Small is Beautiful: Life in a Small City, Tel Aviv

Phoenix building from a small side street in Givatayim / Tel Aviv border. Tel Aviv is a "good thing in a small package"

When it comes to size you can say "good things come in small packages" about Tel Aviv. I say this every time Tel Aviv is compared New York or London and someone writes to say that I am exaggerating just a bit (actually exaggerating in a big way). How can a city this small come close to the big cities? You can't even compare the variety in Tel Aviv to most big cities. How can you be a Jazz aficionado or a rock climber in Tel Aviv? Any night in Paris there are more Jazz performances than in a month of Tel Aviv. The same probably goes for Chicago, Atlanta or London. In Barcelona you can rock climb on your lunch break in the park, what say you Tel Avivian? (You can actually rock climb in Tel Aviv's Ha'yarkon park at your lunch hour).

Well, Tel Aviv is small, it is not going to have the scale of the big cities not any time soon. But what it lacks in size it makes up in other ways. That's the reason for the "good things..." quote. As small as Tel Aviv is, its cosmopolitan qualities are rarely found in cities five times the size. Some cities the size of Tel Aviv specialize. Midwestern cities in the US, Denver, Salt Lake City or Minneapolis tout their outdoor lifestyle and comfortable living. European cities have history and culture going back hundreds of years. Tel Aviv is a microcosm of culture, lifestyle, amenities and business all wrapped up in one small place. Tel Aviv claims the title the first truly Jewish city. The title is more nationalistic (Israeli) than cultural. Today's Israeli life is not necessarily Zionist or pioneering, its more than that. There are fifth generation Tel Avivians worried more about taxes and parking tickets than Jewish identity and homeland. Tel Aviv is also called the "white city", a reflection of dark streets lit by open cafes and bars. Restaurants are willing to stay open to the last customer and some do serve to the wee hours of the morning. But nights are not the only aspect of this city, days bring bustling streets buzzing with workers. The city is a business center during the day more than just a place to entertain at night.

But what makes the city unique is the mix of so many different areas Tel Aviv has great places to live as well as cheap hostels for travelers. There are jobs for waiters and short order cooks and billionaire Real Estate investors (Donald Trump was enticed to invest and lend his name on a high rise tower). There are international corporate branches from AIG and Motorola as well as small companies importing premium olive oil from Beit Jalla (a Palestinian town known for it's olives). Clubs and performance halls host small Jazz bands and world class symphony orchestras and dance troupes fill large halls. This mix of entertainment, services, businesses and culture flow in many directions. People from the world around are welcomed and seem to enjoy the nature of a city without a single image. A city which offer all the benefits of the world's big metropolises without the real size. So in fact it's true, Tel Aviv and the surrounding towns really are: "a good thing in a small package".