New Haven, CT / Boston, MA

amother

Wed, Jan 18 2023, 11:33 am

Does anyone have updated on info on the communities in these 2 cities?

We may be relocating there for graduate school.

What are the communities like?
What is the schooling like?
We have 2 young boys who will need schooling..

amother

Clover

Wed, Jan 18 2023, 11:42 am

New Haven really doesn't have much of a community at all any more.

Boston has a lot of options, socially and religiously. It's a vibrant community, depending how far you are willing to live from school. The downside is that it's very expensive.

I would choose Boston.

ETA, I haven't lived in either of these places, but have relatives who did/do, so I have spent time there. Hopefully someone with first hand experience will chime in.

amother

Offwhite

Wed, Jan 18 2023, 11:53 am

I have family in New haven. There is a large growing chabad community, with many shuls, a Hebrew day school and a small cheder 3 kosher restaurants and a lot happening. It's mainly a chabad community but Westville the next suburb over has a small community that's just regular orthodox.
I don't know if it speaks to you but there is definitely a community there.

doctorima

Wed, Jan 18 2023, 12:11 pm

No comparison whatsoever. Boston is an established community with all the amenities you could need - multiple daily minyanim, kosher grocery, a handful of restaurants, several school options from K-12 for both boys and girls.

New Haven is WAY smaller than this and lacks much of the above. I remember we were once driving in CT and DH was lamenting that he couldn't even find a mincha minyan there, while Boston probably has more than 10. Perhaps if you're Chabad you could make it work, but otherwise, Boston is definitely the way to go.

amother

Milk

Wed, Jan 18 2023, 12:13 pm

amother Offwhite wrote:

This...
New haven is growing but still relatively small if you're not chabad
Would you consider Waterbury? Not a bad commute at all

amother

Wed, Jan 18 2023, 8:45 pm

doctorima wrote:

Thanks!
Can you tell me names of some of the schools on Boston?

Were not Chabad.
COL does factor into our calculation - Boston seems to be a lot more than New Haven.

Do you know what the actual housing/tuition prices are there?

amother

Wed, Jan 18 2023, 8:47 pm

amother Milk wrote:

This...
New haven is growing but still relatively small if you're not chabad
Would you consider Waterbury? Not a bad commute at all

Waterbury seems like a less than ideal commute based on Google maps.

imasinger

Wed, Jan 18 2023, 9:14 pm

Boston schools for a family with 2 young boys:

MO - Maimonides
Yeshivish - Torah Academy
Chabad - New England Hebrew Academy or Shaloh House

Most local schools will accept frum families of many sorts, so there's a fair amount of "cross fertilization".

Feel free to PM me with questions.

amother

Snowdrop

Thu, Jan 19 2023, 8:30 pm

I love Boston. Yes houses are ridiculously expensive. But The community in Brighton is just amazing I can’t say enough about the wonderful people. There’s A kosher grocery called the Butcherie and many people shop at Costco or Wegmans or Star Market. I believe another poster gave you a rundown of the schools: there’s Torah Academy, Maimonides, if you’re more Modern Orthodox, and Shaloh House which is a Chabad school but I think has a mix of students from different backgrounds. Like all schools, I’ve heard great and not so great reviews of all of them. It really depends on what you’re looking for. Plenty of Minyanim all over Brighton and Brookline to choose from.

doctorima

Thu, Jan 19 2023, 10:41 pm

I just want to add that if the cost of living in Boston is an issue, there are much cheaper communities like Sharon and Malden not too far away that have their own shuls, and kids who commute to the schools in Boston. And the commute to grad school is definitely doable.

nicole81

Thu, Jan 19 2023, 10:56 pm

amother Offwhite wrote:

Aside from the day school in New Haven there's also a girl's high school. The elementary, SCHA, is a mix of all types.

Maybe west Hartford is an option?

imasinger

Thu, Jan 19 2023, 11:28 pm

amother Begonia wrote:

A lot of the frum families of Boston actually live in Brookline for housing

Did you mean Brighton?

Brookline is much more expensive than Brighton or Allston (both are parts of Boston).