The French are Coming, Coming, Coming :: they are HERE !
A sizeable French-Jewish population is making a quiet immigration to Israel. These are not beaten refugees, but middle to upper-middle class people. Most are professionals and business people. Some are younger couples and young families in their 20's, sent by the older patriarchs. Some are complete extended families - 3 and even 4 generations. Like people afraid of any social change, but with the means, they are essentially "hedging their bets". So what's the news here for Tel Aviv? Ah, they are buying, investing, opening businesses and mostly -- COOKING! Yes, cooking, like in restaurants, bakeries, wine and cheese stores... you get the idea. FRENCH, REAL French food in Tel Aviv. OK, so you are not as excited about this as me, too bad.
These young immigrants first came to "take a look". But like many "visitors", it didn't take them long to figure out that life in Tel Aviv (with a little cache of Euros) is a wonderful thing. So with energy, enthusiasm, hard work, curiosity and lots of experience they started making their mark on Tel Aviv. The good news is they like to live well, so they have taken hold in all the nice areas in Tel Aviv, specially anywhere within sight of the beach. Up and down Ha'yarkon street they have rented and bought everything available. So the real estate sector in Tel Aviv has taken notice and you see renovation on a scale not seen in years here. The BAD NEWS? Property prices are going up, estimated 30% the last quarter. Some say the 10% a month rise is a little scary... are we heading for a bubble? Not likely, real estate in Israel has not kept up with the general economy.
THE GOOD NEWS: people with real estate knowledge, are coming to invest. In the US the real estate market is going through a correction not seen in decades. So real estate investors are puring money into Israel. So are Europeans and south Americans.
Editor's note: This phenomenon is not restricted to Tel Aviv! Building all over Israel, specially up and down the cost, from Ashkelon to Cesarea is seeing a boost not seen here in 15 to 20 years.
Back to the French! The other good outcome of the French immigration is culture. There are more movies, books, cooks and cloths in much higher caliber than Tel Aviv has ever seen. Most people do not make the connection, but I see this as the competitive spirit of people, specially Israelis. A wedding dress shop in north Dizengoff street imports a dress from Paris. She sells it to a young French woman who is getting married with the family coming for the big event. The owner of the dress shop 3 doors down can't exactly ignore this. First of all she may lose business, but most of all she does NOT want to be seen as the "out of fashion" neighbour! This is what will happen if all the soon-to-be young bride's friends walk up and down the street asking for a French wedding dress!
The same holds for French cheese, baked goods, cloths, furniture, kitchen ware, wines... you name it. In essence, the last few years, Tel Aviv reflected the general economic slowdown of the DOT-COM crash, which made us sleepy for a while. Now we are back, with the push of the FRENCH. All I got to say is "viva la differance" and pass over the Hebrew-French dictionary ppplllleeeaaassseeee !
These young immigrants first came to "take a look". But like many "visitors", it didn't take them long to figure out that life in Tel Aviv (with a little cache of Euros) is a wonderful thing. So with energy, enthusiasm, hard work, curiosity and lots of experience they started making their mark on Tel Aviv. The good news is they like to live well, so they have taken hold in all the nice areas in Tel Aviv, specially anywhere within sight of the beach. Up and down Ha'yarkon street they have rented and bought everything available. So the real estate sector in Tel Aviv has taken notice and you see renovation on a scale not seen in years here. The BAD NEWS? Property prices are going up, estimated 30% the last quarter. Some say the 10% a month rise is a little scary... are we heading for a bubble? Not likely, real estate in Israel has not kept up with the general economy.
THE GOOD NEWS: people with real estate knowledge, are coming to invest. In the US the real estate market is going through a correction not seen in decades. So real estate investors are puring money into Israel. So are Europeans and south Americans.
Editor's note: This phenomenon is not restricted to Tel Aviv! Building all over Israel, specially up and down the cost, from Ashkelon to Cesarea is seeing a boost not seen here in 15 to 20 years.
Back to the French! The other good outcome of the French immigration is culture. There are more movies, books, cooks and cloths in much higher caliber than Tel Aviv has ever seen. Most people do not make the connection, but I see this as the competitive spirit of people, specially Israelis. A wedding dress shop in north Dizengoff street imports a dress from Paris. She sells it to a young French woman who is getting married with the family coming for the big event. The owner of the dress shop 3 doors down can't exactly ignore this. First of all she may lose business, but most of all she does NOT want to be seen as the "out of fashion" neighbour! This is what will happen if all the soon-to-be young bride's friends walk up and down the street asking for a French wedding dress!
The same holds for French cheese, baked goods, cloths, furniture, kitchen ware, wines... you name it. In essence, the last few years, Tel Aviv reflected the general economic slowdown of the DOT-COM crash, which made us sleepy for a while. Now we are back, with the push of the FRENCH. All I got to say is "viva la differance" and pass over the Hebrew-French dictionary ppplllleeeaaassseeee !
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