At 3:00 in the afternoon of August 2, 2010 the temperature in Cordova, TN (where I live) is 101 degrees. The heat index (that is what the air temp actually feels like based on humidity levels) is 121 degrees. This reminds me that I've been planning a post on how life in Memphis stacks up to life in Columbus (where I lived previously).
Let's get right to the point, the summer weather here alone is enough to make me want to finish this postdoc and move somewhere else. In Columbus we would get 5-10 ninety degree days/year. Here in Memphis I lost count a long time ago. We had two days below ninety in July. June was probably the same. Most of those days the heat index is above 100 and it shows no signs of slowing down. Every day this week the temp is supposed to flirt with 100 with heat indices near 120. It's terrible. You go outside and, no kidding, stand completely still for 3 minutes and you can wipe sweat from your brow. There have been 8-10 heat-related deaths this summer. Just the norm for Memphis.
Winter weather is a different story though. This past winter was a "rough" winter by Memphis standards. We had a two week period in February with temps in the low 30s. So do mild winters neutralize the oppressive summer heat? No. Weather advantage goes to Columbus despite the bitter winds and ice storms of the midwest winter. Then again, the variety of trees and blooming plant life is fantastic down here. There's always something in blossom even this late into summer. But that's different. Weather advantage still goes to Columbus.
Traffic. Traffic isn't terrible in Memphis but it's heavier than in Columbus. The interstate system worked better in Columbus and Memphis drivers are the worst I've ever experienced. Traffic advantage goes to Columbus.
Dining and entertainment. I haven't yet eaten at any of Memphis's Korean restaurants so I can't compare them to Columbus's amazing Restaurant Silla. However, Memphis has BBQ. Real BBQ and lots of it and it's really good. I'm almost more impressed with the diversity of dining establishments here. Columbus has the Blue Jackets (at least for now) and Memphis has the NBA's Grizzlies so professional sports is a wash. Columbus had great Broadway shows, Memphis has great Broadway shows at the historic Orpheum Theater. Memphis is the home of Elvis and blues. Columbus doesn't have the music heritage that Memphis has (Memphis is chock full of great music sites and live music venues). Memphis has a minor league baseball team. Columbus has a minor league baseball team. I'll give the advantage to Memphis there because their team is consistently better and they are the farm team for a much better major league team. Memphis has more and better museums. Dining and entertainment advantage goes to Memphis.
Cost of living. Advantage Memphis.
People. Besides being horrible drivers most people here are pretty friendly. Granted, I've never been in those neighborhoods where I am likely to get shot just for showing up but we'll get to that later. Friendliness advantage goes to Memphis. This category doesn't matter much to me as I like to be a hermit. I try to avoid talking to other people.
Radio. Big advantage to Columbus here. The local shows on ESPNRadio here are awful. The local issues/local politics show on AM600 is really good though. I don't remember hearing as much about local issues in Columbus on the radio. But that ESPN thing really scores the points for Columbus.
Recreation. I'm talking here about libraries, rec centers/YMCA, parks. Big, big, big advantage to Columbus. The Memphis libraries aren't horrible but it's hard to compare to Columbus, whose library system is among the best in the nation according to magazines that rank those sorts of things. As far as I can tell so far Memphis doesn't appear to have rec centers that offer a great variety of free courses for kids the way the Columbus rec centers did. YMCA's are few and far between and nothing here even comes close to the awesome Metro Parks system in Columbus. Sorry Shelby Farms but you're a wannabe, the sheer size of your boundaries does very little to make up for your lack of quality.
Farmer's Market. Advantage Memphis. We've only been once and it was early in the season but it looks great. Besides, we bought a 3-lb. tri-tip. Shelby Farms does have the Farmer's Market going for it. Have yet to make it to the downtown farmer's market.
Let's see, so far the score is 4-4. I think overall I liked Columbus better. The categories that Columbus scored well in are more important to me than the ones that Memphis scored well in. I'll leave it at that for now and maybe you guys can suggest some other categories for me to score.
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If it's any consolation to you, it's been ridiculously hot in Columbus this year. Actually, I think this week (or I guess it was 'last week') we had for the first time temperatures in the 80's. It's been above 90 for quite a while. Our AC has been running non-stop, only to bring the temperature in the house down to maybe 82 degrees, and getting our AEP bill up to almost 200 bucks. Miserable. I have no idea how I survived my mission in Greece, where temperatures above 90 are common for most of the year, and the summer months were always somewhere in the 110's. I know I ended up pretty darn skinny at the end of my mission. I think the fat just melted away.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Franz post I have to say that we have also suffered from RIDICULOUSLY high humidity. It makes the hot weather ten times worse than nothing.
ReplyDeleteBut, I have to say, "I told you so..." We all told you not to move away. LOSER!
:)
Yes, I understand that the central Ohio summer has been hotter than normal. However, while your summer has been abnormally hot, the Memphis summer has been much warmer AND this is normal for Memphis. So, weather advantage still goes to Columbus. I would gladly trade places with you right now. I just checked weather.com and found that right now, at 11:20 AM it is 98 in Cordova with a heat index of 121.
ReplyDeleteIn fear of sounding like an old person complaining about having to walk uphill to school both ways, I must say that in Okinawa, you could stand still and literally watch your sweat weep from your pores on your arm. And summer there lasted from April to November. But I do feel your pain. Kind of. East Tennessee has been miserable, too, but not as bad as what you got over there in the west.
ReplyDeleteSo, I've never actually lived in a blue state in the US (since I consider Ohio a swing state)...but, I've lived in a blue country. Best thing ever. :) Really. If I take your list of 'issues' Germany scores better on all of those than anything I've ever seen in the States or experienced in the states I've lived in (Utah, New Mexico and Ohio). The streets are clean, well maintained, and driving as well as drivers are great. City development and architecture is nice. Public schools are far better than the US, and public services such as libraries are at least just as good, and often times better (I yet have to find the cool public pools from Germany in ANY US state). Health care quality is just as good as the US but at a much more affordable rate, and usually includes more services. Public transportation is fantastic. Consumer debt is much much lower than in the US. It produces quality products, and still has a pretty healthy middle class. Food prices are oftentimes cheaper than in the US. Eating out, while overall pricer than in the US balances out because you don't have to tip, and because the quality of food is much better. Even better you can usually get healthy options at all fast food places. The climate is usually quite nice and includes four seasons.
ReplyDeleteAnd any town/city has a farmer's market every Saturday. Oh, and pretty much everything is closed on Sundays, so most people don't work on Sundays.
I could go on and on. I really haven't lived anywhere in the US where I felt it remotely compared to what I've experienced back home in quality.
But, to be fair, clearly Germany has its issues, too. Houses are cheaper in the US still (though their quality doesn't compare to German houses at all). Customer Service is about a million times better than in Germany, and the US is far more child-friendly (and handicapped friendly) than Germany. You may very well have to change your kid on the floor in a restaurant because it doesn't have a diaper changing table etc.). There are no water fountains. And nothing will beat the US in outdoors beauty and things to do. And during summer vacation time, driving on the German autobahn can really be quite miserable. It's also still easier to get loans in the US, and to set up a business...though I'm wondering if that's necessarily a good thing considering the current problems we've had.
Anyway, I gotta go.
Yes, America has its issues. I don't think my purpose was to compare countries but I'm not too young to remember when most businesses were closed on Sundays in the US as well. I remember my parents having many concerned discussions about the effort to repeal the Blue Laws in Maryland. I'm thankful for businesses like Chick-fil-A that still honor the Sabbath.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your post reminds me that I wanted to talk about schools. The reason I think the public school thing is because the worst districts in this country (all of the big city districts) are run the same way liberals run everything - throw more money at the problem. And don't argue that school districts aren't run by liberals, the teacher's union is a major, major supporter of progressives. But that's beside the point. Also, our districts are too big. Way too big. Too many students and too many schools necessitates a bloated bureaucracy to even begin to deal with the problem and you need look no further than our federal government to see that big bureaucracies don't solve ANYTHING. But even that isn't the core of the problem. The core of the problem is the decline of the nuclear family.
Nah, I'm not gonna argue...but I would argue that no matter what school you take in the US, if it's a public one, its education doesn't compare to most of Europe (and according to the PISA studies not even to some none-European countries like...Azerbaijan). I think America's Universities at the advanced level (Masters and PhDs) has an edge on Europe though.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, when I looked at your post again, I realized that I blurred some of your posts together anyway. Oh well...I guess you got the idea.
Also, that's interesting that stores used to be closed here on Sundays. I didn't know that. Too bad it changed.
I think I could find some individual public schools in this country that stack up with the best in the world. As a whole we stink at public education. At the elementary and high school levels. You're right though about our universities, America has the best collection of universities of any nation.
ReplyDeleteOk, maybe there are a handful of public schools that don't suck as much, but I'd guess that that's a small minority at best.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I totally agree with you though that it all comes down to the decline of the traditional family. Actually, I think any mess we'll find ourselves in in the future can probably be traced back to that. In a family where there are two stable, loving parents who are involved in their children's lives, I'd say almost anything is achievable. Education can take place despite a poor public school, civic action will be present, morals and values are established...blablabla...I do think a lot of problems we're facing these days are the direct result of families falling apart.
Fran