Tell me about Dallas or Houston

amother

Aubergine

Thu, Mar 02 2017, 10:58 am

amother wrote:

Don't live in New York. Just comparing to what people are used to hearing. Other places out of town also have closer shopping that you don't need a highway to get to. Being in college full time and working makes one just as exhausted running back and forth.

Yes but just to clarify, it's not exhausting. It's quite slow-paced and boring. Just time-consuming and may be frustrating if you're used to spending less of your brain-space and time on grocery-procurement.

Also to clarify in a stickler-y sort of way, you don't necessarily need a highway to get to most of the stores where'd you get groceries. Okay, about half of the stores I go to on a regular basis for groceries require a highway, and half don't.

amother

Aqua

Thu, Mar 02 2017, 11:33 am

For Houston- are there ever community events? Is the community accepting of different types of people? What did you mean by not being warm and welcoming? I heard just the opposite!

agreer

Thu, Mar 02 2017, 12:28 pm

amother wrote:

Rent runs about $1500-1800 for a 3 bedroom house. Most people that need larger than that usually end up buying because it comes out cheaper. A 4-5 bedroom house goes for about $250,000-300,000. There is a new development of houses going up in the middle of the neighborhood (where there was empty land for years). Those houses are larger and will probably be "fancier" but will cost you around $350,000 and up starting at 3,000 sq ft.

Are these prices for Dallas or Houston?

tichellady

Thu, Mar 02 2017, 12:50 pm

amother wrote:

For Houston- are there ever community events? Is the community accepting of different types of people? What did you mean by not being warm and welcoming? I heard just the opposite!

There are many people living in Houston so obviously there will be many experiences.

DallasIma

Thu, Mar 02 2017, 3:58 pm

Just noticed this thread. I've lived in Dallas for 13 years and it's the best community I've ever lived in. I can't give much info on schools other than what people have posted here, because I'm an older woman whose kids are all grown. But I can tell you that this is a wonderful community. We have a couple of supermarkets that stock kosher products (although those supermarkets also sell non-kosher) and a few kosher restaurants. Younger families seem to be moving here in large numbers. I live in the North Eruv (Far North Dallas) and there are many shuls to choose from in our neighborhood. There's a MO shul in the South Eruv, as well as a more black-hat shul and another shul that's mostly Sephardi Hebrew-speakers. As for pools, many homes have them (ours unfortunately doesn't) so it's just a matter of finding one that does. Most of the pools I've seen are a decent size and you could easily do laps in those. You'd need a car (probably two for a two-adult family) and yes, the housing can be expensive, but you get much more house for the money than in NY or Southern California, let's say. The weather does get into the 100s during the summer but it's more of a dry heat than the kind of humid heat you get in NY. In the winter it almost never goes below 20. As I'm typing this, it's 63 degrees out. Good luck exploring!

amother

Orchid

Fri, Mar 03 2017, 5:25 am

I think it's important to emphasize the need for a car in almost any place not in NY. The wife must drive and must have a car at her disposal. If neither of those can happen, you need to stay in NY.

amother

Seashell

Fri, Mar 03 2017, 7:39 am

I live in NY and we would not manage with out 2 cars.. So I am not sure what u mean by that!

doctorima

Fri, Mar 03 2017, 8:00 am

She meant that many people in NY get by with only 1 car, because everything is so nearby, and mass transit is convenient. But OOT, everything is very spread out and mass transit is not the same, so you need to financially be ready to have a 2nd car, as well as able and comfortable to drive it to get yourself around, which not every woman realizes and wants to do.

amother

Plum

Thu, May 18 2017, 9:28 am

For someone who recently moved out of Dallas. Here is my take! Amazing amaing Rebbeim and many learning experiences. great lectures by great Rabbis. The Kollel is very very strong and because of them Dallas has a growing frum community.

There are 3 eruvs. South, north, and Plano. The main ortohdox shul is in the south where most of the kollel rabbis live. very expensive homes. But in my opinion the shul is very very yeshivish. Very black hat.
The noth eruvs has many shuls. The big ones are Ohev Shalom, Chabad etc. Ohev Shalom has many oyunger families. In my opinion its the best eruv to live in just because you have many shul options.

Plano is a very small community but the the Rabbis are great!!!!

There are two schools one very left where most of the kids are not shomer shabbos. The right wing school is run by those kollel families basically and in my opinion very yeshivish. Although because its an out of town community you will see some variety mostly in the preschool but not so much in the elementary and higher grades. We are just plain frum so we were not very comfortable with the school .The general studies are very weak. Many of my firends had the same issue and many pulled out of their kids. The head of the school is leaving this year so there is alot of transiiton. The tuition will be $16000 this year. Most of the kids are on assistance though thats why the school is in big financial trouble.

Even though they will say rthere are 7 or 8 restaurants, there are only 2 or so where would want to go to on oyur anniversary. Even those do not compare to the ones in LA or Ny or miami.

Socially, there is really not much to do in Dallas. Thats why we left. If you are used to a big happening Jewish life, Dallas will be very boring for you. If you want to own a house with a backyard and want a quiet suburban life then its really nice. Keep in mind the summer is very long and very very hot and humid too. Not as much as Houston though.

There are no kosher delis or kosher grocery strores and big grocery stores that has kosher deli in them but in my opinion not good food at all.

Pricewise, its probably one of the most affirdable cities and thats why many people from CA or NY are moving in. But there are also those who are dying to move away because of schooling and life in geenral.

amother

Goldenrod

Thu, May 18 2017, 11:48 am

Thank you, Plum amother. The details are very informative.

amother

Smokey

Sun, Jun 04 2017, 1:27 pm

amother wrote:

Much of this is correct however there is much that isn't. The orthodox day school is NOT run by the kollel, it doesn't have an association with any specific community. The general studies are not weak, they are the same if not better than the modern school however without the fancy facilities that high tuition affords it. The headmaster is leaving this year but the secular principal and new boys menahel are fantastic. We aren't worried at all about the transition and see it as a tremendous growth opportunity. Enrollment has been growing at least 10% a year, it's the largest k-8 Jewish day school in Texas. Most boys still go away for high school but it seems like it's starting to shift and more are staying for the chofetz Chaim yeshiva even if they aren't CC. The girls high school is a great BY.

Most people move to Dallas because they want to get away from raising children in big cities like LA and NY. If you are just moving here for cheap housing you will be disappointed by the available restaurants and social scene. Families aren't going to eat often or even getting take out from the deli, it's just not the way of life for most people, both because of money and because it's just seen as unnecessary, same with going out at night. Most of the community is frum enough that they don't want/need to engage is that type of social activity.

If you want to raise your kids in a relaxed suburban lifestyle in a plain frum community than Dallas is a great option. If you need night life (which Dallas does have downtown night life but no one frum would go for the most part), high fashion (we have amazing shopping here -same as what I saw living in LA but the frum community isn't into it like LA or NY), fancy restaurants etc you won't get it here. Dallas is wonderful for young families looking to belong to a warm community that treats everyone like family. We are small enough that everyone knows everyone and all our kids go to school together but big enough that there are three good size neighborhoods/eruvs to choose from. There are a lot of community events throughout the year like the through different synagogues, the federation and JCClike the chili cook off, truck time, purimpolooza etc that everyone goes to and has a great time. The JCC also runs sports leagues that many parents use for their kids.

Restaurants: bagel shop, 2 pizza places, 1 falafel, one sort of nice meat place, and one nice dairy place.

Grocery: no one stop shop but there are two really large grocery stores that have full service kosher delis and bakeries. Most people shop at Costco, Walmart, Trader Joe's and go to the big grocery store for special kosher items.

It seems like half the families have swimming pools, sometimes it's harder to find a house without a pool! Usually it makes more sense for people to buy so in the north eruv and Plano even young families are in houses, only a small minority rent apartments.

amother

Pearl

Sun, Jun 04 2017, 2:56 pm

amother wrote:

Agree with all of the above. I think the GS teachers are on a whole fabulous and the curriculum is excellent.