Community Prof
SPECIAL REPORT
Outside The Core from page 51
mitzvah party elsewhere but works at the
Showplace on weekends.
The Galper Eye Center is located near
Twelve Oaks Mall at 12 Mile and Novi
roads. Bruce Meyers and his wife, Diane
Galper of West Bloomfield, have worked
in Novi for 12 years. Diane was an optom-
etrist in Novi for several years before they
opened their own office.
"Novi has been booming and growing
very, very well',' says Meyers, who is an opti-
cian and vision therapist. "There's lots of
new growth and neighborhoods going up."
When 12 Mile Road was extended west
as a boulevard from Farmington Hills, it
helped connect the business to its Jewish
clientele, as did M-5, which goes to West
Bloomfield. But Meyers hasn't seen much
growth in the Jewish community in Novi,
though the overall growth has been good
for business. "When the phone rings too
much, we're okay," jokes Meyers.
Nonetheless, he says businesses in Novi
have been affected by the slowing econo-
my, like other places in Michigan.
Celia Gendloff remembers her in-laws
asking, "Why would you want to live in
Novi?" Gendloff grew up in Oak Park but
moved to Novi with her husband, Mitchell,
20 years ago. "I told my mother-in-law
there would be more Jews coming sooner
or later. She said if she comes to visit she'd
have to stay in a hotel because it's too far
away"
"We looked in Southfield," Gendloff
recalls, "but we figured the houses
weren't going to appreciate. We looked in
Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield,
but the homes [in our price range] were
30 and 40 years old. In Novi, we were able
to get something new."
Gendloff says Novi has a Homestead
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August 17 2006
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corner of 14 Mile Rd.
approx.. 1/2 tulle west of Novi Rd.
Exemption Act, which keeps city taxes
from rising if the homeowner lives in
the same house for more than 10 years.
That helps keep the community stable;
the Gendloffs say their taxes would
double if they moved to a similar house
elsewhere in the city. "It's quiet. It
reminds me just a little bit of Oak Park
because there's a lot of great subdivi-
sions, and they all have sidewalks," she
says.
She likes the mix of the old and the
new, like the old barns that are still
standing, the huge boulders in front of
Guernsey Ice Cream that kids like to
sit on, as well as the shopping, and the
new highway access. Providence Park
Hospital is opening on Novi Road in
mid-2008.
"One of the reasons we moved to
Novi was because of the schools:'
Gendloff says. "When I grew up in Oak
Park, the schools there were No. 1. Now,
we've got the best schools:' noting that
the high school just underwent a major
renovation and expansion. Her daugh-
ter Jacalyn, 17, will be a junior at Novi
High School in the fall.
Of course, a big difference was a
large Jewish student population in
Oak Park and few in Novi. But she says
that's not a problem. "There's a few of
us parents out here that let the teachers
and principals know there are Jews in
Novi, and they've come around;' she
says.
Gendloff is slowly meeting other
Jews at different events, including Leah
Susskind's challah-baking session in
late July, but hopes more will be corn-
ing.
"All you Jews who are looking for a
home, come to Novi," she says. "And
if you're here, please come out of the
woodwork — we'd like to meet you:' E
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_: TROT JEWISH NEWS
Rabbi Avrohom and Leah Susskind
at the Novi-Northville Center for
Jewish Life can be reached at
(248) 790-6075 or
www.novijewishcenter.com .