NEIGHBORHOODS FARMINGTON HILLS FARMINGTON LIVONIA Population: Farmington Hills: 83,790 Farmington: 10,423 Livonia: 100,545 Synagogues: Farmington Hills: Adat Shalom Synagogue Bais Chabad of Farmington Hills The Birmingham Temple Livonia: Beit Kodesh Canton: Bet Chaverim Jewish Organizations: Farmington Hills: American Technion Society Beth Achim Religious School at Greg and Marina Apsey, daughter Vivienne, 6 Laurie and Ray Kach, children Daniel, 6; Michael and Jeremy, 8 Adat Shalom Synagogue Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism Israel Cancer Association of Michigan JARC The Sinai Guild Jewish Funeral Home: The Dorfman Chapel Funeral Home FARMINGTON HILLS is the largest city in Oakland County. Its Jewish population is concentrated more toward the northern end of the city. Rolling Oaks, south of 14 Mile and west of Farmington Road, and Olde Franklin Town, south of 14 Mile and east of Middlebelt, are two of the more popular subdivisions for Jewish families, especially those with young children. From a Jewish perspective, Farmington Hills is best known as the home of Humanistic Judaism, which was brought to life at the Birmingham Temple by Rabbi Shervvin Wine, who retired this year. Come November 2003, it will be the new home of the Holocaust Memorial Center. Incorporated as a city in 1973, Farrnington Hills has more than 500 acres of public parkland. To the south is the much smaller city of Farmington, and further south is Livonia, which occupies 36 square miles FAMILY SPOTLIGHT .Ka.ch/Aps W hen Laurie and Ray Kach needed a larger home for their growing family, they couldn't take their Farmington Hills neighborhood with them, so they did the next best thing: They took their neigh- bors, Greg and Marina Apsey, who had also outgrown their house. The two families moved in tan- dem to the Olde Franklin Town subdivision into houses virtually across the street from each other. "We knew we wanted to live either here or in Rolling Oaks," Laurie said. "Whenever I went house-hunting, I always had my eye out for two houses." "This is a great neighborhood, it's very helm/ sh (comfortable). There are so many kids here, and the people are friendly. When you walk down the street, people say hello. We go camping every sum- mer with a group of families from the subdivision." The Kach family, originally from New York, chose Farmington Hills because of its excellent schools and multicultural population. They also liked the proximity to Adat Shalom Synagogue, where their children attended preschool, as did the Apsey's daughter, Vivienne. The two families have continued to grow closer since their move. "We are like second parents to each other's kids; we have Shabbos, dinners and holidays together. I feel like a sister to Marina, who is from Russia," said Laurie, who worked as a social worker at Kadima. Ray is a tech- nical specialist engineer at Ford Motor Co. The family belongs to Temple, Kol Ami in West Bloomfield. bordered by Inkster and Eight Mile Road. Although Livonia's Jewish population is much smaller than it was 50 years ago, there is still enough of a Jewish community to support its own synagogue, Beit Kodesh. 32 • sOURCE 13 0 K 2 0 0 3 - 2 0 0 4 FAVORITE NEIGHBORHOOD HANGOUT: "Our backyard swimming pool is a popular destination for a lot of the kids in the neighborhood. Besides hanging out there, we love shopping at Nino Salvaggio's Strawberry Hills," said Laurie Kach.