Do any Jews live in Miami Shores? (Miami Beach, Kendall: renting, houses)

[Ylanotai]

Just moved to Miami and we're renting in Aventura. Hate it!!! Fell in love with Miami Shores but it seems as if there are no synagogues there at all. We are a young family (3 children) and would like some sort of community. Are there any synagogues or any type of Jewish community in Miami Shores at all??

[noland123]

There is a Faith Tabernacle Deliverance at 12075 N.E. 2nd ave. Miami Shores and Beth Moshe at 2225 121st street North Miami,Fla.

[crisp444]

Originally Posted by Ylanotai

Just moved to Miami and we're renting in Aventura. Hate it!!! Fell in love with Miami Shores but it seems as if there are no synagogues there at all. We are a young family (3 children) and would like some sort of community. Are there any synagogues or any type of Jewish community in Miami Shores at all??

Miami Shores has a good Jewish presence but I am not sure about synagogues there. What exactly do you not like about Aventura? I ask because if you are considering other areas besides Miami Shores (which is a very nice area) I don't want to recommend any areas like Aventura to you. Other areas with substantial Jewish communities are central/north Miami Beach, Bal Harbour/Surfside, Bay Harbor Islands, Pinecrest, Coral Gables, and East Kendall. All of these are very nice areas with good schools for the kids.

[planetsurf]

Are there ANY Jews in Miami Shores? Of course. But it isn't an area I think of when I think "Jewish Miami."

It would help greately if you described the type of Jewish community you were looking for too. Reformed, Conservative, Conservadox, Orthodox. I'd assume you are more Reformed/Conservative -- if you kept Kosher and went to shul every week you'd need to know where things are.
As you may or may not know, and as crisp444 described, the 3 biggest "clusters" in Jewish Miami are the Aventura area, all of the Beach, but especially North Beach down to South Beach and the Brickell/Grove-CGables/SMiami-Pinecrest/EKendall US1 corridor.

Aventura is very mixed with very Orthodox and very Reformed Jews. Lots of Israelis, French and LatAm Jews in addition to the "New Yorkers."
The beaches tend towards more Conservative/Orthodox -- it's where the real Yeshivas are.
The US1 corridor tends to be Reformed/Conservative (with the major exception being the Chabadniks, who took over the AMAZING, big, old synagogue in CGrove). 2 Reformed Jewish Day Schools I know of (1 of them my kids go to) plus a big JCC.
Everywhere is a good mix of Sephardic, Mizrahi and Ashkenazim -- my kids school has families from Argentina, Brazil, Switzerland, Israel, Chile ... it's pretty nice. When I was a kid in Brooklyn, I didn't know Jews came from anywhere other than shtetls in Eastern Europe or Israel lol! (The rest mostly ex-NorthEastern Ashkenazim like me, but that's ok. )

I appreciate what you probably like about Miami Shores ... it is very charming and unique in Miami.
You'd probably need to suffer driving over to the beach or back up to Aventura to get "Jewcy." We have friends that live in Normany Island, just east of Miami Shores, and they are very Conservative - not sure where their synagogue is but I know they don't drive too far.
OR try and start a synagogue - maybe there is a need there?

[Ylanotai]

I love the community in Aventura, I just don't like the neighborhoods. Miami Shores seems so pretty, quiet and calm with beautiful homes form the 30's and nice lots. The Kosher shopping in Aventura is close enough. Maybe you're right, we should start our own shul in Miami Shores!!!

Any suggestions on where to look for a home if we were to buy in Aventura. Everything I've seen so far seems pretty depressing.

As for the type of community we are looking for... my husband is orthodox and we keep a Kosher household. However, we have moved from a town that had nothing so we feel very lucky to be here. We've been attending a conservative shul for the past four years simply because we had no choice. It would be nice to have a small orthodox shul nearby however I can't seem to find anything in Miami Shores.

[crisp444]

If you are open to living in Kendall there is a nice JCC on Killian Drive and SW 112th Avenue. They have some fields there with active baseball leagues for both kids and adults. I knew someone who grew up playing Little League there, and I'm sure it would be a good way to meet other families with kids, many of them Jewish. To my knowledge most of the Jews in the area are reformed and from NY/NJ with some from Argentina, Cuba, and Venezeuela.

[Ylanotai]

My children are in school in Aventura and my husband works there. Seems as if Kendall would be quite a commute!! Also, why would you say "If we're open to living in Kendall?"

Actually, we all LOVED Surfside, but it seems as if homes are too small and too expensive with no lots!

[crisp444]

Originally Posted by Ylanotai

I love the community in Aventura, I just don't like the neighborhoods. Miami Shores seems so pretty, quiet and calm with beautiful homes form the 30's and nice lots. The Kosher shopping in Aventura is close enough. Maybe you're right, we should start our own shul in Miami Shores!!!

Any suggestions on where to look for a home if we were to buy in Aventura. Everything I've seen so far seems pretty depressing.

As for the type of community we are looking for... my husband is orthodox and we keep a Kosher household. However, we have moved from a town that had nothing so we feel very lucky to be here. We've been attending a conservative shul for the past four years simply because we had no choice. It would be nice to have a small orthodox shul nearby however I can't seem to find anything in Miami Shores.

Have you looked at houses in the Highland Oaks/Lakes area? Look on a map and find the area that is bounded by Miami Gardens Drive (SW 163rd St) to the south, County Line Road to the north, US1 to the east and I-95 to the west. That neighborhood has very nice single family homes and I believe all of it (most of it, at least) is zoned for Highland Oaks Elementary School, which is well-regarded. I am not sure about the home prices but I would imagine that most of the single family homes there cost around $500,000.

[crisp444]

Originally Posted by Ylanotai

My children are in school in Aventura and my husband works there. Seems as if Kendall would be quite a commute!! Also, why would you say "If we're open to living in Kendall?"

Actually, we all LOVED Surfside, but it seems as if homes are too small and too expensive with no lots!

I didn't mean to imply that there is anything wrong with Kendall because there isn't; it is a nice place to live. I said "If you're open to living in Kendall" because I thought you might want to stay closer to Aventura. I guess I was right!

[Ylanotai]

Yes, you were right! We like the convenience of the North side of Miami. It's simply a tough town to figure out. Seems as if there are "pockets" and you need to find them. Everybody has an idea and everyone else will contradict what is said.

What do we want??? Safety, good schools, close to the beach, good Jewish community, close to work, pretty yet affordable neighborhood. Does this even exist anymore?