Opinions needed | Imamother

mommyloves

Fri, Feb 05 2016, 3:06 am

Hey everyone - dh and I are looking to move out of bk. We live in marine park but we want to live somewhere more subran and "out of town." We are on the more modern side (I grew up Chabad and dh grew up heimish but we are more chilled out than our upbringings). We would love to live in Lakewood (his kids live there) but firstly, its way too frum for us and secondly, I get the "elevator" look whenever I'm there (probably because my wigs are long and my skirts are definitely not considered tznuis enough) but I grew up Chabad and I honestly don't understand the yeshivish mentality. Monsey would be a good option but the shlep to Lakewood would be horrific. Any suggestions?

lfab

Fri, Feb 05 2016, 11:41 am

Monsey is not that far from Lakewood. It's about an hour and a half to an hour 45 minutes with no traffic. (I don't mean to bash Brooklynites but this is a common attitude that I've noticed that anything that's outside of NYC is considered so far and a huge shlep). You can also look into some other areas in NJ. I'm pretty sure there's a small community in Manalapan (about 25 minutes from Lakewood) but I know nothing about it. You can also look into Teaneck, Highland Park, Passaic, Edison.

PinkFridge

Fri, Feb 05 2016, 11:48 am

Deleted. I said that Ifab had good ideas and would you consider Baltimore. I see that even time is a factor for you. For me, it seems easier to drive to Lakewood from Monsey or Balto. rather than have to face NYC traffic.

Last edited by PinkFridge on Fri, Feb 05 2016, 12:41 pm; edited 1 time in total

lfab

Fri, Feb 05 2016, 12:16 pm

I also want to point out that it's important to choose a place where you will ultimately be happy on a day to day basis. You don't want distance from children to be the main factor when relocating. If you end up miserable in the community you choose that will far outweigh the benefit of being close to family. If after doing your research you really feel that Monsey is the best fit for you it will be worth the extra driving.

Also, what about Staten Island? With no traffic that's less than an hour drive. Unless you wanted out of NYC entirely.

mommyloves

Fri, Feb 05 2016, 1:32 pm

We go to Lakewood often and the kids come to us so over an hour trip would be way too long. Any ideas of where in nj?

lfab

Fri, Feb 05 2016, 1:56 pm

mommyloves wrote:

We go to Lakewood often and the kids come to us so over an hour trip would be way too long. Any ideas of where in nj?

Only ones I can think of off hand that are under an hour are Manalapan and Long Branch (Deal). I'm sure there are others just can't think of them right now. Would you consider moving to Lakewood but not Lakewood proper? I.e. Brick, Toms River, etc. Then you would be right near by but your immediate neighbors would not be more yeshivish than you. (Although no guarantees for the long term as more people move out there). Though this would really only work if you no longer have younger children who you need to get into school.

amother

Violet

Fri, Feb 05 2016, 2:07 pm

mommyloves wrote:

We go to Lakewood often and the kids come to us so over an hour trip would be way too long. Any ideas of where in nj?

Highland Park/Edison is about one hour from Lakewood.

East Brunswick is 45 minutes.

Manalapan, as mentioned above, is closer.

East Windsor is about 45 minutes.

There is a Jewish school in Morganville (near Manalapan) but I don't know if there is a frum community there.

I think there is a small frum community in Aberdeen/Matawan, perhaps half an hour.

Deal and surrounding towns are about half an hour.

I think there is a shul in Bradley Beach, half an hour away.

Check the federation website for a more complete list (Google Monmouth County Jewish) and call the contacts for updated information.

amother

Violet

Fri, Feb 05 2016, 2:09 pm

mommyloves wrote:

Also where in Staten island? I heard there are a few places?

Willowbrook is one hour from Lakewood. There are other areas, but I am not familiar with them.

mommyloves

Sun, Feb 07 2016, 7:16 pm

Thanks everyone. I was just looking into toms river- there's a Chabad house and the houses seem nice. Does anyone know if any form Jews live there?