb begins. It shocked everyone in Birmingham when we were ranked the 4th - i think - most dangerous city in America. But it’s all because they don’t draw the official line exactly around Birmingham) Yeah, parts of Memphis are dangerous, but basically, if you’re smart and stay away from places that are dangerous, and it’s really not hard to tell, you’ll be fine.
Memphis is actually one of my favorite places ever. I really can’t even begin to describe how much fun I had with my friends just hanging out in Memphis. It was one of the big reasons I applied to (and might attend) Rhodes. Have you visited? Because the inner inner inner inner city might be pretty dangerous and sketch, but the rest is pretty great. It’s really pretty similar to almost any medium to big sized city.</p>
<p>Hi jocool26!</p>
<p>Could you give some specifics on what areas are dangerous…(streets, addresses or sections)? We ar visiting at the end of the month…just before the big day of May 1st and would like to spend some time in the city. We want to be sure to stay safe! Thanks!</p>
<p>to emptynesttobe,</p>
<p>you’ll be fine when you visit. if you’re really worried, then if you stay downtown, don’t venture much north of auction street (unless you’re on mud island). don’t venture south past i guess linden or ge patterson or so, though it’s not a wasteland or anything. don’t go on jackson too far east of Rhodes, but it’s just poor, not dangerous. north parkway east of Rhodes gets poor for a while, but again not dangerous in my estimation. if you stick to the union ave/poplar ave/madison ave coordidors, you’ll never find yourself in a bad part of town. the neighborhoods immediatly to the east, west, and north of Rhodes are fine (the zoo is to the south). the further north you go, though, the poorer it gets.</p>
<p>one rule i’ve heard, for what it’s worth, is never go down a street named after a state.</p>
<p>Thanks lynx!
“Poor” generally need help, kindness and understanding… We are not afraid of that…just what we have read about “gangs.” I am from New York originally…and have no problem spending time in the Bronx or driving through Harlem. Culture and friendly people are welcome always! Thanks for your post! The street names were exactly what I was trying to learn! : )</p>
<p>@ lynxinsider…are there any malls near by…?? like in walking distance</p>
<p>No. Transportation is needed for malling.</p>
<p>We lived in a very decent/nice neighborhood in Memphis and worked at Rhodes for a number of years. We really enjoyed our seasons there. That said, we discovered lots of crime that unfortunately impacted us … had many bikes, 2 lawnmowers, pots/plants, etc. stolen over the years. More than the pain and inconvenience of the losses was the disconcerting reality that someones had been in and around our home and garages.</p>
<p>Some of this touched on Rhodes, which like virtually all of Memphis is in close proximity to poor 'hoods. It’s a function of the city’s history … the locals call it the “checkerboard” effect. The public transportation system was historically so very bad and the hired help (read “black”) who virtually all enlisted in some ways in and around their homes needed to live nearbye so they might get to work. Consequently, that arrangement remains throughout much of Memphis today. Very poor downtrodden areas in close proximity to very upscale neighborhoods. It’s getting better, but it’s still a prevalent scenario.</p>
<p>So there’s no escaping it in Memphis and Rhodes being recognized as a very white, well to do campus becomes a target on many occasions. Security is high and appropriately good.</p>
<p>Now to put it in perspective, it’s “no worse” than a Pitt, Penn, Temple (whoa! this is terrible!!!), GWU, and many other urban colleges. It’s the unfortunate nature of the beast. </p>
<p>Rhodes is a very fine and hidden gem in the higher ed world. One of the most attractive, uniform campuses anywhere. And being in Memphis has some very significant advantages for strong students as well, especially those who want to do senior theses on Handy and Elvis and Mud Island. And the Peabody Hotel dux’ll quack you up. jk, of course. But the really great part is that if you don’t mind some of the noted downsides, RC offers exceptional FA often to good students who need not necessarily be Rhodes Scholars. Although Rhodes, formerly Southwestern at Memphis, has had several handsful as I recall, including Dr. Alexander, the former U.S. Exec Director or the Rhodes Scholar program.</p>
<p>We really love Memphis, but it’s not for everyone. The locals claim it’s "down in a hole. 4 hours from anywhere, be it Nashville, Jackson (MS), Little Rock, St. Lou (actually 5 hrs.). The airfares are unbelievably high as it ain’t on the way to anywhere, and aside from FedExers and International Paperboys (who ruined the housing market in Memphis) and Evisiteseers, not a lot of reason for people to go and planes to land. And it’s the hottest/muggiest place on the planet in August! And one of the prettiest in May … make sure you get to Memphis in May by the way. Love those crepe myrtles!</p>
<p>One final thought re: Rhodes … it is a fairly cerebral and very “Southern” type of place. Students are bright, preppy, affluent, mostly Mid-Southern, cotton kids. The campus culture is an interesting one with many good profs who really care about teaching and scholarship. Student leadership has historically been dominated by women … all one need do is look at th pix of those who’ve presided over the Honor Council … nearly always a female. Even before it was PC, RC was pretty gay-friendly place as a result. Athletics is virtually non-existant so cheering for the “weak Lynx” is not the heart of school spirit. Interesting trivia … RC was once the home to the Memphis Showboats! 'Twas a strategic move to try and nurture a more masculine campus culture. Like the Showboats, it went “south.”</p>
<p>You would find a virtual world of difference between, let’s say the Elon student body vs. Rhodes. Very different type places.</p>
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<p>Excuse me?</p>
<p>A million thanks! Thoughtful and well balanced post! You could add Columbia to your list of colleges that need “gates.”</p>
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<p>Must add …patronizing, enlightened observations like this one were one of the reasons the MidSoutherners frowned on yankees. I choked when I read this one.</p>
<p>@krakenjack …</p>
<p>Nearest mall is Peabody Place downtown, though it is very small and doesn’t have “anchor” department stores. Gap is the biggest store there. It’s about 4 miles from campus.</p>
<p>Next closest is Oak Court Mall in East Memphis on Poplar Avenue. It’s nice. It’s about 5.5 miles from campus, away from downtown.</p>
<p>The largest and most heavily frequented is Wolfchase Galleria in Cordova off I-40 on Germantown Parkway. It’s about 15 miles away.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, busses can get you to all of them…
<a href=“http://www.matatransit.com/uploadedFiles/Home/MATASystemMap.pdf[/url]”>http://www.matatransit.com/uploadedFiles/Home/MATASystemMap.pdf</a></p>
<p>As for shopping, my D didn’t have a car on campus freshman year (and rarely uses one now) and caught rides with students who did. Didn’t seem like much of a bother.</p>
<p>Not meant as patronizing… I think you are making an assumption here. It is true that I was born in the north east. However, I have lived my life all over the world and simply love people and the opportunity to communicate and exchange ideas with anyone and everyone. “Gangs” are not just a symptom of inner cities… they can be found in upscale shopping malls, the fanciest prep-schools and the like…although in these places they call them “cliques.” My dearest friend lives on a Caribbean island and has a dirt floor in her home… If having terrific folks like this causes me to become “enlightened”… how can this be a problem? Your comment was oddly contrary to your wonderful post?</p>
<p>thanks Lynxinsider</p>
<p>whistle PIG’s comments dancing dangerously close to offensive. Idk if you know, but there are ways to word things without sounding so…racist. ‘Hired Help’???</p>
<p>Well it’s true the servants of the old Upper Class homes did need to live nearby… And historically in Tennessee as with most of the Country these domestic workers were African American.</p>
<p>If I may add to this topic as a whole…
I’m a freshman from the Dallas/Fort Worth of Texas and the crime in my area was very very low. Some people called it a bubble. So when I came to Memphis I was expecting to be shocked by the violence people keep talking about. However, I have found that students at Rhodes KNOW where not to go. And those students living off campus have little or no trouble with robberies, break-ins, etc. I learned very quickly that there are, like all major cities, places you don’t want to go after dark. (Not that you’ll get mugged or anything, but just have historically bad reps). There are places in even Germantown/Collierville (Suburbs of Memphis) I wouldn’t go after dark. </p>
<p>Other than the few rough areas (which the city/police are working on) Memphis is a beautiful city. The “checkerboard effect” WhistlePig mentioned is absolutely true. 6 square blocks of beautiful, 130 year old well kept mansions, is followed by 5 square blocks of less nice areas. Then after that there is another 5 blocks of nice beautiful housing… so on and so on until you reach the suburbs. The areas within 6 blocks of Rhodes are Gorgeous, and many of my friends go jogging through the neighborhoods all the time. </p>
<p>PM me if you have any questions.</p>
<p>I’ve been here two and a half years now and I think Memphis gets a bad rap. Sure, like any big city there are areas you just know to stay away from, but unfortunately for Memphis, those are the ones that everyone hears about, unfairly characterizing all of Memphis. Everywhere students spend their time (primarily downtown, Mid-town, and the Germantown area) are all very safe. I’ve been told that Downtown and Mid-town are the two safest zip codes in Memphis.</p>
<p>I’ve never felt unsafe here whether I’ve been walking around campus at 4am, running around campus, or driving around Memphis. Sure, take a friend if you’re going to go running around campus at 9pm but shoot, I’d do that just about anywhere because it’s smart.</p>
<p>The campus too feels incredibly safe. There are only three gates on campus, all of which are either manned by a Campus Safety officer or are only accessible by students and faculty/staff. Only one gate is open 24/7. There is always an officer out in a car or gold cart roaming campus, and there are five blue-light phones around campus that students may use to call Campus Safety for an emergency. Besides, there are always other students walking around campus, even at 4 or 5am so you’ll never feel completely alone.</p>
<p>PM me as well if you have any questions or concerns about safety.</p>
<p>We just returned from a Rhodes overnight. I drove around the city while DS was there to get a feel for things. I saw the checkerboard effect as mentioned, but I never felt it was dangerous. I’ve heard that parking in downtown at night might subject your car to break-ins, or panhandlers might accost you… but we live in Atlanta, and I guess it would feel like home! 
Honestly, I really wasn’t worried about any of the areas I saw. Poverty, probably crime in some, but no different from other urban campuses and the area around Rhodes didn’t bother me at all.</p>
<p>Memphis struck me as somewhat different from Atlanta in that there seems to be more of the “old south” still there. It felt traditional in a way that Atlanta no longer does… it’s hard to explain other than I noticed some subtle and less subtle suggestions that racial parity might not be fully developed in the city yet. This is true of many places in the deep south, but it’s interesting in a large city. (I have deep roots in the deep south, and I know “us” quite well.) That said, I didn’t feel the same thing on the Rhodes campus itself. I liked Memphis a lot. Great vibe, nice folks, good eats, music, pretty streets, river, etc. What’s not to like!</p>
<p>My son came away with a very positive impression of the school and what it offers. It moved from a wild card to top 3. We’ll see!</p>
<p>Quillgirl, glad you all had a good visit. I have a sophomore D at Rhodes and would be happy to answer questions.</p>
<p>I have a Freshman D at Rhodes - she loves the school and Memphis. She and friends frequently go out to eat (it is easy to find rides with other students). Most of the above is accurate. There are areas not to stop in - but it is really not somewhere you would end up without trying to get there. The drive to Downtown is straight forward with lots of easy parking garages once you get there. I have walked early morning and late night in the downtown section without fear - The Beale Steet area is great and quite safe, but most students are too young to do much there. They stick to the local restaurants and BBQ places close to campus.</p>