what is the most affordable frum community in america...?

challi

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 1:39 am

what do you think?

Aidelmom

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 2:28 am

I think many places are affordable in some ways but not in others- example - scranton's housing is very affordable but jobs? - forget about it. I think tahat often it's a trade off.

chavamom

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 2:34 am

I hear that Detroit is very affordable, but might have the same issue of no jobs.

Often "where you can get a job" is going to be the "make or break it" point, not just where is cheapest.

queen

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 10:40 am

both detroit and cleveland (heights) have very affordable housing.

mommalah

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 10:44 am

queen wrote:

both detroit and cleveland (heights) have very affordable housing.

How affordable is cleveland heights?

OOTBubby

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 10:57 am

Cleveland Heights (and University Heights) too are very, very affordable. My DS moved to UH a year and a half ago and bought a house bigger than the ones my other kids have in Chicago for a small fraction of the price. And the Cleveland community is very nice too.

Strudel

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 11:00 am

I think Milwaukee was quite reasonable.

Tamiri

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 11:04 am

What do you mean by affordable? Housing? Tuition? Utilities? Clothing?
The things you need to consider before anything else are:
(1) Job - can you/DH get a steady job there to support the family
(2) Is there an eruv? An appropriate shul? Good mikva?
(3) Easy kosher shopping? If shopping is going to cost you double, you need to factor that in
(4) Schools that interest you through high school? If you have to send a kid away, that is $$$
(5) Public transportation? Can you get by without a car? Need one car? Two cars?
(6) Taxes
(7) Climate: will you need to spend more on a/c? Heat? Factor that in
(8) Housing: renting? buying?

I imagine Rochester NY is pretty cheap when it comes to housing but, you have to factor everything else in.

greenfire

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 11:52 am

it's also hard to find a job in cleveland ... and unless you really fit it ... it's no fun ...

there are basically 3 neighborhoods besides by telshe ... 3 dif price ranges all within about a 3 mile range ... so yup it's affordable - if you've got a job ...

amother

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 11:54 am

Tamiri wrote:

In terms of this, lets take a look at Cleveland (Hts).
1. Jobs- there are jobs, but if you want in a frum environment, there arent many. minimum wage is MUCH less, for example, than it is in new york, and in general, you get paid less than you do in the new york area. My mother also was not accepted for a lot of jobs because she wouldn't work on shabbos, and this is someone who is highly skilled with degrees, etc, a professional. The cleveland clinic, for example, requires all its employees, emergency or not, doctors or not, to work on shabbos. Of course, you can try suing for religious descrimination, but you can't PROVE that the reason they didnt hire you was because of the shabbos issue.
2. There is an eruv, plenty of shuls, mikvaos, etc.
3. Easy kosher shopping? Whats easy? There is one FRUM grocery, one place really where you can get chalav yisrael, pas yisrael, etc. And because there is a monopoly, it is REALLY expensive. But plenty of other places to get kosher food if you don't need chalav yisrael.
4. There are 3 frum schools, more choice than most OOT communities.
5. There IS public transportation, but it barely goes anywhere, it doesnt get you where you need to go without lots of unnecessary transfers, and doesnt run frequently enough. Not to mention that yidden don't use it for the most part. I used it to go to college downtown (thats about the only place you can get to easily with public transportation) and it was a pretty scary sight at times. Any supermarkets arent accessible with public transportation, really. And as far as I know, they don't do deliveries. You pretty much NEED a car, preferably 2.
6. Not so high, as far as I know.
7. You need the heat on all winter, and in the summer it gets quite hot and most people need AC as well.
8. Housing is cheap. However, the prices of housing, even 5-10 years ago werent going up much, you don't make such a profit when you buy and then sell... My parents bought a 50,000(ish) 4 floor, 5 bedroom house with a backyard in mid 80s, and sold it for less than 100,000 about 5 years ago.

TwinsMommy

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 7:40 pm

I live in Cleveland Heights. We rent with no plans of buying because we have student loan debt so we don't want to save for a downpayment. But if we were to buy, I think our current house is under $100,000 and any house in our community that we'd want would be $120,000 tops.

Baruch HaShem I'm self employed but my husband is having work issues up the wazoo. But even if he never makes a penny another day in his life (but he is currently working very part time) and I have to support us forever, we're not leaving Cleveland Heights- that's how much we love it here.

Ima2NYM_LTR

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 7:45 pm

there actually will be an event this weekend that showcases 23 smaller frum communities with affordable cost of living and a decent (for todays economy) job market.

http://www.ouradio.org/images/.....r.pdf

JRKmommy

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 7:49 pm

Would anyone consider Montreal affordable (assuming French language and immigration status are not issues)?

No worries about basic health insurance, cheap child care, and generous gov't payments per child, plus good public transport and housing considerably cheaper than Toronto.

traveler

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 7:55 pm

Thanks Rebecca I was looking for information on that.

Last edited by traveler on Mon, Jun 08 2009, 7:58 pm; edited 3 times in total

amother

Mon, Jun 08 2009, 7:55 pm

I have to post this anonymously since anyone who knows me will know why....

HOUSTON, TX!

My husband does not stop. He is forever and ever going on about Houston. How we should all relocate.

One of the main reasons is:
Zoning Laws - there are NO zoning laws in Texas. You can build whatever you want on any plot of land and there are NO RULES! Consequently housing is really cheap.

I can go on and on about Houston, but I just don't have the energy since my DH is so obsessed I am just sick of the topic.

But if you are interested here is a link to Young Israel of Houston, they have all the information you would need.

http://www.yihouston.org/