Please help me with info about the following locations

amother

Thu, Jun 20 2019, 10:19 pm

I've started a couple of threads on this topic recently. I'd like info from people who live in these places, have moved there within the last two years, and are real estate agents or otherwise aware of prices in the neighborhood. Please help!

DH and I aren't looking to move now, but where we plan on moving in the next few years will greatly influence several career decisions.

I'm interested in Baltimore, Passaic, Far Rockaway/Bayswater, Lakewood, Toms River/Jackson.

These are the factors I'm interested in:
1) shuls/rabbanim/like-minded people - I've already started a couple of threads about the fact that DH and I are American yeshivish/OOT yeshivish/middle-of-the-road yeshivish/Torah im derech eretz people. See here. We're looking for a community that has young people who are more like us, with shuls and rabbanim who would be supportive.
2) rental costs - specify apartment size and location (basement? apartment building? etc.)
3) costs to buy a house - specify size and other details (large yard? cramped? old? etc.)
4) property tax costs
5) school options, mindsets, and tuition costs
6) general food expenses - more or less expensive than Brooklyn?
7) overall cost of living compared to NY
8) accessibility - specifically interested in whether there are school buses or people are constantly busy with carpool; if there is no bus, how do people normally get their kids to and from school? Does every family have a mother who works part-time or a babysitter paid to do that?

If there's anything crucial that I left out, please let me know. Obviously, I'm not going to get everything I want. The most important things to me are the shul/Rav/community, the overall cost of buying and living in a house, and the schools and tuition.

Thanks!

Last edited by amother on Fri, Jul 05 2019, 10:51 am; edited 2 times in total

amother

Tangerine

Fri, Jun 21 2019, 9:07 am

I am originally from Baltimore, moved to NY for almost 13 years, and then moved back a little over 5 years ago. Baltimore is the most diverse city you'll find. There is chasidish, yeshivish, plain frum, modern, etc. And the beauty of it all is that we all get along and accept each other.

The shuls and rabbanim fit with the community. There is one for everyone here.

Housing is affordable. The houses in Baltimore City are cheaper, and older. The houses in Baltimore County are newer and more expensive.The houses range from low 200k to probably 700k depending on the area. Property tax is different in the city and county. I believe city is 2.25 and county is about 1/2 that.

There are 3 all boys' schools (one new so only has until 3rd grade this year, one only until 8th and one thru 12th), 2 girls' (preschool-12th), one co-ed (thru 8th), chabad, chasidish school (new so only younger grades), and one for unaffiliated (thru 12th). There are also multiple boys yeshivos in town. There is a frum special needs preschool/early elementary school. In the all boys/girls (non-chasidish) schools you will find a mix of hashkafa in each. When moving from NY (not Brooklyn) we found the tuition slightly higher. However in NY registration fee was over $600 per kid and didn't apply toward tuition and a mandatory $500 per family dinner fee. Those don't exist here. There are other fees here like building fee, etc.

If you are willing to shop at Walmart, Aldis and target you can get cheap deals on food. The kosher super markets have great sales, but their regular prices are probably not cheaper than NY.

We found we were ahead with cost of living moving to Baltimore from the NY area. The salaries are lower (but I found mine only dropped about $3k a year) but we still found we were ahead. But each family needs to evaluate themselves.

There is no official school busing. Some of the schools have agreements with the city transportation system, and kids can take city buses --pretty much dedicated lines. Many people carpool or pay someone to drive their kids to/from school. Many families have one parent that only works part time, but there are plenty of us that work full time and have to figure out the transportation bit.

Hope this helps.