Orthodox Communities on West Coast or Midwest

amother

Black

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 2:18 pm

Hi, we are a frum family with 2 young children looking for an affordable community on the west coast or midwest. We have looked at LA and the valley but its just too expensive and big. Our jobs are portable so not an issue. Does anyone know of any other communities in affordable areas on this side of the country?

Last edited by amother on Tue, Oct 27 2015, 7:30 pm; edited 1 time in total

PinkFridge

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 2:20 pm

Interestingly, you'd think Midwest would cover the middle of the western third of the continental US, which would make Denver or Vegas the closest candidates. But Midwest generally is used to cover Minneapolis to St. Louis to Cleveland, possibly Pittsburgh.
It sounds like you do want to be further west though, right?

amother

Black

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 2:25 pm

Yes, that's why I said on "west side of the country" because when you say midwest a lot of people take it as anywhere between NY and CA, and so include Chicago and Cleveland which was not what I was looking for. I was looking for more nature and less cold, but orthodox communities tend to be in less nature and more cold for some reason:)

Last edited by amother on Tue, Oct 27 2015, 7:30 pm; edited 1 time in total

Iymnok

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 2:27 pm

I can give you a list, but I've been out of the loop for a long time.
Many communities have good day schools, but many send away for high school.
Vancouver
Seattle
Bay Area
San Diego
Phoenix
Dallas
Denver
Houston
St. Louis

I'd assume you'd skip places like Portland,OR due to the unreliable classes.

ETA: west of the Mississippi, let me remove some...

amother

Black

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 3:07 pm

I was actually looking at Portland. What do you mean by "I'd assume you'd skip places like Portland,OR due to the unreliable classes."

Last edited by amother on Tue, Oct 27 2015, 7:29 pm; edited 1 time in total

Iymnok

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 3:17 pm

Due to the size of the community, there isn't always a class for a given age so a couple grades are combined fizzling out by seventh grade.
It's been a while, I've lived in Israel for the last eight years, but I have relatives who live there. We visited regularly for shabbos or school breaks.
Since I left the Kollel opened up so that has impacted the community.
It's a beautiful place.

doctorima

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 3:19 pm

The Portland Jewish community is quite small. The kollel there is doing great work, but there's a lot of work to be done. The good side of this is that they have much more say and control over how decisions are made, so it's run in a very "frum" way if that makes sense, but the class sizes will still be quite small. More established communities worth looking into are Seattle, Denver (cheapest), Vancouver, Phoenix, and possibly San Diego.

tichellady

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 3:41 pm

Bay Area and San Diego are not particularly affordable. Northridge is a smaller community in the valley that is more affordable than north Hollywood.

out-of-towner

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 4:10 pm

Dallas is relatively cheap, especially if you are willing to move to the North Eruv. PM me for more info.

amother

Dodgerblue

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 6:32 pm

San Jose is growing but isn't cheap. Been a while since I asked someone who lived there about $$. Anyone know?
I recently heard about Las Vegas. It isn't in Vegas itself but it's the closest big city Smile

. I think they have a Kollel.
Arizona?

meirajj1

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 7:42 pm

If LA is your starting point, almost anything else is significantly cheaper, even if not cheap on an objective level.

Here is a list of some relatively large communities that are significantly cheaper:

Seattle
Denver (cold, but beautiful nature nearby)
Phoenix (hot!)
Las Vegas (hot!)
Dallas
Houston

If you are willing to consider a little further out:

Minneapolis (very cold)
Milwaukee (very cold)
Kansas City (cold)
St. Louis (cold)
Detroit (very cold)

The Southeast has some sizable communities that have pleasant weather, but it may be too far for you:

Memphis
Atlanta
Miami

Of all the choices above, I'd look into Phoenix or Las Vegas first if you want to be close to family in LA. You can easily drive from either to LA in one day.

amother

Ecru

Wed, Jul 01 2015, 9:01 pm

Re: San Francisco Bay Area

The Bay Area b"H has several thriving frum communities. However, the housing prices (both for owning and rentals) are among the most expensive in the country. I wouldn't recommend the area to someone looking to cut back on expenses unless they have a specific reason for wanting to move there.

boysrus

Thu, Jul 02 2015, 1:11 am

I know people in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, they are very happy there.
Also Denver, but it is cold for a long part of the year. Sounds like an amazing community , well established schools etc
Did you look into Dallas> also meant to be a great place to be!

amother

Black

Tue, Oct 27 2015, 3:08 pm

Just FYI- we ended up looking into portland and found a beautiful out of town community, super nice people, relatively big shul, good school though classes are small, mikvah, kosher food etc,, and very affordable. Just thought I would give it a plug as we were very impressed.

Last edited by amother on Tue, Oct 27 2015, 7:29 pm; edited 1 time in total

pointyshoes

Tue, Oct 27 2015, 5:58 pm

Not op here but also looking into relocating.
How big is the denver community? Wgats the diversity like? And is there any remenant of rabbi shlomo twerskis community there?
Also what are job opportunoties like? Any other info of interest??