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16 March 28 • 2019
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home in 2006. “We liked the good housing stock,
the community atmosphere and that we often
saw kids outside,” Aaron said. “
And being in the
Berkley school district was a bonus as well.”
For those who keep kosher, Oak Park also is
close to One Stop Kosher Market and several
kosher restaurants, including Kravings, Prime 10,
Jerusalem Pizza, Dave’
s Gourmet and a kosher
Dunkin’
Donuts/Baskin Robbins.
BERKLEY
A charming small town dis-
tinguished by an abundance of
single-family housing on tree-
lined streets, Berkley attracts
Jewish families “because of
the good schools, location and
prices. You can afford to buy
a house there,” said longtime
Realtor Linda Solomon of
Berkshire Hathaway HWWB
Realtors in Birmingham.
Students from Huntington
Woods and the northern part
of Oak Park join their coun-
terparts from Berkley at the
well-regarded Berkley High
School on Catalpa Drive.
Berkley schools, in general,
have an excellent reputation.
Nechama (Finer) Lurie and Jason Lurie are
four-year Berkley homeowners. Both 34, he grew
up in Troy and she’
s lived in several American
cities. They moved back to the U.S. from Israel.
A trained tour guide, Nechama Lurie works for
the national Birthright Israel and does homework
tutoring in Hebrew and Judaics. Jason Lurie is an
executive at CARite and a freelance business intel-
ligence consultant.
The Luries belong to Kehillat Etz Chaim and also
attend Aish HaTorah on Coolidge in Oak Park.
“We didn’
t know we’
d find other Jewish fam-
ilies in Berkley,” Nechama said. “But [Berkley]
seemed like the logical place for ‘
spillover’
from
Huntington Woods and Oak Park and had Jewish
organizations and shuls close by. There are quite
a lot of developers building in this area and we’
ve
seen three mezuzot go up on those new homes.”
Nechama stays close to people she knows in
Huntington Woods and Oak
Park because “Berkley touch-
es both of those. I can walk
to most of those friends and
shuls within 15-30 minutes.”
Elwin Greenwald, owner
for 26 years of Elwin & Co.
on Coolidge in Berkley,
said a large influx of young
Jewish couples is moving
into Berkley and visiting his
store for its baked goods and
prepared Jewish-style food.
He believes those outgrowing
smaller Berkley homes usu-
ally relocate to Huntington
Woods or Royal Oak.
He and his late partner, Dale,
moved 20 years ago to the
Woodward-12 Mile section of
Royal Oak because “we wanted
a larger lot and a ranch home, and they’
re not avail-
able in Huntington Woods.
” Greenwald also notices
a growing Jewish presence in his neighborhood.
FERNDALE
Brittany Feldman, 27, Hazon Detroit’
s manager of
sustainability and outdoor engagement, attends
events at Jewish Ferndale. A Ferndale resident for
almost five years, Brittany calls her city “open and
welcoming.
”
OAK PARK
• The Kroger chain was granted state tax incen-
tives to take over a former 7.9-acre Kmart prop-
erty at 26200 Greenfield Road, south of 11 Mile
Road. The Kroger with gas pumps and drive-
through pharmacy will open in 2020.
• Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, Metro Detroit’
s larg-
est Jewish day school with 1,063 students, is
building a new elementary and middle school
for girls on 10 Mile Road and the east side of
Church Street. On the west side of Church is
Bais Yakov High School and Meer Preschool, a
55,000-square-foot facility that opened in August
2013.
• MoGo Detroit Bike Share is partnering with
local municipalities to bring the bike-share sys-
tem to southeast Oakland County. Oak Park will
have five stations, strategically placed across the
city, when the service becomes available to resi-
dents in late spring to early summer.
HUNTINGTON WOODS
• The small, mostly residential community has
12 parks: two on Coolidge, four on 11 Mile and
six in the city’
s interior. Other attractions include
a pool, golf course, Rec Center day camps and
classes. Some residents live close enough to the
Detroit Zoological Park to hear the animals.
BERKLEY
• The city’
s amenities include a Recreation
Department and an ice arena.
• For new development, a Michigan State
Federal Credit Union is set for construction on
Coolidge, near 11 Mile. Berkley is considering
proposals to redevelop the former La Salette
Catholic School on Coolidge into multiple-family
residential housing.
FERNDALE
• Tucked between I-696 and train tracks at
the Ferndale-Pleasant Ridge border, Iron Ridge
Marketplace is an evolving entertainment and
retail destination at 404 E. 10 Mile Road. The
$35-million brownfield redevelopment project is
on the site of a decaying 1940s wire factory with
231,000 square feet of vacant space. Started in
October 2017, a fitness center is open, and food,
a brewery and other attractions are coming.
Urbanrest Brewing Co., in Ferndale since 2017,
is a few blocks south of Iron Ridge Marketplace.
ROYAL OAK
• The city will see completion this year of
the Woodward Corners by Beaumont project
on Woodward at 13 Mile. Henry Ford Health
System’
s high-tech outpatient medical center will
occupy the downtown Royal Oak City Center by
April 2020.
• “Rethink” Royal Oak is a development project
to build a new city hall, police station, downtown
park, private office building and 581-space park-
ing deck. The project will transform the down-
town area to a gathering place for the entire city
as well as provide necessary updates to build-
ings
designed more than 60 years ago.
Corridor Snapshots
Horwitz family: Micah, 2, Miriam, Jonah, 4, and Dan.
jews d
in
the
Jason and Nechama Lurie
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