[STLgasm]

From Jewish Living

The Top 10 Jewish Neighborhoods in North America
By Lisa Alcalay Klug


Top 10 Jewish Neighborhoods in North America

Aventura, Florida
Boulder, Colorado
Lower Merion, Philadelphia
The McGill Ghetto, Montreal
North Dallas, Texas
North/West Berkeley, California
Pico-Robertson, Los Angeles
Soho/TriBeCa, New York City
University City, St. Louis
West Seattle, Washington

Full article: http://www.jewishlivingmag.com/top10/top10_neighborhoods.php

[Evergrey]

I just knew Squirrel Hill wouldn't make it onto this list!

[STLgasm]

Yeah, that's bullshit. Squirrel Hill is easily one of the most cohesive Jewish communities in the country, and unlike so many other older cities whose Jewish populations have moved to the suburbs, Squirrel Hill has remained a strong enclave within the urban core.

I'm also surprised that Rogers Park or Skokie (Chicago), Pikesville (Baltimore) and Oak Park (Detroit) are not mentioned. Shaker Heights (Cleveland) is apparently on the list of "places to watch"...

[Crawford]

LOL, Tribeca and Soho are Jewish?

I mean, they have Jewish people, but there is no connection whatsoever with Jewish religion or culture. You could just as easily say Tribeca and Soho are Muslim.

[AaronPGH]

I just knew Squirrel Hill wouldn't make it onto this list!


BS. Can't believe it didn't.

[bnk]

I'm also surprised that Rogers Park or Skokie (Chicago), Pikesville (Baltimore) and Oak Park (Detroit) are not mentioned. Shaker Heights (Cleveland) is apparently on the list of "places to watch"... One could add lincolnwood Il, St. Louis Park MN, and some other North Shore communities (Chicago).

[BTinSF]

The article says "Our hope was to be more than a little surprising" and I'd say they succeeded.

It also says of SoHo/TriBeCa:

"At-a-Glance Essentials:
Epicenter: The adjacent areas SoHo (south of Houston Street) and TriBeCa (the triangle below Canal Street).
Downside: Lacking kosher restaurants, a mikvah, and critical infrastructure, the community is raw and unformed. It faces the challenges of creating a Jewish community where there has never been one."

How a place lacking kosher restaurants and still in the process of creating a Jewish community can be one of the nations "top 10" is truly more than a little surprising.

I'd say this makes the whole list rather absurd, which I suspected when I saw north Berkeley on it.

[Crawford]

I'm also surprised that Rogers Park or Skokie (Chicago), Pikesville (Baltimore) and Oak Park (Detroit) are not mentioned. Shaker Heights (Cleveland) is apparently on the list of "places to watch"...

Oak Park (suburban Detroit) has a pretty small Jewish community. There are some Orthodox, but most of the Orthodox) and 100% of the Conservatives and Reform) have moved to the West Bloomfield/Farmington Hills area.

Shaker Heights isn't particularly Jewish. The observant Jews in Cleveland are in Cleveland Heights, University Heights and Beechwood.

The less observant Jews are further out, in places like Pepper Pike.

[Crawford]

If we are talking largest Jewish neighborhoods by raw numbers, I would imagine most are in Brooklyn and a few are in the remaining metro NYC area.

LA and Miami are #2 and #3 respectively and also have very large communities.

The biggest Jewish concentrations in the NYC area:

Brooklyn-
Borough Park
Midwood
Gravesend
Flatlands
South Williamsburg
South Crown Heights

Queens-
Kew Gardens Hills
Jamaica Estates

Bronx-
Riverdale

Long Island-
Five Towns area
Great Neck area

New Jersey-
Teaneck
West Orange/Livingston area
Lakewood

Westchester County-
New Rochelle/Purchase area

Rockland/Orange-
Kiryas Joel
Monsey

[Rico Rommheim]

From Jewish Living

The Top 10 Jewish Neighborhoods in North America
By Lisa Alcalay Klug


Top 10 Jewish Neighborhoods in North America

Aventura, Florida
Boulder, Colorado
Lower Merion, Philadelphia
The McGill Ghetto, Montreal
North Dallas, Texas
North/West Berkeley, California
Pico-Robertson, Los Angeles
Soho/TriBeCa, New York City
University City, St. Louis
West Seattle, Washington



Jewish living should get its facts strait first before publishing. The McGill ghetto is a neighborhhod in downtown Montreal inhabited by young professionals, McGill students and people from all over the world, its a multi-cultural place but is by no means a "jewish community". :sly:

The jews live in Mile-end and the west island.

[blade_bltz]

What a joke.

Where are Brookline and Newton Massachusetts?

[tjh1]

I'm sorta surprised not to see Bellaire in Houston listed.

[JMancuso]

I'm sorta surprised not to see Bellaire in Houston listed.

bellaire and meyerland have a lot of jews but those other areas really have a lot of jews. oy vey!

[Buckeye Native 001]

Stupid question, but what/where is Pico-Robertson in Los Angeles? I thought for sure, if there'd be any Jewish community listed based in L.A., it'd be in Fairfax. Unless Pico-Robertson and Fairfax are the same thing?

:shrug:

[Crawford]

I think it's to the west, and basically a more upscale, more suburban version of Fairfax?

Encino also has tons of Jews, especially Israelis. I am close with some Israelis in the New York area, Encino is second after New York as the top location for Israeli businesses.

[Tymel]

If we are talking largest Jewish neighborhoods by raw numbers, I would imagine most are in Brooklyn and a few are in the remaining metro NYC area.

LA and Miami are #2 and #3 respectively and also have very large communities.

The biggest Jewish concentrations in the NYC area:

Brooklyn-
Borough Park
Midwood
Gravesend
Flatlands
South Williamsburg
South Crown Heights

Queens-
Kew Gardens Hills
Jamaica Estates

Bronx-
Riverdale

Long Island-
Five Towns area
Great Neck area
Woodmere

New Jersey-
Teaneck
West Orange/Livingston area
Lakewood

Westchester County-
New Rochelle/Purchase area

Rockland/Orange-
Kiryas Joel
Monsey


Thought I would add one, where I think every single person in that town is Jewish.

[10023]

I can only really speak for New York City and Chicago, but surprised to not see any Chicago neighborhood or suburb and a bit perplexed as to why SoHo and TriBeCa were singled out here in New York. New York has a huge Jewish population that's spread all over the area, but I'm sure there are areas with more Jews, in number and in proportion, than that one. The Upper West Side is probably a lot more Jewish than SoHo, as are any number of suburban communities on Long Island or in northern Jersey. And if you're actually talking about observant Jews, never mind hasidim, Brooklyn has actual "Jewish communities" in a way Manhattan simply doesn't. Maybe Boston suburbs like Brookline or Newton, and I'd expect to see about half a dozen places in Florida listed before any place in Texas or Boulder, CO. In other words, I don't get it.

[BrianSac]

Stupid question, but what/where is Pico-Robertson in Los Angeles? I thought for sure, if there'd be any Jewish community listed based in L.A., it'd be in Fairfax. Unless Pico-Robertson and Fairfax are the same thing?

I think it's to the west, and basically a more upscale, more suburban version of Fairfax?

Pico/Robertson, the Westside, LA.

Yes it is to the west of Fairfax. More suburban? yes and no, by Manhattan standards, yes, in comparison to most other cities in the USA, definitely not.

It's slightly newer than the Fairfax District. Robertson is a border street separating the cities of West Hollywood and LA from Beverly Hills. Pico in that neighborhood is way upscale. Pico is an extremely diverse west/east blvd; it travels the length of the 10 Freeway. Santa Monica-Downtown-East LA. Pico is south of Beverly Blvd, 3rd, and Melrose all major west/east through ways.

[mr.John]

The jews live in Mile-end and the west island. not to mention Cote st. Luc

[the urban politician]

Leaving out Forest Hills, Queens is just plain ridiculous

[miketoronto]

I can't believe they left out Bathurst Street and North Toronto. That area is very very very jewish, and huge at that.

[MonkeyRonin]

LOL, New York - Soho but not Boro Park. :rolleyes:

[Crawford]

Yeah, Borough Park is easily the largest Jewish community in North America, but I have a feeling it would not count on such a list, as it is dominated by the Hasidism (though there are a fair number of Orthodox).

[Buckeye Native 001]

Pico/Robertson, the Westside, LA.

Yes it is to the west of Fairfax. More suburban? yes and no, by Manhattan standards, yes, in comparison to most other cities in the USA, definitely not.

It's slightly newer than the Fairfax District. Robertson is a border street separating the cities of West Hollywood and LA from Beverly Hills. Pico in that neighborhood is way upscale. Pico is an extremely diverse west/east blvd; it travels the length of the 10 Freeway. Santa Monica-Downtown-East LA. Pico is south of Beverly Blvd, 3rd, and Melrose all major west/east through ways.

Oh okay I know where that is. Thanks for the info :tup:

[MayDay]

Shaker Heights? Even this goyim knows how inaccurate that is!

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/05/cleveland_jews_support_israel.html

[Altauria]

What about Brookline, MA? Especially Coolidge Corner.

[Master Shake]

One or two LA neighborhoods must be on this list, and obviously New York, but certainly not SOHO/Tribeca.

[nygirl1]

Add Manhattan Beach and/or Brighton Beach in Brooklyn- Bellmore/Merrick/ Oceanside/Long Beach- Nassau Co. to that large NYC area list.

[PhillyRising]

Let me get this straight...Lower Merion is more Jewish than Boca Raton?

How did Boca Raton not make this list?

Oy vey!

When I think of large Jewish neighborhoods in the Philly burbs...I think of Cherry Hill, NJ.

[asher11]

I'm surprised Toronto's not listed either.

[MolsonExport]

Jewish living should get its facts strait first before publishing. The McGill ghetto is a neighborhhod in downtown Montreal inhabited by young professionals, McGill students and people from all over the world, its a multi-cultural place but is by no means a "jewish community". :sly:

The jews live in Mile-end and the west island.

Moreover, in Cote-St.-Luc and Hampstead, with the Hasidic in Outremont.

[PhilippeMtl]

Moreover, in Cote-St.-Luc and Hampstead, with the Hasidic in Outremont.

The Morrocan jewish community is growing very fast, it is compensing for the declining of anglophone jews.

Morrocan jews are present everywhere in the city.

[blorkishdork]

Phillyrising, I grew up in Lower Merion and i was one of a handful of Christians, let alone catholics, in my high school (lower merion high school). Although the thing with LM is its the lower third is very jewish, bala cynwyd, merion, wynnewood, but if you go out to gladwyne, pennvalley and what not its more protestant old money. Cherry hill has a lot of jews as well, but I think (not positive) that LM has more, could be wrong tho.

[brickell]

As for Aventura, I'm sure there are many Jews living there, but I've never thought of it as a Jewish area. You could say the same of Kendall, North Miami Beach and many of the Broward and Palm Beach suburbs. Miami Beach still seems to be the center of Jewish life but perhaps it's just more visible there because of the Orthodox. Many of the Russian Jews seem to be settling to the north in Sunny Isles/Aventura area.

[dimondpark]

North/ West Berkeley?

I never knew that. Interesting.

[PhillyRising]

Phillyrising, I grew up in Lower Merion and i was one of a handful of Christians, let alone catholics, in my high school (lower merion high school). Although the thing with LM is its the lower third is very jewish, bala cynwyd, merion, wynnewood, but if you go out to gladwyne, pennvalley and what not its more protestant old money. Cherry hill has a lot of jews as well, but I think (not positive) that LM has more, could be wrong tho.

I don't know...I knew there was a noticable Jewish community in Lower Merion...I just never knew it was that big. I guess I am guilty of thinking Main Line = Old WASP money.

[Cirrus]

Clearly this ranking is even more crazy than most.

I'm not Jewish, but I've lived in Boulder and can say with authority that its Jewish scene is nowhere near as dynamic as that of suburban Maryland, nevermind the likes of Brooklyn.

Bah.

[Kingofthehill]

Pico-Robertson is no surprise, but those nutjobs don't know when to stop, they are beginning to build their Chabad shit east of La Cienega!

[STLgasm]

I agree that some of the neighborhoods listed are kind of suspect, but I will defend University City's place on the list. U. City has a very rich Jewish population, and always has. The spectrum ranges from ultra-Orthodox enclaves to extremely progressive reconstructionist Jews, and everything in between. It's really interesting to walk or drive down Delmar and its surrounding neighborhoods on a Friday evening or Saturday morning-- there are Jewish families everywhere walking to the various synogogues and playing in the streets. I am inspired to do a photo thread of U. City...

[Rico Rommheim]

Moreover, in Cote-St.-Luc and Hampstead, with the Hasidic in Outremont.

yes, that what I meant by "west island" or rather the "western" part of the city. Cote-des-neiges also has a thriving hasidic jewish community.

The Morrocan jewish community is growing very fast, it is compensing for the declining of anglophone jews.

And let's not forget the 1000 French jewish families that move to Montreal each year!

[OaklandFan72737489]

Since this was a top ten list of North America, the Polanco neighborhood in Mexico City should have been mentioned. Tons of Jews there.

[Crawford]

Since this was a top ten list of North America, the Polanco neighborhood in Mexico City should have been mentioned. Tons of Jews there.

I don't think so. I live in Polanco, and doubt it's even 5% Jewish.

It's basically the only place in Mexico you will see a visible Jewish population, but even here, it's fairly insignficant.

[ColDayMan]

Though I'm sure it's not "Top 10," Amberley Village has a very large percentage of Jews living in it (Cincinnati suburb).

[austlar1]

If we are talking largest Jewish neighborhoods by raw numbers, I would imagine most are in Brooklyn and a few are in the remaining metro NYC area.

LA and Miami are #2 and #3 respectively and also have very large communities.

The biggest Jewish concentrations in the NYC area:

Brooklyn-
Borough Park
Midwood
Gravesend
Flatlands
South Williamsburg
South Crown Heights

Queens-
Kew Gardens Hills
Jamaica Estates

Bronx-
Riverdale

Long Island-
Five Towns area
Great Neck area

New Jersey-
Teaneck
West Orange/Livingston area
Lakewood

Westchester County-
New Rochelle/Purchase area

Rockland/Orange-
Kiryas Joel
Monsey

What about Manhatten? I would imagine the UES and UWS have huge Jewish populations, at least 25% of the total in those areas. Many would consider themselves non-affiliated and secular, but Jewish just the same.

[Lecom]

Fair Lawn, NJ, with a population of no less than 20,000 people, is no less than 25% Jewish.

[tdawg]

What do they mean by top 10, numbers or quality of the Jews??? Brooklyn has by far more Jews than any of those areas listed.

[Crawford]

What about Manhatten? I would imagine the UES and UWS have huge Jewish populations, at least 25% of the total in those areas. Many would consider themselves non-affiliated and secular, but Jewish just the same.

No Manhattan neighborhood is anything close to majority Jewish. All the neighborhoods I listed are majority Jewish (most are overwhelmingly Jewish).

I would guess the UWS is the most Jewish neighborhood in Manhattan.

[brickell]

I'm always look for these. Any good jewish neighborhood should have one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_eruvin

[10023]

What about Manhatten? I would imagine the UES and UWS have huge Jewish populations, at least 25% of the total in those areas. Many would consider themselves non-affiliated and secular, but Jewish just the same.

Manhattan is too mixed to be 25% anything in most areas - some of the neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens are still overwhelmingly Jewish.

[ChrisLA]

I think it's to the west, and basically a more upscale, more suburban version of Fairfax?

Encino also has tons of Jews, especially Israelis. I am close with some Israelis in the New York area, Encino is second after New York as the top location for Israeli businesses.

LA has a very large jewish population.

I'm not sure how the area is now, but where I went to high school in the valley, it was probably 50% or more jewish at Granada Hills High. It seem to me it was common knowledge at one time the San Fernando Valley was known to have a lot.

Also in Long Beach, my former neighborhood of Bixby Knolls is well known as a jewish enclave. Its mainly a street car suburban neighborhood, and mainly upper middle-class.

[austlar1]

No Manhattan neighborhood is anything close to majority Jewish. All the neighborhoods I listed are majority Jewish (most are overwhelmingly Jewish).

I would guess the UWS is the most Jewish neighborhood in Manhattan.

You said largest concentrations, not majority, and the UES and UWS have a concentration of Jews equal in NUMBERS to most any neighborhood in NYC.

[Crawford]

You said largest concentrations, not majority, and the UES and UWS have a concentration of Jews equal in NUMBERS to most any neighborhood in NYC.

Maybe the UWS is comparable in numbers to the smaller neighborhoods on my list. Still, it doesn't feel hard-core Jewish like the other neighborhoods.

Borough Park has about 150,000 Jews. The Upper West Side can't be more than 25% Jewish, so maybe 30,000 Jews?

I don't think the Upper East Side is very heavily Jewish. Sure, there are many Jews, but it has to be less than the Upper West Side.

There's also a small German-Jewish enclave in Washington Heights, along Bennett Avenue. I don't know if they form a majority along this corridor (there are lots of young people in the neighborhood), but I would wager they are above 25%, so maybe we could list this part of Washington Heights as the most Jewish part of Manhattan.

Dr. Ruth is probably the most famous German-Jewish resident of Bennett Avenue.

[DJM19]

LA has a very large jewish population.

I'm not sure how the area is now, but where I went to high school in the valley, it was probably 50% or more jewish at Granada Hills High. It seem to me it was common knowledge at one time the San Fernando Valley was known to have a lot.

Also in Long Beach, my former neighborhood of Bixby Knolls is well known as a jewish enclave. Its mainly a street car suburban neighborhood, and mainly upper middle-class.

Theres a lot of jews in west LA and west valley. Tons of persian jews in Beverly Hills.

[austlar1]

Maybe the UWS is comparable in numbers to the smaller neighborhoods on my list. Still, it doesn't feel hard-core Jewish like the other neighborhoods.

Borough Park has about 150,000 Jews. The Upper West Side can't be more than 25% Jewish, so maybe 30,000 Jews?

I don't think the Upper East Side is very heavily Jewish. Sure, there are many Jews, but it has to be less than the Upper West Side.

There's also a small German-Jewish enclave in Washington Heights, along Bennett Avenue. I don't know if they form a majority along this corridor (there are lots of young people in the neighborhood), but I would wager they are above 25%, so maybe we could list this part of Washington Heights as the most Jewish part of Manhattan.

Dr. Ruth is probably the most famous German-Jewish resident of Bennett Avenue.



UES and UWS each have about 250,000 residents according to data I found online. Taken individually as neighborhoods they are the 2 largest Manhatten neighborhhood populations. I disagree with the statement that UES is not very Jewish. Just check out the mail boxes on just about any building and tell me there aren't about 20% or more with Jewish sounding names. Scientific polling? Nope. Probably accurate? I think so.

[arbeiter]

West Seattle baffles me. As someone who grew up here and is half Jewish I never have once thought of West Seattle as a Jewish enclave. Seward Park and Mercer Island are, and parts of Montlake/Cap Hill, but West Seattle never seemed that way to me.

Either way, this is a very un-Jewish town.

[austlar1]

I can't help myself here. I just have to make my point like the argumentative old half Jew that I am. According to ARDA data from 2000 obtained in the NYC Wikipedia section, Manhatten has the largest concentration of Jews in New York City. About 20% of the Manhatten's population is Jewish. With the 2000 census figures that means about 320,000 Jews live in Manhatten. There are another 14% described as non-affilliated. I suspect that a good chunk of that crew is ethnically Jewish. Now I know that the Lower East Side is no longer home to many Jews. Neither is Harlem (although it once was home to several hundred thousand Jews in the early 20th Century). Washington Heights is not a big Jewish area any longer. Where, oh where, do all these Jews live? Well, I bet at least 2/3rds of them are parked on either the Upper East Side or the Upper West Side. That's certainly where my relatives have been planted for 50 years or more. By upper this or upper that, I am referring to the area between 59th St and 125th St. on either side of the park. Either one of those neighborhoods has more Jews than any single neighborhood in Brooklyn or Queens, with the possible exception of Borough Park. Not a higher percentage, just more people.

[austlar1]

I'm back. I just uncovered a 2002 UJA study of the metro NY Jewish population. Their figures are much lower than the ones found in the media, but according to the UJA study Borough Park had 82,000 Jews in 2002, the Upper East Side had 73,000 Jews, and the Upper West Side had 71,500 Jews. Gramercy Park/Murray Hill had another 37,500, which kind of kicks up the real east side total a notch or two. Those were the largest enclaves of Jews in the area. Borough Park has surely increased in terms of numbers in the past 6 years, but often at the expense of other NYC Jewish neighborhoods. I was pretty sure about the UES. People don't think of it as a particularly Jewish area because it is filled with mostly secular Jews and/or reform Jews. It is, of course, the complete opposite of Borough Park. As for me, well, I'll take Manhatten. Unfortunately, however, I live in Bastrop, TX. I think I might be the only Jew or half Jew within 20 miles!

[Crawford]

Either one of those neighborhoods has more Jews than any single neighborhood in Brooklyn or Queens, with the possible exception of Borough Park. Not a higher percentage, just more people.

This is definitely false. These are not Jewish neighborhoods. They are just very populous neighborhoods that happen to have tons of affluent white people, which in most parts of the NY metro will mean a substantial proportion of Jews. Even assuming that 20% of the Upper East Side is Jewish, you are talking about 50,000 residents.

There are FAR more than 50,000 Jews in Central Brooklyn. I would wager there is a contiguous area of around 250,000-300,000 Jews (a majority of overall residents) in a corridor from the southern part of the Kensington neighborhood (south of Prospect Park) heading down Ocean Parkway all the way to the ocean (Brighton Beach). Ocean Parkway is many miles of 80% Jewish population. Heading West to East in Central Brooklyn, you have majority Jewish neighborhoods from Fort Hamilton Parkway all the way east to Flatbush Avenue. Again, many miles of majority Jewish neighborhoods.

Also, unlike in Manhattan, the Brooklyn Jewish population is exploding in population because of the huge Hasidic and Orthodox families. The northern reaches of Italian Bensonhurst are now mostly Jewish, as the Borough Park population extends south. Borough Park is also extending north into Kensington and west into Sunset Park (there is a visible Jewish population as far west as 8th Ave. in Sunset Park.)

In Midwood, the Syrian Jews have extended well into Gravesend, and replaced the Italian population. In Flatlands, the Caribbean and white ethnic population is being replaced by Orthodox Jews, In South Crown Heights, the Lubativich Jewish population is moving south to Empire Boulevard and even east into Brownsville (there are new Jewish apartments being built east of Utica Ave., which is Brownsville).

Finally, the South Williamsburg Satmar are extending well into Bed Stuy. I didn't believe it until I saw it, but significant chunks of northern Bed Stuy are now Satmar Jewish. I think the Satmar are growing faster than any other group, as they have the biggest families. Amazingly, the northern half of Bed Stuy will probably soon be regarded as a Jewish community.

And a 20% Jewish neighborhood is not a Jewish neighborhood. Would you say a 20% Christian neighborhood in Jewish Brooklyn is a Christian neighborhood? Also, the UES and UWS Jews are mostly secular reform or conservative, so they are not "visible" like in other neighborhoods (though there is an Orthodox community mixed in among others in the West 80's on the UWS).

I think there are two Jewish schools on the UES and UWS combined. I could probably find 40 in Borough Park alone, and Borough Park is contiguous with Flatbush, Midwood, Gravesend and Flatlands, all of which have dozens of Hasidic and Orthodox schools.

[big T]

not to mention Cote st. Luc

Yeah, I was going to add Snowdon, which I guess could be lumped in with CSL but sort of acts as a focal point for the community. Just on my 3 blocks stretch of Queen-Mary (West of Decarie) there are 6 kosher restaurants/fast food joints, 2 of which opened in the last couple of months. I pass by them everyday when I'm in Mtl and they're always packed -- they even build those sorts of huts on the terrasses for whatever Jewish holiday it is when they build huts. And two streets down there's the Saidye Bronfman Centre and, most importantly, the Snowdon Deli :yes:

So yeah, I think the ghetto may not even be top 10 in MTL. Surprising list indeed, and utterly pointless.

[PA Pride]

they even build those sorts of huts on the terrasses for whatever Jewish holiday it is when they build huts.

LOL!

[seaskyfan]

West Seattle baffles me. As someone who grew up here and is half Jewish I never have once thought of West Seattle as a Jewish enclave. Seward Park and Mercer Island are, and parts of Montlake/Cap Hill, but West Seattle never seemed that way to me.

Either way, this is a very un-Jewish town.

I had the same thought about West Seattle, and when you go to the article they talk about Mercer Island being the center if Jewish life in the region (with another concentration around Seward Park).

It is indeed a very un-Jewish town - I've had a few Jewish friends who moved back east for a while to find a Jewish partner after discovering the local scene featured slim pickings.

[brickell]

Always a good time to bring these maps back. It'd be interesting to see a population skewed version.
http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/religion/jewish.gif
src: http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/geo/courses/geo200/religion.html

[blade_bltz]

Massachusetts is the only state with no white or beige counties.

Light purple counties are Norfolk, Middlesex, Plymouth, and MAYBE Suffolk (hard to see on the map). No surprises there. The first three are wealthy, with Brookline (40% Jewish) and Sharon in Norfolk county; Newton (35-40% Jewish) in Middlesex county, which also includes places like Cambridge and Lexington. Boston's Jewish population is concentrated in Brighton, but I assume there's a significant number in Back Bay/Beacon Hill as well.

[sharkfood]

Phillyrising, I grew up in Lower Merion and i was one of a handful of Christians, let alone catholics, in my high school (lower merion high school). Although the thing with LM is its the lower third is very jewish, bala cynwyd, merion, wynnewood, but if you go out to gladwyne, pennvalley and what not its more protestant old money. Cherry hill has a lot of jews as well, but I think (not positive) that LM has more, could be wrong tho.

Native main liner here. Let's set the record straight. Penn Valley is extremely Jewish and has been for forty, fifty years. Gladwyne was known for its Jewish population even in the sixties. Bryn Mawr and Haverford: mixed wasp/jewish. Once you get out to Villanova and Radnor, wasps more predominant.

[Crawford]

Massachusetts is the only state with no white or beige counties.

Light purple counties are Norfolk, Middlesex, Plymouth, and MAYBE Suffolk (hard to see on the map). No surprises there. The first three are wealthy, with Brookline (40% Jewish) and Sharon in Norfolk county; Newton (35-40% Jewish) in Middlesex county, which also includes places like Cambridge and Lexington. Boston's Jewish population is concentrated in Brighton, but I assume there's a significant number in Back Bay/Beacon Hill as well.

Mass doesn't seem unusually Jewish to me. Feels much less Jewish than NY, NJ, FL, even PA and CT.

MA has only a few counties, and doesn't really have rural areas. Add in the colleges and you have some temporary Jewish transplants. As a former Cambridge resident, I can tell you Cambridge isn't particuarly Jewish. Some of the Harvard and MIT faculty/students are Jewish, but that's about it, and neither school has a particularly large % of Jews compared to peer schools like Columbia, Penn, Cornell, Yale, Brown, etc., all of which feel more Jewish.

I also doubt Brookline and Newton (especially Newton) are anywhere close to 40% Jewish.

[austlar1]

And a 20% Jewish neighborhood is not a Jewish neighborhood. Would you say a 20% Christian neighborhood in Jewish Brooklyn is a Christian neighborhood? Also, the UES and UWS Jews are mostly secular reform or conservative, so they are not "visible" like in other neighborhoods (though there is an Orthodox community mixed in among others in the West 80's on the UWS). -Crawford



I would say that a 20 % Christian population in a highly populated neighborhood would constitute a large aggregate number of Christians in that neighborhood. The UES and UWS are LARGE neighborhoods. Estimates, good reliable statistical evidence, tell us that these neighborhoods EACH contain over 75,000 Jews. Maybe most of the Jews there don't care about a Mikvah or a yeshiva for the kids, but they think of themselves as being Jewish. That suggests to me that these neighborhoods do indeed have two of the largest Jewish populations in the NY area, or the planet for that matter. I was under the assumption that this thread was about the "top" Jewish communities, not only communities with a Jewish majority. There are a lot more than 30,000 Jews on the UWS or the UES. You do not seem to want to deal in FACTS, if they interfere with your opinions.

[austlar1]

Mass doesn't seem unusually Jewish to me. Feels much less Jewish than NY, NJ, FL, even PA and CT.

MA has only a few counties, and doesn't really have rural areas. Add in the colleges and you have some temporary Jewish transplants. As a former Cambridge resident, I can tell you Cambridge isn't particuarly Jewish. Some of the Harvard and MIT faculty/students are Jewish, but that's about it, and neither school has a particularly large % of Jews compared to peer schools like Columbia, Penn, Cornell, Yale, Brown, etc., all of which feel more Jewish.

I also doubt Brookline and Newton (especially Newton) are anywhere close to 40% Jewish.

At 4.3% of the population of Massachusetts, the state ranks THIRD in terms of the percentage of population that is Jewish. NY is first, NJ is second, Mass. is 3rd, and MD. is fourth. If you count DC, Mass. would slide into 4th place. My source is the Virtual Jewish Library.

[blade_bltz]

Mass doesn't seem unusually Jewish to me. Feels much less Jewish than NY, NJ, FL, even PA and CT.

MA has only a few counties, and doesn't really have rural areas. Add in the colleges and you have some temporary Jewish transplants. As a former Cambridge resident, I can tell you Cambridge isn't particuarly Jewish. Some of the Harvard and MIT faculty/students are Jewish, but that's about it, and neither school has a particularly large % of Jews compared to peer schools like Columbia, Penn, Cornell, Yale, Brown, etc., all of which feel more Jewish.

I also doubt Brookline and Newton (especially Newton) are anywhere close to 40% Jewish.

Sure, Mass on the whole doesn't seem unusually Jewish. The region is obviously dominated by Irish-American culture in a way the states you mentioned are not. So even if Jews are 4.3% of the population, people will not tend to identify MA with Jews simply because Irish culture is so pervasive. I spent the first 18 years of my life in Brookline, however, and I can tell you that my view of the world was absolutely influenced by the Jewish culture there. I definitely had more friends who had Bar/Bat mitzvahs than those who went to church - I can say that much.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time researching this, but I found a book (http://books.google.com/books?id=sz5UJ1Lh21IC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=brookline+jewish+population+20,000&source=web&ots=Nr-7B0jH8m&sig=fkbPG5OJGyaj7Sgrjpkd5uvsOL0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA162,M1) indicating (pp 161-162) that in the 1990s Brookline's Jewish population was around 24,000, and Newton's was 31,000. This comes to 42% and 37% respectively.

I'm sure that these numbers have decreased slightly in the last decade, but there have been absolutely no dramatic population shifts in either of these towns. Furthermore, thisarticle (http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/11/10/jewish_population_in_region_rises/) from the Globe claims that the Jewish population has been rising as a whole in Greater Boston, as of 2006.

[MAH4546]

As for Aventura, I'm sure there are many Jews living there, but I've never thought of it as a Jewish area. You could say the same of Kendall, North Miami Beach and many of the Broward and Palm Beach suburbs. Miami Beach still seems to be the center of Jewish life but perhaps it's just more visible there because of the Orthodox. Many of the Russian Jews seem to be settling to the north in Sunny Isles/Aventura area.

Avenutra is very Jewish. It is by far the largest concentration of Jews in South Florida, per capita.

Though I wouldn't really call it a "Jewish neighborhood" just because literally everybody in that city is Jewish. I would call Midtown Miami Beach - where on Saturdays half the stores are closed and elevators run on Sabbath mode - to be a Jewish neighborhood.

[edluva]

as far as jewish metros go, it's basically ny, la, miami. and then the rest of the country. the jewish presence in the aformentioned is really strong. and this map only supports it.

[STLgasm]

as far as jewish metros go, it's basically ny, la, miami. and then the rest of the country. the jewish presence in the aformentioned is really strong. and this map only supports it.

No question that those metros are the epicenters of Jewish culture in the US (New York far above all others), but some of the old rust belt cities can hold their own. Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, etc. all had large waves of Jewish immigration at the turn of the century.

It's also interesting that Philadelphia has a larger Jewish population than Chicago.

[Frisco_Zig]

If I had to guess within the Bay Area I would think Berkeley has the most Jews per capita (and the only decent Jewish Deli-Saul's according to my Jewish, Chicago born girlfriend) but there is no way I believe this would be ranked top 10. I would think there are 20-30 larger communities on the East Coast.

Jews on the West Coast were never as numerous but they were prominent early on in the history of San Francisco and they integrated very quickly. As far as I am aware there were a few small poor/working class Jewish enclaves around Fillmore and the Western Addition way back but nothing even remotely like what existed on the East Coast

[MIAMISKYLINE]

By far only New York, Miami and L.A have the biggest concentration of Jews in America and the world. Their population by metro surpasses more than 500,000 jews.

New York ( Tri-state) has a population of 1 million jews. It is the second largest concentration of Jews after Tel Aviv. Miami with a population of more than 500,000 jews ( Dade, Broward, Palm Beach) comes fourth place after Teal Aviv, NY and Paris. Los Angeles comes fifth with a population of more than 400,000 jews. There are no other metros in America or the world with these kinds of numbers.

Baltimore? Chicago? Denver? suburban America?:jester: :jester: :haha: :haha:

[MIAMISKYLINE]

Avenutra is very Jewish. It is by far the largest concentration of Jews in South Florida, per capita.

Though I wouldn't really call it a "Jewish neighborhood" just because literally everybody in that city is Jewish. I would call Midtown Miami Beach - where on Saturdays half the stores are closed and elevators run on Sabbath mode - to be a Jewish neighborhood.

South Florida (Miami Metroplitan Area) is a heaven for jews. MOst of our jews are either New Yorkers or Israeli.

We even have a good number of a presumed illegal jewish-arab Israeli popuation.

[Crawford]

New York ( Tri-state) has a population of 1 million jews. It is the second largest concentration of Jews after Tel Aviv.


New York has the world's largest Jewish population.

One million Jews live within city limits, and there are over two million jews in the metro area.

Three of the last five mayors were Jewish. Only Israel is more Jewish.

[Westsidelife]

Los Angeles comes fifth with a population of more than 400,000 jews.

Los Angeles ranks fourth in world Jewish populations after Tel Aviv, New York, and Haifa.

[yeah215]

I just think it's important to mention that we are talking about 2-3% of the US population. There is sure a lot of attention spent on the Jews. In comparison, African-American Population is about 13%, the Hispanic and Latino populations make up 15% and the Asian American population is about 4-5% are Asian American.

[PFloyd]

Toronto ranks 14th in the world, 8th in North America, according to the following source: http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/world-jewish-population.htm

Rank Metro area Country Jewish Population Share of World’s Jews Cumulative %

1 Tel Aviv Israel 2,560,000 19.3 19.3

2 New York U.S. 1,970,000 14.9 34.2

3 Haifa Israel 655,000 4.9 39.1

4 Los Angeles U.S. 621,000 4.7 43.8

5 Jerusalem Israel 570,000 4.3 48.1

6 Southeast Florida U.S. 514,000 3.9 52.0

7 Paris France 310,000 2.3 54.3

8 Philadelphia U.S. 276,000 2.1 56.4

9 Chicago U.S. 261,000 2.0 58.4

10 Boston U.S. 227,000 1.7 60.1

11 San Francisco U.S. 210,000 1.6 61.7

12 London U.K. 195,000 1.5 63.1

13 Buenos Aires Argentina 175,000 1.3 64.5

14 Toronto Canada 175,000 1.3 65.8

15 Washington U.S. 165,000 1.2 67.0

16 Be’er Sheva Israel 165,000 1.2 68.3

17 Moscow Russia 108,000 0.8 69.1

18 Baltimore U.S. 95,000 0.7 69.8

19 Montreal Canada 95,000 0.7 70.5

20 Detroit U.S. 94,000 0.7 71.2

It would be nice if people in forums showed links to sources; so many uninformed grand statements are made.

[UrbanSophist]

Definitely the most inaccurate list I've seen.

[PFloyd]

Definitely the most inaccurate list I've seen.

Oh, really? OK, let's see what your "MOST ACCURATE LIST" looks like, and do show the link to your source.

[Marcu]

Moscow still has a Jewish population?

[tackledspoon]

I just knew Squirrel Hill wouldn't make it onto this list!

Right after my current neighborhood (South Williamsburg, Brooklyn), Squirrel Hill was the first thing that popped into my head.
That and Kiryas Joel, but that's more a settlement than a neighborhood.

[LosAngelesBeauty]

By far only New York, Miami and L.A have the biggest concentration of Jews in America and the world. Their population by metro surpasses more than 500,000 jews.

New York ( Tri-state) has a population of 1 million jews. It is the second largest concentration of Jews after Tel Aviv. Miami with a population of more than 500,000 jews ( Dade, Broward, Palm Beach) comes fourth place after Teal Aviv, NY and Paris. Los Angeles comes fifth with a population of more than 400,000 jews. There are no other metros in America or the world with these kinds of numbers.

Baltimore? Chicago? Denver? suburban America?:jester: :jester: :haha: :haha:

I don't think Miami has more Jews than LA. Sorry.