Family of 6 living in midwood Brooklyn

amother

Gold

Mon, Oct 02 2017, 4:16 pm

add the camp discounts, the food stamps, heating help, possibly section 8... the fact that chinuch people can get discounted meat, matzah etc... before y"t and other "perks" given to klei kodesh, it adds up.

amother

Jade

Mon, Oct 02 2017, 4:40 pm

amother wrote:

But in the end you're saying that to survive families either need to make 200k+ or a low enough amount that will allow them to qualify for programs. Let's say that number is 100k. What does everyone who makes between 100k and 200k do to survive?

amother

Peach

Mon, Oct 02 2017, 5:43 pm

amother wrote:

At this point most move out of town.

amother

Denim

Mon, Oct 02 2017, 6:33 pm

To be honest unless there are strong family or parnassa reasons to move, I can't understand why a family would move FROM Midwest TO NY. Most movement is in the opposite direction. We recently moved to PA after many years of struggling in NY. Now I can't understand why we didn't do it sooner...

amother

Teal

Mon, Oct 02 2017, 10:53 pm

amother wrote:

Wow, I must be missing something here. I am a single mother in chinuch making under 55k with zero child support. I don't get free tuition (get scholarship based on my income but no automatic reduction for being in chinuch), get no govt benefits except child health plus for my children, but I still pay $30/month for each kid and I don't qualify for govt insurance for myself so I pay a significant premium and have a huge deductible, no section 8 or food stamps or other types of assistance. I get a small scholarship for camp that is open to anyone in the community with a low income. I get a discount at the grocery stores of between 5 and 10 percent which adds up to maybe $500-$800 per year.

I am always scratching my head at posts that talk about the financial perks of being in chinuch and that assume anyone in chinuch qualifies for benefits. I guess it's yet another reason to wish I had more than two children. Qualifying for benefits requires a large family size, though my guess is that the increase in expenses outpaces the increase in benefits.

amother

Forestgreen

Mon, Oct 02 2017, 11:10 pm

I live in brooklyn with 3 kids. Dh is chinuch. We make combined around 100k. No gov programs besides child health plus which I pay into. I get no chinuch discounts whats so.ever. yes my kids are getting tuition scholarship but thats based on income not strictly cuz dh is a rebbe. This notion that chinuch families are automatically on programs and getting huge scholarships really gets me upset. We work hard for our money just like you do. U get a bonus from your firm december time and dh gets a bonus pesach time and it make come grocery store cash instead of on his paycheck.

I grew up in the midwest and now live here. I cant imagine the move as a kid. You really need to be making a ton of money to afford the same size house that you have in the midwest in brooklyn. I personally think the school system is fantastic here but getting adjusted to living space is going to be very hard on the kids.

amother

Blue

Tue, Oct 03 2017, 12:09 am

amother wrote:

At this point most move out of town.

Yup, selling their homes for very nice amounts and moving out of town, like Lakewood. I am seeing an exodus of young families out of Flatbush. They simply can not afford it. The money to live in this area, is out of most people finances. Even with both parents working...
I can not understand how a newly married couple can afford to live in Midwood, unless there is major support from the parents. Rents alone for a two bedroom could be over $2,000.
For a new couple starting out, hardly earning anything, I just don't understand it.
Most of my friends children are moving to lakewood after they get married. My friends tell me, their kids can get a nice sized basement apartment for a $1,000 in lakewood.

amother

Aubergine

Tue, Oct 03 2017, 12:59 am

If it wasn't for tuition for 4 kids (and planning more), we'd be ok financially here in Brooklyn.

We love living here, but now looking to move far OOT like nowhere America that has a Chabad school so that we won't be forced into public school.

We love Brooklyn, but we're deciding not to be financially struggling anymore. Life is too short for this kind of stress.

Shoshana37

Tue, Oct 03 2017, 6:45 am

I agree living in Brooklyn or in NY is very expensive. We are family of 6 plus dog our income is $100k and if my wouldn't help us there is no way we would be able to make it. We live pay check to pay check., We hadn't had any real vacations for over 10 years.
We are thinking of moving out of NY but haven't figured out all the details yet.

amother

Denim

Tue, Oct 03 2017, 9:50 am

amother wrote:

Am I missing something ? Housing is expensive but what else ?

It's the feeling of being crowded, no space and with no hope of ever affording a bigger home. And it's not like you can just hop in your car and go away, you are fighting traffic the whole way and need to worry about parking. Imagine coming home from a trip at 2 am and all you want is to crawl into bed but you're circling the blocks looking for a space.

And living on top of each other, everyone judging everyone else...

When I lived in Brooklyn I would crawl into bed every Friday night after licht bentchen. Now I sit on the porch swing with my kids talking about everything and anything . It's the highlight of our week. In NY the only outdoor space we had was a fire escape...

amother

Blue

Tue, Oct 03 2017, 10:19 am

amother wrote:

If most families are moving from brooklyn to out of town, how are there many schools in brooklyn that are full?? Obviously there are still many staying in brooklyn??I dont get it.

I remember recently driving down with a friend on ocean parkway past Mir, when she said "don't know why they are expanding, as most young families are moving out of Brooklyn"
And most families here are on the older side, I am not seeing too many young families staying here. It is rarity. Like I said earlier, amongs most of may friends newly married children, the city of choice to live in is Lakewood. (a few go to E'Y for a bit) Eventually my friends may move to lakewood as most of their children and offspring, are there. Sometimes when I go to Lakewood, I think it is just as busy as Brooklyn. But at least there are parking lots there.

amother

Jade

Tue, Oct 03 2017, 10:30 am

amother wrote:

I couldn't agree more. There's no question the dynamics are changing. It's simply to difficult (impossible is a better word) for a young couple, around 30ish to buy there first house in midwood and pay at least 800k for a small 3 bedroom with a share driveway. I think in 15-20 years from now the change will be very noticeable. Brooklyn will be elderly frum people who have owned their home's for many years and syrians.

amother

Cerulean

Tue, Oct 03 2017, 11:00 am

somebody asked why the schools are overcrowded. Well that's because Brooklyn is overcrowded and yes the trend to move out has started, but that doesn't mean that there still aren't plenty of people here. Housing and tuition are the big money suckers, plus just the costs of a frum lifestyle in general. Yom tov, kosher food, clothes, etc.....

If someone is already settled OOT I also don't know why they would want to move to BKLYN and put themselves in this madness of rat race. Financial struggles, trying to get your kids into schools that have the most absurd criteria for either admitting or not, I could go on and on

amother

Copper

Tue, Oct 03 2017, 11:51 am

amother wrote:

Lakewood is almost bursting at the seams. We're going to have Brooklyn #2 here very soon.

That is the way the world works. No frum community manages to remain the in and up and coming place for too long. Frum communities have their heyday, everyone moves there, and then the detoriation process starts.

If not for financial reasons and the lack of families my age I would move from Lakewood (where I now live) to Brooklyn because I'm so fed up with the Lakewood school system.

amother

Gold

Tue, Oct 03 2017, 11:52 am

people need to actually move OOT and not just to Lakewood but people want to be close to family and have all the amenities of a large jewish community... thankfully we moved OOT and am so glad we did! Never lived in brooklyn but went to school there...