Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago Suburbs
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-19-2010, 04:55 PM
 
9 posts, read 24,683 times
Reputation: 14

Advertisements

I am pretty surprised by some of the replies to the OP's question. I think the people who have the most insight are probably those who live in Glencoe and experience the community daily.

I am Jewish and my husband Christian, and we moved to Glencoe last year. There are lots of interfaith families here, (people joke that that's Glencoe's "diversity"), and my kids have made plenty of friends with children who are not Jewish. There is no religious slant in the public schools, so your children would not feel left out at all. I know of some Jewish kids who will not be Bar/Bat Mitzvahed down the road (including my own). I do know that there are kids who walk en masse to Hebrew School after classes together, but I don't think children who are not enrolled will feel left out by that.

There are less than 9,000 people in Glencoe and I can think of three churches here off the top of my head (there is one temple). The Glencoe Park District has an Easter Egg Hunt in the spring and Santa comes in the winter. I think people in this small community take pride in being tight-knit, safe and warm and welcome different religions.

I'd be happy to discuss offline the community more if you want to. It's a great place to live!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-19-2010, 06:25 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,936,054 times
Reputation: 18725
Default Agreed. People belie their own bigotry...

I used to work with a guy that lived in Glemcoe. He introduced me to a friend of his that we ran into at lunch, very nice guy, described only as "a neighbor". Pulled up a chair to our table and shared a sandwich with us. Totally down to earth. Months later I was reading an article in the Trib. Guy was one the most high powered investment gurus in Chicago. Not a bit a pretense...


Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagobound? View Post
I am pretty surprised by some of the replies to the OP's question. I think the people who have the most insight are probably those who live in Glencoe and experience the community daily.

I am Jewish and my husband Christian, and we moved to Glencoe last year. There are lots of interfaith families here, (people joke that that's Glencoe's "diversity"), and my kids have made plenty of friends with children who are not Jewish. There is no religious slant in the public schools, so your children would not feel left out at all. I know of some Jewish kids who will not be Bar/Bat Mitzvahed down the road (including my own). I do know that there are kids who walk en masse to Hebrew School after classes together, but I don't think children who are not enrolled will feel left out by that.

There are less than 9,000 people in Glencoe and I can think of three churches here off the top of my head (there is one temple). The Glencoe Park District has an Easter Egg Hunt in the spring and Santa comes in the winter. I think people in this small community take pride in being tight-knit, safe and warm and welcome different religions.

I'd be happy to discuss offline the community more if you want to. It's a great place to live!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-19-2010, 06:59 PM
 
1,728 posts, read 4,705,452 times
Reputation: 487
I think most people are genuinely nice. The problem occurs when another party starts showing off.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-20-2010, 08:45 AM
 
Location: Winnetka
114 posts, read 385,410 times
Reputation: 76
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
I used to work with a guy that lived in Glemcoe. He introduced me to a friend of his that we ran into at lunch, very nice guy, described only as "a neighbor". Pulled up a chair to our table and shared a sandwich with us. Totally down to earth. Months later I was reading an article in the Trib. Guy was one the most high powered investment gurus in Chicago. Not a bit a pretense...
We are not talking about snobbery or being pretencious. The OP was wondering if non-Jews in Glenncoe feel left out at all. The non-Jews in Glencoe that I know have expressed that often they do feel left out. This is not due to anything other than not sharing some of the same traditions, etc. They don't believe the exclusivity is intentional at all but non Jewish families certainly are not going to be included in certain events because they aren't Jewish. And nearly every Jew that I know in Glencoe sends their kids away for a long period in the summer. Again, a tradition. Glencoe is full of lovely people of all faiths, it is a pretty, little community with some great values now.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-20-2010, 10:23 AM
 
115 posts, read 289,326 times
Reputation: 59
I think living in Glencoe and not being Jewish may be a little like being Jewish and living anywhere else. When you're not of the dominant faith the culture may seem unfamiliar, and hopefully a little interesting. It's like Jewish kids going to a classroom "holiday" party in most schools and decorating reindeer cookies. No one thinks this may make the Jewish kids feel left out, only that it's a fun activity. In Glencoe a class party may include decorating star of David cookies, to continue the example. But no one is staying "too bad, Christian kids." It's just what is chosen, not meant to hurt anyone.

I think the best thing is to hang around downtown Glencoe and see if you feel comfortable. No one can really tell you how you'll feel. You have to experience it yourself. From personal experience I think Glencoe is a bit more friendlier than some predominately Jewish suburbs. (Or predominately Christian suburbs for that matter. It's very nice community.)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-20-2010, 10:24 AM
 
1,728 posts, read 4,705,452 times
Reputation: 487
And every person I know in Winnetka eats white bread with one slice of baloney and mayonnaise.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-20-2010, 10:27 AM
 
115 posts, read 289,326 times
Reputation: 59
Quote:
Originally Posted by chitown85 View Post
And every person I know in Winnetka eats white bread with one slice of baloney and mayonnaise.
Actually it's 2 slices of locally produced organic ham on artesian bread with homemade mayo.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-20-2010, 01:35 PM
 
1,728 posts, read 4,705,452 times
Reputation: 487
Haha point taken.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-21-2010, 05:00 PM
 
Location: Chicago
6,359 posts, read 8,756,596 times
Reputation: 5869
Am I living in some sort of time warp? When I was young (way, way back in the 50's), Glenoce was as Jewish as Highland Park. I was under the impression it was far less so today.

Am I off base? I mean, if I were to identify the suburbs with the strongest Jewish "feel", I'd go with places like Highland Park, Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, etc.

Glencoe wouldn't make the list, like Skokie wouldn't either any more.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-21-2010, 07:04 PM
 
1,728 posts, read 4,705,452 times
Reputation: 487
Back in the 1950s, Glencoe had housing covenants which forbid sales to Jews and Blacks. Other housing covenants existed for Italians and Hispanics. Glencoe became Jewish in the late 1960s early 1970s after Wilmette. Perhaps a lot of the Jewish people you met were in Wilmette, Northbrook, Glenview, and Highland Park.

Historically Highland Park and Deerfield have been Jewish and still are Jewish.

Buffalo Grove not until the 1980s and into the 1990s as well as the northern portions of Arlington Heights, Palatine, and a part of Wheeling. At this point, Buffalo Grove has followed the trend of AH and Wheeling and is less Jewish than in the 1990s.

Skokie has a large percentage of Orthodox Jews, but is also far less Jewish than until the mid 1980s.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago Suburbs
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top