Efrat or Jerusalem

DrMom

Mon, Jan 27 2020, 4:39 pm

Both are great places to live. Other than school choices, you may want to consider:

- Housing costs
- Employment (will you need to commute?)
- Transportation needs (Yerushalayim is easier without a car)
- A local community which you really like
- Urban vs more suburban environment

amother

Mon, Jan 27 2020, 5:09 pm

DrMom wrote:

BH we can afford to live either place.
No need to commute. Both DH and myself will work from home.
We are looking for a dati liemu community of nice people!! We will have no friends or family. We are BT for many years.
I have only ever lived suburban but am not opposed to urban. Biggest factors is helping our children learn Hebrew and lots of kids!!

etky

Tue, Jan 28 2020, 12:50 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

So, given these parameters (no need to battle traffic to JLM daily and no friends or family in Israel) I would say Efrat might suit your needs better.
Efrat is a community - or rather a number of communities within a larger, overall community - and there is alot of support here for Olim. There are tons and tons of kids here and a choice of really good schools and lots of activities geared for kids.
And if you are already used to suburbia then so much the better Smile

chanchy123

Tue, Jan 28 2020, 2:44 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Honestly, either place could work very well for you. It really should come down to urban vs. suburban. If you're home all day will you want to go out at night? Will your children have trouble adjusting to urban life or will they love it? They will need to use a lot of public transportation, have friends all over the city, not necessarily walking distance, busy roads but having easy access to everything a city has to offer.
Efrat is a suburb, that's something you are already familiar with and Yerushalayim is very very close and anything you'd want to experience in Yerushalyim will be accessible to you but not as convenient.
Also of course, house size might be an issue - your buck can go farther in Efrat, getting you a larger home in a better location.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Jan 28 2020, 6:19 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

How do people decide between the two? Visited both. Needs schools and kids for children in all divisions of education. Who has better resources for new immigrants?

One is a city and the other a very large yishuv/town.
They are two completely different ways of life. Yishuv life is very different than city life.
If everything else is equal, it really just depends on which lifestyle you feel better fits your family.

chanchy123

Wed, Jan 29 2020, 5:53 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Bump

Maybe ask specific questions about life in both places? No one can make this decision for you, they are both great places to live. But we can give you info that will help you make the decision.

amother

Wed, Jan 29 2020, 6:14 am

My biggest concern is my kids learning the language. I need a school well equipped to help them. If both areas are truly the same in this area then I can remove that as the main deciding factor. I have lived both city and out of town and truly like both as does my DH. We are hoping to visit both one more time so maybe we will get a stronger feeling about one of them...

chanchy123

Wed, Jan 29 2020, 6:21 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

How old are your children? Which schools were you considering in Yerushalyim (not that I know anything about Yerushalayim schools, but I'm sure many imamothers here will have info for you

etky

Wed, Jan 29 2020, 7:12 am

Have you spoken with Alyssa who is responsible for Olim at the Efrat Moetza ?
She will have all the information you need regarding schools in Efrat and help with Hebrew.
I highly recommend that you speak with her about Efrat in general, if you haven't already.