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Forum -> Inquiries & Offers -> Moving/ Relocating

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shirtsandskirts

Tue, May 05 2015, 10:06 pm

I wasn't sure where to post this.

We are unable to afford housing costs in our current community(in NY) and are looking to move out of town.

These are the criteria:

-approximately 3 hour drive from NYC
-young developing community,not too big
-affordable housing
-established community with school(s), kosher eaterie(s) and a small # of shuls

We are considering waterbury, but would like some more options. Baltimore is already too big/established, feel like I would get lost there

amother

Turquoise

Tue, May 05 2015, 10:11 pm

Baltimore is a big community, but I feel like it is very warm and welcoming and has an almost small town feel in terms of friendliness. That's my point of view, having moved there without family or friends nearby.

busymother

Tue, May 05 2015, 10:20 pm

Check out ou.org. They just had a communities fair and have featured on their website different small communities around the world. Good luck!

TwinsMommy

Tue, May 05 2015, 10:22 pm

well it's not 3 hours from NYC, but I always vote for Cleveland. Smile

amother

Scarlet

Wed, May 06 2015, 10:37 am

can it be closer to NY? can it be a small "community" within a bigger one that shares schooling with bigger?
I know pple who moved to New Hempstead and are happy.someone else also told me that they are looking to move to monsey area but to a new community on the outskirts... don't know prices but would imagine outskirts are cheaper but have to factor in taxes....

I've also heard good things about manalapan but don't know prices and is closer...

doctorima

Wed, May 06 2015, 11:39 am

Is Passaic affordable enough for you? Otherwise, maybe Malden, MA, or Providence, RI (don't know housing prices there), or one of the other communities from the OU fair could work for you. Staten Island is obviously much closer but also more affordable, yet has an OOT friendly feel. Could that work for you?

Hashem_Yaazor

Wed, May 06 2015, 11:54 am

Unfortunately, Providence is expensive Sad

Not sure that I would consider Scranton developing, though I heard a small group of Chassidim recently moved there. Would you consider that?

amother

Aubergine

Thu, May 07 2015, 10:50 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

Unfortunately, Providence is expensive Sad

Well, it depends what you are comparing it to.

Compared to Cleveland, Scranton, and Detroit....it's expensive.
Compared to NY Metro Area, Boston, Chicago......it's cheap.

OP, I wouldn't rule it out. 3 hours to NY, 4.5 to Lakewood!

amother

Pearl

Fri, May 08 2015, 12:05 am

If you're yeshivish Waterbury sounds like an option to look into . To me housing there seems super cheap!

I'm from Boston area and Malden is a REALLY small community. More of a sub community really. All the kids commute in to Brookline to school and that's really the main community. But Brookline and even Brighton are crazy expensive and very little housing is available. If Malden picked up and started getting more people that would be great because maybe it would incentives those in Brighton or Brookline who are renting to try and buy something out in Malden. I don't know how cheap it really is though (certainly more expensive than Waterbury).

Providence is a lot cheaper than Boston but definitely a lot more out of town and smaller.

I think you shouldn't discard Baltimore as an option. It might be bigger than Waterbury but I think all in all people are more "out of towny" there. It has gotten more expensive but I think relatively speaking still affordable.

Passaic is not so cheap and remember NJ property taxes are also really expensive.

amother

Scarlet

Fri, May 08 2015, 7:17 am

passaic affordable? I know plenty of people who live there who will disagree.... but I guess it's all in comparison

amother

Aubergine

Fri, May 08 2015, 9:39 am

amother wrote:

If you're yeshivish Waterbury sounds like an option to look into . To me housing there seems super cheap!

Definetly waterbury is probably one of the least expensive yeshivish communities that's still fairly close to NY (less than 2 hours to Brooklyn). I don't know anything about you or what you're looking for, but Waterbury is OOT and not so expensive, but still has that "flatbushy" feel. Meaning, I don't think you're going to find the lack of gashmius and materialism that you'll find in Providence, Scranton, etc...

This is not saying that everyone there is a materialistic person. I just think that it has less of an "oot" feel in terms of what people have, what they spend money on, etc...

amother wrote:

Providence is a lot cheaper than Boston but definitely a lot more out of town and smaller...But Brookline and even Brighton are crazy expensive and very little housing is available.

I think you shouldn't discard Baltimore as an option. It might be bigger than Waterbury but I think all in all people are more "out of towny" there. It has gotten more expensive but I think relatively speaking still affordable.

Providence is VERY OOT, and yes, probably a quarter of the size of the frum community in Boston. Housing situation is much easier than in Boston.

Baltimore is BIG. Probably 3-4K families, and it keeps getting bigger. I do think it's hard to just pick up and move there if you don't have an established connection (ie- a chevra from Ner Yisrael, etc..)

busymother

Fri, May 08 2015, 11:58 am

Have you looked into Rochester?

ShoshLay

Tue, May 17 2016, 4:39 pm

Hi. Sorry for any delay in answering. Are you in a position to consider Harrisburg? You can get to NYC in about 3.5 hrs. Housing will be $150-300K, and you can really find something appealing for under $225. And the housing is lovely. Tuition is about $12K, with further income-based grants available. We are not "yeshivish", but rather a mix of everyone. Our schools head of Judaics and our current rabbi have a Chofetz Chaim hashkafa, but an "open" one. Their children have been educated here up til high school (which is normally in Baltimore--with a commute no longer than many already do in tri-state), have maintained their hashkafa, and are educationally prepared for higher level Jewish learning. In communities like this, the children learn to take responsibilities in community leadership, as I've seen my own kids do. Consider us if you can.

ShoshLay

Tue, Jun 21 2016, 9:58 pm

Hi. Please consider Harrisburg, PA. We are "redeveloping." I am new here, though an empty nester. I can see that the kids who grew up here grew up in a very, very, nice way. There is some magic that accompanies smaller communities in that regard. A perfectly appealing and satisfactory home can be purchased for as low as $150-$225. Day school tuition is somewhat subsidized by state tax credits supporting donations to schools. And our entire Jewish community targets their contributions to our school. And there are further tuition discounts based on income. We have one Orthodox shul that brings together Orthodox families of different styles. Because of that, there is no sense of looking at others to "see what they are doing." Places like this impart to our children a serious lesson about communal responsibility and warm acceptance of the klal. Please ask if there's more you'd like to know about. You can certainly speak with parents of younger families here.

thegiver

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 7:57 am

Sorry I'm not OP any nonyeshivish communities with that description?

chocolatecake

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 10:05 am

Op whats ur housing budget?

rikki 1

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 10:17 am

Philadelphia?

ShoshLay

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 2:12 pm

Hi, I'm not sure if the comments/questions below were for me to answer or not. I must say that Harrisburg is not a yeshivish community. We do have Chabad, of course. And our head of Judaics at the day school is from Chofetz Chaim, and raised 8 frum-yeshivish kids here-even though we are not yeshivish. And some others have been raised here who are yeshivish. We are a community where everybody gets along with one another.
About housing budget? Well, 3-BR homes here would most often cost $150-$225. My 1800 sq. ft. ranch cost $160. I just helped find rentals for 3 young adults who moved here. Both are renting for under $1000/month.

amother

Apricot

Tue, Aug 16 2016, 2:40 pm

providence housing is VERY costly as it is a college town

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