A nice liberal town w/ a strong jewish population?? (schools, synagogues)

[phyll]

Originally Posted by shellybsw

Oh no! Might I ask why?

I did not live far from Lakewood Nj , I lived in Ocean county too,Lakewood is NOT safe to live in, like said it's not a nice place to live!

[shellybsw]

Originally Posted by mike0421

Haddonfield is pretty much a no brainer. It has every single aspect of which you describe.

I love Haddonfield. My husband not so much. The homes are more than we can afford. I looked at a smallish 3 bedroom with a teeny tiny yard for $565,000. The taxes are no picnic either, but not as bad as I'd have expected.

I agree that the town definitely has all that I am looking for- except price.

[mike0421]

Originally Posted by shellybsw

I love Haddonfield. My husband not so much. The homes are more than we can afford. I looked at a smallish 3 bedroom with a teeny tiny yard for $565,000. The taxes are no picnic either, but not as bad as I'd have expected.

I agree that the town definitely has all that I am looking for- except price.

Try looking in the Barrington section (closer to Tavistock), or closer to Westmont, which is west of the downtown, further down Haddon Ave.. You are still in Haddonfield proper, but housing costs are lower in these sections.

[nsa162]

Originally Posted by phyll

I did not live far from Lakewood Nj , I lived in Ocean county too,Lakewood is NOT safe to live in, like said it's not a nice place to live!

I live in Lakewood and its not like people say it is.Maybe 10-15 years ago but people are not up on their towns.Lakewood has a population of over 70,000.Over 75% of that population is jewish.The Jewish populace doesnt cause any troubles with crime.There are certain neighborhoods that i would certainly not walk through at night but most towns have shady areas.According to App Data universe, Freehold Twp has a higher crime rate than Lakewood Twp.Now how many people on here tell you to stay away from Freehold? I know some of you may say that freehold boro is not that good but this stat is not including the boro.Neighborhoods in lakewood that i would avoid would be Route 88 from Clifton all the way past the ocean county park and most of the side streets off of 88. Martin luther king drive and some of the side streets off of it.Some side streets off of route 9,south of the lake. Outside of these areas,Lakewood is Safe.if anyone needs specifics about Lakewood,Ask

[dhanu86]

Originally Posted by shellybsw

This is what I am researching. I'd like to move my family somewhere south of Princeton (anywhere south all the way to down to the shore). I'd like a laid back, liberal, diverse community. I am also looking for good schools and a strong jewish population. A nice little 'downtown' area is a plus, but not a deal breaker.
ANYONE have any thoughts??? Please!!

Lakewood, atleast I see many Jews walking around on Sunday.

[phyll]

Originally Posted by nsa162

I live in Lakewood and its not like people say it is.Maybe 10-15 years ago but people are not up on their towns.Lakewood has a population of over 70,000.Over 75% of that population is jewish.The Jewish populace doesnt cause any troubles with crime.There are certain neighborhoods that i would certainly not walk through at night but most towns have shady areas.According to App Data universe, Freehold Twp has a higher crime rate than Lakewood Twp.Now how many people on here tell you to stay away from Freehold? I know some of you may say that freehold boro is not that good but this stat is not including the boro.Neighborhoods in lakewood that i would avoid would be Route 88 from Clifton all the way past the ocean county park and most of the side streets off of 88. Martin luther king drive and some of the side streets off of it.Some side streets off of route 9,south of the lake. Outside of these areas,Lakewood is Safe.if anyone needs specifics about Lakewood,Ask

I apologize if my post was wrong, I left NJ in Sept., and I guess from what I just heard it was'nt the greatest, truthfully, I don't know of freehold,and maybe the streets of Lakewood I did see and heard of are the ones posted are the unsafe ones I know of .

[nsa162]

Heres a map with the bad areas outlined.The areas outside the outline are safe.There are a few scattered blocks that are shady but thats the gist of it

[mike0421]

I have an interesting story. My wife's cousin married into a family whose heritage was from Lakewood. They are reformed Jews. They lived in that neighborhood at the end of Hope Chapel Road right where it ends at 526. The father in law told me they lived harmoniously in the neighborhood with other reformed Jewish families, as well as Christian and non-denominational families. Sometime in the early 90s, the Orthodox Jews began to predominate in population. According to him, the Orthodox proceeded to assert their cultural will upon the neighborhood, and the older residents of the neighborhood, feeling alienated from this 'new order', began to move. He told me that as a reformist Jew, him and his reformed neighbors were castigated at an even more brusque fashion than the Christian families. It was inferred by the Rabbi of the Orthodox temple that the reformed in the presence of the neighborhood were guilty of not conforming to the Orthodox teachings of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson etc, and as such, according to my wife's cousins father-in-law "Not a real Jew". Guess what? They moved out the neighborhood too, to a 55+ on the other side of town about 8 years ago. And boy, were they bitter about doing it. They felt like they totally lost their neighborhood.

Now, I am not Jewish, but my wife's family and her extended family are reformed, and the consensus is pretty much down these lines. The reformed and the Orthodox seemingly have an on-going 'in house squabbling' that goes back several generations.

[MaverickDD]

1) If you want to find people of a particular faith, why not try an Internet search for locations of houses of worship for that faith? Searching for NJ Synagogues should lead you to Jewish population centers.
2) Have you considered Margate?

[hrjersey]

I don't know Lakewood well but what mike0421 said sounds about right. I live in Toms River right next to Lakewood. Although I'm reformed I don't generally feel comfortable in Lakewood because of the Orthodoxy. Here in Toms River there is a Conservative temple which I've been told has about 400 families. It sounds like a lot but our population is close to 90K. There is also a reformed temple but it is much smaller...in fact I just saw a For Sale sign in front of it this weekend. My daughter is 3 and I was going to check out the Conservative Temple this summer as it seems my only choice.

I know there is a JCC in monmouth county. You might want to try calling them to ask about communities in the area.