I'm a graduate student at UT and have friends that have lived in almost every neighborhood. I'm also married and have a dog, so I understand your concern for safety. Although Memphis isn't the safest city, it has some very interesting neighborhoods and great barbeque.
UT is right in between midtown and downtown. Most of the apartments veryclose to campus are a little shady and in bad condition, so I would not recommendany of these. As silly as it is, Memphis has no highway through its center, so if you live out east, you actually have to drive around the entire city or through the middle, which usually takes atleast 30 minutes in good traffic. If you include the 10-minute walk from the UT parking lot to the main classroom buildings, this can be quite substantial. So, in my opinion, Germantownand East Memphis are a little inconvenient for someone who already is stretched for time.
Midtown has some nice blocks and some interesting restaurants, but the adjacent blocks very frequently have abandoned efficiency apartments with boarded up windows. Almost all the houses and apartments are very old, although some have been refurbished quite nicely. Also, almost everyone that lives in Midtown has had their car broken into at least once. I had my stereo stolen the first week I was in Memphis, and another one of my friends has had his car broken into 3 times in 4 years. I have removed my center console so that I don'th ave to pay another $200 for a broken window. Violent crime isn't any more problematic than average, but the personal property crime problem is more than a little annoying.
North Memphis and South Memphis are just plain unsafe, and are also inconvenient drives.
Downtown apartments (anything within a couple blocks of Main Street) are all very nice and safe.They are usually in high-rises, and most have security systems and locked or guarded garages. The downside is the higher cost, but being this close to UT,you partially make up for it in gas and time driving back and forth from the suburbs, especially if you shop around. If you aren't used to urban living, it is a little different, but I would argue that it is even safer than Germantown or the other eastern suburbs. My wife is a property manager out east and has seen quite a few home robberies in her 4 years. These kind of crimes are difficult if not impossible to commit in keycard-protected high rises. The commute to my lab is usually about 15-minutes door-to-door (5 minute drive, 10 minute walk). I'm very glad I moved downtown, even though it does cost about $400/month more.
I've also never heard any complaints about Mud Island, it costs slightly less, sometimes, and is about 5 more minutes away from UT. It has a suburban feel and a nice park.
