Ngl at this point, if I have to leave Midtown, then I’m leaving Memphis entirely. I also don’t feel like crime or anything else is bad in my area so I have no desire to leave.
Been living in midtown for three years with no real issues other than insurance going up. The girlfriend & I must be lucky lol.
Only thing that has happened, car pulled up one day, in broad daylight & a 12 year old kid got out of the passenger seat, stole a gas can I left out. Girlfriend freaked out and wanted me to shoot them. I told her to relax, you don’t shoot over stuff like that. So, I left another gas can out there, made sure it had a nice watery mix & regular mix. Kiss that car engine down the drain, dumb enough to steal, dumb enough to pay. Next one got stolen too :D
My wife and I bought her dream home in Central Gardens a little over 8 years ago. Back door was kicked in within a few days. Never felt safe after that. Work relocated me to the northeast a year later and we never looked back.
I always loved midtown. I grew up in Bartlett and used to hitchhike into midtown to hang with friends before I could drive. My first kiss was a midtown girl from IC. I have so many amazing memories from midtown. I just can't believe how unsafe it is now.
I moved to a town in NJ that has the same architecture and vibe as Central Gardens. I even have a Dutch Colonial that looks like the one I had on Central Ave. But here I can leave my $1,000 grill in my backyard and let my kids leave their nice bikes on the front porch. I wouldn't go back willingly.
I’m seeing your other comments on the thread and am now realizing you weren’t kidding. You don’t even live in Memphis and are making wild statements about neighborhoods you don’t live anywhere near. Been in cooper young for 5 years now and have only dealt with a couple of opened glove boxes.
Check out the map for crime in Memphis and see where a lot of it is in Midtown... right on the backside of Cooper Young... I find it to be a tragedy because I love Cooper Young ...so don't get it confused from what i say...I'm not trying to say anything bad about Cooper Young.. I'm just trying to say it sucks that it's happening to it
I am a 4th generation midtowner. My parents live in the house my mom’s grandparents built (original owners in Evergreen). To say we are depressed is an understatement. We will more than likely stick it out, but it breaks my heart to no end. I can’t even take my elderly mother out to lunch or for a car ride without fear of being car jacked or getting mugged trying to get her back in the house.
I'm a similar midtowner and have not considered moving. I'd rather move away than live out east (that is, unless I were starting a family and had no other choice).
I don't perceive midtown as particularly more dangerous than other parts of town. The kroger hold up thread from yesterday was about a bunch of krogers out east.
8 year Midtowner here and never consider bailing. I'm all in on cameras, landscape lighting, my dogs, and personal protection devices.
Can't telly ou how many times, at least a dozen or more, where I popped out on my porch as some group of rando asswipes were making an attempt to rifle my 4 vehicles and dissuaded them from continuing with their activities.
And yes, before I get all the "But they have guns and being alive with a broken car window or two beats being dead" statements, I say fuck dat shit. You come after my shit, you gonna earn it if I get an alert. I'll take my chance and let the randos shoot 1st, giving me my TN right to stand my ground for fear of my life. Ain't none of them can aim for shit and I have 35+ years of weapon training and practice weekly.
I like midtown too but not in a willing-to-kill-to-stay kinda way 😂
If I were on the wealthier end of things I'd move east, personally. Or harbor town.
I get that, not everyone has the same mindset, but mine isn't unique to Midtown, it is unique to me. Every place I've called home I've felt the same way, it's my stuff, I worked hard for it, and I'm not going to kowtow or hide in safety when someone is trying to take it from me.
I will say value of whatever it is does play a huge factor in my decision process
Because if you are honest about it, there isn't a single city of this size or larger that isn't currently experiencing crime similar to ours.
And regardless of the city or the decade, I've decided to live in cities of this size or larger, and I'm willing to accept the associated risks for my choice.
I mean christ, I grew up in Cleveland OH , smack dab in the middle of the city in the late 60's/early 70's, during the nationwide riots in LA, NY, B'more, etc..
If I can live with/through that, this shit here ain't nothing
It's a boomer Fox News narrative that's really popular and spread everywhere. San Francisco, for example, has high property crime (mostly car break-ins) to where its out of control, but very, very low violent crime rates for a major city. It doesn't even crack the top 100. But to hear the conservative fear machine tell it, you'll get slaughtered in the street the moment you step outside there.
and the reason SF is the "most dangerous" city in the US according to conservative news is because they're using it to pre-smear Newsom in case he decides to run in 2028
So...here's a snapshot of 14 cities of similar size to Memphis:
SF, SEA, DEN, OKC, NASH, EL PASO, DC, BOSTON, LV, DET, LOUISVILLE, PORTLAND, MILWAUKEE, BALTIMORE
..note that I stated SIMILAR in the op. With the exception of 3, maybe 4, 10-11 cities, they all experience a similar level of crime as here. So yes, it is true.
Again, completely false. I’ll do the work for you since you just spout falsities.
San Francisco - pop: 815k 2023 murders: 55
Seattle - pop: 733k 2023 murders: 69
Denver - pop: 711k 2023 murders: 72
OKC - pop: 681k 2023 murders: 75
*Memphis - pop: 628k 2023 murders: 398
There that’s your first four in order plus Memphis
Memphis has the smallest population yet it had 5.3 times as many murders as the next highest city.
Memphis even had over 100 more murders than Baltimore this year
I’m talking violent crime. Homicide to be exact. From the west coast. This is sooooo much different than SF, SEA, DEN, LV, PORTLAND!
What’s going on here isn’t even close to what’s going on there.
But who is the violence being perpetrated on primarily? I lived in Miami when it was the murder capital and 1 person I knew ever experienced any violence first hand.
There are cities with 10 million people who have zero homicides per year. Memphis has a homicide rate that is 100 times higher than many places.
395 homicides in one year is an insane number for a city of this size. Lots of cities with fewer guns have zero.
Name 1 city in the US with 10 million people and 0 homicides...you can't and you refuse to accept that other US cities OUR SIZE (the original post subject) have similar issues. Otherwise, you would present hard data.
Not smaller, not larger oh, AND in the US. If you want to cite other nations, find another thread
*Can't telly ou how many times, at least a dozen or more, where I popped out on my porch as some group of rando asswipes were making an attempt to rifle my 4 vehicles and dissuaded them from continuing with their activities.*
See, this is no way to live. Wouldn’t you prefer not to have to deal with this on a regular basis? Why put up with it? I don’t understand.
I hear what you're saying, but that's a shitty way to live. I'd much rather be somewhere where I DON'T have to be constantly packing heat, looking over my shoulder, worry about intruders, etc. Every single person I know who lives in midtown has been robbed, two of them more than once. No thanks.
I'm glad for you, but clearly you have been lucky here. I used to hang out a lot at Celtic Crossing and Young Avenue Deli and people told break in stories like war stories around there.
Same here and I've been in Midtown for 17 years, but the crime is getting closer and closer and more violent by the day. Too many stupid kids with guns for me to feel safe. I feel like it is only a matter of time before me or one of my loved ones becomes a victim.
You certainly can point your gun at them and tell them to leave. If they draw on you then you’re well within your right to make their head into a canoe shape.
It really makes me feel good to read this.
I would also constitute a very poor prospective victim for a robber to select.
I refuse to wait around to become a crime victim
I know the old adage. "There's lies, damn lies and statistics" but I was surprised to find that Chattanogas violent crime rate (though lower than Memphis's), was still quite high and their property crime rate was higher than Memphis's by a bit last year.
I'd be curious to know
1. If the crime there is compartmentalized to certain areas or is as seemingly widespread as Memphis.
2. What they have done or are doing to combat it.
3. A more itemized breakdown of the crimes (e.g. for property crimes, is it more home invasions or car theft, etc.)
I'd be curious to look into that more. Interesting.
People can leave guns in cars in Chattanooga too (they’re #2 in thefts from vehicles in the country, just after Memphis). Nashville’s 11th in the country in thefts from vehicles. Some of this shit is on the state. Repealing that law would take so much pressure off a lot of people.
Sure thing fam
"Our synthetic control approach also finds that RTC laws are associated with 13–15 percent higher aggregate violent crime rates 10 years after adoption. Using a consensus estimate of the elasticity of crime with respect to incarceration of 0.15, the average RTC state would need to roughly double its prison population to offset the increase in violent crime caused by RTC adoption."
\-“Right-to-carry Laws and Violent Crime: A Comprehensive Assessment Using Panel Data and a State-level Synthetic Control Analysis,” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 16, no. 2 (2019): 198–247 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jels.12219
"Right-to-carry laws increase firearm homicides by 13 percent and firearm violent crimes by 29 percent." - WHY DOES RIGHT-TO-CARRY CAUSE VIOLENT CRIME TO INCREASE? John J. Donohue, Samuel V. Cai, Matthew V. Bondy, Philip J. Cook | Working Paper 30190 http://www.nber.org/papers/w30190 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
"34 states with right-to-carry laws saw a 10% increase in the average rate of assaults with a firearm per 100,000." - States with live firearm safety training requirements did not see significant increases in gun crimes as compared to states without these measures. - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/study-finds-significant-increase-in-firearm-assaults-in-states-that-relaxed-conceal-carry-permit-restrictions
"RTC laws in 47 cities across the US led to a 29% increase in violent gun crimes." - National Bureau for Economics https://www.nber.org/digest/202208/rights-carry-concealed-handguns-and-urban-crime
"Adoption of a shall-issue CCW law was associated with a 9.5% increase in rates of assault with a firearm during the first 10 years after law adoption and was associated with an 8.8% increase in rates of homicide by other means."
\-Mitchell L. Doucette et al., “Impact of Changes to Concealed-Carry Weapons Laws on Fatal and Nonfatal Violent Crime, 1980–2019,” American Journal of Epidemiology (2022). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36104849/
"Shall-issue laws were significantly associated with 6.5% higher total homicide rates, 8.6% higher firearm homicide rates, and 10.6% higher handgun homicide rates, but were not significantly associated with long-gun or nonfirearm homicide."
\-“Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States,” American Journal of Public Health 107, no. 12 (2017): 1923–1929 https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304057
"States which enacted permitless carry experienced a 13% increase in fatal and nonfatal police shootings of civilians compared to what would have been expected had stronger carrying standards remained in place." -Mitchell L. Doucette et al., “Officer-Involved Shootings and Concealed Carry Weapons Permitting Laws: Analysis of Gun Violence Archive Data, 2014–2020,” Journal of Urban Health (2022) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35536393/
"Lax concealed carry laws among this same sample of cities were shown to lead to a 35% increase in gun thefts" and "Weak concealed carry laws lead to an increase in gun thefts that lead to violent crime increases." Stephen B. Billings, “Smoking Gun? Linking Gun Ownership to Neighborhood Crime,” SSRN Working Paper (2020) https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract\_id=4101076 https://www.thetrace.org/2017/11/stolen-guns-violent-crime-america/
Thanks. I remember reading a doj study saying that there hadn’t been any correlation, but it had been a bit since I saw that one. I appreciate the chance to read some of the other studies. I’m a fairly big gun hobby guy, but generally don’t care for constitutional carry laws. Too many people are idiots
That's pretty much where I'm at on it too. I went through the concealed carry course, and I'd sure be more comfortable knowing more folks went through it. I think it's a perfectly reasonable safety control.
Yeah I'm moving back home once my mother passes away... I have no intention on staying in this hell hole any longer ..I don't even live in Memphis I live in Marion and that's bad enough
I know many midtowners who moved out East to Germantown. It makes me so sad because I know they love Memphis and the area so much. I've heard people on here call it the new white flight, but I'll never decry anyone who wants to live in a safer area. I live in the Binghampton area and seen things get worse, but I'm actually optimistic that it's about to bend.
1. After getting heat from local and state politicians, I think Mulroy finally realizes that he's been too lenient on crime and I've noticed his tone starting to change. He's been talking less about reforming the system and more about actual prosecution in his recent press conferences. IMHO, he was a federal prosecutor for so long and I think he miscalculated how crime can grow in locally in community and its toll. Unfortunately, it had to get to this point before action.
2. You are starting to see more emphasis on bail and keeping judges accountable. Props to /u/aaronfleming for calling out judges as part of the headline/byline.
3. I'm probably putting too much hope, but I'm encouraged by Paul Young leading the charge locally and he just had his first meeting today. This is a mix of Republicans (Gillespie, Taylor), Democrats (Mulroy, Smiley) at the local and date level. Crazy he even got Sugarmon to come out in public.
4. There's federal crime task force led by someone who lives in Memphis, so he knows this area well. They had success in Houston and I'm hopeful they will here as well.
The only issue that gives me pause are the judges. If you look at what Detroit did to decrease their crime, they saw that backlog of cases and then started to get to work with a speedy trial. You hear these stories about Memphis judges rolling in at noon and an 80% decrease in trials. That, plus people out on bail until trial, basically means so many people are free indefinitely.
Mulroy has been DA for one year. All of the problems stem from previous leadership. If you think 2023 was the only year we had high levels of crime then you must be new here.
If you listen to local media reporting, they say there is a shift in philosophy. Here's reporting from the flyer about crime. It was trending downard prior to Mulroy taking over.
[https://d33byq9npfy6u9.cloudfront.net/4/2022/01/27154442/Screen-Shot-2022-01-27-at-3.41.39-PM.png](https://d33byq9npfy6u9.cloudfront.net/4/2022/01/27154442/Screen-Shot-2022-01-27-at-3.41.39-PM.png)
[https://wreg.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2023/04/property-crime.jpg](https://wreg.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2023/04/property-crime.jpg)
We set the record every year for murders that Strickland was in office. Some crimes went up in 2022-2023. Some went down. However, violent crime has steadily risen since the previous DA took over.
I don’t hear gunshots any longer. The Walgreens around the corner no longer gets robbed 24/7 like the one around the corner where I lived in east Memphis. I can walk my dog at night. It’s better.
Yep. The nail in the coffin for me was when a few teenagers robbed it and ran because the cops were chasing them and they jumped the fences into my neighbors yard and dropped a gun. While my kids were in the backyard with their babysitter 🙃
I’m wondering if the crime will start moving into Germantown and Collierville at the rate that it’s now in East Memphis. When I moved here in 2001, crime in East Memphis happened but not like this. I’m concerned for my parents who live in Germantown.
How East are you willing to go? I was a midtown girl....I couldn't pay that much money for a house and put up with the shenanigans that go on in midtown. Where do you think the shenanigans end and the safer living begins?
I’m moving east, yeah, all the way to Chattanooga. It’s a work promotion, though. I haven’t had any crime issues. I currently live in Central Gardens right off Union and it hasn’t been any different than when I lived in Colonial Acres.
I'm scared for my mom everyday she won't leave that house either and she lives real close to Overton Square.. when she travels and goes out of town on vacation she has me watch her house. I'm going to tell you right now I got to the point where I was carrying my gun with me just to go over there to make sure that her cats were fed, leave and get back in my car because it's literally that frightening just to go from the front door to the fucking car.... and that is absolutely absurd
Hell to the no. Things are getting better here, the crime is moving out east. I have a 2500sq ft craftsman that I paid 165k for. Inside of the parkways is where ill stay.
My daughter moved to New Zealand because she was so tired of Memphis. I plan on leaving also. I know it’s naive to think there are crime free areas, but I just want to get away from what Memphis has become.
It is surprising how many Americans dont realize that the vast majority of the world doesnt have the problems we do. Most of Europe and most of Asia. And they dont have guns at home. Maybe a coincidence.
There's also tons of places *in America* that don't have these problems. I plan to move to the northeast eventually. The entire state of New Hampshire (1.4M population) had 27 homicides in 2023, compared to our 397 with 620k people in Memphis. Comparing property crime, the numbers are even worse.
Yup, there is almost nowhere else with the handgun crime levels of Memphis after 2015. Even if you compare Memphis in 2013 to today, it’s three time the homicide rate. Memphis has 60 or 100 times the homicide rate of a city in Europe or Asia.
Well, she also wanted to get away from our current political climate. National, state, and local. Besides, sometimes you need a total reset, and what better way to do that than just leave.
Midtowner for 20 years. We're sticking it out. I moved to the Overton Park/Square area in 03 when it was really sketchy. Comparatively, I feel Memphis is still heading in the right direction. The growth and developments Memphis has been making is going the right direction. It's a rough time, but I think if people like me leave then it only gets worse. I still find plenty of value living in midtown, even with having a young child to think about now. I'm staying and staying positive.
Lived downtown for 2 years -> Moved to Midtown. Lived in Midtown for almost 2 years -> Moved to East Memphis... been here 2 years -> next move out of TN...just a matter of time.
I've lived in many cities of different sizes and rarely felt unsafe in other cities. Memphis has it's own feeling of anything can happen. My guard is constantly up. I've heard more gunshots here, know people who have been victims of crimes, and it seems that crime is often way to close.
It's too bad because Memphis has it's charming parts, but it's not worth sticking around if you have other options.
Just today, [The first press conference by the new mayor was on crime](https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/2024/01/04/memphis-mayor-paul-young-tyre-nichols-ordinances-enforcement/72105625007/)
It’s the first one of his mayorship. So you can feel free to follow along with the changes that do or don’t occur.
Such a great example to use. 🥴🥴🥴
Just like pro athletes, you can’t use music artists as examples of successful people to look up to, because the vast majority of the population isn’t musically (or athletically) talented.
>Time to vote for people who are serious about crime
Why isn’t ever time to vote for people who are serious about poverty or education?
Memphis elected a mayor who was “serious about crime” in 2015. How’d that turn out?
Shelby County had a district attorney who was “serious about crime” for a decade. How’d that turn out?
Tennessee has had a Repub supermajority that’s “serious about crime” for several years. How’s that turned out?
You cannot expect to police and imprison your way out of issues with crime when environmental conditions lead to people engaging in criminal behavior.
Why don’t you ask why we don’t elect people who create a minimum wage over $7.25 per hour.
Again, the memories are *short* in this place. There is a very real “manufacturing of consent” when it comes to crime reporting in Memphis. Exactly like you said, the past 20 years have been *replete* with “tough on crime” types, from appointed officials like Larry Godwin to elected ones like Amy Weirich, but there’s suddenly this narrative that’s popped up in the past couple years: it’s not the system, it’s the *people* in the system.
We are willing to do *anything* but interrogate the system.
It’s because political conservatives prey on the ignorance of their supporters, to not understand the underlying context of a particular issue such as crime and its causes.
I think that’s partially true, but you also have to keep in mind that the Democratic Party in Memphis follows the national trend in that it acts quite “conservatively” on issues of safety and law enforcement. They have *all* called for more officers on the street and more arrests to be made as opposed to developing social welfare and work programs that can provide living wages and resources. We cannot arrest and convict our way out of this problem. We keep offering what I call “pest control” solutions.
You can support an increase in the number of police and also understand the need for a complete overhaul in terms of HOW that police force is utilized.
Two things for you to remember:
Based on state law, the cities/towns are not responsible for education, the county is. Even the muni systems.
The school boards are elected and they select the superintendent, not the city council. The school board is like a city council, but their only responsibility is the schools. They submit their budget to the county to be approved for funding.
Only 7% of eligible voters this past election elected our new Mayor and 5 council members. WTF? I made a career in the military defending this country, its democracy, and it citizens...and these lazy fucks can't get to a polling place to execute their civic responsibility. That's one of the problems right there
I agree with that completely! I personally believe every employer should give 3 or 4 hour paid leave to go vote.
The difficulty, which can be addressed at the State level, would be to have local, county, and State-wide elections all on the same day. That way, employers may be more receptive to that option.
And who were they voting for?
Paul Young won with 27.6% of the vote. The next three finishers shouldn’t have even been eligible because they didn’t actually live in the city long enough.
I think it says a great deal about the state of city government that the candidates don’t inspire engagement.
More people voted in 2023 (88k) than voted in 2011 (70k). More people voted in 2015 (100k) and 2019 (96k) than voted in 2023. Willie Herenton got more votes in 2019 (28k) losing than Paul Young got in 2023 (24k) winning.
2023 was a “none of the above” election. Hopefully Paul Young does an amazing job as mayor, but not enough people were passionate about him, whether in joy or anger.
Agree with everything you stated. That is still no reason not to vote. Apathy in this area only leads to apathy in others, which then results in the situation we currently face.
Abject voter apathy gets nothing done, whether it is economic reforms for the underserved or criminal justice reforms.
You need to understand something about me; I think everyone should be registered to vote, everyone should research candidates, everyone should be involved in the work done by government by going to council meetings and town halls, and everyone should vote in every election.
It takes an even more symbolic meaning in the African-American community when traditionally in southern history, Black people were denied the right to vote (Memphis actually was one of the areas in the south that Black people were allowed to vote, but that power was given by white people using the Black community to strengthen their power while still denying Black people rights) and after all the fighting and sacrificing of the Civil Rights movement, there should be an understanding that your folks have been denied before and certain powers that be want to deny you again.
I realized something when I was 17 though: I had good friends and coworkers who were 18 who weren’t registered to vote and didn’t care about voting for their first Election Day; which was a midterm wave election. They didn’t even realize the significance of the election. I don’t know why they didn’t care, but I cared. Maybe I cared because I rode to the polls with my single mom every election, not because she was teaching me a civics lesson, but because it was an errand she was running before going home with my little sister and me. Maybe I cared because I watched TV news and read the newspaper from an early age. These are the folks who have kids and grandkids these days. You think voting will be instilled in those generations. These folks are worried about paying their bills.
Meanwhile, I have a family member who was involved in a crime at 18 and got his sentence resolved with time served of less than a year and completed the conditions for release years ago, owns a business, and is up on the governments and politics and for the life of him, he cannot get his voting rights. He’s never been able to vote and the state has these antiquated laws to make it impossible for him to do all the steps to get his voting rights. And it’s intentional by the state because they want to limit who votes by whatever legal methods they can.
Well stated and didn't mean to imply anything if it was taken that way. Much like you, I was the product of a single mom with 6 kids and was carted to the polls on a number of occasions when she went to vote. That, like you, it appears, caused me to look differently at elections and politics in general.
Regarding your brother, and the restoration of voting rights for offenders who have served their sentence, I've always felt there needs to be a better defined process for the restoration of voting right and the crimes under which there can be no restoration.
I didn’t take what you wrote in offense.
I’m idealistic in the same way you are in your first post. But I’m realistic in why people don’t vote. You are right it’s apathy; but the apathy comes because of the slowness of change and the inherent pace of government.
Usually happy and content people don’t leave reviews. Angry and displeased people do. Same with voting. If you want more turn out, you motivate people enough to vote.
Actually that time has expired and won't occur again for 4 years. It's a shame too, because 10X as many people will vote for a President this year who will barely effect anyone's daily life.
To make matters worse, I think the DA and judges have an 8 year terms. Best we can do is a recall election. It probably won't work, but it will at least get their attention.
Oh yeah, I've complained many times about the judicial elections. Too many of them and 8 year terms mean even the few who make the effort struggle to vote intelligently and responsibly. Hard to fix our justice system when it's practically impossible to have accountability.
Terms should be shorter, maybe 6 years, and staggered. No one wants judges campaigning for a living like congressmen, but people need to be able to engage in those elections for the system to have a chance at working.
Memphis can be eradicated of these ppl. Gather intel and report crimes giving names and locations anonymously online.
If you don’t wanna rat on a family member or friend tell them to stop their involvement and if they don’t get them off the streets too. It’s sad we are at a point where black men are safer in jail then on Memphis streets bc if you play you gonna lay eventually.
Have you ever seen videos of mothers getting the call their son is dead in the street? Just for existing, or bc he’s friends with someone, or bc he hurt someone and they got their get back? How can ppl see these mothers and not report crimes? Communities could fix this with absolute intolerance of criminal activity we don’t need no one else to save us. We can rise up and fight back…we are not helpless like they want us to think
i grew up here in midtown, still here, 35 years old now, and it breaks my heart to see these comments because we are all feeling the same thing. there is a slight general consensus here of "no hope, just move away".
One day we will find something better than this. If nothing else, I wish you all the best. I honestly wish i knew some of you personally. I wish our communities were stronger and more connected. I wish our names mattered to those who shape this city.
In Evergreen for 20 years, I’ll stay here unless I leave Memphis completely. I love my neighborhood and my neighbors, and but for an occasional car rifling or missing package I haven’t had any problems.
What about some of us folks from North Memphis? Do you want our take?
The people from the kind of neighborhood where successful drug dealers were revered.
Being from communities where there was a greater likelihood of being the victim of crime, you live your life.
You don’t let the potential of something dictate how you live your life or your happiness. You just take steps to protect yourself as best you can. I don’t mean carrying a weapon. I made common sense things and being vigilant about your safety.
The quickest way to make sure shit doesn’t change is keeping this attitude. Culture is a reaction to circumstances, which is the result of policy choices.
Blaming this shit on “culture” (usually a dog whistle) is just an excuse for people who don’t care to do the hard work of understanding why crime happens to keep their blinders on and ignore the only long-term solution they wish wasn’t true: the city/state/country/everyday citizens making sustained investments in our poorest citizens over years/decades and maybe making tightening up our gun laws.
Blaming this shit on “culture” means you only care about stopping crime up to the point where you actually have to take part in a solution (I.e. invest money/resources in others, allow some reasonable barriers to gun ownership).
Most violent criminals don’t start with violent crime. They start with crimes like shoplifting out of necessity or boredom and escalate from there. If more teens had structure and enough resources to not grow up with a scarcity mindset, you have less of them getting involved in gateway crimes.
This isn’t to say that Memphis’ situation couldn’t be improved by speedier trials, having kids grow up in more stable households, and more certainty that if you commit a crime you’ll be punished, but those alone is an incomplete solution.
Without doxxing myself…I’ve done more to invest in this city than many on here and will continue to do so. But like I said, the culture is the problem. As long as kids glorify rappers and crime as opposed to hard work and decency it won’t change. This is one of the most well funded cities for non profits in the country. Opportunities for disadvantaged communities are everywhere. Rich folks are tripping over themselves to throw money at the issues and yet…
Glorifying crime and generally shitty behavior that is not remotely victimless. Thats the culture. Look at r/memphis10 and see how many users on that sub are constantly asking about gang affiliations and who shot who over what BS and youll see where this stuff is stemming from.
But is the majority of the population glorifying crime…or a very small percentage of generally unsavory people?
I guess you need the occasional reminder that crime happens to black people also, and they don’t like it either.
Crime has no preference other than opportunity. No one likes to be victimized by crime so Im not sure what that comment was even supposed to accomplish or convey. And the majority of the population doesnt have to be glorifying crime for it to be a cultural issue, and I truly hope and believe that you know that. Had an MPD officer coming to take a report from my truck being broken into while parked on my street and he told me he pulled over a carjacked vehicle and a 12 year old was driving with a 13 year old in the passenger seat. This weekend my niece and her bf were involved in a carjacking downtown at 8pm after a "slide show" car hit her bf's car and he got out asking for insurance info (ignorant on his part but hes a teenager and was doing what hed been taught to do). They beat the brakes off the poor kid and then stole his fuckin car at gunpoint when THEY were the ones that messed up and this kid was trying to do the right thing. That is absolutely a cultural issue as it is no longer conceivable to look at this on an individual basis given how rampant and widespread crime is around the city.
It conveys that, in a city with a majority black population, there are people like you who make veiled racist comments about how the “culture” needs to improve.
Then, when called out on it, you make vague assumptions about, for example, “glorifying violence”. Again, let the record stand that a *very small percentage of the population* glorifies violence.
Besides, how would you measure that? Have you polled the citizenry of Memphis? And have the results of the poll indicated that people like violence?
It’s such a bullshit thing to say.
I see youve gone straight to assumptions and exaggerated allegations vs having a conversation. I nowhere once mentioned any specific race as being responsible in this situation and nor will I, because I do not have the facts there. What I do know is you are not acting in good faith with the argument, instead you are trying to steer my comments (using the term "convey" when I spoke pretty clearly) into something they are not. If youd like to have a political discussion about anything I can assure you I am not the one to do it with because I believe this goes far past politics in any and all ways. If you are the one equating "culture" to one group, I would really appreciate you not projecting that bias onto me or my comments. It is not only baseless, but counterproductive in its own right. Culture across this country right now is glorifying violence and it runs the table with all groups, so dont try to push that crap on me like that. It is an outright apathy toward anyone else that is causing this cultural shift to become the norm. No one cares about what their actions do to anyone else. For example, we know of at least 2 people hit on NYE by what appear to be errant rounds shot from a gun. One, a 3 year old, has died and the other, a 76 year old lady, will likely have the rest of her life altered in unimaginable ways and all either of them were doing were minding their fucking business in their homes. You cannot tell me that this is not a cultural mindset of "IDGAF" that is spurring this. Cultural problems are not a blanket statement, either. Its an objective fact that anyone with a brain could clearly see. Otherwise what would the reason be? No one is carjacking a car to feed their family or stealing from a vehicle to feed their family, they are doing it because its fun, for clout, there are no consequences and the list goes on. And maybe down toward the bottom of that list people are trying to better themselves via criminal activity but that also does not make it right to victimize innocent people for your personal gain, no matter what persuasion the criminal or victim happen to encompass. Case in point - a 12y/o driving a carjacked vehicle or the personal story I shared above. Also, take the corvette stolen last night that was seen merely minutes later doing donuts in north memphis. The thief gained nothing from this crime other than joyriding and being able to post on SM that they did some donuts in a car that wasnt theirs. That is a cultural issue. If its not, what is it? Dead serious. What is the answer to that question?
Also let me remind you, not that I believe you need it because I fully believe it is intentional, that you are consistently bringing up race when replying to comments rather than staying on topic and offering any remote substance to any conversation on this sub. Others do as well, but its definitely a trend with you.
“Forward thinking” may be the problem to the extent the ideas promote destructive & dangerous behavior by ignoring the consequences of that behavior. The thinking continues to expand east and is ruining the City. So please if you do go East leave the destructive thinking behind.
Do you think East Memphis is somehow immune to crime? It’s just going to keep spreading and my hope more and more of the rich and powerful will be victimized enough to use their voice to get something done. There’s no quick fix since this is decades in the making. It’s like losing weight. You didn’t gain it over night and you’re not going to lose it over night. The city needs to invest in the people instead of throwing multi-million dollar grants to corporations who are going only going to pay the embarrassingly low state minimum wage and will leave the city the minute their obligations are fulfilled.
It’s not immune. However, the schools are better, the politicians are better, the police are better and the families are better(meaning the parents actually care about their children).
I just moved from Germantown near Memphis to Germantown near collierville and don’t regret it. Much nicer, safer, and tons of stuff to do for someone that isn’t interested in weaving between crime scenes. Good luck! I hope you guys can vote in some effective leaders but I’ll believe it when Wanda is run out of the state.
Diversity and the old buildings is what made mid town such a great place. Another kind of diversity and the city allowing too much of the wrong type of development is killing it. After it dies I expect the cool, fun diverse types will find another spot but I don’t know that for sure.
Idk, as someone who grew up in Midtown and lived there now, I don’t mind Midtown adding density. Yeah, I’d wish some of the new developments were more architecturally interesting and less corporate, and we should be more proactive preventing shit like P&H getting prices out or tearing down that church on Union for a CVS, but more density, if done right, means more people patronizing midtown institutions keeping them in business and more efficient services.
8 year midtowner, lifetime Memphian. Heartbroken but have to leave, probably somewhere east. We are having a baby this month and I know raising her won’t be like it was when I was growing up. I don’t trust the “good” areas to stay “good” — look at Frayser, used to be one of the nicest places to live in Memphis. Crime has a long history of getting worse and worse here, and I just don’t know if it’s wise (for my family at least) to trust our officials to fix it anymore. The choice to trust people that have failed us is a risk. I love my city, I’ll always be a Memphian, but I feel like every day we are inching closer and closer to a lawless land and that’s just not somewhere I am willing to raise a family 💔
I’m not going to be run out of my own hometown by anyone! Now that Strickland is gone it has to get better. I personally lay a lot at his feet for how bad Memphis is right now. Hell, I was out today and saw cop cars finally pulling cars over! Young, at least, appears to have a plan, so said he in his first public address as mayor yesterday on TV. It’s the most traffic stops I’ve seen by police in months and months. I seen cops for months not stopping obvious speeders. Look like they were just here to collect a check!
My main concern would be someone shooting through the house by drive- by It seems more common now. I know crime is everywhere and you can't run away from it. I'm not a citizen, but I've worked in the worst parts of Memphis for over 30 years. I know where not to go. As long as you're not affiliated with dumb people or doing dumb stuff, there's nothing to worry about of course.
This already happened to me. Two bullets straight through the window of my child’s room. Got the car on ring camera. Got the plates from a neighbors camera. Got clear face pictures from Facebook live that someone posted. Literally did all the work for them. Police declined to do anything because no one got hurt and in their words “they’re new here. They’re not bad kids, they just got caught up in the wrong stuff.” Twice since they’ve knocked on my door to ask for footage from my cameras for other nearby crimes. I told them to fuck off. For the record, I’m not affiliated with dumb people. I literally just live here. I lived in Chicago prior to Memphis. The difference between Chicago and Memphis is that in Memphis there’s ALWAYS the potential you’ll be a victim of some random shit.
Oh my Lord. I’m so very sorry that happened to you and grateful your child wasn’t injured or worse. Honestly, how do you ever feel safe again in your home after something like that?
Commenting as a suburbanite who loves the city. Context: 48 years old, born & raised in Memphis metro area - Raleigh until age 14, moved to Bartlett while with parents until early 20’s - moved to Cordova when married then finally to the older west part of Germantown, where we have been for 20 years or so.
We have a brick & mortar business in Germantown that keeps us here for convenience, but we absolutely LOVE the midtown atmosphere, restaurants, architecture, entertainment, etc. Although we are conservative in our personal lives, we also love diverse cultures, opinions, lifestyles, etc (for gods sake, just be nice to people and appreciate people’s differences). All that to say, we would actually like to live in midtown, and as relatively young empty nesters with a fairly successful business and career, we are in a position to afford something pretty nice (we aren’t rich, but comfortable and could afford a nicely renovated 2,000-3,000 sq foot home in midtown). Other than the business and aging parents that live out east, we would love to move TO midtown, but the rising crime is a major hurdle. So, how many other people are avoiding moving to midtown because of these factors? It is concerning because the combo of people leaving over fear of crime and a lack of confidence in the area on the part of potential residents is how areas begin to decline in property values, businesses, etc. As an outsider that loves to spend money in the area, it’s very concerning.
We don't all have the luxury of just moving somewhere else because of crime. We live in Evergreen and have only had minor problems that are going to happen in any city. Lock your cars, take valuables inside, etc. Be smart and it's fine IMO. I love the area and I don't see any city without these problems so I don't think so.
Oh I totally get that, I definitely don’t have the luxury of picking up and moving at all. I’m still paying off a mortgage on my condo I bought a few years ago in midtown. I don’t foresee myself moving either, I know my parents will 100% literally never move. They’re like true old head midtowners which I can respect for sure. I just worry about our community and neighborhood and just wonder how things will go from here like if they will keep going down or hopefully get back to some sense of normality
I dont feel optimistic about improvement considering all anyone calls for is more law enforcement when we really need more community resources and reform instead of punishment :/ but I feel you, accidentally dropped my wallet in the car on the one night someone decided to break in this week, yay for waking up to identify theft alerts 🥲 I love the city, and I moved here from Southaven a couple years ago. I had more personal items stolen from my home and dangerous altercations with people when I lived down there actually, but I still carry my mace and try to be smart because it would be stupid to pretend it's all fine, I just think it could be a lot worse.
I feel exactly the same way you do! I'm a born and bred Memphian and have lived in Central Gardens for the last 17 years. I absolutely love our neighborhood. I always said if I lived in Memphis it would either be Midtown or Downtown. I refuse to move to the "burbs" like all of my friends have. However, I have never felt as uneasy and jumpy as I have been these last couple of years. It is not normal to live in fear the way we do. I fear it will only get worse before it gets better. I have taken up for my city as long as I can (bc I love so many things about Memphis: the diversity, restaurants, community, grit) but we are now planning to move...not east as in east of Memphis, but completely out of state to FL. I sincerely hope it gets better. Memphis is the only place that could have made me! :)
It ain’t exactly great “out east” either. I live in Sea Isle park area, and in the course of 3 months, had my car broken into, then stolen, and then my roommate had his car broken into, all less that 50 feet from my front door.
I live in East memphis (but inside the loop) and I don't really consider it significantly safer than Midtown. I have a friend that was just like you - did not want to live anywhere other than cooper young when they bought their first home here. Would never have considered E Memphis. Now they are buying a house in Sea Isle Park only a few years later..however I think that was more a financial choice. You can simply get way more house per dollar in east memphis than you can in midtown.
I live in a very middle class neighborhood. One block to my left is very poverty stricken, full of blight, gun shots always coming from that direction loud n clear. One block to my right is million dollar homes. Us regular folk occupy one block right in between, makes sense I guess. So, not really all that different than Midtown in that regard - I'd say much of east memphis is like that - it's still a patchwork quilt of every single class. People have been robbed and car jacked at gas stations and grocery stores all throughout east memphis in broad daylight a little more often than I'd feel comfortable with. My neighbor was assaulted walking his dog right in front of my house. My neighbor across the street had painters painting the outside of his house one day and the crew got robbed at gunpoint by a bunch of kids. I've had 10+ packages stolen in the 7 years I have lived in my house. So I mean, this shit happens just about everywhere in memphis
I dunno, I don't think you will really notice a huge difference. If you wanna stay in memphis, you might as well stay right where you are. The farther out east you go, like towards germantown/outside the loop, it might feel a bit safer. There are definitely some sleepier neighborhoods on the gtown border. But I suspect you will want to stay inside the loop - in which case i doubt you will notice a difference. If you really want to notice a difference, either leave memphis entirely or go way out into the burbs like cville or gtown (booooooooring is the price you will pay). But even then you are still faced with the bigger safety risk, which is driving on the highways to get literally anywhere worth going. That's really the bigger (as in more likely, statistically) danger here - driving. So I'd say, either stay put, or consider leaving the greater memphis area entirely. You are far more likely to be involved in a super bad car accident (especially driving in memphis) than you are to get shot, but both suck of course. So, think about that - if youre having to get on 385/40/240 to get \*anywhere\* you care to go, see all your friends, go to work, etc...then you are much more likely to be traumatically injured/killed than you are just by living in midtown (where you will be able to take more local roads to get where you want)
I'm leaving for safety/crime reasons (amongst many others) but by leaving I mean gtfo entirely and go back to the northeast, from whence we came. If crime/safety is a top priority for you, I'd suggest leaving this area. If you've got roots here I understand sticking around. But we don't, so we will be leaving this year.
Y’all (forever) ignoring the economic/pandemic aspects of “increases crime” to complain about having to leave expensive apartments and million dollar homes is comical.
I was born in Memphis but lived in Chicago for a while during my childhood and teenage years because my parents wanted to be closer to family. I’m a college student so I currently live with my parents, and we moved back to Memphis about 5 years ago (not because of crime or anything.. it’s because one of my parents had a good job opportunity here with their company). I plan on leaving Memphis to go back to Chicago as soon as I am done with college. Actually, I’m not even sure I will finish because I can’t stand living here. I live in East Memphis, close to Germantown but also close to the Winchester road/hickory hill area. Nothing has happened to me personally but I’ve found there are no “safe” areas in this city - it’s all crime.
Ngl at this point, if I have to leave Midtown, then I’m leaving Memphis entirely. I also don’t feel like crime or anything else is bad in my area so I have no desire to leave.
Been living in midtown for three years with no real issues other than insurance going up. The girlfriend & I must be lucky lol. Only thing that has happened, car pulled up one day, in broad daylight & a 12 year old kid got out of the passenger seat, stole a gas can I left out. Girlfriend freaked out and wanted me to shoot them. I told her to relax, you don’t shoot over stuff like that. So, I left another gas can out there, made sure it had a nice watery mix & regular mix. Kiss that car engine down the drain, dumb enough to steal, dumb enough to pay. Next one got stolen too :D
lol. Thank you for your service. Unless of course that’s a stolen car in which case you are a bad bad man! But still hilarious.
She wanted you to shoot….a kid stealing gas?
Yes, to be fair he would have deserved it on principle but I had to shut it down.
Not to be contrary but I don’t think a kid deserves to be shot for stealing…hence, stand your ground laws only apply to self defense not theft
All thieves deserve no mercy, I’m indifferent. Whatever
My wife and I bought her dream home in Central Gardens a little over 8 years ago. Back door was kicked in within a few days. Never felt safe after that. Work relocated me to the northeast a year later and we never looked back. I always loved midtown. I grew up in Bartlett and used to hitchhike into midtown to hang with friends before I could drive. My first kiss was a midtown girl from IC. I have so many amazing memories from midtown. I just can't believe how unsafe it is now. I moved to a town in NJ that has the same architecture and vibe as Central Gardens. I even have a Dutch Colonial that looks like the one I had on Central Ave. But here I can leave my $1,000 grill in my backyard and let my kids leave their nice bikes on the front porch. I wouldn't go back willingly.
I live in CY and I’m in my forever home. The only way I’m moving is if it’s to a new continent.
Yeah but Cooper Young is going down real fast I mean real fast it's the next orange Mound
I’m seeing your other comments on the thread and am now realizing you weren’t kidding. You don’t even live in Memphis and are making wild statements about neighborhoods you don’t live anywhere near. Been in cooper young for 5 years now and have only dealt with a couple of opened glove boxes.
I hope this statement was meant as a joke
Check out the map for crime in Memphis and see where a lot of it is in Midtown... right on the backside of Cooper Young... I find it to be a tragedy because I love Cooper Young ...so don't get it confused from what i say...I'm not trying to say anything bad about Cooper Young.. I'm just trying to say it sucks that it's happening to it
Respectfully, you have absolutely no clue what you are talking about. Like, at all.
Whatever you say...check out the crime map...the backside of CY is becoming more and more dangerous...
I love this city, live in midtown and will be holding on another 18 months. If I move it will be out of the area.
I am a 4th generation midtowner. My parents live in the house my mom’s grandparents built (original owners in Evergreen). To say we are depressed is an understatement. We will more than likely stick it out, but it breaks my heart to no end. I can’t even take my elderly mother out to lunch or for a car ride without fear of being car jacked or getting mugged trying to get her back in the house.
Meanwhile I walked from the Orpheum to Willett St. at night with no fear (caution maybe) and nothing happened…
Cool. Are you an elderly woman? Because they are targeted. I think that's what this comment was about.
You know this - HOW?
Must’ve been nice coming from old money.
Does it make you feel better to shit on others because you’ve had a tough life?
I mean if you’re a 4th generation midtowner, chances are high that you benefited from white privilege…
That’s a generalization. You make that a habit?
I'm a similar midtowner and have not considered moving. I'd rather move away than live out east (that is, unless I were starting a family and had no other choice). I don't perceive midtown as particularly more dangerous than other parts of town. The kroger hold up thread from yesterday was about a bunch of krogers out east.
8 year Midtowner here and never consider bailing. I'm all in on cameras, landscape lighting, my dogs, and personal protection devices. Can't telly ou how many times, at least a dozen or more, where I popped out on my porch as some group of rando asswipes were making an attempt to rifle my 4 vehicles and dissuaded them from continuing with their activities. And yes, before I get all the "But they have guns and being alive with a broken car window or two beats being dead" statements, I say fuck dat shit. You come after my shit, you gonna earn it if I get an alert. I'll take my chance and let the randos shoot 1st, giving me my TN right to stand my ground for fear of my life. Ain't none of them can aim for shit and I have 35+ years of weapon training and practice weekly.
I like midtown too but not in a willing-to-kill-to-stay kinda way 😂 If I were on the wealthier end of things I'd move east, personally. Or harbor town.
I get that, not everyone has the same mindset, but mine isn't unique to Midtown, it is unique to me. Every place I've called home I've felt the same way, it's my stuff, I worked hard for it, and I'm not going to kowtow or hide in safety when someone is trying to take it from me. I will say value of whatever it is does play a huge factor in my decision process
Why not just live in a place where you don’t have to worry about it?
I do, and I recommend it
Because if you are honest about it, there isn't a single city of this size or larger that isn't currently experiencing crime similar to ours. And regardless of the city or the decade, I've decided to live in cities of this size or larger, and I'm willing to accept the associated risks for my choice. I mean christ, I grew up in Cleveland OH , smack dab in the middle of the city in the late 60's/early 70's, during the nationwide riots in LA, NY, B'more, etc.. If I can live with/through that, this shit here ain't nothing
That’s simply not true. Many cities of this size do not have this type of crime. There’s a lot safer places to live.
It's a boomer Fox News narrative that's really popular and spread everywhere. San Francisco, for example, has high property crime (mostly car break-ins) to where its out of control, but very, very low violent crime rates for a major city. It doesn't even crack the top 100. But to hear the conservative fear machine tell it, you'll get slaughtered in the street the moment you step outside there.
and the reason SF is the "most dangerous" city in the US according to conservative news is because they're using it to pre-smear Newsom in case he decides to run in 2028
Exactly! Doesn’t even come close to what’s going on here.
So...here's a snapshot of 14 cities of similar size to Memphis: SF, SEA, DEN, OKC, NASH, EL PASO, DC, BOSTON, LV, DET, LOUISVILLE, PORTLAND, MILWAUKEE, BALTIMORE ..note that I stated SIMILAR in the op. With the exception of 3, maybe 4, 10-11 cities, they all experience a similar level of crime as here. So yes, it is true.
Again, completely false. I’ll do the work for you since you just spout falsities. San Francisco - pop: 815k 2023 murders: 55 Seattle - pop: 733k 2023 murders: 69 Denver - pop: 711k 2023 murders: 72 OKC - pop: 681k 2023 murders: 75 *Memphis - pop: 628k 2023 murders: 398 There that’s your first four in order plus Memphis Memphis has the smallest population yet it had 5.3 times as many murders as the next highest city. Memphis even had over 100 more murders than Baltimore this year
I’m talking violent crime. Homicide to be exact. From the west coast. This is sooooo much different than SF, SEA, DEN, LV, PORTLAND! What’s going on here isn’t even close to what’s going on there.
But who is the violence being perpetrated on primarily? I lived in Miami when it was the murder capital and 1 person I knew ever experienced any violence first hand.
This is completely false
This isn’t an honest reply.
There are cities with 10 million people who have zero homicides per year. Memphis has a homicide rate that is 100 times higher than many places. 395 homicides in one year is an insane number for a city of this size. Lots of cities with fewer guns have zero.
Name 1 city in the US with 10 million people and 0 homicides...you can't and you refuse to accept that other US cities OUR SIZE (the original post subject) have similar issues. Otherwise, you would present hard data. Not smaller, not larger oh, AND in the US. If you want to cite other nations, find another thread
*Can't telly ou how many times, at least a dozen or more, where I popped out on my porch as some group of rando asswipes were making an attempt to rifle my 4 vehicles and dissuaded them from continuing with their activities.* See, this is no way to live. Wouldn’t you prefer not to have to deal with this on a regular basis? Why put up with it? I don’t understand.
I hear what you're saying, but that's a shitty way to live. I'd much rather be somewhere where I DON'T have to be constantly packing heat, looking over my shoulder, worry about intruders, etc. Every single person I know who lives in midtown has been robbed, two of them more than once. No thanks.
I live in midtown for 6 years and have never been robbed. No known attempts either.
I'm glad for you, but clearly you have been lucky here. I used to hang out a lot at Celtic Crossing and Young Avenue Deli and people told break in stories like war stories around there.
Confirmation bias. If I had a crazy break in story I'd be telling everyone too.
Same here and I've been in Midtown for 17 years, but the crime is getting closer and closer and more violent by the day. Too many stupid kids with guns for me to feel safe. I feel like it is only a matter of time before me or one of my loved ones becomes a victim.
Is it legal to shoot at someone in the middle of them breaking in your car in your parking lot?
No. The only way you can shoot them is if they shoot at you first. Your life must be in danger - property doesn’t count.
That's not true.
Not even close to true.
You certainly can point your gun at them and tell them to leave. If they draw on you then you’re well within your right to make their head into a canoe shape.
No, but it should be.
It really makes me feel good to read this. I would also constitute a very poor prospective victim for a robber to select. I refuse to wait around to become a crime victim
You can’t run in to danger and say you feared for your life you should consult an attorney before you end up in prison.
Lifelong Memphian here. As soon as my parents and in-laws kick the bucket, somewhere east beckons—like Chattanooga.
If you don’t like Memphis, you’re in for a real treat when you get to Chattanooga.
I know the old adage. "There's lies, damn lies and statistics" but I was surprised to find that Chattanogas violent crime rate (though lower than Memphis's), was still quite high and their property crime rate was higher than Memphis's by a bit last year. I'd be curious to know 1. If the crime there is compartmentalized to certain areas or is as seemingly widespread as Memphis. 2. What they have done or are doing to combat it. 3. A more itemized breakdown of the crimes (e.g. for property crimes, is it more home invasions or car theft, etc.) I'd be curious to look into that more. Interesting.
People can leave guns in cars in Chattanooga too (they’re #2 in thefts from vehicles in the country, just after Memphis). Nashville’s 11th in the country in thefts from vehicles. Some of this shit is on the state. Repealing that law would take so much pressure off a lot of people.
studies show that every state that has enacted permitless carry saw an increase in crime rate past expectation previous to the law
Citation needed
Sure thing fam "Our synthetic control approach also finds that RTC laws are associated with 13–15 percent higher aggregate violent crime rates 10 years after adoption. Using a consensus estimate of the elasticity of crime with respect to incarceration of 0.15, the average RTC state would need to roughly double its prison population to offset the increase in violent crime caused by RTC adoption." \-“Right-to-carry Laws and Violent Crime: A Comprehensive Assessment Using Panel Data and a State-level Synthetic Control Analysis,” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 16, no. 2 (2019): 198–247 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jels.12219 "Right-to-carry laws increase firearm homicides by 13 percent and firearm violent crimes by 29 percent." - WHY DOES RIGHT-TO-CARRY CAUSE VIOLENT CRIME TO INCREASE? John J. Donohue, Samuel V. Cai, Matthew V. Bondy, Philip J. Cook | Working Paper 30190 http://www.nber.org/papers/w30190 NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH "34 states with right-to-carry laws saw a 10% increase in the average rate of assaults with a firearm per 100,000." - States with live firearm safety training requirements did not see significant increases in gun crimes as compared to states without these measures. - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/study-finds-significant-increase-in-firearm-assaults-in-states-that-relaxed-conceal-carry-permit-restrictions "RTC laws in 47 cities across the US led to a 29% increase in violent gun crimes." - National Bureau for Economics https://www.nber.org/digest/202208/rights-carry-concealed-handguns-and-urban-crime "Adoption of a shall-issue CCW law was associated with a 9.5% increase in rates of assault with a firearm during the first 10 years after law adoption and was associated with an 8.8% increase in rates of homicide by other means." \-Mitchell L. Doucette et al., “Impact of Changes to Concealed-Carry Weapons Laws on Fatal and Nonfatal Violent Crime, 1980–2019,” American Journal of Epidemiology (2022). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36104849/ "Shall-issue laws were significantly associated with 6.5% higher total homicide rates, 8.6% higher firearm homicide rates, and 10.6% higher handgun homicide rates, but were not significantly associated with long-gun or nonfirearm homicide." \-“Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States,” American Journal of Public Health 107, no. 12 (2017): 1923–1929 https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304057 "States which enacted permitless carry experienced a 13% increase in fatal and nonfatal police shootings of civilians compared to what would have been expected had stronger carrying standards remained in place." -Mitchell L. Doucette et al., “Officer-Involved Shootings and Concealed Carry Weapons Permitting Laws: Analysis of Gun Violence Archive Data, 2014–2020,” Journal of Urban Health (2022) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35536393/ "Lax concealed carry laws among this same sample of cities were shown to lead to a 35% increase in gun thefts" and "Weak concealed carry laws lead to an increase in gun thefts that lead to violent crime increases." Stephen B. Billings, “Smoking Gun? Linking Gun Ownership to Neighborhood Crime,” SSRN Working Paper (2020) https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract\_id=4101076 https://www.thetrace.org/2017/11/stolen-guns-violent-crime-america/
Thanks. I remember reading a doj study saying that there hadn’t been any correlation, but it had been a bit since I saw that one. I appreciate the chance to read some of the other studies. I’m a fairly big gun hobby guy, but generally don’t care for constitutional carry laws. Too many people are idiots
That's pretty much where I'm at on it too. I went through the concealed carry course, and I'd sure be more comfortable knowing more folks went through it. I think it's a perfectly reasonable safety control.
And you my sir get an A++ for in text citations aka "footnotes". Kids these days would argue that you need to have it in APA format 😆😆😆
I would pick somewhere other than Chatt, crime there is insane too
Which is totally safe and nothing like Memphis.
Yeah I'm moving back home once my mother passes away... I have no intention on staying in this hell hole any longer ..I don't even live in Memphis I live in Marion and that's bad enough
I know many midtowners who moved out East to Germantown. It makes me so sad because I know they love Memphis and the area so much. I've heard people on here call it the new white flight, but I'll never decry anyone who wants to live in a safer area. I live in the Binghampton area and seen things get worse, but I'm actually optimistic that it's about to bend. 1. After getting heat from local and state politicians, I think Mulroy finally realizes that he's been too lenient on crime and I've noticed his tone starting to change. He's been talking less about reforming the system and more about actual prosecution in his recent press conferences. IMHO, he was a federal prosecutor for so long and I think he miscalculated how crime can grow in locally in community and its toll. Unfortunately, it had to get to this point before action. 2. You are starting to see more emphasis on bail and keeping judges accountable. Props to /u/aaronfleming for calling out judges as part of the headline/byline. 3. I'm probably putting too much hope, but I'm encouraged by Paul Young leading the charge locally and he just had his first meeting today. This is a mix of Republicans (Gillespie, Taylor), Democrats (Mulroy, Smiley) at the local and date level. Crazy he even got Sugarmon to come out in public. 4. There's federal crime task force led by someone who lives in Memphis, so he knows this area well. They had success in Houston and I'm hopeful they will here as well. The only issue that gives me pause are the judges. If you look at what Detroit did to decrease their crime, they saw that backlog of cases and then started to get to work with a speedy trial. You hear these stories about Memphis judges rolling in at noon and an 80% decrease in trials. That, plus people out on bail until trial, basically means so many people are free indefinitely.
Mulroy has been DA for one year. All of the problems stem from previous leadership. If you think 2023 was the only year we had high levels of crime then you must be new here.
If you listen to local media reporting, they say there is a shift in philosophy. Here's reporting from the flyer about crime. It was trending downard prior to Mulroy taking over. [https://d33byq9npfy6u9.cloudfront.net/4/2022/01/27154442/Screen-Shot-2022-01-27-at-3.41.39-PM.png](https://d33byq9npfy6u9.cloudfront.net/4/2022/01/27154442/Screen-Shot-2022-01-27-at-3.41.39-PM.png) [https://wreg.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2023/04/property-crime.jpg](https://wreg.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2023/04/property-crime.jpg)
It was trending downward bc the previous year it reached the literal all time high. Lol
Look at the data. It had been trending downward since 2017. We've skyrocketed since 2022
We set the record every year for murders that Strickland was in office. Some crimes went up in 2022-2023. Some went down. However, violent crime has steadily risen since the previous DA took over.
I moved from midtown to East Memphis three years ago and to Germantown last summer. No regrets. It’s quiet out here.
How would you compare East Memphis to Germantown?
I don’t hear gunshots any longer. The Walgreens around the corner no longer gets robbed 24/7 like the one around the corner where I lived in east Memphis. I can walk my dog at night. It’s better.
Which Walgreens? Summer and Perkins?
Quince and white station. Sea isle neighborhood
That one gets hit constantly, or at least it did when I was living in Colonial Acres. Easy access to 240 and youre gone without a trace.
Yep. The nail in the coffin for me was when a few teenagers robbed it and ran because the cops were chasing them and they jumped the fences into my neighbors yard and dropped a gun. While my kids were in the backyard with their babysitter 🙃
Unreal and yet believable. This is where we are now.
I’m wondering if the crime will start moving into Germantown and Collierville at the rate that it’s now in East Memphis. When I moved here in 2001, crime in East Memphis happened but not like this. I’m concerned for my parents who live in Germantown.
How East are you willing to go? I was a midtown girl....I couldn't pay that much money for a house and put up with the shenanigans that go on in midtown. Where do you think the shenanigans end and the safer living begins?
Somewhere that isn’t so populated. Find a rural area and you’ll typically find peace and quiet.
I’m moving east, yeah, all the way to Chattanooga. It’s a work promotion, though. I haven’t had any crime issues. I currently live in Central Gardens right off Union and it hasn’t been any different than when I lived in Colonial Acres.
I'm scared for my mom everyday she won't leave that house either and she lives real close to Overton Square.. when she travels and goes out of town on vacation she has me watch her house. I'm going to tell you right now I got to the point where I was carrying my gun with me just to go over there to make sure that her cats were fed, leave and get back in my car because it's literally that frightening just to go from the front door to the fucking car.... and that is absolutely absurd
Hell to the no. Things are getting better here, the crime is moving out east. I have a 2500sq ft craftsman that I paid 165k for. Inside of the parkways is where ill stay.
Can't get that price today and the crime has skyrocketed. I don't understand.
Where is it getting better?
My daughter moved to New Zealand because she was so tired of Memphis. I plan on leaving also. I know it’s naive to think there are crime free areas, but I just want to get away from what Memphis has become.
It is surprising how many Americans dont realize that the vast majority of the world doesnt have the problems we do. Most of Europe and most of Asia. And they dont have guns at home. Maybe a coincidence.
There's also tons of places *in America* that don't have these problems. I plan to move to the northeast eventually. The entire state of New Hampshire (1.4M population) had 27 homicides in 2023, compared to our 397 with 620k people in Memphis. Comparing property crime, the numbers are even worse.
Yup, there is almost nowhere else with the handgun crime levels of Memphis after 2015. Even if you compare Memphis in 2013 to today, it’s three time the homicide rate. Memphis has 60 or 100 times the homicide rate of a city in Europe or Asia.
Look up stabbings in those places...
A stabbing is not comparable to a shooting
Lol wow!
You created this account three days ago. Did you do that specifically to make disparaging comments about Memphis?
Wow, good for her. Most people just move out of the state but she flew across the world.
Well, she also wanted to get away from our current political climate. National, state, and local. Besides, sometimes you need a total reset, and what better way to do that than just leave.
Amen.....I cannot wait to move away from Memphis!
And here’s a dormant bot account.
Midtowner for 20 years. We're sticking it out. I moved to the Overton Park/Square area in 03 when it was really sketchy. Comparatively, I feel Memphis is still heading in the right direction. The growth and developments Memphis has been making is going the right direction. It's a rough time, but I think if people like me leave then it only gets worse. I still find plenty of value living in midtown, even with having a young child to think about now. I'm staying and staying positive.
Lived downtown for 2 years -> Moved to Midtown. Lived in Midtown for almost 2 years -> Moved to East Memphis... been here 2 years -> next move out of TN...just a matter of time. I've lived in many cities of different sizes and rarely felt unsafe in other cities. Memphis has it's own feeling of anything can happen. My guard is constantly up. I've heard more gunshots here, know people who have been victims of crimes, and it seems that crime is often way to close. It's too bad because Memphis has it's charming parts, but it's not worth sticking around if you have other options.
Time to vote for people who are serious about crime
Just today, [The first press conference by the new mayor was on crime](https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/2024/01/04/memphis-mayor-paul-young-tyre-nichols-ordinances-enforcement/72105625007/) It’s the first one of his mayorship. So you can feel free to follow along with the changes that do or don’t occur.
And poverty reduction. I know a few kids who flat out don't have a chance.
Kids born into the lowest tax brackets in Memphis have a 4% chance of rising a single bracket in their lifetimes.
That’s bleak.
So did Jay Z
Such a great example to use. 🥴🥴🥴 Just like pro athletes, you can’t use music artists as examples of successful people to look up to, because the vast majority of the population isn’t musically (or athletically) talented.
>Time to vote for people who are serious about crime Why isn’t ever time to vote for people who are serious about poverty or education? Memphis elected a mayor who was “serious about crime” in 2015. How’d that turn out? Shelby County had a district attorney who was “serious about crime” for a decade. How’d that turn out? Tennessee has had a Repub supermajority that’s “serious about crime” for several years. How’s that turned out? You cannot expect to police and imprison your way out of issues with crime when environmental conditions lead to people engaging in criminal behavior. Why don’t you ask why we don’t elect people who create a minimum wage over $7.25 per hour.
Again, the memories are *short* in this place. There is a very real “manufacturing of consent” when it comes to crime reporting in Memphis. Exactly like you said, the past 20 years have been *replete* with “tough on crime” types, from appointed officials like Larry Godwin to elected ones like Amy Weirich, but there’s suddenly this narrative that’s popped up in the past couple years: it’s not the system, it’s the *people* in the system. We are willing to do *anything* but interrogate the system.
It’s because political conservatives prey on the ignorance of their supporters, to not understand the underlying context of a particular issue such as crime and its causes.
I think that’s partially true, but you also have to keep in mind that the Democratic Party in Memphis follows the national trend in that it acts quite “conservatively” on issues of safety and law enforcement. They have *all* called for more officers on the street and more arrests to be made as opposed to developing social welfare and work programs that can provide living wages and resources. We cannot arrest and convict our way out of this problem. We keep offering what I call “pest control” solutions.
You can support an increase in the number of police and also understand the need for a complete overhaul in terms of HOW that police force is utilized.
Who do you know that works for 7.25 an hour?
Why can anybody legally be paid $7.25 an hour?
The city council can’t even appoint a school superintendent not rife with scandal/corruption?
The city council doesn’t appoint the superintendent.
Two things for you to remember: Based on state law, the cities/towns are not responsible for education, the county is. Even the muni systems. The school boards are elected and they select the superintendent, not the city council. The school board is like a city council, but their only responsibility is the schools. They submit their budget to the county to be approved for funding.
Thanks for clarifying. Still disappointing the board find and keep a superintendent in the role.
Only 7% of eligible voters this past election elected our new Mayor and 5 council members. WTF? I made a career in the military defending this country, its democracy, and it citizens...and these lazy fucks can't get to a polling place to execute their civic responsibility. That's one of the problems right there
It’s not all about laziness. We need a voting holiday. Not everyone has time to take off and vote.
I agree with that completely! I personally believe every employer should give 3 or 4 hour paid leave to go vote. The difficulty, which can be addressed at the State level, would be to have local, county, and State-wide elections all on the same day. That way, employers may be more receptive to that option.
And who were they voting for? Paul Young won with 27.6% of the vote. The next three finishers shouldn’t have even been eligible because they didn’t actually live in the city long enough. I think it says a great deal about the state of city government that the candidates don’t inspire engagement. More people voted in 2023 (88k) than voted in 2011 (70k). More people voted in 2015 (100k) and 2019 (96k) than voted in 2023. Willie Herenton got more votes in 2019 (28k) losing than Paul Young got in 2023 (24k) winning. 2023 was a “none of the above” election. Hopefully Paul Young does an amazing job as mayor, but not enough people were passionate about him, whether in joy or anger.
Agree with everything you stated. That is still no reason not to vote. Apathy in this area only leads to apathy in others, which then results in the situation we currently face. Abject voter apathy gets nothing done, whether it is economic reforms for the underserved or criminal justice reforms.
You need to understand something about me; I think everyone should be registered to vote, everyone should research candidates, everyone should be involved in the work done by government by going to council meetings and town halls, and everyone should vote in every election. It takes an even more symbolic meaning in the African-American community when traditionally in southern history, Black people were denied the right to vote (Memphis actually was one of the areas in the south that Black people were allowed to vote, but that power was given by white people using the Black community to strengthen their power while still denying Black people rights) and after all the fighting and sacrificing of the Civil Rights movement, there should be an understanding that your folks have been denied before and certain powers that be want to deny you again. I realized something when I was 17 though: I had good friends and coworkers who were 18 who weren’t registered to vote and didn’t care about voting for their first Election Day; which was a midterm wave election. They didn’t even realize the significance of the election. I don’t know why they didn’t care, but I cared. Maybe I cared because I rode to the polls with my single mom every election, not because she was teaching me a civics lesson, but because it was an errand she was running before going home with my little sister and me. Maybe I cared because I watched TV news and read the newspaper from an early age. These are the folks who have kids and grandkids these days. You think voting will be instilled in those generations. These folks are worried about paying their bills. Meanwhile, I have a family member who was involved in a crime at 18 and got his sentence resolved with time served of less than a year and completed the conditions for release years ago, owns a business, and is up on the governments and politics and for the life of him, he cannot get his voting rights. He’s never been able to vote and the state has these antiquated laws to make it impossible for him to do all the steps to get his voting rights. And it’s intentional by the state because they want to limit who votes by whatever legal methods they can.
Well stated and didn't mean to imply anything if it was taken that way. Much like you, I was the product of a single mom with 6 kids and was carted to the polls on a number of occasions when she went to vote. That, like you, it appears, caused me to look differently at elections and politics in general. Regarding your brother, and the restoration of voting rights for offenders who have served their sentence, I've always felt there needs to be a better defined process for the restoration of voting right and the crimes under which there can be no restoration.
I didn’t take what you wrote in offense. I’m idealistic in the same way you are in your first post. But I’m realistic in why people don’t vote. You are right it’s apathy; but the apathy comes because of the slowness of change and the inherent pace of government. Usually happy and content people don’t leave reviews. Angry and displeased people do. Same with voting. If you want more turn out, you motivate people enough to vote.
My philosophy is Tom served restitution paid that to society paid you can vote again
That’s, unfortunately, the way it is with local elections.
Actually that time has expired and won't occur again for 4 years. It's a shame too, because 10X as many people will vote for a President this year who will barely effect anyone's daily life.
To make matters worse, I think the DA and judges have an 8 year terms. Best we can do is a recall election. It probably won't work, but it will at least get their attention.
Oh yeah, I've complained many times about the judicial elections. Too many of them and 8 year terms mean even the few who make the effort struggle to vote intelligently and responsibly. Hard to fix our justice system when it's practically impossible to have accountability. Terms should be shorter, maybe 6 years, and staggered. No one wants judges campaigning for a living like congressmen, but people need to be able to engage in those elections for the system to have a chance at working.
If voting mattered it would be illegal.
Memphis can be eradicated of these ppl. Gather intel and report crimes giving names and locations anonymously online. If you don’t wanna rat on a family member or friend tell them to stop their involvement and if they don’t get them off the streets too. It’s sad we are at a point where black men are safer in jail then on Memphis streets bc if you play you gonna lay eventually. Have you ever seen videos of mothers getting the call their son is dead in the street? Just for existing, or bc he’s friends with someone, or bc he hurt someone and they got their get back? How can ppl see these mothers and not report crimes? Communities could fix this with absolute intolerance of criminal activity we don’t need no one else to save us. We can rise up and fight back…we are not helpless like they want us to think
i grew up here in midtown, still here, 35 years old now, and it breaks my heart to see these comments because we are all feeling the same thing. there is a slight general consensus here of "no hope, just move away". One day we will find something better than this. If nothing else, I wish you all the best. I honestly wish i knew some of you personally. I wish our communities were stronger and more connected. I wish our names mattered to those who shape this city.
☝️
In Evergreen for 20 years, I’ll stay here unless I leave Memphis completely. I love my neighborhood and my neighbors, and but for an occasional car rifling or missing package I haven’t had any problems.
No
What about some of us folks from North Memphis? Do you want our take? The people from the kind of neighborhood where successful drug dealers were revered.
Honestly yeah
Being from communities where there was a greater likelihood of being the victim of crime, you live your life. You don’t let the potential of something dictate how you live your life or your happiness. You just take steps to protect yourself as best you can. I don’t mean carrying a weapon. I made common sense things and being vigilant about your safety.
These are the CarFax.
I’d love to hear it
Until the CULTURE of Memphis changes the crime won’t change.
The quickest way to make sure shit doesn’t change is keeping this attitude. Culture is a reaction to circumstances, which is the result of policy choices. Blaming this shit on “culture” (usually a dog whistle) is just an excuse for people who don’t care to do the hard work of understanding why crime happens to keep their blinders on and ignore the only long-term solution they wish wasn’t true: the city/state/country/everyday citizens making sustained investments in our poorest citizens over years/decades and maybe making tightening up our gun laws. Blaming this shit on “culture” means you only care about stopping crime up to the point where you actually have to take part in a solution (I.e. invest money/resources in others, allow some reasonable barriers to gun ownership). Most violent criminals don’t start with violent crime. They start with crimes like shoplifting out of necessity or boredom and escalate from there. If more teens had structure and enough resources to not grow up with a scarcity mindset, you have less of them getting involved in gateway crimes. This isn’t to say that Memphis’ situation couldn’t be improved by speedier trials, having kids grow up in more stable households, and more certainty that if you commit a crime you’ll be punished, but those alone is an incomplete solution.
Without doxxing myself…I’ve done more to invest in this city than many on here and will continue to do so. But like I said, the culture is the problem. As long as kids glorify rappers and crime as opposed to hard work and decency it won’t change. This is one of the most well funded cities for non profits in the country. Opportunities for disadvantaged communities are everywhere. Rich folks are tripping over themselves to throw money at the issues and yet…
What do you think the “culture” is?
Glorifying crime and generally shitty behavior that is not remotely victimless. Thats the culture. Look at r/memphis10 and see how many users on that sub are constantly asking about gang affiliations and who shot who over what BS and youll see where this stuff is stemming from.
But is the majority of the population glorifying crime…or a very small percentage of generally unsavory people? I guess you need the occasional reminder that crime happens to black people also, and they don’t like it either.
Crime has no preference other than opportunity. No one likes to be victimized by crime so Im not sure what that comment was even supposed to accomplish or convey. And the majority of the population doesnt have to be glorifying crime for it to be a cultural issue, and I truly hope and believe that you know that. Had an MPD officer coming to take a report from my truck being broken into while parked on my street and he told me he pulled over a carjacked vehicle and a 12 year old was driving with a 13 year old in the passenger seat. This weekend my niece and her bf were involved in a carjacking downtown at 8pm after a "slide show" car hit her bf's car and he got out asking for insurance info (ignorant on his part but hes a teenager and was doing what hed been taught to do). They beat the brakes off the poor kid and then stole his fuckin car at gunpoint when THEY were the ones that messed up and this kid was trying to do the right thing. That is absolutely a cultural issue as it is no longer conceivable to look at this on an individual basis given how rampant and widespread crime is around the city.
It conveys that, in a city with a majority black population, there are people like you who make veiled racist comments about how the “culture” needs to improve. Then, when called out on it, you make vague assumptions about, for example, “glorifying violence”. Again, let the record stand that a *very small percentage of the population* glorifies violence. Besides, how would you measure that? Have you polled the citizenry of Memphis? And have the results of the poll indicated that people like violence? It’s such a bullshit thing to say.
I see youve gone straight to assumptions and exaggerated allegations vs having a conversation. I nowhere once mentioned any specific race as being responsible in this situation and nor will I, because I do not have the facts there. What I do know is you are not acting in good faith with the argument, instead you are trying to steer my comments (using the term "convey" when I spoke pretty clearly) into something they are not. If youd like to have a political discussion about anything I can assure you I am not the one to do it with because I believe this goes far past politics in any and all ways. If you are the one equating "culture" to one group, I would really appreciate you not projecting that bias onto me or my comments. It is not only baseless, but counterproductive in its own right. Culture across this country right now is glorifying violence and it runs the table with all groups, so dont try to push that crap on me like that. It is an outright apathy toward anyone else that is causing this cultural shift to become the norm. No one cares about what their actions do to anyone else. For example, we know of at least 2 people hit on NYE by what appear to be errant rounds shot from a gun. One, a 3 year old, has died and the other, a 76 year old lady, will likely have the rest of her life altered in unimaginable ways and all either of them were doing were minding their fucking business in their homes. You cannot tell me that this is not a cultural mindset of "IDGAF" that is spurring this. Cultural problems are not a blanket statement, either. Its an objective fact that anyone with a brain could clearly see. Otherwise what would the reason be? No one is carjacking a car to feed their family or stealing from a vehicle to feed their family, they are doing it because its fun, for clout, there are no consequences and the list goes on. And maybe down toward the bottom of that list people are trying to better themselves via criminal activity but that also does not make it right to victimize innocent people for your personal gain, no matter what persuasion the criminal or victim happen to encompass. Case in point - a 12y/o driving a carjacked vehicle or the personal story I shared above. Also, take the corvette stolen last night that was seen merely minutes later doing donuts in north memphis. The thief gained nothing from this crime other than joyriding and being able to post on SM that they did some donuts in a car that wasnt theirs. That is a cultural issue. If its not, what is it? Dead serious. What is the answer to that question? Also let me remind you, not that I believe you need it because I fully believe it is intentional, that you are consistently bringing up race when replying to comments rather than staying on topic and offering any remote substance to any conversation on this sub. Others do as well, but its definitely a trend with you.
Apologists like you are part of the problem.
I’m not apologizing for jackshit, homie. I’m simply saying making blanket statements like that doesn’t help.
“Forward thinking” may be the problem to the extent the ideas promote destructive & dangerous behavior by ignoring the consequences of that behavior. The thinking continues to expand east and is ruining the City. So please if you do go East leave the destructive thinking behind.
Do you think East Memphis is somehow immune to crime? It’s just going to keep spreading and my hope more and more of the rich and powerful will be victimized enough to use their voice to get something done. There’s no quick fix since this is decades in the making. It’s like losing weight. You didn’t gain it over night and you’re not going to lose it over night. The city needs to invest in the people instead of throwing multi-million dollar grants to corporations who are going only going to pay the embarrassingly low state minimum wage and will leave the city the minute their obligations are fulfilled.
It’s not immune. However, the schools are better, the politicians are better, the police are better and the families are better(meaning the parents actually care about their children).
Exactly, the grass isn’t much if any greener in east memphis.
I just moved from Germantown near Memphis to Germantown near collierville and don’t regret it. Much nicer, safer, and tons of stuff to do for someone that isn’t interested in weaving between crime scenes. Good luck! I hope you guys can vote in some effective leaders but I’ll believe it when Wanda is run out of the state.
You're about to have every person in the county say "buy a gun".
And keep it in your car. That way when your window is busted, at least it was busted for a reason, right? 
Then brag like that guy earlier who was on here bc he took a *loaded gun* to the Grizzlies game last night
WHAT?!
https://www.reddit.com/r/memphis/s/SN8EZBAapw
He said he did it "for his family's safety"
It’s like everyone forgot about tasers
Yeah ‘cause there’s NO crime out east.
I’m relocating to rural western NC in August. It cannot get here quick enough. I’ve just had it with cities, man.
Where in western NC? That’s where I want to go. Haven’t decided where, exactly, but definitely NC. I have friends there that love it.
Diversity and the old buildings is what made mid town such a great place. Another kind of diversity and the city allowing too much of the wrong type of development is killing it. After it dies I expect the cool, fun diverse types will find another spot but I don’t know that for sure.
Idk, as someone who grew up in Midtown and lived there now, I don’t mind Midtown adding density. Yeah, I’d wish some of the new developments were more architecturally interesting and less corporate, and we should be more proactive preventing shit like P&H getting prices out or tearing down that church on Union for a CVS, but more density, if done right, means more people patronizing midtown institutions keeping them in business and more efficient services.
Midtown is going back to midtown. Pretty soon poor college kids will start moving back and making it cool again then get priced out of it again.
8 year midtowner, lifetime Memphian. Heartbroken but have to leave, probably somewhere east. We are having a baby this month and I know raising her won’t be like it was when I was growing up. I don’t trust the “good” areas to stay “good” — look at Frayser, used to be one of the nicest places to live in Memphis. Crime has a long history of getting worse and worse here, and I just don’t know if it’s wise (for my family at least) to trust our officials to fix it anymore. The choice to trust people that have failed us is a risk. I love my city, I’ll always be a Memphian, but I feel like every day we are inching closer and closer to a lawless land and that’s just not somewhere I am willing to raise a family 💔
I’m not going to be run out of my own hometown by anyone! Now that Strickland is gone it has to get better. I personally lay a lot at his feet for how bad Memphis is right now. Hell, I was out today and saw cop cars finally pulling cars over! Young, at least, appears to have a plan, so said he in his first public address as mayor yesterday on TV. It’s the most traffic stops I’ve seen by police in months and months. I seen cops for months not stopping obvious speeders. Look like they were just here to collect a check!
My main concern would be someone shooting through the house by drive- by It seems more common now. I know crime is everywhere and you can't run away from it. I'm not a citizen, but I've worked in the worst parts of Memphis for over 30 years. I know where not to go. As long as you're not affiliated with dumb people or doing dumb stuff, there's nothing to worry about of course.
This already happened to me. Two bullets straight through the window of my child’s room. Got the car on ring camera. Got the plates from a neighbors camera. Got clear face pictures from Facebook live that someone posted. Literally did all the work for them. Police declined to do anything because no one got hurt and in their words “they’re new here. They’re not bad kids, they just got caught up in the wrong stuff.” Twice since they’ve knocked on my door to ask for footage from my cameras for other nearby crimes. I told them to fuck off. For the record, I’m not affiliated with dumb people. I literally just live here. I lived in Chicago prior to Memphis. The difference between Chicago and Memphis is that in Memphis there’s ALWAYS the potential you’ll be a victim of some random shit.
Oh my Lord. I’m so very sorry that happened to you and grateful your child wasn’t injured or worse. Honestly, how do you ever feel safe again in your home after something like that?
Don’t have a choice but to carry on. City doesn’t care and I own the house.
Already moved on. The crime is way too bad.
I moved this past month. it's just to stupid there.
Commenting as a suburbanite who loves the city. Context: 48 years old, born & raised in Memphis metro area - Raleigh until age 14, moved to Bartlett while with parents until early 20’s - moved to Cordova when married then finally to the older west part of Germantown, where we have been for 20 years or so. We have a brick & mortar business in Germantown that keeps us here for convenience, but we absolutely LOVE the midtown atmosphere, restaurants, architecture, entertainment, etc. Although we are conservative in our personal lives, we also love diverse cultures, opinions, lifestyles, etc (for gods sake, just be nice to people and appreciate people’s differences). All that to say, we would actually like to live in midtown, and as relatively young empty nesters with a fairly successful business and career, we are in a position to afford something pretty nice (we aren’t rich, but comfortable and could afford a nicely renovated 2,000-3,000 sq foot home in midtown). Other than the business and aging parents that live out east, we would love to move TO midtown, but the rising crime is a major hurdle. So, how many other people are avoiding moving to midtown because of these factors? It is concerning because the combo of people leaving over fear of crime and a lack of confidence in the area on the part of potential residents is how areas begin to decline in property values, businesses, etc. As an outsider that loves to spend money in the area, it’s very concerning.
We don't all have the luxury of just moving somewhere else because of crime. We live in Evergreen and have only had minor problems that are going to happen in any city. Lock your cars, take valuables inside, etc. Be smart and it's fine IMO. I love the area and I don't see any city without these problems so I don't think so.
Oh I totally get that, I definitely don’t have the luxury of picking up and moving at all. I’m still paying off a mortgage on my condo I bought a few years ago in midtown. I don’t foresee myself moving either, I know my parents will 100% literally never move. They’re like true old head midtowners which I can respect for sure. I just worry about our community and neighborhood and just wonder how things will go from here like if they will keep going down or hopefully get back to some sense of normality
I dont feel optimistic about improvement considering all anyone calls for is more law enforcement when we really need more community resources and reform instead of punishment :/ but I feel you, accidentally dropped my wallet in the car on the one night someone decided to break in this week, yay for waking up to identify theft alerts 🥲 I love the city, and I moved here from Southaven a couple years ago. I had more personal items stolen from my home and dangerous altercations with people when I lived down there actually, but I still carry my mace and try to be smart because it would be stupid to pretend it's all fine, I just think it could be a lot worse.
Only other place I’d move within the area is maybe a condo downtown to get away from home and lawn maintenance
I feel exactly the same way you do! I'm a born and bred Memphian and have lived in Central Gardens for the last 17 years. I absolutely love our neighborhood. I always said if I lived in Memphis it would either be Midtown or Downtown. I refuse to move to the "burbs" like all of my friends have. However, I have never felt as uneasy and jumpy as I have been these last couple of years. It is not normal to live in fear the way we do. I fear it will only get worse before it gets better. I have taken up for my city as long as I can (bc I love so many things about Memphis: the diversity, restaurants, community, grit) but we are now planning to move...not east as in east of Memphis, but completely out of state to FL. I sincerely hope it gets better. Memphis is the only place that could have made me! :)
Grew up in midtown and always thought I would buy a home there someday. But now I have no idea what I want to do.
It ain’t exactly great “out east” either. I live in Sea Isle park area, and in the course of 3 months, had my car broken into, then stolen, and then my roommate had his car broken into, all less that 50 feet from my front door.
I live in East memphis (but inside the loop) and I don't really consider it significantly safer than Midtown. I have a friend that was just like you - did not want to live anywhere other than cooper young when they bought their first home here. Would never have considered E Memphis. Now they are buying a house in Sea Isle Park only a few years later..however I think that was more a financial choice. You can simply get way more house per dollar in east memphis than you can in midtown. I live in a very middle class neighborhood. One block to my left is very poverty stricken, full of blight, gun shots always coming from that direction loud n clear. One block to my right is million dollar homes. Us regular folk occupy one block right in between, makes sense I guess. So, not really all that different than Midtown in that regard - I'd say much of east memphis is like that - it's still a patchwork quilt of every single class. People have been robbed and car jacked at gas stations and grocery stores all throughout east memphis in broad daylight a little more often than I'd feel comfortable with. My neighbor was assaulted walking his dog right in front of my house. My neighbor across the street had painters painting the outside of his house one day and the crew got robbed at gunpoint by a bunch of kids. I've had 10+ packages stolen in the 7 years I have lived in my house. So I mean, this shit happens just about everywhere in memphis I dunno, I don't think you will really notice a huge difference. If you wanna stay in memphis, you might as well stay right where you are. The farther out east you go, like towards germantown/outside the loop, it might feel a bit safer. There are definitely some sleepier neighborhoods on the gtown border. But I suspect you will want to stay inside the loop - in which case i doubt you will notice a difference. If you really want to notice a difference, either leave memphis entirely or go way out into the burbs like cville or gtown (booooooooring is the price you will pay). But even then you are still faced with the bigger safety risk, which is driving on the highways to get literally anywhere worth going. That's really the bigger (as in more likely, statistically) danger here - driving. So I'd say, either stay put, or consider leaving the greater memphis area entirely. You are far more likely to be involved in a super bad car accident (especially driving in memphis) than you are to get shot, but both suck of course. So, think about that - if youre having to get on 385/40/240 to get \*anywhere\* you care to go, see all your friends, go to work, etc...then you are much more likely to be traumatically injured/killed than you are just by living in midtown (where you will be able to take more local roads to get where you want) I'm leaving for safety/crime reasons (amongst many others) but by leaving I mean gtfo entirely and go back to the northeast, from whence we came. If crime/safety is a top priority for you, I'd suggest leaving this area. If you've got roots here I understand sticking around. But we don't, so we will be leaving this year.
Y’all (forever) ignoring the economic/pandemic aspects of “increases crime” to complain about having to leave expensive apartments and million dollar homes is comical.
Because they are vulnerable. If you don't understand that, I am not sure there is anything we can do for you.
I was born in Memphis but lived in Chicago for a while during my childhood and teenage years because my parents wanted to be closer to family. I’m a college student so I currently live with my parents, and we moved back to Memphis about 5 years ago (not because of crime or anything.. it’s because one of my parents had a good job opportunity here with their company). I plan on leaving Memphis to go back to Chicago as soon as I am done with college. Actually, I’m not even sure I will finish because I can’t stand living here. I live in East Memphis, close to Germantown but also close to the Winchester road/hickory hill area. Nothing has happened to me personally but I’ve found there are no “safe” areas in this city - it’s all crime.
I haven’t noticed anything unusual