Considering Passaic

amother

Chocolate

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:22 am

We're considering moving to Passaic (Mashiach should come sooner, but in the interim...)

Hubby works in Passaic (which is a hard commute from Lakewood) and I love the atmosphere there.

What can Passaic/Clifton imamothers share? Someone told me it's a lot slower paced there (can such a utopia exist? what does that even mean?)

Does it have an OOT vibe? For the little I've been there it felt like Baltimore, which I loved. What is it like? Obviously if and when we get serious about this we will look into it beyond anecdotal evidence but initially I would just like to hear people's thoughts. I really want to raise my kids in a OOT atmosphere - it just seems so much healthier for our family - but would love to hear others' experiences.

Also, financially...

1. HOW DOES ANYONE AFFORD THE TUITION? We are neither of us klei kodesh, we both work like crazy but can barely afford to pay full tuition in Lakewood. (I mean *barely*). How does anyone deal with 17k a kid?

2. Ditto with renting/buying... together we bring in 200k+ and live very frugally (no programs obviously) but some weeks can barely afford groceries. (We have a large debt to repay from years we weren't earning enough plus a lot of therapy expenses.)

TIA for your time and thoughts!

amother

Ginger

Mon, Jul 16 2018, 11:35 am

$200 is probably an average income for most non-klei kodesh families here. The schools do work with you financially. Most people I know are paying around $6k to $8k a kid. The pace of life here is slower, but not exactly Baltimore (we lived there too). If your husband works locally, that's already a big perk. Many people commute. Where will u be working? At work now, so I will chime in more later.

amother

Forestgreen

Sat, Feb 23 2019, 10:22 pm

Bumping this up as we're toying with the idea of moving to Passaic from Lakewood as well.

My husband went to yeshiva in Passaic years ago and loves it there but for several reasons we never seriously considered moving. We've been in Lakewood for over a decade, kids in middle school and down.

We're both OOTers and getting sick of the judgmentalism and in-the-box mentality of Lakewood, though there are definitely perks of living here (low cost of living, convenience, and - this one's a biggie - family living here). We are not thrilled about the fact that Lakewood is slowly (or not so slowly) turning into a metropolis.

We are very happy in our current neighborhood and our schools, though our oldest could probably use a fresh start, the other kids are settled and happy with friends. But I don't love the brashness and the hardness that many Lakewood kids seem to have and would love to have the slower pace and nicer people that you find OOT (no offense to any in-towners, but it's hard for us as OOTers to live like this).

That said - please tell me honestly about life in Passaic. B"H we can afford a house and the higher cost of living. DH would have to commute but he already commutes so that's not such a big difference. My job is able to be done remotely.

Are we crazy to consider this at our stage in life? What are the pros and cons of schools in Passaic? What's life like there? The thought of picking up and starting all over in a new community is really daunting to me.

Any and all input would be very helpful!

amother

Coffee

Sat, Jul 20 2019, 10:25 pm

I actually moved from Lakewood almost 10 years ago. I live in Passaic now. I can tell you it is a very nice place to be but things are much more expensive here. There are barely any clothing stores here,grovery stores, takeout stores- so if you are looking for variety or cheaper items, there really aren't. I can tell you that when I moved from Lakewood I was in shock how people dressed here- but that was 10 years ago and I am hearing that Lakewood is a different crowd now also.
The schools are way friendlier than the Lakewood schools my kids went to- but they are not perfect as no school is. the cost of housing and water was a lot more than Lakewood.When we moved here the rent was $2000 a month for a 2 bedroom town house- B'H it helped us buy a house easier because my mortgaged ended up being less than the rest. But it makes sense to rent first so you can check out which areas you like.
There are yeshivish people here who will be judgmental but it is very less.
Do yourself a favor and check out all of the schools- not just Yeshiva Ktana. Because all of the schools are mixed with kollel families and all have a lot to offer.