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Forum
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-> Moving/ Relocating
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amother
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 Thu, May 31 2007, 10:15 pm
We might be moving to chicago at the end of the summer- Can anybody give me some information on the type of community it is- etc.?
TIA
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amother
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Thu, May 31 2007, 10:40 pm
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im from chicago. there are a few main day schools. bais yaakov and tiferes tzvi (boys building). there is the veitzner cheder which is officially a chassidish school but 99% of the student body is not chassidish. there is arie crown which has boys and girls in the same building but seperate classes. there is also hillel torah which is a mixed school. there is also a lubavitch school. my girls are in bais yaakov and my son is in the veitzner. I think its a pretty warm community. I dont know which neighbor hood you plan to live in (not too many to choose from) but no matter where u end up you will find your place and be welcomed warmly. if u give more details, I can give u more direction. good luck!
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amother
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Thu, May 31 2007, 11:02 pm
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I live in Chicago, came her from NY this past year. We don't have kids in school but the people we've met send their kids to a variety of schools and all seem pretty pleased with their choices. We started off at a shul where, honestly, the people weren't too friendly but thank G-d have since found a nicer one. It's easier moving in when it's nice out, during the winter it is tough to get out and meet new people. What else would you like to hear about?
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amother
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 12:50 am
I am a 3rd amother. I live in Chicago, and have not been so happy here. It's a nice place-- for the right family. I think a lot of your success in terms of finding a "niche" here will depend on your age and where you fit in on the religious spectrum. If you could tell us more about yourself and your family, we can probably give you more solid info.
Again, I don't think Chicago is a BAD place, it just hasn't been a good match for us. There are a lot of positive aspects to this city and community. If you want to post an anonymous email address, I would be more than happy to tell you more, I just don't want to say too much on this board.
Also, if you do end up moving, I know of an apt. in a mostly-frum building that will be available towards the end of the summer.
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amother
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 11:21 am
OP again- thanx for your quick responses.
We are very yeshivish-
I only have boys - What is the difference between Veitzner and teferes Tzvi- What type of families send to each? Does veitzner learn in yiddish?
Is there something for a special ed child or a child who has difficulty with kriah, focusing etc.? What therapy services are available - and how difficult is it to get it from the Board of education?
What is the job market like? Do most women work or are they sahm- and what are the babysitting options like- how much does it cost?
We will be moving the last week or two in the summer.
Thanx
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amother
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 11:58 am
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I was the first amother who posted. my son goes to the veitzner. officially the rebbeium are supposed to speak yiddish all the time but they donta always. they learn all of the chumash with the yiddish "teitch". I am very happy with the school for the most part. they are a very warm school. there is a social worker and resource room teachers who are all avalilabe if needed. in both schools you will of course find a mix of boys. I cant really tell you about tiferes tzvi cuz my son is not there. I do know that my friends who send there are very happy with it as well. in terms of special ed, there is a ptach program in b.y. and tifers tzvi (I think) and in arie crown. there are therapy clinics. your pediatrician would recommend one to u if needed. ive used evanston therapy clinic and beth osten. ive been happier at beth osten though. I agree with another poster though. chicago is not so huge but there are a lot of shuls and u just have to find the one u feel comfortably in. I had it very easy cuz I basicly grew up here and married a chicagoan. good luck! hope this helped.
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amother
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 12:02 pm
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its the amother from above. just reread your post and wanted to add more. in terms of working or staying at home. its really a mix. if u do decide to work, some people hire a romanian/russian in there home. its more expensive then taking your kids out though. at the same time they probably would do some houseccleaning while your baby naps. there are some women who babysit in their home and its much cheaper. there are also a few playgroups for 2-3 yr. olds that are also available.
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amother
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 12:17 pm
OP here
Thanx for all your info!
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amother
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 12:25 pm
hey all other chicago amothers- this is amother # 2 ( I guess?) It's nice to hear that there are others out there who aren't 100 % happy here. I get what you (amother # 3) said about being the right family in the right niche. My husband and I sometimes feel a little lonely out here. Do not want to scare OP though!
OP- I think when you have kids in school that automatically helps you aclimate into the community. About working - I see a lot of mothers around here who work part-time. There are a bunch of nice parks in the area ( not something you'd find in every city) and fun things for kids to do. There are wonderful rebbeim and Rabbi Forst ( "A Women's guide to the Laws of Niddah") lives in the area- an expert to answer shailos. The grocery store- Jewel has a full kosher deli counter, kosher bakery, kosher fish counter and a full kosher section. ( plenty of Cholov Yisroel items) Oh and it has a kosher Chinese food takeout counter in the store too! It makes it a lot easier to shop when everything is in one place. I would reccomend taking babies to group babysitters, you save money and the kids learn to socialize and have fun together.
I didn't realize there were a few Chicago women on this site. Seems like everyone is in NY, Israel the UK or some random small town in the middle of nowhere. amother # 3- what was the available apt you were talking about? I may know someone who is interested.
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mumoo
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 12:46 pm
do you mean Rov Shmuel Fuerst? I thought Laws of Niddah was R' Binyomin Forst. I am also surprised to see several Chicago ladies here. I am born and raised in Chicago. I love this city, of course all my (and dh's)extended family lives here or nearby. I have boys at Skokie Yeshiva and girls at BY. We are very happy with both schools. Some nice things about the schools, one there is a choice. Two, a lot of children 'cross' schools, that is, have friends at more than their own school. At least that's how it is in my community. BTW, we live in Skokie- another option. Very near- a 3 mile Shabbos walk into Chicago if you need to be there. I just like the suburban life, more parks, better city services places to park your car.
There are some who think Skokie is not frum- clearly that is not so.
I would be happy to talk to the OP by phone. I work at the Skokie Kollel and help a lot of newcomers acclimate. Please PM me for my phone. I also would love to hear from the other Chicago women.
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amother
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 1:01 pm
Amother #3 here---
First off, a correction. R' Forst (A woman's guide to the laws....) does NOT live here in Chicago. He lives in Lakewood. Here is Chicago is R' Shmuel FEURST.  just want to clarify.
Honestly, I tihnk it's the young very yeshivish people who have the toughest time here  . That's where we fit in, and unfortunately, I know two other families like us (young and very yeshivish) who moved away because they felt like they tried, and it just wasn't working out for them. I think that people who come to Chicago because they have some sort of a position in a community setting (as a teacher, kollel position, kiruv, etc) tend to have more of a built in netowrk. For instance, we daven at a shul with a wonderful rav and kehilla, but there are only 5 out of 60 or so families that are young (ie- youngest kid in 1st grade or younger). Most of the families in our shul have kids in shidduchim!
Other shuls that have young people (KINS, Shaare Tzedek) are not necessarily where a "very yeshivish" family would feel comfortable.
However, in the past year or so, two new shuls have opened up that are attracting young yeshivish families. One is the Agudah of W. Rogers Park, and the other is Kahal Chassidim. The Rav of there is a son of R'TWesrki of Milwaukee, and from what I understand, he is very interested in creating a strong, community atomostphere for young, serious bnei torah.
Also, note that many yeshivish families do not use the eruv here. Rav Feurst poskins that the eruv is not valid. Other reliable poskim in the paskin differently.
Another thing to note--- there are not a lot of young, frum families who rent apartments. So it can be harder to find a building with frum families living in it. There are plenty of rentals around. A 2 bedroom starts at around $900, a 3 bedroom is closer to $1200, I think. I would definetly try and be mesirus nefesh to get an apt. in a building with a frum family, it will make a hug difference, even if you have to live on the top floor.
The job market here is pretty healthy, what are your fields? Note that there are not a lot of jobs in our immediate area, most people I know with white collar jobs travel downtown (about 40-45 minutes). Cost of living is definetly lower than NY, but it's still expensive. I don't have any friends who work full time, but there are are a ton of of ppl who work part time. There are some drop-off babysitters, not a ton though, I know a lot of women who have babysitters who come to their homes. I have one child, I send out. Enough playgroups, not as many as Brooklyn or Lakewood of course, but enough. lots of nice parks here!
What else can I tell you? I don't want to make it sound like Chicago is a terrible place-- it's not. it just hasn't been so easy for us to meet people and find a community that works for us.
In terms of the apartment available, I don't want to post the person's name or number here, but I know that it's a 2 bedroom and it's posted on luach. com, so you can go check there.
please feel free to ask more ????
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amother
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 3:50 pm
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im curious to know how many of us are from chicago.
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amother
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 4:51 pm
I guess I will call myself Amother #4!
I live in Chicago, I have lived here for 12 years and I love it! But, I am not yeshivish and since I don't daven at a yeshivish shul or send my kids to yeshivish schools I dont know so much about that community. however, people who posted are correct that the young yeshivish community is growing. Agudah of West Rogers Park and Khal Chasidim are both nice (although small) choices for a young couple. Neither are huge shuls but then again I think that's one of the nice things about Chicago vs. NY is that you don't get lost in the crowd. I would recommed West Rogers Park near Devon as the area you'd want to move to. Don't move farther north ( near Touhy) b/c most yeshivish people live further south. Tiferes Tzvi & Veitzner are both supposed to be okay schools....both have their problems but then again, what Jewish school doesnt. THeres also a theraputic day school called Gesher Hatorah, if a child needs a lot of help.
And I know that Tiferes Tzvi has a resource room.
We have about 20 restaurants, 2 bookstores, 3 kosher grocery stores and Jewel which was mentioned already. We also have Romanian (meat store) which has the best meat in America. No kidding, people from NY take it home with them when they visit.
Again, the eruv might be an issue as the yeshivish people don't really use it, but if you're in an apartment building with other young frum people maybe it won't matter.
I love it here, and I find that it is MUCH easier to make friends when your kids are in school. Before my kids were in school I also had a hard time, and I have lived here a long time.
There are also great camps, a pretty nice JCC, I really think that CHicago is a great place to live - a nice compromise as it's not crowded like NY but it has a big Jewish community unlike many other smaller cities.
It's also nice being able to take advantage of downtown Chicago - without traffic its a 15 minute drive and we have museums, an aquarium, a FREE zoo, the lake, and tons of other things to do during vacations.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
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amother
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 6:25 pm
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Amother # 3- Oh my Goodness this whole time that I have been calling R' Fuerst I thought I was calling R' Forst who wrote the sefer! Someone gave us the number to use when we had shailos and I just figured it was the same Rav. Even though I am posting anonymous and none of you know who I am , I am still embaressed. Does that make sense?
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greenfire
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 6:40 pm
hey this is an interesting thread ... everyone is "amother" except mumoo smack in the middle ... it sounds rather mysterious ... anyway, I spoke to mumoo on the phone and she is very sweet ... no not moving to chicago yet ... but I would know if I did there is a sweet real person there ... 
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mumoo
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Fri, Jun 01 2007, 6:46 pm
1. Am I invisible? I'm glad amother #3 helped amother #whatever clarify which Rov lives here.
2. Amother who wants to know who lives in Chicago: I do and 4 other anonymous amothers. How would Amother saying where she lives matter to you if you have no idea what her screen identity is much less her real name?
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amother
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Mon, Jun 04 2007, 11:28 am
OP here,
Thanx Mumoo and all the other amothers who responded. My husband has friends there and he is applying for a rebbe job, so I don't think we will have a hard time fitting in the community.
I'm just very nervous - it is a big move and everything is still up in the air because our moving is contingent on my husband securing a rebbe job for this coming up year.
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mumoo
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Mon, Jun 04 2007, 11:46 am
aw, green, you're welcome anytime and all your kids too
dh said next time we drive to NJ we will definitely spend a day or 2 by you
(the 12 drive wasn't as easy as he thought??)
oh, and OP, the offer to talk is still open, pm me if you want a real conversation about Chicagoland or call me at the Skokie Kollel
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amother
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Mon, Jun 04 2007, 1:51 pm
this is a totally different amother.... wow! Anyway, I totally agree that if you're moving here and a re young and very yeshivish, and don't really know a lot of people, you must try to get an apt. in a "good" are (ie- one with a lot of other young families in kollel and chinuch). It's impt. becuase it'll be a lot easier to make friends, carpool, etc.... especially if you are not using the eruv. Defiently the immediate area will be more important than the apt., at least for the first year or so, until you make friends, etc...
You will want to live north of devon, south of pratt on motzart or francisco. I know of an apt in that area--probably the same one as the other person mentioned--. The family is moving away in the summer.
There are other neighborhoods in chicago that are great, but if you're young and yeshivish, this will be the best way to meet pppl in a similar situation.
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mumoo
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Mon, Jun 04 2007, 3:55 pm
or south of Foster by Telshe- where the young, really Yeshivish families are
OP, I don't know where you are from, or what school dh is looking at (also a source of connections), but you can spend some time here getting to know the communities. I can host you for Shabbosim or during the week and show you around, introduce you, whatever. Then you might feel better about making decisions.
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