Qestions to ask before you see a community

dillie

Sun, Aug 24 2008, 10:57 pm

in no particular order, I would want to know about... availability and type of schools (that's the biggie, probably)... eruv, mikveh, availability of kosher meat and chalav yisrael... availability of luxuries like bakery items and takeout, pizza stores... where most people live, daven... what a typical bar mitzvah or wedding looks like here- I.e. what's the 'standard'?... general friendliness- is it a 'community' vibe or are people more insular?... general area questions: how much are houses? any grants available from the community? how much is tuition? what's the crime rate? what's the weather like? what do most of the people do for a living? are most people 'natives' or 'imports'?
hmm...
I only know a few people from minneapolis but they are lovely. good luck!

Tamiri

Mon, Aug 25 2008, 2:59 am

You are going to think this is crazy, but based on my experiences (4 communities in the U.S.) ask people from OUTSIDE the community what they think about it. If someone moved away, ask them in a way which is not loshon hara what they think. We made a very big mistake once, and people were not totally honest about WHY we should not move to a certain place. Well, we moved there and it was totally awful. People could have saved us a lot of ogmat nefesh.
After you hear from others what they think of the community, ask about the shuls. If it's a small community and there are 10 shuls - you know there are politics. Ask people who DON'T go to a particular shul what they know about it.
It's been our experience that sometimes people are so entrenched in where they live that they can't see the forest for the trees, and can't be objective about what is really going on.
Ask about tolerance (black Jews, white Jews, ger Jews, FFB Jews, BT Jews, Chassidishe Jews, MO Jews) etc. to find out how everyone gets along.
Ask about the weather - in a place as extreme as Mpls it's important that you know what you will be dealing with. Chi is bad enough but Mpls is worse. The summers are no picnic either.
Ask about recreation, if - for example - you want a pool with sep. swimming and you feel you can't live without that. I am just giving an example of something which is very important to some people and they will be miserable without I.
Ask about housing - rental and purchase, whatever interests you.
Ask about kosher food shopping. You don't want to find out you can't afford to eat as you are accustomed to.
Ask about the mikva - this should not be a prob. in Mpls but you want to make sure it's one you will use and is kept up by the community.
Ask about an Eruv if you want one.
Ask about antisemitism.
Ask about opportunity for personal growth (shiurim etc.)

Mrs Bissli

Tue, Feb 14 2012, 7:52 pm

- community make-up: is the community growing? What type of people (age, family status, hashkafa) are
moving in/out? Are there many newcomers or is it hard to make friends unless you grew up there?
- schools: look into middle/high schools even if you have only young children. commute ease,
hashkafa/levels of limudei chol, where do graduates go
- kosher foods: general availability, costs, Is chalav yisrael available consistently?
- If you wear sheitel is it easy to find a macher or wash-and-dry?
- Do people stick to one shul loyaly or do people feel comfortable enough to shul-hop? Will you be
ostracised if you go to Synagogue X vs Synagogue Y? Local rabbi, learning opportunities esp for DH?
- Eruv: actual area, and is it accepted by majority of community?

Outside of Jewish/community issues...
- employment opportunities, who are hiring, which indusry/functions?
- transportation: how bad are rush hours, and how long? which routes are affected?
if you have immediate families out of town, how easy is it to drive/fly to see them? (direct flights?)
- housing: typical housing stocks, size, affordability, recommendation for real estate agents?
- healthcare: primary care physicians, dentists, do they accept your insurance, is it easy to get on the
patient lists? recommendation for specialists, OB/GYN, pediatrician...
- finances: what are average salary like, what do things costs (petrol, dinner out), are there discount
shopping opportunities/gemachim? what are tax situations--city tax, property tax etc. I presume
you need to think about fuel bills in MN?