Best Philly Suburbs for Russian Jewish Family Moving From NY? (Philadelphia: insurance, broker)

[solibs]

Originally Posted by NYMama1975

Unfortunately NJ is pretty much out of the question for us since I am an attorney licensed in NY and NJ does not have reciprocity with NY (PA does).

I'm ignorant about these sorts of things but . . . you can't live in NJ while you practice law in PA?

With respect to Lower Merion, I have read that the schools are fantastic but I am hesitant about that area for two reasons: (1) the towns comprising the Lower Merion school district may be too religiously observant for us;

Lower Merion is a big town and is only about 12% observant. There are orthodox and conservative communities there but they're not the majority of Jews in LMT and the town is still majority Christian.

and (2) since we will probably be living on one income for the most part, I am afraid of my kids living in the "smallest" house, etc. Although I could care less about this kind of stuff, we all know how mean kids can be at school.

When I suggested the "main line" I was thinking specifically of Ardmore and, more specifically of a former co-worker's neighborhood on the Haverford Township side of the tracks. Check it out.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by Shino306

Either NE Philly or the aforementioned Jenkintown/Abington/Huntigton Valley/Elkins Park area. Jenkintown actually has a beautiful synagogue (Beth Sholom) built by Frank Lloyd Wright, the area has a large Jewish population and the public schools are good. Good Luck!

Not only that, but just north of Beth Sholom is Keneseth Israel (I think KI is actually next door to BS), and a mile or 2 south of these 2 congregations is Adath Jeshurun. Also, a mile or 2 north is Old York Road Temple-Beth AM. (I googled "synagogues in abington pa" because I am somewhat familiar with the area and was aware of the not insignificant Jewish population there). These 4 synagogues are located on PA 611, also called Old York Road.

I'm not sure if the Russian Jewish population is as large in Abington as in other areas mentioned, though.

[Shino306]

Originally Posted by BPP1999

Not only that, but just north of Beth Sholom is Keneseth Israel (I think KI is actually next door to BS), and a mile or 2 south of these 2 congregations is Adath Jeshurun. Also, a mile or 2 north is Old York Road Temple-Beth AM. (I googled "synagogues in abington pa" because I am somewhat familiar with the area and was aware of the not insignificant Jewish population there). These 4 synagogues are located on PA 611, also called Old York Road.

I'm not sure if the Russian Jewish population is as large in Abington as in other areas mentioned, though.

When I lived in that area, it felt like everyone was Jewish, so not suprising. I don't know about the Russian Jewish population either, but they also have a Ukranian church along 611 too, so there must be a significant Eastern European presence.

[NYMama1975]

You guys are fantastic. You have really helped steer me in the right direction. I will do a lot of research into all of the places recommended on this thread. Hopefully we will find the perfect fit for us! Now we just have to wait and see where exactly my husband will be working. I am so excited to move to PA I am getting impatient!

In reply to Solibs, no I cannot live in NJ and practice in PA if I will be practicing from home. If I were to work in a law office in PA that would be another story. But I want to work from home this time, so as to spend more time with my boys and be a part of their lives during the day, not only when I get home from work at night, like I am currently doing (. So I would have to make a motion to the PA Bar for admission, and in practice from home, I would have to register my home law office with a PA address. It is a stupid rule and what is even more stupid is that NJ does not have reciprocity with NY or PA, because NJ doesn't want an influx of NJ and PA attorneys. Why, I don't know. The NJ bar is the easiest bar exam in the country (I had the option of taking it when I took the NY Bar, but I didn't want to sit in a bar exam for a third day--I never thought I would leave NY when I was 25 and single!). So if I wanted to take the NJ, I would have to take the entire bar exam (the Multistate--600 multiple choice questions over 6 hours--and the NJ portion--3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon--2 whole days of testing). Since I took the bar exam so long ago I don't remember all of the tricks/topics, etc., and I would have to pay $6,000 to take a Multistate Course again (there are two right answers to every question, but you have to choose the best answer). Too much money and too much of a nightmare. I will just stick with PA. I will definitely check out Ardmore. Any other Lower Merion towns you would recommend?

I will also check out Newtown, as per BobSmith's recommendation. Thanks again to all!

[solibs]

Originally Posted by NYMama1975

In reply to Solibs, no I cannot live in NJ and practice in PA if I will be practicing from home . . . Too much money and too much of a nightmare. I will just stick with PA. I will definitely check out Ardmore. Any other Lower Merion towns you would recommend?

Yeah, that's definitely dumb.

Penn Wynne, Narberth and Bryn Mawr. I would look at Haverford Township and Lower Merion Township together. Your price range will keep you out of Gladwyne and Bala so that steers you naturally to the more down-to-earth neighborhoods.

Anyway, on a map, if you find the Cynwyd train station and draw a line west along Montgomery Ave. and keep following it around 'til you get to Ardmore, then follow Ardmore Ave. south down to West Chester Pike then east to City Ave. and back up to Bala/Cynwyd you have a circle of sorts and, somewhere in there you'll probably find the house you're looking for.

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by NYMama1975

With respect to Lower Merion, I have read that the schools are fantastic but I am hesitant about that area for two reasons: (1) the towns comprising the Lower Merion school district may be too religiously observant for us; and (2) since we will probably be living on one income for the most part, I am afraid of my kids living in the "smallest" house, etc. Although I could care less about this kind of stuff, we all know how mean kids can be at school. And it is hard to explain to a child that none of this stuff matters when they are being made fun of at school (I myself remember this phenomenon-I went to private school in NY but we lived in an apartment while others lived in very big homes with a pool-enough said-I don't want to even be in a town where peoples values are so screwed up).

I dont know where you heard all of that, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Lower Merion has Jews of all sects. It is not overwhelmingly Orthodox at all. As for your second point, trust me, no one will care about any of that stuff (maybe if you're closer to Harriton, but in the LMHS zoning, no one cares).

For what it's worth, I'm a conservative Jew and have lived in Lower Merion for my entire life. My mother and entire mother's side is from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, so I like to think I know what I'm talking about.

[NYMama1975]

Thank you JHG722! Sheepshead Bay/Brighton Beach/Manhattan Beach is my old hood! So which town do you live in? Which towns do you recommend?

Also, to everyone who was nice enough to reply to me, does anyone know anything about Dresher? Someone mentioned it to me and said it was in the Upper Dublin school District and that it was great. This person is also from Hershey PA so I don't know if they know the area very well. Any thoughts?

[bicoastal10]

Abington is your best bet.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by NYMama1975

Thank you JHG722! Sheepshead Bay/Brighton Beach/Manhattan Beach is my old hood! So which town do you live in? Which towns do you recommend?

Also, to everyone who was nice enough to reply to me, does anyone know anything about Dresher? Someone mentioned it to me and said it was in the Upper Dublin school District and that it was great. This person is also from Hershey PA so I don't know if they know the area very well. Any thoughts?

Dresher is a good area, and Upper Dublin SD is very good. Dresher has no real downtown, and of all the places mentioned it's probably the most boring and nondescript. However, you'd be near plenty of shopping (in the Willow Grove area) and near the Turnpike. Actually, Dresher is rather quiet because most of the shopping is not in Dresher (Upper Dublin Township) but near it. There is a Jewish presence in the UDSD, although not what you'd find in LM or Abington/Cheltenham. There are several synagogues in that area:

Temple Sinai: http://tsinai.com/

Or Hadash: http://www.orhadash.com/

Beth Or: http://www.bethor.org/

I'm not Jewish and I therefore know very little about these synagogues but I do know that they are there.

For the record not only is there a decent Jewish population in the UDSD but from what I know there's a sizable Asian presence as well.

[JHG722]

Originally Posted by NYMama1975

Thank you JHG722! Sheepshead Bay/Brighton Beach/Manhattan Beach is my old hood! So which town do you live in? Which towns do you recommend?

Also, to everyone who was nice enough to reply to me, does anyone know anything about Dresher? Someone mentioned it to me and said it was in the Upper Dublin school District and that it was great. This person is also from Hershey PA so I don't know if they know the area very well. Any thoughts?

I live in Wynnewood. We have plenty of synagogues in the area. I would recommend anything on the Main Line, because I'm biased towards the area I grew up in and live. Dresher is a nice area, though.