So I'm starting work in Jackson next month; I'll be living just out of the city in Ridgeland. I've only been down there twice--once for the interview and then to find a place to live.

Anyone spent time down in that area? Any recommendations on things to do, restaurants/bars, parks, etc.?

6/5/2009 3:11:42 PM

i tend to avoid that part of the country

something about the ropes, the trucks, and the desolate gravel roads

and the 100% cowwwntay jurrstickshun

[Edited on June 5, 2009 at 3:21 PM. Reason : f]

6/5/2009 3:20:42 PM

don't forget the banjos

6/5/2009 3:21:14 PM

banjos are an African instrument, used to be only black people played them

is that ironic or not, I can't tell

6/5/2009 4:51:25 PM

I was down there for a while for work. The city is pretty awful itself. Ridgeland has a nice shopping area with a barnes and noble and a PF Changs.

The only decent thing about Jackson is that it's not that far from NOLA or the coast in general. So a weekend trip down there isn't out of the question. Just get used to storms, crappy driving and even crappier roads.

6/5/2009 5:05:51 PM

^Yeah, pretty much the same impressions I had from visiting.

the good news:

Quote :

"Jackson's rate of 36 murders per 100,000 residents ranked fourth in the nation behind New Orleans, St. Louis and Baltimore."

I'm moving down the list!

6/5/2009 5:13:42 PM

I have a BUNCH of family in Jackson.

It's a seriously old-time southern city. Which means two things:

NEVER go "exploring" new areas after dark.
There are a shit-ton of cool places/people and things to do, but it's all word-of-mouth.

It's going to take you probably 6-8 months to start to hear about/find the spots that you enjoy (beyond the chain mall shit). If you are into music, especially jazz/classic rock, there are a half dozen or so bars and clubs with really good music, open mic's, and regular crowds.

Mostly it's all about meeting people. All the fun stuff to do down south in general is private actvities with connections. Make friends with social people and you'll never have a shortage of stuff to do. Hunting, boating, fishing, music, off-roading, camping, are all over, you just have to meet people. Unlike a lot of other parts of the country, almost no one uses "public" resources. You go camping on a friend's land, you go boating/fishing at private lakes, same for hunting and off-roading.

It's weird to get used to, but it can be a lot of fun.

6/5/2009 6:26:47 PM

Yeah...some of the residents I talked with mentioned some great jazz/blues spots. That kind of thing is definitely on my list.

Any ideas about places to hike in the area? How are the state parks?

6/5/2009 6:31:25 PM

hiking is not fun in Mississippi. The whole state is flat, muddy and filled with mosquito's.

Replace hiking with hunting and boats.

6/5/2009 7:14:10 PM

The doctors live in Pearl.

6/6/2009 3:11:07 PM

apparently there is a large family of douchebags in jackson

6/6/2009 6:08:39 PM

My brother moved there for a 1 year grad program and hates Jackson. He's in a Jackson suburb (Clinton, MS). B/c he studies all the time he doesn't have much stuff to do, but he likes the Ridgeland shopping center. He's not to familiar with local joints yet.

6/6/2009 6:22:37 PM

i recommend dancing on a pony keg

6/7/2009 2:30:49 PM

I spent a week in Jackson visiting friends. It's the most backwards place I have ever visited, hanging out there was like going back 90 years in time. It's a nice place if you're into antiques, I hope you have a lot of hobbies such as running or cycling.

6/8/2009 1:24:33 PM

watch out: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/01/obesity.rankings/index.html

7/1/2009 5:19:46 PM

^^ then again, running and cycling probably aren't very good there either.
Running - it's flat and hot..... horrible for running
Cycling - let's see how many times you'll go out on the road again after your first encounter with a pickup full of rednecks with beer bottles

7/1/2009 5:24:02 PM

^That's a pretty ignorant comment. It's not the rednecks with beer bottles that you have to worry about, it's super shitty roads built on clay that will ruin your day.

7/1/2009 5:30:51 PM

I bet he was totally serious.

7/1/2009 5:43:38 PM

On the positive side, the cost of living is dirt cheap. You'll be considered extremely wealthy in Jackson.

7/1/2009 5:56:40 PM

Quote :

"Ridgeland has a nice shopping area with a barnes and noble and a PF Changs. "

This depresses me. These places are not nice. There MUST be a local book store and a good mom and pop kitchen you could spend your money at. I spent a year traveling the US looking for a town to get away from 'nice' places like b&n, chipotle, and home depot. You can't. Those towns don't exist anymore. Hell, you can't even get away from places like 10,000 villages.

Sorry for the deviation from topic, but if there is anything I'm passionate about in America culture and politics, this is it.

7/1/2009 6:05:03 PM

^you might not find many towns without them, but you can certainly find towns with a plethora of local alternatives. Most of the west coast is like this, with bigbox stores here and there, but tons of local merchants.

7/1/2009 6:31:35 PM

^ That's what I was getting at. (I live in oregon and we do have quite a few alternatives. The chains tend to be on the outskirts of the city). I was depressed at the fact that LunaK brought up two chain stores as a 'positive' instead of two local alternatives. Maybe this town is so bad it has no alternatives. which is equally depressing.

7/1/2009 6:41:43 PM

I don't have as much road tripping experience as 1985, but I find myself depressed by the same things. You go into a new part of the country and it's nothing but KFC and Hardees. And I know there was a time when the town looked different than other places. not anymore!

although it does get better the farther you are from an interstate

7/1/2009 7:00:51 PM

Quote :

"Maybe this town is so bad it has no alternatives. which is equally depressing."

From what I saw of the place, there weren't many alternatives. I lived there for 6 weeks in early 2008 and then again for another 4 weeks leading up to election day. It blew.

The best part of being in Mississippi was going down to the coast for Mardi Gras.

7/1/2009 8:16:06 PM

Quote :

"Maybe this town is so bad it has no alternatives. which is equally depressing"

There's a small "arts" district in Jackson around the medical center, with independent shops and restaurants. The city as a whole is indeed pretty depressing, though more because of unemployment and poverty.

Ridgeland, though, where she was talking about (and I'm living), is very homogenized--filled with chain stores and eateries. There's definitely a general loss of local/regional culture nationwide, and this is an example...but frankly I'm taking the much lower crime rate as a trade-off, plus there's still the option of going to the city (and I'll be spending quite a bit of time down there since I'm working downtown anyway).

Quote :

"it's flat and hot"

The heat has been terrible for the week I've been here--my scale arrived today with the movers, and apparently I've lost almost 10lbs since getting here...pretty sure most of that was sweated out.

[Edited on July 1, 2009 at 9:08 PM. Reason : ]

7/1/2009 9:04:48 PM

Quote :

"^That's a pretty ignorant comment. It's not the rednecks with beer bottles that you have to worry about, it's super shitty roads built on clay that will ruin your day."

uhh, having had enough run-ins with rednecks in pickup trucks in North Carolina, I will firmly stand by the assertion that the problem would be the same or greater in the Deep South (shitty roads not withstanding).

Sounds to me like I hit a nerve claiming that Jackson, Mississippi is overflowing with pickup driving rednecks. You have a particular problem with that characterization?
Even if it's not "overflowing" with them, it sure as hell doesn't take many to ruin a cyclists day, or life.

7/1/2009 10:29:37 PM

Quote :

"From what I saw of the place, there weren't many alternatives. I lived there for 6 weeks in early 2008 and then again for another 4 weeks leading up to election day. It blew."

There are, but unless you are a long-time resident, you'll never find them. Hence my original advice to DaveOT:

Quote :

"There are a shit-ton of cool places/people and things to do, but it's all word-of-mouth."

I've been to amazing restaurants, music halls, bars and clubs, but there's no way in hell I would have ever known about them if it weren't for family who'd lived there for their whole lives. Driving 10-15 miles to go eat is an everyday occurance in the deep south, which is totally foreign to most of us. Everything "good" is extremely spaced out, there are no real "districts" or "neighborhoods" with collections of interesting places.

It's the complete opposite up here (like 1985 was saying) in the northwest. Everything is clustered so you can go one place and do several things (or have several things to choose from).

It all takes getting used to. Being to lazy to understand the cultural environment you live in is depressing, but the place itself is anything but. Quit being a bunch of elitist, self-entitled, lazy, classist fuckers and you'd probably have a pretty good time. It always amuses me how people preconceive what places are like that they have never been to.

7/1/2009 10:34:57 PM

driving 10-20 miles to go eat..............sounds like Enfield, NC

7/2/2009 12:18:39 AM