Type of Community: Neighborhood

Region: Jerusalem

Officially known as Ramot Alon, the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot – as it has become known – is a wonderful choice for Olim who want to be near Jerusalem but do not like the noisy lifestyle of a city. With its relatively affordable housing, smaller neighborhoods and close proximity to downtown Jerusalem, Ramot has long since been an ideal choice for English-speaking Olim.

Ramot functions very independently – more like a small city, than a neighborhood of Jerusalem. While there is great diversity in Ramot, as a whole it is increasingly a Dati/Charedi (Orthodox/Ultra-Orthodox)area.

Local Employment
Har Hachotzvim is about 7 minutes away. The center of Jerusalem is about 15 minutes away. In addition, some residents work outside of Jerusalem, traveling to Modiin or Tel Aviv (usually via the train from Modiin).

Education / Youth
Ramot has a wide variety of schools, ranging from public secular (in the Ramot Aleph neighborhood) to Beit Yaakov and other Charedi educational options.

For the Dati Leumi (National Religious) community, Ramot has two Ohr Torah schools, part of Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s educational network. The two schools, for boys and girls, are located close to one another and serve grades 7-12.

In addition, Ramot also has Noam schools, for both boys and girls. The Noam schools are popular choices for English-speakers. The girls and boys schools are located close to each other.

Beit Shulamit is a popular school for English-speaking, Orthodox girls.

Several youth groups exist in the community.

Transportation
Ramot has an extensive line of local buses, plus several buses that travel into Jerusalem.

Amenities / Services
Ramot offers all the services and shopping you would expect to find in a small town, plus it has the advantage of being so close to Jerusalem. The community has banks, a post office, restaurants, a library and more.

There are several shopping areas throughout Ramot, and there is a mall under construction, slated to open in 2011.

While they have a local board of governers, all the main services come from the Jerusalem municipality, of which they are a part.

There is a large assited living facility for the elderly.

There are two very active community centers- There is a third center catering to the charedi population.charedi sector, and one for

Community and Religious Life
In the Neve Orot community there is a large synagogue, which seats 500 and is the focal point of Jewish cultural life in the community. The building is part of a larger complex which includes a Mikveh for men and women, two Kollelim and smaller Minyanim of Edot Mizrach and the Yemenite community. Recently, this synagogue hired a new community-oriented rabbi, in cooperation with the Kehalim organization (www.kehalim.org).

The community has a very active Conservative synagogue as well.

There is an English-speaking book club and Torah classes offered in English.

Real Estate
Ramot has smaller, two-bedroom apartments for those with limited funds, and enormous private homes with in-ground swimming pools with for those with more means.

While there is some variation in prices depending on the neighborhood, in general, one should expect to pay within the following range:

Rentals (4-5 room apartments): $900-1,500/month

Purchase:
4-5 room apartments: $400-$500,000
Semi-detached homes: $500-600,000
Private homes: Beginning at $900,000

Source : Nefesh B’Nefesh

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