The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live

[zh cohen]

https://mishpacha.com/the-out-of-town-advantage-a-mishpacha-symposium/

[Yonah]

Now, for my own Pros and Cons of where I live.    I live just over the border and I'm about 3 minutes off an exit for 84, but in a quiet area.    I'm about 3 minutes from the Danbury Fair Mall.

when i'm looking for cheap clearance sales.  I have 7 CVS stores within 10 minutes each.  Lots of other retail.

We have a very diverse community.  40% White which includes sizeable 2nd and 3rd generation Italians, Lebanese Christians (we have 3 churches and 4 restaurants! and also Portuguese and a Large Brazilian community  (5 restaurants)   We have 2 Synagogues.  We have a somewhat clustered Jewish community centered around a lake.  It used to be summer resort cabins, but in the 60's everyone converted them into full time homes and they have remained in the families, even if just rented.
                                                 40% Hispanic, mostly Ecuadorian, Puerto Rican, Dominican, HOnduran, but I've met families from Peru, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.
                                                 10% African American and African
                                                  10% Asian.   I wish I had a breakdown by country, but I'd say India, Pakistan, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China

When flying I can choose from SWF (my favorite), HPN, LGA, JFK and BDL.   We often get retail stores quickly.  We had some of the first Primarks and H & M's in the country, oh, and we have a Stew Leonard's, yet Starbucks arrived late here, we don't have a Jamba Juice, also no Hobby Lobby or Ocean State Job Lot.

Danbury is definitely a nice community (friends of mine recently moved to the community around the lake and love it), and far more diverse than what people think when they hear 'Connecticut'. I live in White Plains, and while I do enjoy flying out of HPN, I've found it and SWF to be more expensive in peak travel times. I do love flying out of BDL though. Granted it's a 1:30 trip vs 30-40 for LGA and 45-1:00 for JFK, but the runaround at those airports can easily take up the saved travel time. Plus, at <$10/day - I can drive myself to the airport and park for the whole week for less money than an uber for 1-way to LGA or JFK.

On my last flight to BDL, I was on the same plane as Glover Teixeira, the UFC Fighter - he'd fought the night before in Fort Lauderdale. He is based in Danbury and grew up in the Brazilian community.

From a Jewish perspective, I can't say much about Waterbury and Danbury area, but from what I'm seeing the Stamford Orthodox community is still growing, despite losing their Yeshiva a few years ago. (To be fair, the Yeshiva Community and the regular Stamford Community were far apart hashkafically). I think that with the growth of Financial sector jobs, relatively low taxes (as compared to NY/NJ), decent housing prices and still being 1-hour from GNY, Stamford is poised for growth.

[Denverite]

This is a repost and not starting until next year but one of my first thoughts was how this will increase the "prestige" of the Dallas community!

https://onemileatatime.com/new-american-flights-to-israel-morocco-and-more/

[TheSlightEdge]

Replied to a question in a different thread about CHI and figured I’d post here as well.

What's the best local pizza?
Separate question - where's the best place for vegetarian/vegan options?

All  the kosher pizza stores in Chicago are terrible. And when I say terrible, I mean ‘worse than frozen pizza terrible’. Also, Chalavi is closed on Friday. I’ve been to several out of town communities and none of the pizza stores there were ever closed on a Friday. It’s really annoying.

And let me rant a little more. I can’t understand why anyone would want to live in CHI. Weather is brutal most of the year, high taxes, democratic politicians, and really bad kosher food. In other words, you don’t get any of the benefits of living in an out of town community (Dallas, Miami, etc.) + you lose the conveniences of living in NY ( kosher food, more shuls, subway, travel to city, etc.).

I’ve been here for several years and can’t wait to leave. I’d do anything to live in Dallas, Miami, even Detroit, but Chicago? Why do people like it here?

I know I sound stuck up, but I’m curious. For those who moved to CHI, what do you like about living there, if anything?

[Dan]

What's wrong with Shallot's, Milt's, Ken's, and Evita?

[TheSlightEdge]

What's wrong with Shallot's, Milt's, Ken's, and Evita?

Shallots and Evita are good but overpriced. Milts is very overrated. Kens is meh.

With the exception of Ken’s, those are higher end restaurants. I’m just talking about basic food: bagels, pizza, reasonably priced sushi, bakeries (North shore and Tel Aviv are terrible), shabbos takeout, etc. And I’m not the only one complaining—lots of Chicagoans I eat by on shabbos always make fun of the food situation there. If you move there from another out of town city you might think the food is good, but moving there from NY is tough. Not even comparable. And again, lots of out-of-town communities do food well: Miami (food there is terrific), LA, and even Detroit. Why can’t CHI get it right? Might be because people don’t eat out there as much/don’t care.

Besides the food—the weather sucks, high taxes, lots of crime, etc. I just don’t get what people like about living there. It’s NY without the benefits.

[mochjas]

Shallots and Evita are good but overpriced. Milts is very overrated. Kens is meh.

With the exception of Ken’s, those are higher end restaurants. I’m just talking about basic food: bagels, pizza, reasonably priced sushi, bakeries (North shore and Tel Aviv are terrible), shabbos takeout, etc. And I’m not the only one complaining—lots of Chicagoans I eat by on shabbos always make fun of the food situation there. If you move there from another out of town city you might think the food is good, but moving there from NY is tough. Not even comparable. And again, lots of town communities do food well: Miami (food there is terrific), LA, and even Detroit. Why can’t CHI get it right? Might be because people don’t eat out there as much/don’t care.

Besides the food—the weather sucks, high taxes, lots of crime, etc. I just don’t get what people like about living there. It’s NY without the benefits.

There are so many things wrong about your statement I dont even know where to start

[Dan]

Shallots and Evita are good but overpriced. Milts is very overrated. Kens is meh.

With the exception of Ken’s, those are higher end restaurants. I’m just talking about basic food: bagels, pizza, reasonably priced sushi, bakeries (North shore and Tel Aviv are terrible), shabbos takeout, etc. And I’m not the only one complaining—lots of Chicagoans I eat by on shabbos always make fun of the food situation there. If you move there from another out of town city you might think the food is good, but moving there from NY is tough. Not even comparable. And again, lots of town communities do food well: Miami (food there is terrific), LA, and even Detroit. Why can’t CHI get it right? Might be because people don’t eat out there as much/don’t care.

Besides the food—the weather sucks, high taxes, lots of crime, etc. I just don’t get what people like about living there. It’s NY without the benefits.

I didn't think Emma's is bad.
Nor do I think Miami's restaurants are that good. Many are overrated, though a couple are very good.
You can't compare anything in the world to NYC.

[TheSlightEdge]

There are so many things wrong about your statement I dont even know where to start

Truth hurts. List the pros of living in Chicago please.

[Dan]

Truth hurts. List the pros of living in Chicago please.

@as2 @CountValentine @chucksterace @henche @Yordai Dooma @Divora M

[TheSlightEdge]

I didn't think Emma's is bad.
Nor do I think Miami's restaurants are that good. Many are overrated, though a couple are very good.
You can't compare anything in the world to NYC.

Emma’s is my favorite place there, but it’s pretty far out from where I live (WRP) so I don’t go there too often.

Miami- disagree with you there. Even by NY standards, food is really good there (Backyard BBQ and Soho Asia come to mind).

[CountValentine]

Truth hurts. List the pros of living in Chicago please.

MS

[Dan]

Emma’s is my favorite place there, but it’s pretty far out from where I live (WRP) so I don’t go there too often.

Miami- disagree with you there. Even by NY standards, food is really good there (Backyard BBQ and Soho Asia come to mind).

Backyard BBQ is great as is 26. That's about it.
Didn't care for SoHo, but haven't been back in many years since we had a DO there. Nobody was impressed by their food, certainly didn't compare to Chicago's eateries.

[CountValentine]

It’s NY without the benefits.

I really miss the stench of garbage. What would Times Square be without garbage on the sidewalk? Is that one of the benefits of NY?

[mochjas]

Truth hurts. List the pros of living in Chicago please.

Um I dont live in Chicago so I cant do that but I imagine that whoever lives there has family there and doesnt want to move away from them as #1, they are used to the weather and I doubt it is so much worse than NY weather.

The fact that a Pizza store closes on Friday is probably not a deal breaker as well.

Again I dont know why you would compare Chicago to NYC they are not trying to be NYC and no other city can compare for the most part that is your biggest mistake

[TheSlightEdge]

I really miss the stench of garbage. What would Times Square be without garbage on the sidewalk? Is that one of the benefits of NY?

Love downtown Chicago, I won’t say NYC is better. But no kosher food there other than Bebes (Metroklub recently closed). I work in the city and it’s really annoying not being able to go out with coworkers or grab a quick lunch like I did in NYC.

My post was about living there as a frum person. Why would anyone want to live in PP/WRP?

Also, maybe the garbage is NYC is bad, but Chicago is the rat capital of the nation. See link: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/817737002

[Dan]

Love downtown Chicago, I won’t say NYC is better. But no kosher food there other than Bebes (Metroklub recently closed). I work in the city and it’s really annoying not being able to go out with coworkers or grab a quick lunch like I did in NYC.

My post was about living there as a frum person. Why would anyone want to live in PP/WRP?

Also, maybe the garbage is NYC is bad, but Chicago is the rat capital of the nation. See link: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/817737002

How many cities in the world have kosher food downtown?
You're lucky to have a place.

[TheSlightEdge]

Um I dont live in Chicago so I cant do that but I imagine that whoever lives there has family there and doesnt want to move away from them as #1, they are used to the weather and I doubt it is so much worse than NY weather.

The fact that a Pizza store closes on Friday is probably not a deal breaker as well.

Again I dont know why you would compare Chicago to NYC they are not trying to be NYC and no other city can compare for the most part that is your biggest mistake

Good points here. Not referring to people who have family there, it’s understandable why you’d want to stay. But I just don’t get why people would move there from NY or different out-of-town community.

Your point about the weather is wrong. This year was absolutely brutal, worse than the worst winters in NY. For a month straight the high temp was like 10.

[CountValentine]

Also, maybe the garbage is NYC is bad, but Chicago is the rat capital of the nation. See link: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/817737002

Next time you see a rat on Michigan Ave let me know. Next time I see a bag of garbage on the sidewalk that you have to walk around I will let you know. Oops that would be today, yesterday, the day before that and so on.
Ok we had our fun. Both cities have pluses and minuses. No need to pit one against the other. That would be like trying to defend that crap pizza you have. 

[whYME]

Shallots and Evita are good but overpriced. Milts is very overrated. Kens is meh.

With the exception of Ken’s, those are higher end restaurants. I’m just talking about basic food: bagels, pizza, reasonably priced sushi, bakeries (North shore and Tel Aviv are terrible), shabbos takeout, etc. And I’m not the only one complaining—lots of Chicagoans I eat by on shabbos always make fun of the food situation there. If you move there from another out of town city you might think the food is good, but moving there from NY is tough. Not even comparable. And again, lots of out-of-town communities do food well: Miami (food there is terrific), LA, and even Detroit. Why can’t CHI get it right? Might be because people don’t eat out there as much/don’t care.

Besides the food—the weather sucks, high taxes, lots of crime, etc. I just don’t get what people like about living there. It’s NY without the benefits.

I would say the biggest pros over NYC is it's not as crowded and housing is a lot cheaper. (far and away the biggest cons of NY)

I think maybe you're being a bit overly dramatic?
I've had Pizza at a couple of places, I don't remember it being particularly terrible. And I seem to remember having some really good stuff from North Shore, although I can't comment on their overall quality.