The Neve David neighborhood is a neighborhood in the west of Haifa, which borders in its northern part on the Shaar Aliya neighborhood, on its northeastern side, the new neighborhood Ramat Hanasi was established in recent years, and in the south it borders the city's cemeteries (Kfar Samir). Some people get confused and call the neighborhood Camp David because there used to be a reception camp for immigrants. The cemetery covers a large area and prevents the development of the neighborhood towards the southern entrances of the city. The real estate value of the land used for the cemetery could have been very high because of the proximity to the sea. But those who did not understand in the 30s that it was worth building houses near the seashore and chose to live in neighborhoods on the Carmel, did not know how to build the cemetery far away either from the city. The result is that the neighborhood cannot develop, and land that could be used to build an attractive unit fulfills a different purpose.
The streets of the neighborhood are named after the kings of Judah and Israel. The neighborhood was established in 1951 near the Shaar Aliyah neighborhood, which was then an absorption camp and an immigrant camp. It was only in 1961, with the intervention of the mayor at the time, Abba Khushi, that the crossing was closed and permanent buildings were built.
The striped geographic location of Neve David:
The neighborhood is a two-minute walk from the beach, but the beach road and the railway separate it from the sea. If that wasn't enough, then in the 1990s the Carmel Beach towers were added, which many Haifa people call "the monsters of the Carmel Beach" and block the view and the air, as a horribly ugly monument and above all a reminder of how bad planning and construction procedures can look, when people who don't care about the residents of the neighborhood sit at the head of the city . The first tower was built by Gural and the third by Mitzna. The last push to carry out the project was given by Mitzna.
Young residents who have come to the neighborhood in recent years claim that the stigma of the neighborhood must change, because today Neve David is a neighborhood of old and young residents who work together with determination to promote the neighborhood and improve the quality of life of its residents.
In 1994, residents of the neighborhood organized together with environmental quality organizations and went out to protest against the intention to build hotels in front of the neighborhood and to prevent residents from seeing the sea from their homes, enjoying the breeze coming from the sea and in general to block the sea from the entire city and the residents of Neve David in particular. The struggle was partially successful. Fewer hotels were built than planned and changes were made to the two buildings that were built.
Real Estate
A 4-room apartment in the neighborhood sells for over a million NIS, while a 3-room apartment sells for 645,000 NIS according to the Madeleine Index. In recent years, due to publications by the municipality and meetings of round tables with the municipality's management, the residents understand that large parts of the neighborhood are moving towards urban renewal, some within a short time and the rest according to the plans within a few years, and therefore the prices of housing units in the neighborhood have increased significantly in recent years. In addition, There are also quite a few residents who do not want to sell, because they think that the value of the unit in their possession will be higher after the renewal.
At an urban renewal conference held at the Congress Center about six months ago, several residents expressed their anger at the delay in the renewal of their homes. In the panel held at the conference, a number of residents stood up and said that they have been waiting for a long time and the date of the start of the works is not yet clear and it is important to them that the neighborhood will already undergo urban renewal and they will be able to enjoy bigger and new houses.
Part of the resentment began with the construction of the new Ramat Hanasi neighborhood. Today there is no separation in the new neighborhood of the Neve David neighborhood, but when the neighborhood was established there was an attempt to build a separation between the two neighborhoods, which was eventually canceled.
Education
In the neighborhood is the "Nirim" elementary school, which has been transformed in recent years. The principal of the school is Dr. Oded Hershko, who is a doctor by training. He brought many animals to the school, which the students take care of. change to do
In the neighborhood there is a technology center of the Atid high school network that also offers afternoon workshops.
There is no six-year school in the neighborhood, the students can choose between several relatively close schools or study in a regional class at any of the six-year schools in the city.
The Neve David neighborhood is located near the beach, and from many of the windows in the neighborhood you can see the sunset in the evening. In the last century, a historical mistake was made in Haifa (compared to seaside cities in the world) and precisely the neighborhoods by the sea became neighborhoods for families from a low socio-economic status and the neighborhoods on the Carmel were considered more attractive, for those who had access.
In recent years, it is clear that the best is to live near the sea, and if there is indeed an urban renewal, the prices of the apartments in Neve David Yamiro. It is possible that this will happen in the other coastal neighborhoods as well.
One of the advantages of the neighborhood is the clean air, due to the distance from the petrochemical plants in Haifa Bay. In addition, there is public transportation in the neighborhood that allows you to get relatively quickly from the neighborhood to the rest of the city. The neighborhood is located in the southern entrances of the city, so that you can quickly reach the Haifa Mall, Kestra, the Carmel tunnels and the exit from the city towards the center.
Residents of Neve David are also satisfied with the fact that they can get all the services in the neighborhood without leaving it. In the neighborhood there is a health fund, a supermarket and shops, playgrounds, youth movements and educational institutions.
Ramot Hanasi neighborhood
Today the neighborhood is already a fait accompli, but at the beginning it was not clear whether it would be a success or not. The prices of the residential units in the neighborhood show that the concerns were unnecessary. A 5-room apartment in the neighborhood sells for about 2 million NIS and a 4-room apartment can reach 1.6 million (according to the Madeleine index). At first there was tension between the residents of the new neighborhood and the Neve David neighborhood, and the residents in Ramat Hanasi insisted not to send the children to school in Neve David but in other neighborhoods until a school was established in the neighborhood. In addition, there was a desire to build separation between the neighborhoods, and in the end it was not done.
Those who bought apartments in the neighborhood even before it was established, apparently earned hundreds of thousands of shekels, since the prices of the apartments today are tens of percent higher than the prices at which the apartments were sold during the establishment of the neighborhood.
As promised, the entire neighborhood is new and has green spaces, a large playground, which attracts residents from all over the city, and a commercial center.
The Ramat Hanasi neighborhood is still under construction, but a large part of it is already inhabited and the residents seem to be satisfied. Their only complaints are that many come to the park because it is also for older children and has the possibility to climb ropes and play in the water in the summer, and the massive presence disturbs the residents of the neighborhood.
Challenges - Neve David
In recent years, young people have joined the neighborhood, who believe that the neighborhood can be a good place to live and raise children. Among those joining is councilwoman Tali Meshulam Itach, who serves as a councilwoman on behalf of Siat Haim in Haifa (headed by Dr. Einat Kalish Rotem). Meshulam Itach grew up in the neighborhood as a child and returned to it with her husband and children. Meshulam Itach believes that a stigma has been created in the neighborhood that may have been true in the past, but is no longer true today. According to her, in the neighborhood you can find an old and a new population, who together take care of and promote the common interests. Meshulam Itach has been a council member for 4 years, and in these years she made sure to bring senior officials and workers in the neighborhood on tours of the neighborhood in order to see things that require repair and indeed have been repaired (lighting , benches, painting crossings and more).
The future of Neve David is unclear and depends very much on urban renewal. If in the next decade more and more streets and buildings are cleared for construction with the help of the municipality, the neighborhood will look completely different, and the improvement of the facades and the community center will bring with it many more changes. If the plans are delayed or partially implemented, the general appearance of the neighborhood will remain as it is today, and the residents will be harmed by this .
Of course, a neighborhood that is undergoing urban renewal has to deal with the fact that for several years, in order for more and more residents to live in large and new spacious apartments, for several years of construction the conditions in the neighborhood will not be easy, but if the residents manage to cope during this period, Neve David will change its face and become A new, well-kept and inviting neighborhood, the neighborhood that deserves the residents who live in it.
[] project Haifa neighborhoods - Michal Yaron presents the unique characteristics of each neighborhood in the city