Memphis, TN
| U.S. News Ratings | |
| Population: | 610,311 |
| Crime: | High |
| Cost of Living: | Low |
| Health Care: | Comprehensive |
| Housing Price: | Low |
| Income: | Low |
Memphis is ranked by U.S. News as one of America's top 10 places for singles to retire. Situated on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, Memphis's barbecue-and-blues history embodies Southern soul mixed with a global reach, thanks to its spot as a major traffic hub for the world's cargo as the home of shipper FedEx. The city of 610,311 enjoys mild winters but sometimes sweltering summers. July temperatures are often in the 90s with high humidity, and the heat can last until late October.
"It makes you tremble and it makes you weak / It's in your blood, that Memphis Beat" sang Jerry Lee Lewis in "Memphis Beat," just one of the 899 songs that mention the city by name, according to the Smithsonian Rock 'n' Soul Museum. Memphis is a music town through and through and home to decades of history captured in country, bluegrass, and the birth of rock-and-roll.
Memphis is best known as the home of both the blues and the King. Nightlife on historic Beale Street celebrates the city's modern musical tradition. Along with raucous bars and clubs, the neighborhood honors blues greats like W. C. Handy and B. B. King along the Memphis Walk of Fame. Graceland, Elvis Presley's legendary home, pays tribute to the country's most famous rock-and-roll legend, who still inspires pilgrimages by the thousands to the estate and a candlelit vigil each year on the anniversary of Presley's death. Visitors can also tour the iconic Sun Studio where Presley and other greats like Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis produced some of rock's most famous early recordings. Soul fans can meander through another legendary label's history at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Six-string junkies can tour the Gibson guitar factory.
The city continues to honor its place in the history of the civil rights movement. The National Civil Rights Museum is housed in the former Lorraine Motel, with exhibits focusing on the hotel balcony where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. If you're eager to recall Mark Twain's Huck Finn-style adventures, the Mississippi River's more active options include canoeing, kayaking, hiking along on the banks of Memphis's Mud Island, or a casual stroll along the Riverwalk, a boardwalk carved into the bluffs along the river. (Twain called Memphis "the noblest city on the face of the Earth" while he nursed his younger brother, who died in Memphis from injuries sustained in a steamboat explosion). Art lovers can visit the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, founded in 1916, which is the oldest and most comprehensive art museum in the state, and NBA fans can catch the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedExForum.
Memphis has been selected by U.S. News as one of the top 10 places for single seniors to retire. Based on research by the Brookings Institution, it's one of a handful of cities boasting both an attractive environment for retirees and a hefty portion of singles over 65.
The University of Memphis is the city's largest college, and the area is also home to the prestigious Rhodes College and the University of Tennessee Healthy Science Center.
Memphis's Methodist University Hospital and Baptist Memorial Hospital are named among the top 125 U.S. hospitals by Consumer's Checkbook. There are 68 hospitals within 30 miles of the city.
Memphis is the major distribution hub and the corporate home of FedEx, making Memphis International Airport the world's busiest cargo airport. A range of well-known businesses are also headquartered in the area, including financial services firm Morgan Keegan, AutoZone, and International Paper. The median household income in Memphis is $35,866.
The Memphis housing market is holding up better than many others following the housing bust. Home prices are more stable and more affordable in Memphis than in much of the nation, though foreclosures have been a growing problem. Still, forecasters expect the Memphis housing market to begin its recovery this year. Average home prices in 2008 were $108,610.
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