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Is There a Future for Young Jewish Families in Los Angeles?

Many families have already left, and many more talk about it constantly.
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June 18, 2021
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Here’s a typical question people ask me all the time: Are you going to stay in Los Angeles?

Whenever I’m around my fellow Jews—typically, other Jews who are also in their 30s and have young families—whether or not we’re going to move to a different place is the number one topic of conversation.

Inevitably, we discuss the high cost of living, the homelessness crisis, the crime and the politics here. We talk about how upset we are that we will never be able to afford a home in LA and how scared we were during the riots. We collectively agree that the lockdowns gave us what feels like PTSD and we aren’t happy with our political leaders. Then, we ponder whether places like Henderson, Houston or Miami would be better. Of course, we rule out the entire northeast because of the snow.

Many families have already left, and many more talk about it constantly. If you don’t have a multiple six-figure job or family money in LA, then being able to afford housing, a Jewish education for your children, kosher food and, you know, a vacation every once in a while, is just not realistic.

The thing we all have in common is that we are dreamers. My husband Daniel and I are small business owners and artists and so are many of our friends. We all believe that if we work hard, one day, hopefully, we’ll be able to become homeowners and live more comfortably here.

We all believe that if we work hard, one day, hopefully, we’ll be able to become homeowners and live more comfortably here.

But if I’m being honest, that dream seems further and further away. When Daniel and I moved here in 2012, the average rent was $1,300 for a one-bedroom apartment, and now it’s at least $1,900. A starter home back then was around $650,000—now it’s $1.4 million. You would need a $280,000 down payment to buy a house here. A lot of my peers are in that much debt from graduate school.

A callous person might say, “Well, if you can’t afford it, don’t live here.” That’s a terrible argument. When you make a place so expensive that the lower and middle class can’t afford it, you lose so much. Just look at how corporate and characterless New York City has become. When I lived there, I watched my Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborhood go from a place where bohemian artists could survive, you could get amazing coffee from the corner bodega and eat wonderful local food, to a place that was packed with Wall Street bankers drinking Starbucks and eating overpriced fruit cups from Whole Foods. Now, I’m not saying there’s no room for those Wall Street guys, but I will say this: Williamsburg is just so boring now.

Since I’m more involved in the Jewish community rather than the artist community these days, I worry about the Jewish future of Los Angeles. When I go to synagogue, I notice there are more baby boomers and gen Xers than millennials and gen Zers. Baby boomers tell me how concerned they are about my generation since it’s so unaffordable here. I am too.

Sadly, I don’t believe that the Jewish community has much of a future here with the way things are going. Aside from the fact that we can’t purchase property here and start building generational wealth for our children, it doesn’t seem like the non-Jews like us very much. It’s not only frightening that Jews are randomly getting attacked on the streets and synagogues are being vandalized, but also that antisemitism is now being institutionalized. Just look at how the LA teachers’ union is supporting anti-Israel boycotts. It’s peculiar how they don’t boycott China for interning Uyghurs in camps or Iran for killing gay men. Somehow, everyone and their mother have an opinion on Israel. But that’s beside the point.

The nonsense in LA and California in general is at an all-time high. On a typical Shabbat, my husband, daughter and I have to walk through homeless encampments that smell like marijuana and human feces to get to shul. The homeless encampments are allowed to stay there, but if you build your fence a little too high to protect your family, the city’s going to fine you. What did LA residents do to deserve this kind of punishment, aside from paying our taxes and abiding the law?

The nonsense in LA and California in general is at an all-time high.

All this being said, I love California so much that I’m willing to stay until I can’t anymore. When I was a depressed 14-year-old in my hometown, Baltimore, my mom sent me to a hippie summer camp in Northern California. It cured my teen depression and gave me a whole new positive outlook on life. I vowed to move to California one day because I had such fond memories of this state. As soon as I finally arrived here from New York nine years ago, I instantly felt happier.

The Jewish community here is beautiful, the scenery is incredible, the kosher food is the best in the country and the successful people are inspirational. I’m sure that because I’m a content person in general, I would be happy in other places, but probably not as happy.

For now, like many people my age, I’m pulling a “let’s wait and see,” hoping the future gets better, praying for a miracle and having faith in G-d that no matter what, I’ll be OK.


Kylie Ora Lobell is a writer for the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, The Forward, Tablet Magazine, Aish, and Chabad.org and the author of the first children’s book for the children of Jewish converts, “Jewish Just Like You.”

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