Leaving Brooklyn for...??

amother

Wed, Jan 21 2009, 8:45 pm

So for various reasons (most of which Im not so happy about), we are *maybe* considering moving from brooklyn. Needs to be somewhere within a reasonable distance from Manhattan (like 1 hr or less commute), but we want to be somewhere with a bit of "space"- both in the physical sense (backyard?) and the emotional (family in laws)
Monsey is out, for reasons I would rather not disclose. We looked into it.
We are pretty "new yorkish." So if you are going to tell me the "mayleh" of such and such a place is that it is more "out of townish," dont tell me because to us that is probably more a deterrent.
I dont know of many places.
Passaic?
White Plains?
Teaneck we have heard been mentioned but is probably too "Modern" or YUish for our speed.

of course there is Woodmere, which is looking like our best option at this point, even though neither of us are crazy about it. But I would like to be open-minded and consider other places as well.

Can people tell me about the places I mentioned? Mostly, like what kind of schools are there? I know we can get more for our money in terms of real estate, anywhere out of NYC proper, so that is a given. But what type of communities are these? If they are very relaxed, chilled out, and dont have a New Yorky feel, we (two New Yorkers) probably wont feel so at home. Any ideas? I am naming random places, but please mention others if you know of them! encourage us to move there, were open to ideas! But rememer, has to be close enough to be able to keep a job in Manhattan. We are I guess what you would classify as Yeshivish/Modern if that makes any sense!

Cookies n Cream

Wed, Jan 21 2009, 9:01 pm

What about Queens?

ShakleeMom

Wed, Jan 21 2009, 9:29 pm

For starters, which school do your kids go to in Brooklyn - so we can match you up elsewhere?!

octopus

Wed, Jan 21 2009, 10:12 pm

passaic has all kinds and is (I heard) a 20 minute commute from Manhattan. It is more citified than Monsey. There are all kinds there. My sis is moving there pretty soon and she is pretty psyched about it.

dillie

Wed, Jan 21 2009, 10:51 pm

Passaic/Clifton, Teaneck and Woodmere are three very very (very) different places.
If you are looking for something a little more heimish than Teaneck, Clifton might be a great option. Very nice community. good schools.
Woodmere is much more heimish than it used to be- lots and lots of Brooklynites moving in the last few years. A couple of shtieble-type shuls. Shopping is amazing, lots of different types of schools.
I think the main difference is going to be what level of materialism you want. The Five Towns is fancier. The people I know who live in Clifton moved there because they wanted a 'simpler' lifestyle. Things are a lot more toned down.
Housing is expensive in both neighborhoods, but by Bklyn standards, you get a lot for your money.

Classicookie

Wed, Jan 21 2009, 10:59 pm

I live in passaic its a great place you cam pm me with any questions if you want

TightRopeWalker

Wed, Jan 21 2009, 11:36 pm

Passaic definitely has some Brooklyners, but if you're looking for a New Yorky sort of place you're better off in the 5 towns.

TheBeinoni

Wed, Jan 21 2009, 11:57 pm

What about Lakewood? Lakewood is a little over an hour to the city (no traffic...) Almost every single person I meet here is from Boro Park or someone else in bk.

hmmmm?

Wed, Jan 21 2009, 11:57 pm

What about Washington Heights or Upper West Side? - there's plenty of yeshivish modern people in those communities - it's just really expensive to live there.

dats me

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 7:26 am

I think you should look into Queens. Kew Gardens Hills has a very nice community, all types. Housing is expensive, but less so than Brooklyn. The commute to Manhattan wouldnt be a problem.

amother

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 8:07 am

Wow!! Ok, OP here. Thanks so much everyone for all your ideas and suggestions. I have some questions for people and also alot of responses, Ill go through all 9 in one post cuz thats the only way I know how, except if I post 9 times and I dont wanna do that. Ill just put like aasteriks between each reply k?
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bi - one of the reasons we are considering leaving, even though we do love our house, is due to lack of space. Its great right now, with a smallish family (all kids below 5), but we wont have much space with more kids. I would like for them to have a backyard, with more space than just a picnic table. As far as I know, in that regard, queens is pretty much like brooklyn, its not spacious, is it?
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shakleemom-my kids arent in grades yet. We are looking for more yeshivish/heimish schools. Obviously nothing co-ed, but we dont mind a bit "open minded" (ie doesnt have to be "bais yaakov of boro park" standards)
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Octopus thanks yea we are considering passaic it but I dont know much abt it
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Dilli What is the diff betwn. Passaic and Clifton? We are definitely looking for more heimish than Teaneck, which is not an option for us, the only people we know who live there are pretty YU-ish, not "modern" but "black hat YU" and its not our crowd, we wouldnt have many friends and our hashkafos dont match up.
My concerns with woodmer are that it is too modern? Lawrency-lawrence seems very typical modern to me like HAFTR and that whole crowd. How is it different? what types of shuls and people are out there? To me it seems also more YUish than like Passaic. Or do I just have no idea? I definitely think its much more beautiful than Passaic, and there are restaurants and stores so coming from brooklyn I think we would be happy there, but does anyone know about the schools? And is there a more heimish (not "harry" if you know what I mean?) crowd out there?
Were not thinking of moving for lifestyle reasons, we dont mind the brooklyn "fancy" life at all, its for the reasons I stated above. "simple" is probably a chisaron to us I guess, if I really thought about it. We are ok with that part, thats not why we want to leave.
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mom2zahava do you have an email address? I dont want to give away my imamother screenname if you dont mind?
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tightropewalker that is the impression I got from the post two above yours. Can more people tell me what you think? do you think that is true? if so can more people tell me about five towns? are there any other places in the NY area that conform to that?
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The Beinoni- thanks but 1. probably way too yeshivish for us 2. dont know a soul there actually 3. its like 90 min on avg from NYC, too much of a shlep every day
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hmmmm - WH is the epitomy(sp?) of YU, not our style at all, and UWS we would love and have friends but again, the same prob as brooklyn but x100. We have a house now and are frustrated by lack of space, tiny driveway, tiny backyard. UWS has high rise buildings with parking lots and balconies. Neighborhood wise, there is a cool mix-completely "modern" (if you even want to call it that) orthodox and a more yeshivish/heimish kollel and crowd and we would fit in. Everything is at your fingertips. And no commute. But the space thing is an issue!
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datsme- Again, space....no backyards....true housing is a bit more affordable in queens than brooklyn but you still have the same attached or semiattached houses, its not like you get a "lot" with a driveway, backyard, grass, all that.
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Now for my other questions (aside from those I asked in my responses to all of you above)

Another place someone mentioned to me was Riverdale. But as far as I know, the frummer areas, are exhorbinantly wealthy (homes for 3+ million?), and the more affordable areas are "modern orthodox" - like that Avi Weiss Rabbi, not going 2 work for us. Is that true? Because Riverdale is gorgeous. But we dont want to live in an apartment, when we have a house in brooklyn.
Also anywhere else that people know of? What about further north such as white plains?
Monsey also, we were thinking about, but from what we saw, it is such a different lifestyle, very "country living," you cant walk to anywhere (we have cars but still), your neighbor is 5 min away, theres no 24 hour anything, no 6 dollar manicures, no gas stations every block, etc. and I think that would be a very hard adjustment for us, and its also a little far from Manhattan (could be an hour, right at the border of what we said is our "maximum")
any other cities in NJ? I heard of places like Elizabeth, West Orange, Engelwood, Fairlawn, but as far as I know these are more modern orthodox is that correct?

cassandra

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 8:11 am

You sound perfect for Woodmere/Lawrence/Cedarhurst. It is essentially filling up with people just like you-- Brooklynites who like the Brooklyn lifestyle with all the material things but want a bit of space from your parents and a bigger back yard. Go to Central Ave. on a weekday and look around and the women. It sounds like you'd feel very comfortable.

dillie

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 8:22 am

Okay, judging my your last post, start looking at houses in the 5 Towns ASAP. You're going to love it there. I would stick to Woodmere/Cedarhurst, the Shteibel area/crowd, if I were you- but a good realtor will be able to give you more direction. Go for shabbos if you can, it will give you a better idea.
On the plus side, houses have dropped dramatically in the last year or so- you'll get a good deal.
Lawrence- it's not Harry at all, but if you are wealthy enough to be able to afford it, you already know about it. Doesn't sound like it's for you, judging by your Riverdale comments. Houses are definitely 1M+. The other areas are much more affordable.
Woodmere used to be more like what you describe, but like Cassandra said, that's all changed in the last few years.
I don't think there are any $6 manicures in the 5 Towns, either. but maybe $9 ones? It's definitely not OOT!

amother

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 8:27 am

what about staten island?

amother

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 8:36 am

amother wrote:

what about staten island?

I think too out of towny! I dont know though, that is just what I have heard. Also the commute to manhattan, is a total headache, like you either have to take a boat or something, or go to NJ to get back into the city (which is expensive), am I correct?

Yes cassandra those are exactly the reasons. backyard and distance from parents (not parents really, I will miss having my mother, more in laws)

So riverdale-am I right in how I assessed it? millions for the yeshivish areas, cheaper in the modern orthodox areas?

dillie I dont care if the manicures are 6 or 9 I was just saying...that type of convenient lifestyle....

So if woodmere it is, does anyone know of any shuls we can check out? are there areas that are more modern and areas that are more frum?

Thanks everyone!

cassandra

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 8:40 am

amother wrote:

So riverdale-am I right in how I assessed it? millions for the yeshivish areas, cheaper in the modern

No, the house prices are the same for everyone. Riverdale isn't that big. (I like your description of "modern areas" and "yeshivish areas" as if people only live near people who are similar philosophically.) MO people tend to live in apartments there when they are first married. Almost everyone gets priced out of the housing there. It's close to a million for a town house.

amother

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 9:11 am

cassandra wrote:

amother wrote:

So riverdale-am I right in how I assessed it? millions for the yeshivish areas, cheaper in the modern

LOL. To me riverdale seems polarized (I mean like as opposed to UWS where there is a big mix). I dont live there, so what do I know. What is a town house? Is that like saying a semiattached? Or is that like a 2 family home? I mean homes go for a million plus in brooklyn too, what size home is that referring to? How much for say a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home? I thought those were like 2 million or more, and I was like, that is not going to work for us. Am I off? Are there any homes there for under 1 mil?

Does anyone live in Woodmere? If so can you post and tell me more about it?

Or any other neighborhoods anyone thinks that we might like! Please pitch in your two cents thanks!

yo'ma

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 9:13 am

amother wrote:

Does anyone live in Woodmere? If so can you post and tell me more about it?

If nobody does, I have a cousin who lives there and I can get you in touch with her.

Fox

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 9:28 am

I'll weigh in suggesting a second look at Queens -- specifically Kew Gardens rather than Kew Garden Hills. Although I live in Chicago, we kept an apartment in Kew Gardens for several years for business reasons, and I loved it!

While there are obviously more congested areas, Kew Gardens has lots of single family homes with decent yards. Parking is less difficult than Brooklyn, and there is a large park within walking distance. There are lots of trees and green space, and the whole area has a slightly more suburban feel than Brooklyn.

Kew Garden Hills, while lovely, seemed to me to be almost as congested as Brooklyn (e.g., small, attached houses without much yard, few trees on residential streets, limited parking, etc.).

cassandra

Thu, Jan 22 2009, 9:36 am

amother wrote:

Yes, it is attached, but I'm not sure on one side or two. Riverdale is a lot more expensive than Brooklyn. I have a lot of friends who moved from Riverdale, and they love it, they just couldn't afford it (and they bought homes in my area for over a million). The handful of people who stay are either extraordinarily wealthy or wealthy and willing to settle for less because they love the community so much.