Jaffa revival continues

Until just a few years ago, only extreme devotees or young people moved to Jaffa. The people who bought property deep inside the city – other than those who were pushed south for financial reasons – were usually bohemian types enchanted by the sandstone, the muezzin's call and the sound of the waves. Once they arrived, the radical became the conventional, and Jaffa's north, on the border of Tel Aviv, put on a friendly face for families and couples strolling by. New businesses filled the flea-market area and Yefet Street, and the completion of the boardwalk between Herzliya and the renovated Jaffa Port further increased the traffic. At the same time, residential projects got under way, aimed at people who wanted to enjoy the magical surroundings without the hassle of renovating a property. Some of these new homes were sensitively integrated into the neighborhood; others displaced the population and created enclaves in the city. Most designers wanted their projects to become part of Jaffa's exotic mix and incorporated oriental designs.

Tel Aviv listed third by Conde Nast for its architecture

Rome didn’t make the list but Tel Aviv did. The internationally recognized Conde Nast Traveler magazine has listed 14 cities every architecture lover must visit. Tel Aviv won the number three spot.

“Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tel Aviv’s ‘White City’ contains 4,000 International Style buildings, many of which were built in the 1930s and 1940s,” the website reported. The city is considered a beacon of town planning in the early part of the 20th century and a leading example of the trends of the Modern Movement in architecture.