Stephen Belsky posts on FB: “For the last few years, one of the hot communities for young professional Modern Orthodox Jewish families to move into has been Southfield, Michigan — a majority-Black inner-ring suburb of Detroit. Come check us out at the next OU Communities Fair!”
The crime rate in Southfield is in line with the national average.
According to Wikipedia: “As of the census[2] of 2010, there were 71,739 people, 31,778 households, and 18,178 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,730.8 inhabitants per square mile (1,054.4 /km2). There were 35,986 housing units at an average density of 1,369.9 per square mile (528.9 /km2). The racial makeup of the city was 70.3% African American, 24.9% White…”
Orthodox Jews are more likely to live among blacks than non-Orthodox Jews because Orthodox Jews must live within walking distance of their synagogue, while non-Orthodox Jews can live in the suburbs and commute to synagogue. In my experience, non-Orthodox Jews have much more positive and protective views of blacks than Orthodox Jews. I’ll give you an example. I belonged to a Reform temple in 1999 and the temple developed a weekly class at YULA (Yeshiva University Los Angeles) where the Modern Orthodox rabbi said off-hand in class one evening, “Some people say blacks are less intelligent because of genes and other people say it is the environment.” Well, the liberal Jews in the class hit the roof and the rabbi later apologized. The rabbi had said something that would be common and inoffensive in most Orthodox classes but would be considered scandalous in most non-Orthodox classes.
This Detroit News report says Jews are being bribed with interest-free loans to move to Southfield:
Southfield and Oak Park last year were among 22 cities nationwide featured at the Orthodox Union’s Emerging Communities Fair in New York, an event that encourages adherents to relocate. Young Israel of Southfield is sweetening the pot, offering interest-free loans of up to $7,500 for those willing to move to the area…
Southfield and Oak Park have been hubs for Orthodox Jews for the past four decades. An estimated 1,300 families are among the 172,000 Jews in Metro Detroit.
While prospective newcomers aren’t deterred by the area’s national image, the area’s tight job market has been a hurdle in igniting interest, Greenbaum said.
