NOVEMBER 11 • 2021 | 7

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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community have to offer.
I recently attended Tulsa 
Tomorrow’s fifth-such 
weekend as an observer, as 
Windsor is in the process of 
launching its own newcomer 
program. I was joined by 15 
young professionals from 
geographically disparate 
locations, including Los 
Angeles, San Francisco, Miami 
and Buenos Aires.
The participants’ professions 
were as varied as their 
geography, and our group 
included a rabbi, software 
engineer, closed caption writer, 
university student and clinical 
psychologists. Their motivation 
to move also varied, but some 
admitted to experiencing 
“pandemic flux syndrome,
” 
which authors Amy Cuddy 
and JillEllyn Riley describe 
as “a desire to drastically 
change something about their 
lives” following the collective 
pandemic-induced trauma of 
the past year and a half. 
Participants from New York 
and California were especially 
drawn to Tulsa’s affordable cost 
of living, which, according to 
Rocket Homes, is 14.8% below 
the U.S. average, making it the 
second most affordable big city 
in the country. It also doesn’t 
hurt that Tulsa has 227 days of 
sunshine a year. The majority 
of the millennial participants I 
met had previously relocated in 
the past and were not daunted 
by the prospect of moving 
again.

GIVING PLEDGE
George Kaiser, the child of 
Jewish refugees who fled 
Nazi Germany, is one of the 
wealthiest Oklahomans. Both 
Kaiser and Lynn Schusterman 
are signatories of the Giving 
Pledge, where philanthropists 
commit to giving away half 

of their wealth for charitable 
purposes. The George 
Kaiser Family Foundation 
is a supporter of both Tulsa 
Tomorrow and established 
Tulsa Remote, which provides 
$10,000 grants and free 
co-working space to remote 
workers of all backgrounds 
from outside the state who 
relocate to Tulsa for at least a 
year.
Research has shown that 
the amount that transplants 
pay in sales tax alone during 
their first year in Tulsa exceeds 
the investment made in their 
relocation. To-date, Tulsa 
Remote has helped 1,200 
professionals relocate, boasting 
a retention rate of 82.5%. 
George Kaiser gave our group 
of prospective newcomers a 
private tour of the Gathering 
Place, an interactive, 64-acre 
green space he spearheaded 
that cost $465 million to build 
on the city’s iconic waterfront 
along the Arkansas River. 
Time Magazine listed the 
Gathering Place on its “Greatest 
Places of 2019” list, and it was 
named “the best city park in 

the country” by USA Today 
Readers’ Choice 2021. It also 
happens to be the largest private 
gift to a community park in the 
country.

FULL INFRASTRUCTURE
The Tulsa Jewish community 
made it clear that it is ready 
to welcome newcomers and 
make their move a success, 
from helping arrivals find 
employment to getting new 
business ventures off the 
ground. Our group was hosted 
at community members’ 
homes for Shabbat dinner and 
Havdalah, and we were warmly 
welcomed into its communal 
institutions, including 
synagogues, Federation, JCC, 
art and Holocaust museums, 
Jewish day schools and a 
seniors’ home.
For such a small Jewish 
community, Tulsa has an 
abundance of communal 
infrastructure; it just needs 
more new members. 
Although Tulsa’s 
circumstances are unique to a 
region powered by the energy 
sector, the main lesson I took 

away is applicable to Metro 
Detroit or any other Jewish 
community looking to grow: 
There is a growing number 
of untethered, location-
independent young adults 
throughout the world living in 
overpriced, overcrowded cities. 
Suddenly able to work from 
anywhere, they are looking to 
relocate for a higher quality of 
life and are craving community 
and connections. Detroit and 
Windsor offer some of the 
most affordable housing in 
their respective countries, and 
both have Jewish communities 
that have experienced 
demographic decline following 
the diminishing fortunes of 
the automotive industry. If 
our home cities and Jewish 
communities start proactively 
marketing what we have to offer 
to millennials on the move, we 
have a high chance of infusing 
our communities with much-
needed new members. 

Dan Brotman is the executive director 

of the Windsor Jewish Federation & 

Community Centre. He writes in his 

personal capacity.

Windsor Jewish Federation’s Dan Brotman and Richie Kamen in Greenwood, the former district known as 
“Black Wall Street” prior to the 1921 Tulsa Massacre of Black residents by white rioters.

COURTESY OF DAN BROTMAN

