Looking for a community in/near beautiful nature

amother

Pumpkin

Mon, May 01 2017, 2:49 pm

This is more wistfulness than reality, but I've always dreamed of living in a beautiful place. Not the house; I mean the neighborhood, like a place with a view, or lots of trees, or near water...etc.

My husband and I work in location-independent jobs and we are looking for a new community (we live in a very transient, young couples area).

We are what you might call yeshivish-lite (to some we would be very yeshivish, to others not at all) and want a community in that realm.

Other than that, I decided there's no reason not to at least ask about naturally beautiful locations, so, want to recommend a place? I'm all ears!

icebreaker

Mon, May 01 2017, 2:58 pm

I think the Pacific Northwest is absolutely beautiful. I don't know anything about the communities there, so I'm no help lol.

amother

Gray

Mon, May 01 2017, 3:03 pm

Many gorgeous places with nice Jewish communities:

These are some of the more common ones that I know

Phoenix
Las Vegas
Denver- stunning nature
Malden

amother

Lawngreen

Mon, May 01 2017, 3:04 pm

cincinnati. we probably would be somewhat similar to you hashkafically and are very happy here. We also were able to move wherever and based on hashkafa, size, nature, weather etc. we picked Cincinnati. We felt that if we moved we might as well move someplace pretty. There are tons of trees, a creek then runs through certain areas of the community, numerous parks maintained by the city, county or village. Nature is very valued here. I seriously recommend you check it out based on what you are describing.

FranticFrummie

Mon, May 01 2017, 3:04 pm

OP, you need to be more specific. Do you like mountains or oceans? Forests or desert? Hot weather or cool and rainy? Snow in the winter or not? Any particular country?

Since you're daydreaming, go for it! What is YOUR idea of the perfect place?

amother

Pumpkin

Mon, May 01 2017, 3:08 pm

Heh heh, FranticFrummie, this could get really fun Smile

I would love to live in Israel but it's not happening right now, so we're looking within the US.

I am mostly neutral re weather although intensely hot (like Arizona) would be too much for my DH.

I love mountains and oceans and also forests Smile

Although I never thought much about mountains before, just trees/greenery and water, whether lake or ocean.

Thank you so much for the responses, everybody, I am going to look these places up!

doctorima

Mon, May 01 2017, 3:09 pm

Denver and Seattle have mountain views. Portland, OR is a much smaller community, but quite close to nature. And if you're really feeling adventurous, check out:

http://ruralfrum.wixsite.com/shaare-shamaim/ and
https://www.facebook.com/FrumFarm/

MagentaYenta

Mon, May 01 2017, 3:12 pm

AZ, NM, UT, MT, ND, SD, CO, CA,WA, NV, OR.

Look at what these states have to offer and then drill it down to a city. You can do what my family did and move rurally beyond the pale. It takes a bit of work but it really beats sidewalks and traffic. Sometimes you'll have to make concessions like homeschooling, we chose a small rural PS system with a lot of diversity.

Last edited by MagentaYenta on Mon, May 01 2017, 3:31 pm; edited 1 time in total

Iymnok

Mon, May 01 2017, 3:36 pm

Convince a minyan of like minded young families to join you, then you could go anywhere!
As beautiful as Seattle is, it's still a big city, same with other beautiful communities. Go an hour away to get out of it but be close enough for necessities.
But you don't just get to see nature, you can live it.

Dream big!

amother

Orange

Mon, May 01 2017, 3:41 pm

I know it sounds a bit farfetched, but there are places in NJ that are so green and forested and beautiful. I personally grew up in the other part of NJ which is not like this, and have lived out of NJ for so long that I no longer remember what was green and foresty, but ask around.

MagentaYenta

Mon, May 01 2017, 4:00 pm

amother wrote:

I grew up in NJ when it was still the Garden State. If you take a train from South St. Station in Phila. to Linden all the birch forest is gone. The pine barrens were almost killed because of what development did to the water table. I have family in Lkwd and we would walk a block from their home to acres of pine forest.

I used to bicycle for hours on country roads when I was a kid and this was in central NJ, exit 9.

The population growth was immense and continues to be so.

amother

Aubergine

Mon, May 01 2017, 7:12 pm

I'm looking for a place walkable to the beach with schools for the kids (not every place has high school which we need), other than florida (too expensive). Any ideas?

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, May 01 2017, 7:38 pm

While Cincinnati does not have a beach (well except for a waterpark called that), there are some locations not too far away near lakes with beaches, and I agree with the above poster that the nature here is gorgeous. My kids frequently go to parks and hike on Sundays or days of of school. They go creeking in the aforementioned creek. We see animals often, we have a beautiful conservatory as well. In fact, in my neighborhood, rural life is so valued, it's hard to find sidewalks (for better or worse!)

Hashkafah wise, you'd fit right in. It's a mix of people from LW to RW, but most people with growing families are middle of the road, maybe leaning toward the right. No decent boys high school option locally for you at this moment in time but for girls there is a wonderful school.

amother

Blue

Mon, May 01 2017, 7:39 pm

amother wrote:

Perhaps Randolph, NJ? I have only been there once, but it may be what you have in mind. There is a MO shul there, maybe not what the OP wants.

Also some of the high-end suburbs closer to the city are very wooded and beautiful.