Author Topic: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live  (Read 788665 times)

Offline Armadillo

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #280 on: January 16, 2013, 07:44:24 PM »
Thanks. Can you provide a breakdown of the different communities.
To elaborate on BarryG's list: All the way south (Eglinton) more baalei tshuva, some MO
                                               South (Lawrence/Bathurst) more yeshivish overall, plus a large concentration of young couples from a variety of labels - traditionally this is an area that a lot of couples start out.
                                               Going further north there are pockets of various kehillos, from more chassidish (Bobov) to haimish/baalebatish (Agudah ); then Downsview/Clanton Park more modern overall, with a Sephardi kollel, a chassidishe shtiebl and a Carlebachy shul thrown in to the mix; Willowdale I guess you can call modern baalebatish, somewhere between Young Israel and Agudah.

                                                North - Thornhill I'm not so familiar with, definitely a mix of types, it's a younger community. Back in the day more to Young Israel flavor, now I think there is a stronger yeshivish presence
                                                Further North - Ner Yisroel yeshiva, including yeshiva lane; plus a whole newly developed area around the yeshiva which I know nothing about.
                                                Past that is the Country Shul and AFAIK a baal tshuva community

And pockets of Chabad throughout the city.

Offline Armadillo

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #281 on: January 16, 2013, 07:45:37 PM »
Also my understanding is that their is a lot of politics and some discord between the different communities, true?
Not sure what you're referring to

Offline Armadillo

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #282 on: January 16, 2013, 07:54:57 PM »
How come everyone there seems to be related?
I think b/c there are a bunch of old Toronto families that have been there for many years and have done well (some before and after coming). Until recently their children (and grandchildren) were disproportionately moving back to Toronto once married as compared with the general public (for sure in more yeshivish circles). Now there seems to have been a shift and the young community is growing much stronger than in a long time, and more young couples are moving back / moving in.

Offline Armadillo

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #283 on: January 16, 2013, 08:00:22 PM »
As far as the big houses, I think it may have to do with the price of building materials. Also, people tend to have a lot more property than claustrophobic Brooklyn and therefore space to build on.
In addition, the size of many houses is misleading. They may be large in size (due to necessity - large families) but the interiors are simple.

Offline Armadillo

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #284 on: January 16, 2013, 08:04:35 PM »
What's crazy is that they can't afford to pave the roads in their little shtetel
Actually, the little shtetl I assume you speak of has unpaved roads b'davka.

Toronto in general has gorgeous roads, well-maintained, no pothole crises like some North American cities to the south.

Offline Chaikel

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #285 on: January 17, 2013, 05:06:18 AM »
Actually, the little shtetl I assume you speak of has unpaved roads b'davka.
I'm aware. Just pointing out the ludacrisness of that statement
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Offline AJK

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #286 on: January 17, 2013, 08:39:28 AM »
I'm aware. Just pointing out the ludacrisness of that statement

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Offline btab

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The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #287 on: January 17, 2013, 09:51:11 AM »
I just read through this thread. I grew up in Dallas, moved to queens for about 6 years and have been living in Miami (NMB 1/2 year and MB 1 year). The only two places I would consider at this point would be Dallas or MB. I would love to write up a list on pros and cons but that will have to wait when I am not using TapAtalk.
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Offline Dan

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #288 on: January 17, 2013, 09:52:56 AM »
I just read through this thread. I grew up in Dallas, moved to queens for about 6 years and have been living in Miami (NMB 1/2 year and MB 1 year). The only two places I would consider at this point would be Dallas or MB. I would love to write up a list on pros and cons but that will have to wait when I am not using TapAtalk.
Great, please post!
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Offline sky121

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Re: Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #289 on: January 17, 2013, 09:55:18 AM »
Great, please post!

+1 Lately I hear more and more nice things about Dallas. Would love to hear your experiences.
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Offline btab

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The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #290 on: January 17, 2013, 09:57:30 AM »
+1 Lately I hear more and more nice things about Dallas. Would love to hear your experiences.

I was just there for a month of vacation to visit family. I also had the pleasure of visiting San Antonio (first time I saw the Jewish community there)

be"H I will try to post when I get home.
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Offline AJK

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Re: Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #291 on: January 17, 2013, 10:54:41 AM »
+1 Lately I hear more and more nice things about Dallas. Would love to hear your experiences.

+1

One of the places we're considering.
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Re: Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #292 on: January 17, 2013, 01:45:37 PM »
+1

One of the places we're considering.
From what I hear many frum ppl have moved there recently.

Offline whYME

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #293 on: January 18, 2013, 12:35:10 AM »
From what I hear many frum ppl have moved there recently.
Texas hasn't been on my list, though I gotta say, they're making a compelling case. :)

Offline PlatinumGuy

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #294 on: January 18, 2013, 03:27:55 AM »
Dallas is a great city. Unlike most communities in America it is growing.
״וזה כלל גדול: שישנא אדם כל דבר שקר. וכל מה שיוסיף שנאה לדרכי השקר – יוסיף אהבה לתורה.״ - אורחות צדיקים

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #295 on: January 18, 2013, 02:22:57 PM »
Texas hasn't been on my list, though I gotta say, they're making a compelling case. :)
That is pretty cool. Wonder how property taxes are.

Offline btab

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #296 on: January 19, 2013, 10:02:56 PM »
I lived in Dallas for almost 19 years. I grew up in the smaller neighborhood which is now currently “up and coming.” I figured that since so many people are interested in Dallas I would share my experience here. Please keep in mind that I am writing from my experience growing up which was a while ago. I will try and insert more current knowledge based on my many visits there.

Also, I am just going to copy and paste what Dan wrote about CLE and tweak it based on how it applies to Dallas. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I will definitely try to get you an answer if I know it (and even if I do not, I will find it for you because my family still lives there).

Another note before I post. In general there are about 3 different communites within the “Dallas,” area. There is the SOUTH, NORTH, and the newly developing PLANO area. I grew up in the NORTH neighborhood, so my post will be about the NORTH and I will through in some comparisons with the SOUTH neighborhood.

Pros:
When it comes to safety this is THE neighborhood. I cannot stress how calm and relaxed everyone is. I do not think in all my 19 years there I heard of any burglary or mugging or anything even close to that. To stress how safe it I will tell you that almost everyone in my community leave their doors unlocked all the time. EVEN WHEN THEY ARE NOT HOME. There was this one guy who went to the Catskills for the summer and left his door open the entire summer in case people needed things from his house.

Housing is very cheap in the NORTH neighborhood. To be honest, it is even cheaper in the PLANO neighborhood, but the community is new and not as developed as the NORTH community. A five bedroom house can go for about 300k. A three bedroom house can go anywhere from 150k-190k. If you are looking to build a house I think the current price I heard was $175 a sq foot.

As in Cleveland, “parking is plentiful and traffic is nothing compared to most cities.” There is a bit of construction going on now which contributes to it, but I don’t think there are many cities with 4-5 lane highways.  The airport is about 45 minutes away which is a little schlep. However, it is constructed brilliantly.

Streets are clean and everyone has a garage. There's no alternate side business and no parking meters. There are places such in downtown that have meters, but in the residential areas you will not find a single meter.

To be honest, I do not know a thing about the taxes; however, from what I hear from my friends and family is that it’s nothing compared to NY, Miami, LA etc. Everyone tells me it is dirt cheap.

People in general are just warm and nice. I am even referring to the goyim. They have this strange knack for trying to make themselves as helpful as possible for you. This also is true with the stores. If they cannot help they will apologize profusely and try to work something out for you.

As Dan said: “Kids seem to come out of schools like the Academy with their heads on straight, generally not nearly as corrupt as some that I've seen come out of  LA/Miami/NYC.” I find this to be true as well in Dallas; however, I never attended yeshiva in high school so I am unsure of what my stance would be in regards to this. In regards to schools there are a couple:  Solomon Schechter (conservative), Torah Day School (yeshivish), Akiba (modern orthodox), Chabad (I am not really sure about their school system but I know they have some type of school for young children). For high school there is: Yavneh (co-ed modern orthrodox), TTI (chofetz chaim), Mesorah (bais yaakov). I am not 100 percent sure if I classified these schools all correctly but if you want more information I will be happy to get it for you.

There has been an influx of young couples moving to Dallas. I can count at least  7 that moved within the past 6 months. There are tons of job opportunities here. I know that a couple of my friends got jobs within the first two weeks that they were there. EVERYONE there is ready to help you find a job. They want you there. JUST ASK and they will do whatever they can.

Downtown is nice. There is a small modern orthodox community there. They have two frum rabbis that are trying to make it more “up and coming.” We have the Cowboys, Mavericks, and Stars. There are a bunch of museums. I just visited the Perot museum which is PHENOMENAL.

There are no beaches but we do have lakes within 45 minutes distance. People use boats and jet skis. Also Oklahoma is right on the border where you can find fun lakes too. There are also bike and walking trails. We do not have too many hills so not too much hiking. We have six flags OVER TEXAS (biggest one in the country). There is speed-zone (where you can drag race, drift, or just do normal go carts). There are a lot of other things like the State Fair, The Science Place, Putt-Putt, etc.***Note some of these attractions consists of 20-45 minute drives.

We have some kosher resteruants. To name some: Café Fino (milchig/pizza), Milk and Honey (grill), Aderet (fleishig/mediterranean and more), Natalie’s Kitchen (fleishig/Israeli), Benny’s Bagels, Tom Thumb (supermarket that has sushi, bakery, deli sandwiches pre-prepared, and much much more!)

The seasons here are “true seasons.” You will experience a fall, winter, spring, and summer. There is at least one day of snow a year. A lot of things close down :) nice for the kids who want to stay home and make hot chocolate and smores! Dallas does not know how to clean up snow. I do not think they even have one street plow.

Cons:
The learning in the community is fairly small. There is no kollel in the NORTH. The SOUTH; however, does have a kollel, so if you are up for a drive everyday then you can take advantage of that.

Politics between shuls and members but you will probably find that everywhere.

As I mentioned there are only a few kosher restaurants. They all pretty much are Mediterranean but also serve the classic burger, dog, and fries. There is not that much of a variety.

If you are looking for a night life then this is not the place for you; although I truly cannot be too sure on this because I have never been the kind of guy who has a “night life.”

Not too many CVS’ sell VRs.
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Offline U-no-me!

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #297 on: January 19, 2013, 10:03:58 PM »
WOW!!! Nice report there.  :D
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Offline btab

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #298 on: January 19, 2013, 10:06:37 PM »
Texas hasn't been on my list, though I gotta say, they're making a compelling case. :)

Everyone has a gun. I went shooting while I was there. Sooper fun but very scary shooting for the first time...did not know what to expect when it was going to go off.
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Offline AJK

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Re: The Pros And Cons Of Where You Live
« Reply #299 on: January 19, 2013, 10:12:24 PM »
WOW!!! Nice report there.  :D

+1, thanks for taking the time!
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