FLORENTIN

Florentin is a neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv, near Jaffa, named after Shlomo Florentin, a contractor from Greece who established the neighborhood in the late 1920s. It lies between HaAliya Street in the east, Elifelet in the west, Jaffa Road in the north, and Salameh Road in the south. It was planned as a bourgeois neighborhood which integrates crafts workshops, light industry, and commerce with three- or four-story residential buildings along narrow streets.

In 1991 the municipality announced an urban renewal project for the neighborhood. In the 1990s private initiatives began that continue to this day, including the renovation of old buildings, the construction of housing projects for young adults, and the opening of cafés, places of entertainment, galleries, young artists’ workshops, and designer shops, alongside the veteran industries, which include clothing and furniture.

The cost of housing, which is relatively low compared to more upscale Tel Aviv neighborhoods, attracts many young people and bon vivants who live alongside the veteran population.