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Forum -> Inquiries & Offers -> Moving/ Relocating
Possibly relocating to Philadelphia, PA



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DVOM




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 07 2016, 9:42 pm
Hi all! My husband just got into a graduate program in Philadelphia- hooray!. We live in Lakewood, so the commute wouldn't be too awful, but we would also like to look into moving to Philly. Any amothers out there living in Philly? I'd love to hear about the schools, shuls, food, jewish community life, and job market. Any info would be greatly appreciated!
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amother
Orange


 

Post Wed, Dec 07 2016, 10:03 pm
I lived in the Northeast and Lower Merion.
Both lovely communities.

Northeast: smaller...very out of townesk, about 1 hour from lakewood, cheaper housing

Lower Merion: bigger, larger modern orthodox crowd but also a significant yeshivish crowd from the kollel, about 1 1/2 hours from lakewood, more expensive housing

Each community has it's own elementary school and each community has kids traveling to the other school based on hashkafah.
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pearled




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Dec 07 2016, 10:37 pm
Hi there, I live in the Northeast and would be happy to help Smile. We are very happy here, it is a wonderful, warm and great quality of life. Great, caring schools, warm shuls, lots of kosher food both in supermarket and delivery, some restaurants, a pizza place, stuff going on in community. Northeast is very affordable in terms of housing, food, and tuition. Philly is a very big city, so their are definitely job opportunities. Would be happy to answer any specific questions. Feel free to pm me!
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DVOM




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 08 2016, 1:53 pm
Thanks so much for responding guys!

My husbands program starts in May, which gives us a bit of time to look into all our possible options. I have so many questions I dont know where to start. I guess I'll just post them all, and see what happens!

I'd love to hear more about the different communities. For us cost will in all likelyhood be our most important factor. We have many years of expensive schooling ahead of us...How much to houses/appartments go for in each neighborhood?

I have four little boys, ages 8,5,4, and 1.5. I'm going to need to work full time to support hubs while he completes his schooling. What do people in the community do for childcare? What are the names of the schools? I'm hoping they have websites I can look at.

Is there a community website, or a shul website? Is there more than one shul? I was hoping we could contact the community Rabbi and possibly come for Shabbos to experience the community firsthand.

I dont know if you have the answer to this one, but I am a clinical social worker with many years of experience working with children. I have a wonderful job now, which is our strongest tie to lakewood. Any idea if there is a demand for child therapists in the frum community there? Not that I'm limited to working within the frum community... I guess I'm curious if there are community agencies for counceling like there are here.

I'd also love to know what the religious tone of the community is like. My husband is Israeli, I'm from NY, and we've lived in Lakewood since we got married. We never really felt we fit in here.. its hard to say how to classify ourselves. We're not yeshivish per se, but living a halachic lifestyle is very important to us. We would like our boys to have a broad range of options for a successful life when they grow up, and we wonder if in lakewood thier choices might be limited. My son told his third grade class that he wants to be a marine biologist when he grows up...the rest of them wanted to learn or be rebbes. Nothing wrong of course with learning or becoming a Rebbe I just want them to know that they can serve hashem in so many different ways.

Ok, thats enough to start with!!

thanks so much for any information!
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cm




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 08 2016, 4:00 pm
I don't have a personal connection to this community, but I have heard about it. Cherry Hill is very close to Philly.

http://www.checkoutcherryhill.com/home.shtml
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finprof




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 08 2016, 8:19 pm
Cherry hill sounds like a good fit although it is expensive. The yeshiva lab school would be a good one to check out.
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pearled




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Dec 08 2016, 9:36 pm
Northeast Philly is probably the most affordable of the areas, and its a really great community here. Rentals are around 750-900 for 2 bedroom, 900-1200 for 3 bedrooms, all have parking and washers/dryers etc. The main school in Northeast is Politz Hebrew Academy, which sounds like it would be a fine fit for you hashkafically. Its an out-of-town community, so thier really is a big mix of people. Politz It has now a 4 year old nursery program, plus kindergarten- 8th grade. Some families do send to Torah Academy in Wynnewood, or Yeshiva Lab School in Bala Cynwyd, but both are a bit of a commute from Northeast. Their is free busing to all the schools.

Their are many preschool and daycare options as well for the younger kids. Their are mothers who have gans in their homes, and their are more official programs as well. The great thing is that all the schooling and preschools are really affordable here, lots of financial aid and scholarships are available through the state's tax credit program.

The community here is a big mix of people, out-of-town, low key, warm and very accepting. You will find more yeshivish type people mixing in with more centrist or modern people. Thier is a more yeshivish, lakewood type shul, and their is a more centrist shul here where you might find other kids want to marine biologists too Smile! This shul's website is www.biozshul.org

Their are definitely job opportunities for LCSWs. Their are many other ladies who are social workers within the community that currently work. Jewish Family Services is big here, plus other private counseling agencies, although not necessarily only frum clientele.

Feel free to pm me an email address and I can connect you to the rabbi of BIOZ, who Im sure would be happy to reach out to you, answer any questions, and have you for shabbos. The rabbi is really easy to talk to and Im sure would be happy to help. Lots of luck!
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