Huffington Magazine Issue 8 | Page 55

HUFFINGTON 08.05.12 JAWEED KALEEM SHALOM Y’ALL Boston, Atlanta or Washington, D.C. All have sizeable Jewish populations. She doesn’t want to join a synagogue, but she does want to be around people who understand her. “There are some natural cultural differences between Jewish people and others. It’s nice to have a certain baseline with people you meet,” Pataky says. “If I move to New York, I’d probably never even have to think of being Jewish.” She feels the same about Atlanta. While she isn’t looking for a religious community, Pataky’s social needs echo a refrain that Seligman often hears. Young people want to be around people like them. They want variety and a big singles scene. They want a city with a major sports team. They want to be by the buzz. Birmingham, which is revitalizing its downtown with lofts, art galleries and a burgeoning restaurant scene, still pales in comparison to bigger cities. “All these kids go to Atlanta thinking this is going to be the place. This is where I’m going to meet that person or land this perfect job, you know, because it’s Atlanta,” Seligman says. “I tell people when they call me and say they are thinking of moving to the South, ‘We are no Atlanta and we don’t want to be.’” Birminghamians are proud of their city, which is situated in a valley surrounded by lush mountain ranges and majestic hillside homes. Blacks and Jews here played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement. While Birmingham has one of the highest crime rates in the nation, the metropolitan area has one of the lowest. Anti-Semitism is rare, though there have been isolated incidents. About 80 percent of Birmingham Jews are members of a synagogue or otherwise in ٽ