“Mamashtakah, no disprespect but The Shomron??? This is not usually the first choice for those wishing to live in EY and I was referrng to the main cities / localities such as Eilad, Ashdod, parts of Yerushalayim, Petach Tikva, Bayit Vegan, etc.”
Yes, the Shomron! We picked a place that we knew we could afford, and wasn’t so big that we would be “swallowed up.” Look at it this way – Ma’ale Adumim had over 40 families making aliyah there this past summer. When we came – the summer before – we were the only family making aliyah directly here. There was one family, the summer before we came, that made aliyah directly here. That’s one family per year, instead of having to divide the available resources among 40 families.
Out yishuv is smaller. There is a high level of Torah learning here. Some of the streets are closed on Shabbat. We have a hesder yeshiva. The place is small enough that we have met many, many people, and large enough that we have amenities as well (a shopping/strip mall, offices for all the health plans, a library, a pool/health club, etc.). Many people commute to Tel Aviv and the surrounding hi-tech areas. We’re only an hour from Yerushalayim by car.
The Shomron is beautiful, and it’s not as far out as you think.