New York – As an integral aspect of its philosophy that the North American Orthodox Jewish community does not begin and end in the New York metropolitan area, and that communities outside of New York regardless of size offer opportunities for a fulfilling Orthodox lifestyle, the Orthodox Union presented its third “Emerging Jewish Communities Home and Job Relocation Fair.” held on Sunday, March 27 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York. Hundreds of people, many of them young couples with strollers, attended the event.
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This year 35 communities from Maine to California (and lots of places in between, including suburban Long Island, NY, New Jersey and Connecticut) made presentations to the New Yorkers the OU is hoping will consider the move. The concept of having New York-area residents learn about other Jewish communities began in 2008 with the first Fair, and continued in 2009, when jobs began to be emphasized following the outbreak of the great recession. Then-OU President Stephen J. Savitsky, now the organization’s Chairman of the Board, considered it one of the priorities of his six-year administration to strengthen Orthodox communities outside of New York, and thereby build up the synagogues and other Jewish institutions in those areas.
Online: http://www.ou.org/community_services
According to various studies, up to 1/3 of the heimeshe yidden living in the NYC metropolitan area are living at or below the poverty line and cannot afford the high cost of living in this area. These are the yidden who must seriously consider relocating to some of these up and coming new areas which already have a kosher market, a yeshiva and a mikvah. What else do you need? There is no reason to feel compelled, as many young couples do, to find an apartment within a mile or two of their parents and yeshiva, when there are so many really great places to live hundreds of miles away from the high costs and pollution of new york city and raise a family.
The problem is that people growing up in NYC are used to having Yeshivos,shuls and neighbors that are precisely like and, cater to, their precise brand and niche of Yiddishkeit. Out of town, you will actually have to learn to live with people that are different than you.
Too bad our Houston community wasn’t there. Houses on our side of town are about $200K for a 4 bdrm / 2 bath, 2700 sq ft, with apartments around $900. Houses for rent as well. 2 Mikvaos. preK to 12 in MO school. Newer Yeshivish school is preK to 6, with a fledgling girls’ HS. Chabad has preK to 8. The YI has recently launched a collel and had the Lakewood RHY speak for Shabbos. Large MO community as well as a sizable Sephardi community. 2 pizza place, 2 Israeli meat places, one Aroma coffee shop (new). Kosher butchers and groceries located in 4 local grocery stores–chalav yisroel, pas yisroel, etc. Lots of folks involved in Finance, Accounting, Engineering, Software, and Medical. Houston is home to big Oil and Gas firms, a world-renown medical center, and a dozen or so Fortune 500 companies. Check us out.
I agree 100% with #2 ; it is no picnic living out of town, where Yidden are the minority. One will still encounter hostility, and crime. Think twice about living your roots in the NYC area!
There is a reason why a lot of religious jewish people stay in NY , its because 1. finding a job is easier especialy working for a yid who understands the need to take off for holidays 2. finding a job out of town is very very hard 3. our yeshiva systems most of the frum ones do not teach knowledge of outside world so how is anyone supposed to get a job with no knowledge peoples
its very hard to just pick up and leave with your family , some of you make it seem like it happens overnight it does not!
Some people are forgetting that NY has one of the best cancer hospitals in the US and maybe even the world. I think most people are so focused on throwing people out of ny that they are not thinking of why people have a very important reason to stay in NYC ponder on that
It must be boring to live out of town given the lack of variety.
I’ve lived in three out of town communities, and I’ve never felt at home in any one of them. Each one of them had the same problems that Brooklyn had, but on a smaller scale. In NYC, one does not have the tsouris and expense of maintaining a car, and driving in traffic. Quality mass transit is lacking is most out of town communities. Also, most streets in NYC are well lit. Out of town, people for whatever reason don’t believe in bright street lights. Racial problems are just as prevalent out of town, as they are in NYC. Regarding clothing, it is actually less expensive, and of a higher quality and variety in NYC, than it is out of town. Last, New Yorkers don’t realize how lucky they are to have the ocean nearby. In conclusion, it is not a paradise when one relocates out of town. The novelty wears off, soon enough.
You can live in NYC, send your kids to local schools and still have a terrific out of town feel, in a neighborhood that welcomes newcomers. Funny that Staten Island is considered “out of town”. For me it is having the best of both worlds: working in Brooklyn and “living” in Staten Island (No keeping up with the Jones, live and let live/non-judgmentality, chesed and a real community feeling, more property, cheaper homes…..)
We were priced out of NY and moved to Dallas last summer. There are two Dallas communities to choose from with eruvim and housing options for almost all incomes within walking distance of local shuls. Our 4-bedroom house costs as much as our 1-bedroom apt in Washington Heights. We have more kosher options here than most other out-of-town communities as well as choices of shuls and day schools. If you are looking for a new community to try out, come for a visit.
To #22 - It is extremely hot and humid in Dallas in the summertime. In 1980, there was a heat wave where the temeperature was over 90 degrees or above, for 30 days in a row. It was so hot, and the air was so thick, that planes had a difficult time taking off, because of the thick, humid, air.