"Night life on the boards" • The young people of Haifa want to spend time in the city Gaia Dan

Haifa is not a place for young people?

Every few years an article comes out about Haifa not being a place for young people, and aiming for a slow and tedious death that will officially bring the tragic end. It is not new that Haifa has been on a downward trend in recent years when it comes to leisure and cultural activities for young people over the age of 18. It is time to hear their cry, to understand what they think and feel and also, to hear the voice of the business owners on the Moriah axis, the legendary axis whose decline is felt, with the experiences of the present and nostalgia who accompanies him.

A quarter of a million residents with a street and a half for recreation

"Think of it this way," says Lee Ariel Krizhonevsky The 18-year-old, "More than a quarter of a million residents and a block and a half of entertainment places. It's really not enough."
Indeed, the vast majority of the young people I spoke with are crying out for more places to hang out in Carmel, because "downtown is neglected and sometimes inaccessible," according to them.

are supposed to be full of life

"In my opinion, something that would have connected the downtown to the center and along the axis, would have helped revive it, it just feels like another boring sleeping neighborhood," a 20-year-old soldier, who chose to remain anonymous, tells me.

When I asked you Gordon string The 19-year-old, what does she think about the nightlife in Haifa, not specifically about the Moriah axis, she answered me: "It's really hard to find successful things, even in areas that are supposed to be full of life, like the Carmel center."

Nightlife in the bars

Many residents of Haifa also complain about the cumbersome state of public transportation on the weekends.
Harvest amber, 19 years old: "Downtown is the only place that somehow still has people, and it's only on weekends, which is problematic in terms of how to get there. The center of Carmel is quite deserted, the night life is in shambles."

There is a lively nightlife in Haifa...

Yehoshua Laniado, CEO of the National Advertising Center, board member of the Haifa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, responds to the following:
"There is a vibrant and full night life in the lower city, and there are many young people who come to the place from other cities as well. The activity in the lower city replaces what used to be on the Moriah axis.
The situation today is better than it was 10 years ago, when there was no place for young people to hang out. There is a variety of restaurants and bars. In fact, Moriah Avenue is populated by tenants and business owners. Some of the tenants found that the activity of the party-goers and business owners disturbs them"

The Moriah axis attracted crowds

As a young woman from Haifa and of course a concerned citizen, I can't help but be indignant when I see that the nightlife in Carmel is almost non-existent, especially in light of the fact that some people tell me that in its glorious past, Haifa was a center of entertainment, and the most prominent was the Moriah axis which attracted crowds.
Today the reality has become increasingly bleak, and it seems that almost every new business that opens in the area and tries its luck, finds itself bankrupt.

Idle talk or facts?

I decided to talk to a number of owners of entertainment and leisure places on the famous axis, and hear what is happening with them. Is it idle talk or facts from the field? Is Haifa really a dying city?

The beating heart of Carmel

The Duke, at 107 Moriah Ave., managed by Ran Zuckerman for 17 years.
"I don't agree with the statement that the night life on the Moriah axis no longer exists. I think that the Moriah axis has simply matured over the years. It is the beating heart of the Carmel. It is true that it has become more neighborhood-like. The axis no longer attracts people from outside the city, more come to it from the region, But still works well with the older population, people we grew up with and stayed in Haifa.

So, at the time, 17 years ago, Moriah axis was one of the strategic and bustling places in Haifa, Haifa split and the young people left the estate area for the lower city, to Neve Shanan, to areas that are cheaper in terms of living, rent, property taxes, etc. The development of the lower city made them spend time there parallel to their way of life.

The Haifa people know how to spend time and should invest

You have to think and be focused on what business they want to open, because not every business that is opened here on the axis is the right one. But if you do it right and target the population, there's no reason why it won't work. People are thirsty for entertainment, thirsty for food. The population in Carmel knows how to go out and spend time and if they do something, it should be done at the highest level possible, because the Carmelites are a population that demands and wants to know how to receive. You have to invest."

There is continuity here

"We don't disturb the adults, most places today, the pubs and bars also work as restaurants and the music is more relaxed." Zuckerman continues, "There are no clubs here, we don't disturb the neighbors. The only thing that could disturb the neighbors is the parking, there isn't too much of it on the axis. There is a young population that also goes out on the Moriah axis, young guys who grew up here, and their parents also spend time here, There is continuity here. I think this is a different population, which will not go down to the lower city, maybe these are class differences. I don't have any statistics, but it is evident that the children of the Carmelites stay here, for the most part.

I think that if there was interest here, and there were jobs and employment for young people, it would boost the night life back to Haifa, people would come from the center and open places of entertainment here. Note that apart from shopping malls, no fashion chain comes to Haifa. There are no restaurant chains, Segev Express wanted to open in Auditori and ran away, in the end he opened in Karion. People realize that there is not enough 'meat' here to open businesses, so they do not open.

Those looking to get rich will not do it here

I am considered 'small', I work alone, without partners. I make a living, not looking to get rich. Those looking to make money will not do it here, in Haifa. Large chains of great chefs skip Haifa, straight from the center to Kiryat. There is no tourism in the city. Bringing tourists to take pictures in the Bahai Islands and flying them to Nazareth, the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, it's absurd. There aren't as many American tourists as there used to be. There is no domestic tourism in Haifa. There is nothing to do, you get to the lower city and you are also disappointed from there. Supposedly they did something there, but actually they did nothing. Cleaned a bit and put lighting. Cultural life is not encouraged properly and that is what is happening. So Haifa for the Haifaites."

Downtown arrived with a "boom"

"Brown"At 131 Moriah Avenue, managed by Noa Gottfried for 3 years, has existed for 19 years.
"To say now that the nightlife in Haifa is only the downtown, it is completely disconnected. This is some perception that was created, because the downtown came with a 'boom', after Yona Yahav ripped her ass. To say that they turned on the light there and on the Moria axis they turned it off, it is not That's right. Pass by here at night at any given moment, see what's happening here at 1:XNUMX in the morning. Look at the businesses nearby, all the places are full.

In the lower city, I think, which is comfortable and fun and perhaps gives an atmosphere, but not convenient in terms of access. There is a lot to walk there, there is a lot to hike. You put the car somewhere, or get off at Carmelit and just go. It's fun in the summer when it's warm and nice to walk. But to say that there is nothing in the Moriah vintage is simply a shame.

To say that there is nothing here is not fair

There is a new generation coming out, and as soon as they are told that there is only one area worth going to, it is not fair. There are pubs and restaurants here in Moria that work very well. It sounds like no matter how hard we work, they will say that there is nothing. People are made to think that you died here and that there is nothing and it is not worth coming here (to the Moriah axis) which is not true.

Turn off the area for no reason

Until a year ago, there was the whole thing of the "outside" of Independence Day. It didn't bother anyone. People were really waiting for it. 4-5 years ago there were 55 people in "Tzubachos", it's crazy! I mean then that the audience would have been waiting for it, and the businesses would have been waiting for it too. Indeed, pubs from other parts of the axis up to the center of Carmel would come to the "Tzubachos". Everyone was here. It's a shame that they take the area and turn it off for no reason.

We will all benefit when there is traffic here

"There needs to be more traffic here. They keep saying "Zir Moriah Zir Moriah" Moriah is a street, a street scattered with pubs. So the more pubs there are on it, the better it will be.
The more business there is here, the happier it will be. Some business owners will say among themselves that it is better not to, because it will harm them. I say that the more movement and the more choice there is here, the more we will all benefit from it.

The 'Shashon' (formerly the "Ponzi" 1998-2004) for example, opened an Italian restaurant here. Everyone thought that people would not come and - and Allah works, like a king. The more traffic there is and people see with their own eyes that it is worth coming and having fun here, it does the job."

"They say he was happy here.."

coffee shop "Silva", at Sderot Moriah 120, managed by Nadav Magid for 4 and a half years, existing for 20 years.
"It's hard to say that Silva is a crowded place in the evening, but I do see that there is evening activity on the axis. As a child, as a soldier, 20 years ago soon, I would go out to the Moriah axis on 'Hamshosh' and once more on Fridays, and sometimes on Shabbat as well, and I'm not from Haifa I would come here and sit at "Mindlers" (1998-2014, became the "Habar" pub, and now operates as a pet store), at "Brown" and all kinds of things. There was action. We would go out to the Moriah axis.

From what I know, many have closed. For example the "Barbarossa", (2003-2015, closed due to arson) and the "Frangellico" (2000-2017, now Papa John's). In the last four years that I have been here, businesses that were once very essential to the axis like the "BBB" (closed in 2017) have closed, and before that there was also a pub there.

Even before the corona virus

My thought, before the corona virus started, was to unite the businesses here, and together with the municipality, return Atara to its former glory. Do, for example, once a week, something like "outing". Every business puts on some music, live performances, and that the municipality will advertise and bring the people back here. Once a week, even once a month, we would do something like this and it would be possible to bring awareness back to the axis.

I'm sure that every one of the businesses here would be happy if once in a while there was some support from the municipality, like they did for the lower city. Get the people back to this place. Unfortunately I didn't get to offer it, because of the corona virus. I think it could work. But it didn't amount to an attempt.

Ended because of the neighbors

I think in the lower city they support with all their might. It started by moving the "Tzovachos" there and continued by lowering the property tax for businesses, we gave grants, we gave all kinds of special tenders. Support them.
I had the experience in a "villa" that ended purely because of neighbors who do not want a business around them, because it is a residential neighborhood.

There used to be a madman here. On Thursday, Friday, Saturday, it was amazing. Everyone turned around here. In the end you have to understand that this is a city and people who live here can't just enjoy the fact that in the morning they can drink coffee under the house, but in the evening it doesn't suit them to have a pub.

Swinging between life and death

Places that work and worked even before the corona virus are very difficult to bring down, but most of the places in Haifa are ones that are at the beginning of their journey, or swinging between life and death. I will not be surprised if more of these are closed in the near future. I'm surprised they haven't closed yet.

Opening a food and entertainment business and certainly a nightlife business is almost impossible here, let's put aside the corona virus. Licensing, accessibility, licenses, infrastructure... In Haifa, the infrastructure is old. In order to open a business on the Carmel you have to come, usually delete the building, delete the store you want to take and start everything from scratch. This is the advantage, too, of the downtown. Most of the businesses there were given a ready place, with infrastructure for a food business.

Knapa Shapira, Sderot Hanasi 121, opened and managed by Dana Shapira, since February 2020.
"I enjoy it less when I go to the lower city. There are good places there, but I really see Carmel coming back to itself, and feel the traffic here. Lots of foreign tourism, even before the corona virus.
Moriah is pretty much dead, which is a shame, because you used to go from place to place there and today it's gone.

The municipality needs to invest resources

I blame the Haifaites a bit: you live in a great city, among the most beautiful, everything is here, don't spend your money outside the city, spend your money at home, in Haifa. There really are very good places, and if everyone internalizes it and does it, I believe it will be successful. For me, "from the outside" means Kiryat, Nahariya, and the valleys. Guys from the center, they have nothing to look for here and it's a shame. Because it's a great place. Of course, the municipality needs to invest resources in Carmel as well and not only in the lower city.

Move soul

With all due respect to the residents," says Shapira. "A resident who decides to live on Moriah axis or in the center of Carmel, should take into account that there is noise. It's like someone lives in Dizengoff above some place, and he will go with complaints about noise to the municipality. You live in an entertainment place, move soul, people want to live.
There are many such problems here. They sent me police, supervision, municipality... How do you do that in Tel Aviv? Let them check how Ron Huldai does it."

They said I was crazy

"I grew up here," she continues, "I returned to the city after 11 years of not being there and I have something inside that really believes in Carmel. Almost everyone told me I was crazy, and some ask me what I took and gave them too. But I really really believe.

I opened in February and closed on March 15th. It's a bit weird. I just opened and immediately closed.
I wish everyone a good livelihood and that everyone will do their own thing. A lot of business owners don't understand that one should infringe on the other. The interest as far as I'm concerned, the whole axis will work like hell, I'll enjoy it because there will be more reasons to come."

Rabbi Dovi Hayon, who holds the cultural portfolio in the city, in response to Lai Fa:
"There is no area that will have residences alone and entertainment alone... Broadly speaking, what happened is that the nightlife descended on the port, and the Moriah axis attracted more residences and more families. It is impossible in a residential area to open places of entertainment after 11 at night. This is a natural urban process that happens in many places, for all the balance Neither I nor the mayor can do anything about it.
We need to find convenient solutions for more suitable public transportation, imagine if the Carmelite was open until 2 in the morning, the municipality should take care of that, for better urban planning."

What is cursed in Moriah vintage?

So what is so cursed about the Moriah vintage that fails to survive the experiences of the present? Some say that Carmelit has an influence on the night life, but the design of most of the axis is also not very inviting, narrow sidewalks, lack of parking and a street structure that arouses disgust. There are advantages to the fact that Haifa has several entertainment centers, such as the Carmel Center, the Ziv Center, the Lower City. It's a shame that Haifa doesn't know, or doesn't want to, play with it properly.

Youthful dreams that have become obsolete

If there is no creative solution on behalf of our municipality, maybe we should turn to the mayors of other cities and ask how they deal with residential neighborhoods on recreation and infrastructure axes from the British mandate...
None of us wants to wake up one day and find out that all the young people have been smuggled out of Haifa, especially when it was once lively and loved and has become a ghost town, of youthful dreams that have become obsolete.