Moving south - looking for diversity (Jackson, Gulfport: home, universities, casinos)

[upnorthcheri]

My husband and I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan -- very north. We desperately need to move south to get away from these winters, and to get closer to our granddaughter. My husband is a little nervous about moving south as he is Jewish and is worried about attitudes towards Jews that he might encounter. Anyone have any experience with this? Maybe you can suggest a diverse area that would be more comfortable for him.

[usm2009]

When you say south, how south do you mean? and how big of a city are you looking for?

There are smaller metros but there are much larger metros to choose from. With you moving from upper MI, I would definitely suggest somewhere in Georgia. If you’re looking for a smaller city, I would suggest Savannah. It is very nice. Larger city, I would suggest Marietta (metro Atlanta) or Roswell.

If you move from MI to MS you will have a MAJOR culture shock due to the weather. I don't think you will experience any problems with your husband being Jewish. I'm from Hattiesburg, MS. It’s a nice area with two universities and is a decent size area (metro 150,000) with good shopping and eating. It is also close to New Orleans and the casinos on the coast.

Hope this helps some.

[oldenfatt]

I have lived in Mississippi for the great majority of my 46 years, and I can honestly say I have never heard a negative comment directed toward , or even about, someone for being Jewish. As I told someone in another post, racism here is pretty much stuck on the black/white thing.

[cowhorse53]

Checkout mavensearch.com/synagogues and you will see all the congregations in any state, several in MS! I have checked out several in TN, AL & MS myself.

[DB3]

One of my best friends here is Jewish. She was very active with the Gulfport (on the Coast) synagogue and now lives outside of Jackson (mid-state) and is very active in the Jackson synagogue. If you have specific questions I can send to her, please feel free to direct message me.

[upnorthcheri]

Thanks for the feedback. We are way up here and have family in Florida, Tennessee, S Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia so... it would be nice to be someplace where we could at least get to family within a days drive.

Of course moving such a distance is quite an undertaking. My husband has done Substance Abuse Prevention at the collegiate level for close to 20 years and with it being a position not often respected or appreciated he's not sure he wants to look for another similar position. When we got married and moved up here I walked away from my second career, community based substance abuse prevention. Figured I would reinvent myself when we got here but jobs were really difficult to come by. For the last few years I've been working first in a doctor's office (scheduling) and now as a Unit Clerk at the hospital. So to compound the difficulty of the move we both are not sure what we want to be when we grow up. We are both college educated and used to working in professional environments but we would love to find jobs someplace where employees and their skills and talents are recognized and appreciated. Having worked in the health care field I've also found that whatever I do it would be nice if the environment valued the customer and put them before profit.

Does the above description make you think of a particular area or job(s)? We can use any help we can get.

[Ira500]

upnorthcheri,
seems to me that you'd feel best either in a larger city or a city with a university or a more educated place, and maybe a place that has more than a couple of Jews. The south has had Jews for a long time, including my relatives..Nobody's going to want to harm your husband because he's Jewish. They might try to convert him, but that's a southern thing. Baptists try to convert Catholics, Catholics try to convert Methodists, etc( and everybody wants to convert the Jews)..
In Missisippi, Hattiesburg, Oxford, Jackson,Madison, and Ocean Springs should be considered.
In Arkansas, look into Little Rock, Fayetteville, and Hot Springs, home of the only Jewish deli in the state of Arkansas.

[Bobilee]

You might consider Kentucky, perhaps Louisville, centrally placed between TN, OH, WV and SC (though perhaps a little longer drive).

[Tama]

You have a lot of choices it seems. I am in Hattiesburg and here there is a small synagogue. A friend belongs and I attended a Bar Mitzvah there. They seemed to have a wonderful big family atmosphere. Also, there is a large health care community here. I have always heard good things about South Carolina as well. The Mobile, Alabama, area has possibilities and is quite near the beach.