Toms River (and Lakewood) in the news

tigerwife

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 12:59 pm

I thought it was already illegal for buyers to knock on doors to make offers.

Also, regarding this:

Quote:

The opposition, he said, has nothing to do with dislike of Jews, but with a fear that Toms River will become like Lakewood’s more tattered sections, with cars parked on lawns, overgrown landscaping, trash piled at curbs and residents crowding single-family homes.

Where in Lakewood is it so bad? I definitely see crowded developments but nothing tenement-like.

Faigy86

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 1:05 pm

tigerwife wrote:

I thought it was already illegal for buyers to knock on doors to make offers.

Also, regarding this:

Quote:

Where in Lakewood is it so bad? I definitely see crowded developments but nothing tenement-like.

Over-all, those are not homes where Jews live.

spring13

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 1:50 pm

While it's certainly legal for Jews to buy houses that are on the market, the drama around all this is the fault of frum real estate people using incredibly stupid and harmful tactics and the community that accepts it. While I'm sure there's some actual antisemitism fueling the reactions of the non-Jewish residents, pretending that it's all in their heads is as big a chilul Hashem as the actual behavior going on.

My husband has a non-Jewish coworker from the Lakewood area. He basically hated Jews until he met my husband, because of what he saw and experienced in the area. Do people in Lakewood really not realize how awful this is?

Maya

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 1:52 pm

spring13 wrote:

Same can be said for surrounding areas of Monsey. Such a shame.

Chayalle

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 1:55 pm

spring13 wrote:

Please explain the bolded. How do we accept it?

(someone who finds the practice of knocking on someone's door or harassing them in any way abhorrent)

spring13

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 1:56 pm

I don't care if the people commenting in the link below are just fringe crazies, Lakewood needs to realize how dangerous this business is. There just isn't space in the Lakewood area to create what they want to create safely. Open a satellite yeshiva in some unpopulated part of Nebraska already and stop pretending that the town is a clown car!

https://np.reddit.com/r/newjer.....iver/

Kugglegirl

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 1:57 pm

It's kind of a surprise for me that Tom's River has become desirable at all. To me, when I think of Tom's River, I think of industrial pollution and birth defects, Reich Farms & the superfund sites.

But maybe people figure it is all in the past, believe that it really has been cleaned up & won't affect them.

Or maybe it all affects all of us already & there is nothing anyone can do, so may as well take advantage of good real estate prices.

http://trteach.org/index.html

spring13

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 1:59 pm

Chayalle wrote:

Please explain the bolded. How do we accept it?

(someone who finds the practice of knocking on someone's door or harassing them in any way abhorrent)

They're buying houses through agents who do this. And has there been any kind of public statement or reaction opposing it?

doctorima

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 2:29 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

doctorima, please participate in the discussion.

I'm happy to participate, but I don't live in Lakewood and don't have anything particularly helpful to add. I just noticed the article on a topic of Jewish interest and that I've seen discussed here several times, so I thought I'd post the link.

I think it's sad that it's come to this and I don't agree with a lot of the tactics it sounds like they're using in Toms River, but I also don't agree with the tactics they claim they're experiencing from frum real estate agents and potential buyers.

I don't know the truth and if the claims are exaggerated, but it does seem like the Lakewood overcrowding issue will eventually need some sort of long-term resolution other than just expand as far as possible in every direction.

freedomseek

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 2:44 pm

Kugglegirl wrote:

Can you elaborate on that?

sky

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 2:51 pm

http://www.thelakewoodscoop.co......html

This was a story a while ago about an open house in Toms river. The owners were looking to move, no one approached them asking to sell.

Quote:

"Neighbors began harassing her online, calling her names etc. for wanting to sell her home,” a neighbor told TLS.

...

Today, during the open house hours, neighbors got together and all parked their vehicles on the street, in an apparent protest and ensuring the visitors don’t have anywhere to park.

One female neighbor, sources told TLS, even came out in an inappropriate bathing suit, despite the chilly weather.
..

Multiple police officers responded to the scene to keep it from getting even further out of control.

Imagine if such actions were taken to prevent Blacks, Hispanics, alternative lifestyle couples from moving in....

Dolly Welsh

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 2:53 pm

Everybody wants it easy. Everybody wants to snuggle along with the warmth of an established kehilla. It's HARD to establish a new kehilla with a committee of like-minded friends somewhere new. Somewhere nobody minds you coming in, because there wasn't that much there before anyway. And the local people didn't mind their real estate becoming more valuable.

There is a website called I think Mikvah Dot Org which can be used to find existing but little used mikvahs in semi-abandoned historic Jewish areas. Such a mikvah could be a nucleus to build a new community around. Of course you could still maintain your ties to the Mother Ship in Lakewood. You would home school and get kosher meat online until you had your own butcher. Or there could be periodic meat runs with a refrigerator truck. Everybody would have a freezer. You would home school for a while.

Jew-steading.

I don't see why Orthodox people need access to a beach because that's not so easy for them to use. It's not like Israel, where there are modesty-friendly beaches set apart.

We are very busy. We do have to spare a little mental energy to being considerate, for the sake of Hashem's reputation. Perhaps just some of us, who have a talent for that. Some do, some don't. But we are not alone on the planet, so let us not block sidewalks, and all that kind of thing. Not good.

Kugglegirl

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 3:45 pm

freedomseek wrote:

Can you elaborate on that?

Read these links & explore the one I provided. I am sure there are environmental dangers everywhere, it is just that the environmental disregard shown by chemical companies in that area has been well documented.

& how well you believe it has been cleaned up depends a lot on weather or not you believe that what they are testing for in the samples is sufficient to determine the risks, or if you have concerns that there are unknown chemicals that are risk & are still not being tested for, like the SAN trimmer.

http://www.homefacts.com/envir......html

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/1.....ster/

http://www.nj.com/ocean/index.......html

https://cumulis.epa.gov/superc.....00078

Well, the government EPA website says it's fine & not a risk. So I guess it's no problem to move in. Go ahead. We know the government is right on top of these things.

I hear you can get good prices on real estate in Flint too. You know the EPA has been looking out for everyone there. http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/14/......html

Well, as I tell all my wack-job environmentalist & natural clean-eating friends, just don't drink the water & try not to breathe too much air.

Simple1

Mon, Mar 14 2016, 4:37 pm

The Voice of Lakewood this past week had a similar article, but with a totally different tone - not anti-frum-Lakewood. From what they wrote it seems like most realtors are acting respectably and there are many TR residents that are happy to sell. So which article is true? The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
http://thevoiceoflakewood.com/......html