[blackdog]

Memphis is not typical. The good/bad areas thing can flip back and forth in just a few blocks. I live in Midtown which has really good blocks and really bad blocks. The divergent cultures and values don't raise or lower all boats. It's like parallel universes existing on the same spot.

My street is fantastic. A few blocks either direction and there's a dead body in the alley on a Sunday morning ride to church. Never even makes the news.

Most cities have large swaths of good or bad neighborhoods. They are all mixed together in scraps and pieces in Memphis. Weird.

[ought-six]

I lived in New Orleans for several years. I know EXACTLY what you are talking about.

[Portnoy001]

A lot of big southern cities are just like that. Good/ghetto all mixed up. Very common. In the north-east there are large swaths of bad that are a bit cordoned away from the good.