I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I’m not sure what you consider “very small.” And it also depends on which “team” you play on.
There are a lot of Gerer chasidim, as well as many, many, many Seret-Vizhnitz chasidim. Other groups are represented quite well: Belz, Sanz, Vizhnitz, Lubavitch, Breslov, are the ones I know about. There are also a lot of us Litvaks here, too. And I’m just talking about Hadar and Ramat Vizhnitz. If you add in Neve Sha’anan, Ahuza and Mercaz HaCarmel, you get MO and I don’t even know what else.
There are quite a few drunk (and non-drunk)Russians. I don’t see a larger percentage of Arabs than I see in J-lem. I feel very safe here. In fact, I work late one day a week and don’t get home until after midnight. I don’t have a problem with that at all. (Of course, the bus stop is nearly at my front door.)
How long ago was your brother here? The community is growing. People who can’t afford to live in J-lem are moving here. Of course, that means property values (and rents) are going up. But it’s still a good deal.
And the weather’s better here, too.