re: Natchez MS: Opinions?

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It was a great middle class city 40 years ago. The old tire plant , sugar mill, IP. Amazing hunting and fishing before big money bought it all up.

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I wasn't aware of a sugar mill but there was also a Johns Manville (roofing?) plant. As Purple Spoon notes, it had a strong industry base 40 years ago. Now I suppose it stays afloat mostly by tourism.

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I also stayed at the Grand Hotel. The location was perfect & central to everything

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Definitely great location and good hotel, only turnoff is the "Credit Card Processing Fee" They should just include it in the room rate and be done with it ... not as an additional charge.

Yes, Ruston is doing well and LA Tech is a key institution for its success. People are actually moving there, I know some.

Natchez is arguably the coolest city in Mississippi. Imagine if Ole Miss or MSU were located there. I guess its perimeter location in the bottom corner of the state wasn't centrally located enough when the state college planning took place.

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Cool historic town. Has a lot of potential. I've always thought what holds it back is the lack of a university. No reason for young people to be there and set down roots. Same goes for Vicksburg

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Pretty town, but population has been declining for 40 years, half the size of what it was in 1980. It’s a dying town, not a lot jobs in Natchez.

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Pretty town, but population has been declining for 40 years, half the size of what it was in 1980. It’s a dying town, not a lot jobs in Natchez.

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All those blue collar jobs mentioned vanished in the late 80’s through mid-90’s.

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Natchez is arguably the coolest city in Mississippi. Imagine if Ole Miss or MSU were located there. I guess its perimeter location in the bottom corner of the state wasn't centrally located enough when the state college planning took place.

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As I recall, the vote to locate Ole Miss in the 1840s came to Oxford & Pass Christian with the planters winning. Both locations were eccentric to the State, Bay St Louis is closer to LSU, Tech, Alabama, Auburn, and Florida State than it is to Ole Miss.

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what say the O/T?

wondering what yall think of the town and its environs - good/bad areas, dining options, nightlife (if any), etc

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My advice varies greatly depending on how long you intend to stay in Adams County, Mississippi. :

If going for a visit: it's an awesome antebellum town with much to see for old fuds who like plantations and old homes.
Antiques shopping, dining, drinking booze are all decent around town.

There's no "dangerous" areas of Natchez for the average OTer. But the run-down parts of the city are in the North/NorthEast area(where my kids go to school. ).



if you plan to move there: Just don't. Trust me.

I’ve always liked Natchez. Always felt much more “old south” to me than most other places I’ve been to in the south.

You've got to be pretty lame to not enjoy Natchez. It's a great place to visit.