enlightenedjew,
What I was trying to say is while living in the Jewish community. Of course, I could live on farm somewhere and it would be cheaper.
You can’t make a blanket statement that Texas is better since economic situations are usually cyclical and therefore if today NY/NJ isn’t good, tommorrow it is. Like it or not, the local area runs on Wall Street/NYC just as living in Silver Springs/MD is effected if the Fed Govt decided to lay off.
Also, it’s not always feasible (age, children’s individual education needs etc)to move to that area.