"Why in the hell would you want to move to Jackson, MS?", you are probably asking yourself. I'm from West TN and have been living in Montana since January of 2010. I'm tired of the winters. The snow, the ice, the subzero temps. I'm done. I've missed lots of holidays and birthdays with the family. We lost my Grandmother Christmas Eve and my Grandfather probably only has a few years left. My folks are getting older and it would just be better for everyone if I'm closer.

I'm about 75% sure I have a job(the office is in Pearl), but it may take a couple more months before I'm picked up. I've been looking at real estate; Pearl, Brandon, Flowood, Ridgeland areas are probably where I'll end up.

I'll be visiting in October for a day or two to kind of scope out the area and see what I might be getting myself into. Can anyone give me restaurant recommendations? Some stuff I should check out while I'm there in October? Anything else I should know about the area? Did they figure out their water issues?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Skull Leader,

My daughter went to college in Jackson,Ms. I grew up in Chicago. Jackson is much more dangerous. If I were forced to live there I would reside in Madison,Ms. which is nice middle class. Of course it is on the North side of Jackson and even further for your work. Motorists cannot drive well and road rage is prevalent. Everybody has a pistol in their car. Good luck.

I do understand that Jackson has the highest murder rate per capita.

I’m about 2 hours south of Jackson - don’t think you’ll have much issue with snow/ice. We do get that stuff about once every 2-3 years which means hardly anyone knows how to drive on it. Check out Madison and Clinton too for real estate - but those are a bit more of a drive if you’re working in Pearl. Had an aunt that lived in the Castlewoods neighborhood in Brandon - nice area and safe.

In downtown Jackson there has been a lot of renovation/new restaurants in the Fondren area but it’s surrounded by areas which were perfectly safe when I was a kid but now I would barely drive through them in the daytime. Ridgeland has several nice restaurants near/on the reservoir as well - Cock of the Walk is the first to come to mind.

Jackson has one of the worst municipal water systems in the country. Plan on getting filters and storing water to get you through the service failures.

No help on MS, but I can't blame you for wanting to get out of Havre.

I despise Jackson because the inept waste water system dumps sewerage into the waterways I often have my boat in

It’s MS. Its corruption aspires to be LA. Ask Brett Farve

That said. Jackson’s not too bad. Close to some absolutely wonderful aspects of the country. Especially if you enjoy The Blues. More importantly land is affordable and people leave you alone in the country. I’m looking for white sand, black water acreage currently

You end up there. I’ll show you locals New Orleans and islands in the Gulf via boat. Yes 5 hrs. That’s just a day drive

Signed
“Fellow Ex-Montanan living in winter warmth”

I moved here in 2017 after having worked with a couple clients in the area off an on since 1998 and being hired by one from my past. It was strictly a mercenary move, and we have no plans to live here beyond that. IOW, eyes wide open on expectations.

As Michael noted Madison and Ridgeland areas are best bet, Flowood and Pearl better than Jackson but in really close proximity to Jackson proper. Pearl PD and Rankin sheriff is no BS when it comes to crime. Of course they also recently had 4 guys torture a suspect so there's that...

It's a little more complex than just the water and crime headlines IMHO. I am happy to chat with you if you like, drop me a note at my contact address if you want.

I go to Madison about once a quarter to visit a customer. Can’t say much about Jackson except I was happy when we didn’t have to meet downtown anymore. There weren’t many decent places to eat downtown. Madison however has some nice places. I can especially recommend the Half Shell Oyster House. Strawberry Cafe is set in an old building and has been nice for lunches.

Brandon or Pearl are better choices.

Brandon has Cock of the Walk and Penn's Seafood.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Jackson has one of the worst municipal water systems in the country. Plan on getting filters and storing water to get you through the service failures.

Horrible municipal water systems must be the norm in MS. Years ago I traveled to Greenville, MS for work regularly. The hotels supplied bottled water because the water looked so disgusting. Looked like they literally just pumped it out of the Mississippi river. It was so bad it was unreal.

Not sure if they're still there (think they are), but they have/had a AA baseball team affiliated with the Braves. I used to really enjoy Jackson overnights when I was with my former airline because our hotel was in Pearl right across the street from the baseball stadium. GREAT, cheap entertainment if/when the team had a home game when I was there.

That's all I know about the area.

People voluntarily moved to Mississippi, ewww

I was only there once.
It was on a sales road trip for the distributor I was managing back in circa 1990.
It was a dreadfully dreary city back then.
I can imagine it substantially worse now.
Then there is the crime....

NO! Brandon, MS or Madison, MS. Skip Jackson and the issues in a dim-run city that is dirt poor and getting worse by the day.

RMD

Speaking of the water issue. The college my daughter attended is putting in its own separate water system to the tune of several million dollars. That is how bad the water is.

I am in Ridgeland / Madison often.

They are are your standard suburbia. Seem nice enough when I'm there, lots of stores and restaurants.

Madison will be more of a commute than I'm wanting, but if I stumble upon the right property I'd consider it.

It is not just the commute it is neighborhood in which you shop, have fun and socialize. Folks in the big cities have a much longer commute.

I don’t want to offend any Mississippi natives, but here goes:

It’s not Jackson, but I have a buddy that moved from Germantown, TN to just over the border in Olive Branch, MS and instantly regretted it. He summarized it as Mississippi is a “poor” state and all services were subpar compared to Tennessee. So don’t expect it to be like home.