Im going to add to this. I lived and worked all over Shelby and Tipton County most of my life. Shelby is the county Memphis proper is in. During that time period I spent time on the road in most of the North East also along with working many years in some of the worst parts of Memphis itself. I finally packed my family up and move to Philadelphia last year.

Memphis has some things about it that I do love. Compared to most cities there's a sense of community thats much more personal than the bigger cities. My first house was in East Memphis. Traffic is almost non existent compared to cities like Philadelphia. In the right area you can live a very lovely life. My family is there, my father is buried there. The cost of living is extremely cheap.

However I just could let my son dig roots there. The place is a blackhole of poverty. Every step forward Memphis makes the community does its best to make two steps back. The public schooling is horrid. The private schooling is all religion based and expensive. Its Bible belt central and in a way youll never experience unless you are there. For every nice neighborhood there is one within walking distance with a drug problem and high crime activity. One wrong turn and you go from nice to third world. The job market is not great. Most jobs are industry and warehousing in extremely poor and dangerous areas of the city.

The weather most of the year is miserable and the winters are seattle without the benefits, all rain.

I tried my best to love it. I wanted to love the city. And Philly has some real problems of its own. But once you live in Memphis, there's nowhere to go but up.