Tel Aviv - The Long Walk

View of downtown Tel Aviv from Shayim Levanon Street, near Tel Aviv University

After some quality time at the Diaspora Museum, and an excellent cappucino out on their patio overlooking Tel Aviv University,  I started walking.  Since I had already been to the Diaspora Museum, which is all about Jewish life outside of Israel, I thought I'd walk to the Eretz Israel museum, which is all about history and life within Israel.  But by the time I got to the museum, having been distracted by views of downtown Tel Aviv and the botanical garden, it was only open for another 70 minutes.  That didn't seem time enough to do it justice.  So I changed my plans and decided to walk to the city center, and like Forrest Gump, I just decided to keep on going.

Typical apartment building  in Tel Aviv/Ramat Gan

I ended up on Namir Road, which is a one of the major north-south roads in the city.  I headed south, passing over Ha 'Yarkon park and the big muddy Yarkon river, then along streets lined with apartments, most quite elegant, others falling apart.  Most share the same architectural style (excluding the Bauhaus buildings).  Think a tall concrete box, held up with concrete pillars.  The open space is used as a car park, landscaping, or not infrequently, for weeds and feral cats.  Laundry and Israeli flags hang from the balconies, and A/C units from the windows.  Mixed in with these utilitarian apartments are shiny new apartments, all with modern styling.

Note the concrete supports on the ground floor.
An apartment building in the Ultra-Orthodox section of Tel Aviv. 

Addendum: Today I chatted with a professor at Bal Ilan University about these utilitarian apartment buildings, which are ubiquitious in Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan.  He informed me they were built during the socialist period in the 1940's and 1950's.  The uniform design saved money; esthetics were not a consideration.  As for the recessed entry, he wasn't sure of it's purpose.  But in keeping with socialist ideals, each building had it's own building committee, and the open space was likely used for meetings and gatherings.  The unsightly A/C units came later.

Many of these apartment buildings are in disrepair, but they are also occupied by low income residents.  Many of these residents, again according to my Israeli professor, are ultra-Orthodox.  The husbands are not employed; instead they study Torah full time, while their wives, who are not well educated, are employed in low paying service positions such as housekeeping.  They also tend to have large families.  All of this contributes to their lower standard of living.

The professor also confirmed my own observation that it is expensive to live in Israel. He compared Israel to an island.  It is surrounded by unfriendly nations, and so all imports must come directly to Israel, not overland through surrounding countries.  As a tour guide told me yesterday, only fruits and vegetables are cheap in Israel (the 17% VAT tax does not apply!). 
 

Older apartments and shiny skyscraper in the distance, Namir road

While Jaffa, at the south end of the city, is ancient, with human habitation going back nearly 4,000 years, much of the rest of Tel Aviv was sand dunes a hundred years ago, and many of the buildings were quickly and cheaply built and are now in poor repair.  A lot of buildings in Tel Aviv need a good washing, grafitti removal, and some paint.  It's gritty, but I've seen similar scenes in Los Angeles and I also sense that Tel Aviv is gentrifying, as exemplified by the chic new Sarona Market. It's certainly humming with energy. 

I continued walking south along Namir street until it became Menachem Begin Road.  Along the way, I learned that Tel Aviv is building a light rail system to alleviate traffic congestion. Tel Aviv certainly needs it. It takes nerves of steel to drive here. I was glad to be walking.

After walking the wrong way (toward the fancy TVL Fashion Mall and Sanora market) I corrected course and headed South on HaSholam street and eventually, made it back to our hotel.  My walking tour is penned below. At just over 4 miles, my feet have voted not to do it again.