Karmiel Guide

"MY KARMIEL"

Welcome to my town.  I have lived in Karmiel for 27 years +/-, and I love it here.  In 1985, I moved from a small town in Pennsylvania (pop: 20,000) to a small town in Israel (pop: 20,000) and found that, difference in language notwithstanding, one small town is much the same as another! 

Demographics, sort of:

As of August, 2010, there were 52,000 residents in Karmiel, comprising about 15,000 homes. The average age in Karmiel is 39, which points to a relatively young population.

From the beginning of 1990 Karmiel has absorbed about 20,000 immigrants, most of them from the Soviet Republic. In addition during this time an equal number of families from other parts of Israel have moved to Karmiel in order to improve the quality of life.

Many of Karmiel's residents are from the "founding families", a fact which attests to roots and a love of the city.

About 60% of the residents are native Israelis and veteran immigrants.

About 40% of the residents are immigrants from 75 countries around the world.

Some Karmiel related websites:

http://www.kbyonline.org/hakerem/index.html

http://www.webscope.com/karmiel/

http://www.amcorner-karmiel.org.il/gallery.html

bilingual Israel map site

http://www.karmiel.muni.il/openningeng.asp.

BTW, "K"armiel is spelled with a K, not a "C" to differentiate it from Carmel (Haifa.)

Check out the website, http://www.karmiel.muni.il/openningeng.asp.

I made aliyah in 1985 and came directly to Karmiel where I lived in the mercaz haklitah for 8 months.  When I came here, Karmiel had less that 20,000 people.  Since I moved from a small town in PA (also about 20, 000 souls), I felt very much at home, even with the cultural and language differences.  I can remember when we hit the 25,000 mark.  It was a big deal, because we were now a 'city,' rather than a town, and entitled to our first traffic light!  People from large metropolitan areas may feel out of place here.  This is a typical small town where everyone knows everyone's business.

Today there are about  52,000 residents, about 1/3 of whom are from the former Soviet Union, so the 'second' language in Karmiel is Russian.  If you speak Yiddish, it is possible to communicate with the older Russians, many of whom have never learned Hebrew.   The town is relatively young, however, with a median age of 39 and 670-680 births in 2009.  Karmiel is super kid-friendly. About 700 Arab families live in Karmiel. 

The economy is similar to that of any American small town, i.e., retail shops, some service businesses.  There are a few factories in the industrial area, but they are generally outsourced manufacturing arms of corporate offices found in the center of the country.  In other words, CEOs and CFO's don't live here, but hourly workers do. 

Karmiel is a primarily secular city. Because of our proximity to the Arab villages (This is the Galil, after all, where Jews are not the demographic majority), many business owners, security personnel, professionals and hourly workers are Arab.  Pubs, restaurants and many stores are open 7 days a week, including 2 fairly large (Russian staffed) supermarkets which sell pork and pork products as well as a number of smaller neighborhood minimarkets which do the same, but may be closed on Saturdays. The municipal cultural center presents concerts, etc. on Friday nites and occasional children’s shows on Saturday during the day. The local parks are all open 7 days. The local bus service ends around 4 p.m. on Fridays and starts again around 4 p.m. on Saturdays, but taxis run 7 days.

As our mayor stated recently, it would be a disaster to us if the local Arabs were to withdraw from participating in our economy.   Many of the Arab residents in the area are practicing Christians as are some of the immigrants from the FSO, and there has been talk of building a church in the industrial area to serve their needs.  As our mayor has said, Karmiel is an open city in a democratic nation.   NEWS FLASH!!! A deputy mayor of Karmiel was fired this week (Nov. 2010) for speaking out against the 'Arabization' of the Galilee and against renting/selling apartments to our Arab neighbors.  

There are relatively few English speakers in Karmiel.  I would guess it is representative of the country as a whole which has, I believe, less than 5% overall native English speaking residents.  (I could be wrong about this percentage).  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population

accessed 27.7.09  with note: "This is a list of countries of the world sorted by the total English-speaking population in that country. This includes both native speakers and second language speakers of English. Statistics on second language speakers are usually imprecise, in part because there is no widely agreed definition of second language speakers, and some numbers have been calculated by Wikipedia editors from data in other sources, so these figures should be treated with caution."

"= Israel 1.37% 7,303,000 100,000 Source: Ethnologue (2005)[13]

The 100,000 figure may be low considering that English is de facto the second language of speakers of both Hebrew and Arabic. It is the main language for external commerce and tourism, and a required language for all Jewish and Arab schools, and for the universities (which teach in Hebrew).[14][15]"

Like the other immigrant groups, many of these are elderly olim who have either been here a long time, like me, or who retired here from English speaking countries.  Karmiel is a great place to retire to or raise kids...relatively low drug and alcohol use and crime rate, generally young population, lots of child-centered activities,  much lower cost of living than the center of the country, and pretty decent  public services.  

Karmiel is also the home of the ORT Braude College which started as a 2-year community college, but which is now an accredited 4 year academic institution, providing B.Sc. degrees as well as certification in Practical Engineering.

The town is lovely and regularly wins the annual national competition for beauty & cleanliness.  We have lovely gardens and parks--as I said, it's a bedroom community for young families. 

It's possible to manage in Karmiel without a car.  The town was laid out for walking when it was originally planned.  I used to be able to walk anywhere in the city within 20 minutes.  All that has changed since we have more than doubled in size since I arrived, but, if you know where to find them, there are flights of steps from everywhere to everywhere and lots of buses and taxis. 

Parking is a problem.  When the city was conceived, the planners figured on one car per every four families. NO ONE in his wildest imagination foresaw an Israeli economy that included 2/3 car families!!

In short, if you like the idea of living in a small town atmosphere (my friend went to the bank to take out a cash advance on her foreign credit card and was informed that Sholom X did this all the time too!--small town lack of privacy), where kids can go out and play safely without constant supervision and where teenagers routinely stay out safely until the wee hrs of the morning during the summer, just chatting on benches or hanging out, if you are willing to commute to work or find some way to work from home or have the language, patience, financial resources and sheer nerve it takes to open a business in this country, if you can get over being a stimulation-junkie from big city living (the nearest movie theatre is 1/2 hr-3/4 hr away),  and if you don't mind an influx of literally THOUSANDS of people once a year for the International Dance Festival, Y'all come!!!

Personal observations:

• No one invited me to make aliyah to Israel to change things.  Besides, my mother taught me that the first time you visit someone's house, it's really rude to move the furniture.
• "Cacha ze" --roughly, "that's the way it is." was one of the first phrases of Hebrew I  learned.  Trying to turn Israel into the USA is exhausting, unwelcome and pretty much a waste of time.  Besides, if I wanted to live in America, why would I be here?
• Any sentence that begins with "Well, in the UK or the US or Capetown or wherever" is bound be problematic.
• Correspondingly, any sentence that contains the phrase "it makes sense that" is doomed.
• Leave your 'chip' at the airport. 

Keep your sunny side up!

Things social

"THINGS SOCIAL"
In line with the small town nature of Karmiel, much of the socializing is done in-home.  Invites for dinner, coffee, etc. are the backbone.  As is true pretty much anywhere, families with young kids will tend to stick together and socialize according to which school the children attend or families that attend the same synagogue will do things together.  There are or have been at one time or another book clubs, bridge groups, mahjong groups, scrabble clubs, choirs and choral groups and lots of folk dance opportunities (this is Karmiel, after all).  People are likely to socialize according to language groups.

The older English speaking 'crowd' gets together on Saturday evening to sit outside of the English Speakers' Club, weather permitting, (next to Bank Hapoalim in the old commercial center) and shmooze and have a coffee or a whiskey. This is in addition to the regular morning hours (see below.) Also, occasionally a speaker comes to the club, usually on a Monday evening. In addition, there is the every-now-and-then bus tiyul or vacation in Eilat. The club library, which stocks current English language paperbacks, is open every (S-F) morning.   Club membership includes library privileges.  The club is open every morning from 10:00 till 12:30, M-F. On occasion, there is an evening 'social,' i.e., pizza party, wine & cheese get together, etc. Friday a.m., people sort of drop in, read the paper, catch up. The bridge club meets twice a week during the day.  Most of the membership is of retirement age, but don't let that stop you!  They're pretty sprightly, friendly and have lots of Karmiel experience. 

Food and restaurants:

As of this writing there  are no kosher restaurants in the old center of town, one kosher dairy restaurant (Café Café) in the Hotazaot Karmiel strip mall in the industrial section; two kosher meat restaurant (Shipudei Hatikva and Mad Bull) in the My Center strip mall in the industrial section, a kosher bakery/café (Assif) on the main road through the industrial section (next to the Orange cellphone store); a number of kosher “workers’ restaurants—meat—usually open only for lunch—in the Industrial Zone itself, and one kosher restaurant on the ‘Midrahov” (HaBimah). There are additional kosher bakeries that sell pastries and such (ie., Sami Burekas in the old center—super coffee and great challot!). There is a kosher falafel stand at the base of the “Old Kanyon,” Kirkar Hagalil.   There a 3 sushi restaurants, several chain store restaurants (Aroma, Burgus Burger Bar, Art d’Coco, etc.) as well as privately owned.  None of these is kosher.  There is a kosher butcher shop, Ohf Tsfat, in the industrial zone.  Naturally, the supermarkets carry kosher meat and poultry.  There is a fresh fish store in the industrial zone (kosher) and lots of supermarkets, including 2 that cater to the Russian population and several Russian mini markets, all of which sell pork and international products.  They also sell a large variety of alcoholic beverages and wines.  Alcoholic beverages may not be consumed on the street, i.e., no can of beer while you stroll, plus convenience stores are forbidden to sell alcohol after 11 p.m.  The new total of Karmiel supermarkets is 9, with more to come.


In addition to the above, there are a number of restaurants (kosher) which prepare food for take out on Friday mornings and before holidays.  These include:  The hotel (Cochav HaGalil), Tamuz (both prepare many different choices, both mizrachi and European), Mamun (left at the first traffic light in the industrial section where the gas station is) (primarily mizrachi), Shipudei Tikva (mizrachi) in the "MY Center" opposite Big, and others.

Cultural Center website

http://www.karmiel.net/tarbut/hehal%20hatarbut.htm  (Hebrew website)

On Saturday nites in the summer, the municipality sponsors an evening of Israeli folkdancing in the new plaza in the old center of town, near the old ‘canyon.’  Parents and kids, couples, singles, all are welcome.  The music usually starts around 19:30 and goes on till 23:00 or so. A couple of coffee shops and pubs are open.There is also Israeli folk dancing night at the Conservative synagogue each Wednesday night.

Second run films are shown at the Hechal Hatarbut (cultural center) on Saturday nites at 21:00.  There is talk of building a movie theatre in town.  We had a multi-plex in one of the shopping centers for a few years, but they moved out.  The deputy mayor announced a few months ago that 3 new VIP screening rooms are planned for the space underneath the Hechal.  There are at least two snooker halls.  

I highly recommend the Karmiel Folk Club which meets at 21:00 on the first Thursday of the month at Moshav Shorashim.  Personally, I believe "Folk Club" is much too narrow a name.  Lots of different kinds of performers here, both international and domestic, for nis 35.  Don't miss Open Mik month (April). It is so not karaoke.

The Municipality owns and operates the “Park Mishpacha” (family park).  Entrance is free to Karmiel residents (show your teudat zehut ‘ID card') for free entrance.  Mini golf, picnic tables, playground equipment, etc.  Really nifty. Park HaGalil (site of the NBN summer picnics) is spacious and beautiful, with a lake and waterfalls.  Free entrance.  Bring your own picnic. 

There are at least 4 gyms in Karmiel that I know of, holmesplace.com,

 (http://www.holmesplace-energy.co.il/news/default.asp?ClubID=6&catId=9&maincat=2&stcClubID=6),

a gym called Pegasus which seems to be primarily for guys into bodybuilding with separate facilities for women, and a third whose name is YES. This is all in addition to the swimming pool and health club operated by the Municipality called "Top Club."

In addition, the reshet matnasim (community center network) and several other organizations sponsor various activities such as Pilates, yoga, belly dance, sr. citizen's exercise, and others.  Kupat Holim Clalit and Kupat Holim Macabbi also have exercise classes for seniors or those with special needs.  The network of senior citizens centers (there are 3 in Karmiel) also sponsors exercise classes, dance classes, Hebrew lectures,  and day trips.  These are all heavily subsidized.

Public Transportation

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:

Karmiel has 4 bus lines that cover all of the neighborhoods pretty well as well as several taxi services.  In addition to the usual busses to the north and center of the country, there are shared taxis (sheruts) that travel to Haifa and points between 7 days/wk.  This means you can get to the train station in Akko in about 25 minutes.  From Akko, train travel to Tel Aviv takes about 2 hrs and to the airport, about 2.5 hrs.  Sr. Citizens pay half price on all busses and trains.  According to an announcement made by the deputy mayor a few months ago, much of the infrastructure construction on a new rail line linking Karmiel to the existing system is completed  and is supposed to complete in about 5 years.  As of this writing (February 2011), there is no car rental office in Karmiel.

Sylvia's Karmiel

Sylvia's Karmiel

Some things religious in Karmiel

"THINGS RELIGIOUS"

Karmiel is primarily a secular community. There is a Reform community in Karmiel which meets weekly in the Naamat hall and is comprised mostly of native Spanish speakers and a Conservative (Masorati) synagogue, Kehilat HaKerem, most of whose members are either English speakers or families of English speakers.
 

There is a Chabad learning center near the entrance of town.

There is the usual complement of orthodox synagogues which pretty much break down into ethnic groups. I believe this is standard practice, i.e., the Yemenites attend one synagogue, the Moroccans another, etc. There is a religious school for boys in the old town center and an Amit  High School in the Rabin neighborhood.
 

Someone wrote:
"[Beit Knesset] Moriah seems to be the place where most of the Anglos, religious and not, daven. Or at least, the place where most of the Anglos have occasionally davened. :)"
I recently met with a friend who has attended this synagogue for more than 20 years.  He says that Shabbat services bring in about 150 people and that at least 50% of them are native English speakers.  The women’s section is upstairs and has upholstered chairs (while we men, he continued, sit on wooden seats).  The synagogue recently received a gift that made it possible to buy a new aron kodesh and bima.

The writer continues:
"One of the things that's nice about Karmiel is there aren't really separate movements, there are religious people and non-religious people. Religious people might daven at an Orthodox synagogue but work on Shabbat. Someone might be shomer shabbat and not show up at the synagogue... lots of variations. A lot of the people tend to float among all of the synagogues..."
I would agree with this. It represents a live-and-let live atmosphere that is really great about our town.

The following is from a message posted on the gonorth@yahoogroups.com website: “In the Rabin neighborhood of Karmiel, in the Amit high school, there's a new open-minded, welcoming, community-focused Orthodox minyan. It started less than a year ago and has already become a home for a number of people on this list. In addition to shabbat tefilot, we're connected to Mibreishit and have lots of fun family-oriented programming, especially around the chagim.”   In addition, a one-a-week lesson (men and women together) in English currently exists in the Rabin neighborhood, led by a new oleh rabbi from the USA and at least 2 learning possibilities in English are sponsored by the Conservative congregation.

From "gonorthkarmiel" bulletin board (Dec 8, 2010)

"We are delighted to announce the launching this week of a new Shabbat Minyan for English speakers this week. The Minyan will have Friday Evening services in the Carlbach style and Shabbat morning services 8:30 AM accompanied by a Drasha in English.  The Shul is being started with the blessing of the Rav Haroshi of Karmiel Rav Avraham Tzvi Margalit and he is generously allowing us the usage of the Beit Me"li Beit Midrash located  at 24 HaChavtztelet to host our services until a more suitable location is found.

The Services shul will be led by Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz and will be traditional orthodox (Nusach Sefard)and welcoming of Jews of all backrounds and affiliations.Rabbi Schwartz a recent Oleh to Karmiel has been invovlved in Jewish educational Outreach work across the United States was the founding Rabbi of the West Seatttle Torah Learning Center(TLC) and the founder of the Norfolk Area Community Kollel. He is  a Musmach of the Talmudic Acadamy of Miami and is the author of a weekly Torah E-Mail and Blog Holyland Insights and Inspiration. 

The Young Israel of Karmiel invites you to join us for services and we value your input into developing our Shul to serve as a community center for Torah Tefilla and community educational and social programming.

For more information please contact Rabbi Schwartz
rabbschwartz@yahoo.com "

The neighborhoods of Karmiel

The city has developed gradually, according to its master plan: the Founder’s Neighborhood (Mercaz Hayashan)was established during the years 1964 – 1978; the Southern Neighborhood (Dromit) during the years 1970 – 1978; the Western Neighborhood (Ma'aravit) from 1980 – 1983; the Galilee Neighborhood (Galil) was developed during the years 1992 – 1995; Sagi Neighborhood from 1990 – 1993; Givat Ram from 1991 – 1998. Ramat Rabin was established in 1996; Givat Makosh and the Irisim neighborhoods were built during 1984 – 1998. Now ground is being broken for a new neighborhood on Mount Carmi – the Rahavam Neighborhood.

update on rental prices from Sharona Standhill of NBN: 

 
NOTE:  THE FOLLOWING TABLE IS MEANT TO REPLACE FIGURES QUOTED IN THE OLDER TEXT.
 

Older neighborhoods (Dromit, Center, Eshkolot, Maaravit)	Newer neighborhoods (Rabin, Makosh )
2000-2300 NIS	2500 – 2800 NIS	3 rooms
2200-2500 NIS	2800-3200 (if includes garden will be 3200-3500)	4 rooms
Maaravit – 2000-2300	In Makosh – 2000-2300	“Granny apartments”
Purchase
400,000 – 430,000 NIS	600,000 NIS and up	3 rooms
500,000 -520,000 NIS	750,000 NIS and up	4 rooms	Gardens, balconies etc add to the price
1,200,000 NIS and up	1,500,000 NIS and up	Duplex homes (5 rooms)
1,800,000 NIS and up	1,800,000 NIS and up	Private homes (5 rooms and up)

 

Take care,

A map of Karmiel shows 12 named residential neighborhoods:

Hameasdim

Te’ene

Sagi

Megadim

Hadar

Galil

Eshkol

Arava

Irisim

Makosh

Ramat Rabin

Givat Ram

(Also on the map are the “Festival” neighborhood, home to Horowitz High School (currently providing classroom space to the ORT Braude college and no longer operating as a public high school,) swimming pool, tennis courts, soccer pitch, Baruch Venger Musical Conservatory and the municipal amphitheater and the industrial area.)

Of these, only the last 4 are consistently referred to by name.  The remaining Karmiel neighborhoods are more likely to be described geographically, in relation to their direction, i.e., the old center (hamercaz hayashan), the ma’aravit (the western part of the city) or the dromit (the southern end of town.) 

The old center:

This area (Hameasdim neighborhood), built in 1964, is home to a unique building style called the ‘patio.’  

Patios are common wall homes, similar to townhouses, built along quiet, narrow paths.  Each was originally constructed with a walled in garden area, affording a measure of privacy unavailable in housing anywhere else in the city.  Many of these simple units have been expanded into 2 and 3 storey homes.  In addition to patios, the neighborhood has a number of 2 storey duplex type units backing on Karmiel’s ‘forest,’ as well as several 3 storey walk up buildings.  Although some of the buildings may appear a bit rundown, the neighborhood is stable and relatively inexpensive.  Old building standards provided for thicker walls and larger rooms than exist in many new buildings.  The neighborhood is home to 2 synagogues, a yeshiva for boys, a religious school (Moriah) with a significant complement of Ethiopian and Sephardi boys and girls, a mikveh, the office of the Ministry of the Interior, a senior citizens center, a senior citizens hostel, a large park, at least 2 well-kept children’s playgrounds and a branch of kupat holim Clalit.  It is within walking distance of the central post office, the English Speakers’ Club, Bituach Leumi, 2 major banks, a ‘canyon,’ 3 supermarkets, 2 gyms, a swimming pool, tennis courts, the ORT Braude college classrooms located in the former Horowitz High School, the municipal amphitheater, the municipal library, a sports hall, the Histadrut headquarters and the municipal cultural center in addition to the usual small shops and service businesses.  The neighborhood is bounded on 3 sides by Zahal Street and on 1 side by HaGalil, the lower half of which is a commercial street.  A number of 3-4 storey walkups front on HaGalil, as do 2 long ‘rakefet’ (train) buildings. The ‘rakefot’ walkups are constructed of concrete and hold as many 35 or more units with several entries.  Today, a lot of the original apartments are occupied by offices.  They can be found in all the older neighborhoods.  Recently,I viewed a fair sized 3 room (2 bed room) apartment on Rh. Hagalil (Hagalil Street) on the second floor  (no elevator; 34 steps) for nis 2300.

The dromit:

A left turn off of Zahal onto Morad Hagai Street, takes you up a hill past the swimming pool, tennis courts, the football (soccer) pitch and the Baruch Venger Music Conservatory on the right, and the ORT Horowitz high school and the municipal amphitheater on the left (see Festival neighborhood).  This area, known as the dromit, encompasses the Eshkol and Arava neighborhoods. Two streets divide the area, Morad Hagai and Hahavatzelet, roughly into 3 parts.

The area between Morad Hagai and Sderot Nesiei Israel (Eshkol neighborhood) contains 5 kindergartens (ganim), one of which is for Haredi children and one of which serves Ethiopian children.  In addition, there is a clubhouse (moadonit) for developmentally challenged adults, 2 synagogues, 1 of which (on Nativ HaLotus Street) serves the Ethiopian community, a clubhouse serving the Ethiopians, one elementary school and a community center. Most of the housing is high density. The main kupat holim Macabbi clinic, a kupat holim Clalit Emergency Center and Na’amat are located at the Sderot Nesiei Israel end of the neighborhood. There is a “Learning Center” on Hahavatzelet Street.   

The Arava neighborhood (bounded by Hahavatzelet, Morad Hagai and Sderot Nesiei Israel) has one state sponsored synagogue, a fully equipped park & playground, a kindergarten for children from religious families and is home to the Conservative (Masorati) Congregation Kehilat Hakerem.  The Arava neighborhood ends at the Lev Karmiel shopping center which houses a bank, a postal substation and the main kupat holim Clalit clinic.  Most of the housing is duplex or triplex.  There is one street with single family homes.

On the other side of Morad Hagai (left hand side, going up the hill from the ORT Horowitz HS) are several duplex units and well as a number of 8 storey elevator buildings.  A left turn onto HaPrachim Street takes you into a street of mixed housing—single family homes and 3 storey walk ups.  The views from the street and the air flow are exceptional because the street overlooks a large valley (wadi).  The area ends at a hiking and bike path. This area contains 2 synagogues, 4 kindergartens, one of which is set up to serve the religious community, an elementary school and a few small shops.  In recent years, a number of modern orthodox families have moved into all of these neighborhoods as have several haredi families.

A 3^rd floor walk up in an old building (3.5 rooms) recently went for 2300 nis/monthly. This particular apt. did, however, contain major appliances.  I recently viewed a ground floor apartment in an old 8 storey elevator building on Morad Hagai.  It was a 3room (2 bedrooms)flat for rent for nis 2200.

The Irisim:

Continuing up Morad Hagai and turning left onto Sderot Nesiei Israel, you pass an area which includes buildings from the late 1970’s to buildings constructed within the last 10 years.  That section which is closer to the old center of Karmiel includes several multi storey apartment buildings knows as the Irisim.  They represent a style of building similar to that found in many of the older neighborhoods.  The Irisim today is on the edge of a large commercial area called, simply, the ‘midrahov’. Across Morad Hagai is the Lev Karmiel Shopping Center.   A number of orthodox and Haredi families have moved into this area which is home to a state sponsored synagogue, a Haredi synagogue and the Kolel Rav Malka. There are 4 kindergartens, 2 elementary schools, a Haredi elementary school (Amichi), a yeshiva and a sports center.  I am told there is a Temini (Yemenite) synagogue in this area. 

Makosh Neighborhood:

If you continue on Sderot Nesiei Israel, you will come to the turn off to Makosh, a neighborhood which is primarily comprised of single family homes, duplexes and triplexes.  There is an active community center (Matnas) in the neighborhood.  One kindergarten is shown on the map.  The neighborhood is bounded on 3 sides by hiking and bike paths and overlooks a wadi. 

Rentals are rare, but an occasional ‘cottage’ may be found for around nis 3500-4500.

Ramat Rabin:

To the west of  Makosh is the Rabin neighborhood, Karmiel’s newest.  Most of the residents are young, upwardly mobile Israeli families, many of whom are the children of the olim from the FSU who first came to Karmiel 15 years or so ago.  Properties in this area are considered highly desirable and are among the most expensive in the town for non-single family dwellings. Rentals of nis 3500-4000 month are common for a 4 room apartment.  The Amit (modern orthodox) School is located in Rabin, as are a sports hall, an active community center (matnas), 7 kindergartens, 2 synagogues and a mikveh. There is also a small commercial center, a kupat holim Clalit clinic and 2 elementary schools.

I recently viewed an apartment (May, 2010) of approx. 75 m² living space.  Two bedrooms, balcony, 2 toilets, very narrow kitchen (room for skinny table), no separate dining facilities, 2 ordinary bedrooms.  This was in an elevator building and was going for nis 2200 [note the date].  Note:  although the living space (which, btw, includes the balcony), the municipal taxes are based on common areas as well in an apartment building, so the tax bill for this apt. rated the flat at 97 m², which includes not only the balcony, but the halls and stair wells and entry ways.  This is standard practice.  Another flat in the same neighborhood had 3 bedrooms (one of which is the 'safe room' or bomb shelter which is required in all residences constructed these days) and two balconies (merpesot) and rented for nis 2700. The price included one parking spot.

Givat Ram:

Givat Ram is the neighborhood farthest from the main entrance of the city.  A bridge was built from the existing city to this area, thus it has maintained its integrity as a suburb. Originally built to house olim from the FSU, today Givat Ram is a homogeneous area.  Hebrew is the main language, with Russian speakers comprising about 1/3 of the population and veteran Israelis making up most of the balance.  The neighborhood is divided into 2 parts.  The area on the right as you enter the neighborhood is home primarily to families with young children.  The section on the left, somewhat smaller, is populated mostly by families in their 40’s and up.  One synagogue is shown on each side on the map.  The Rakefet elementary school is on the left side.  5 kindergartens are shown.  A kupat holim Clalit clinic is in the newer area.  Nearly all housing is comprised of two-family modular units set on small lots.  Many of the basic units have been improved and have second floors.  There are two large elevator apartment blocks on the left just before you enter the neighborhood.  Cost of rental vary widely, reflecting the difference in types of housing, but nis 3000 should give you a lot of flexibility.

From a lister at gonorthkarmiel@yahoogroups.com

"To the best of my knowledge and recollection, there are two shuls in givat ram and a third under construction.

One is Ashkenazi under the direction of Rabbi Schwartz.  They daven with nusach achid which in the US is also known as nusach sephard.

The second shul is sepharadi or mizrachi.  I do not know much about it or who the rav is.

As far as the Ashkenazi shul goes, there are about 15 or so chareidi families and another 25 or 30 non chareidi families that are active in the shul and that attend the shul on a regular basis.  As I recall from the time that I spent there over Shavuot, there are quite a few English speaking families that are members of the shul."

ORT Braude College – Galil Neighborhood:

The ORT Braude College is close to the western entrance of the city.  It sits within the borders of the Galil neighborhood. The College synagogue serves the public as well as the student population.  An additional synagogue, community center and the Makeef Kramin High School are nearby. The residential part of the neighborhood has a senior citizen’s home, a senior citizen’s day center, a small commercial area, the Kalanit elementary school, a third synagogue and two kindergartens  and one of Karmiel’s antiquities sites.  The neighborhood has a large park (Park HaGalil) and very varied housing from party wall duplexes to several relatively new, modern apartment houses, some of which front on the Midrahov commercial street. These flats generally rent for prices similar to the ones in Rabin. The offices of the Municipality are at the top of this street (KKL Blvd), but are technically part of the Hadar neighborhood.  Because of the proximity to the College and the number of students seeking housing, demand often exceeds supply here.

Sagi Neighborhood:

If you have the energy, it is possible to walk up the steps from the Municipality to the Sagi neighborhood.  The upper part of this neighborhood is home primarily to duplex and triplex apartments, many with large balconies and views of the parks below.  The Megadim High School (which has an English Department run by a fantastic American English teacher who has developed a special class for kids from English speaking backgrounds), an elementary school, an active community center, a sports hall, a synagogue and a kindergarten are located here. I am told there is a Chabad minyan near Beit Sefer (school) Megadim.

Te’ene Neighborhood:

Abutting Sagi is the Te’ene Neighborhood, separated by green space.  Te’ene, which is transversed by several long streets, is bounded on one side by Sderot Nesiei Israel and on another by Keren Ha’Yesod Street.  A large area, made up of several housing styles, from duplex party wall homes to the older 3-4 storey walkups, contains 6 kindergartens, a community center, a synagogue, a religious affairs office, and a mikveh. Te'ene also has several apartment buildings called "cochavim" (stars).  These interesting buildings are also found on HaDekel Street (Sagi neighborhood).  They are built roughly in the shape of a Y, so that each of the 3 apartments on a floor has a large merpeset (balcony).  No elevators, large rooms. The area is within walking distance of the old center of Karmiel and all its services.

Megadim:

The Megadim neighborhood, built on a series of hills, is generally referred to as the ‘ma’aravit.’  Relatively large in area, it is low density housing designed primarily, not exclusively, to single family homes (‘villot’).  Over the years, many of the homeowners have added ‘granny flats’ for extra income, so it is possible to find a rental for a single person here, but public transportation to this area is poor, so be prepared to walk up a lot of hills, buy a car or take taxis.  The homes, themselves, occasionally come up for rent as well.  There are 5 kindergartens, including one for kids from religious families, a supermarket, a synagogue, a mikveh, a postal substation, a small commercial center and an elementary school.  That area of the Megadim neighborhood which is not comprised of single family homes fronts, primarily, on Keren Ha’Yesod Street and includes the usual older 3-4 storey buildings.   It is possible to walk down the hill from this neighborhood into the old city center, but most people don’t walk to go back up on foot—especially pushing a stroller! Single family homes generally start around nis 4000 -4500 up.

I saw an apartment (granny flat) (May, 2010)  in this neighborhood for nis 2000. The owner of the property, a single family home, has taken the first floor of a large house and is living there with his family.  He has split the second floor into 2 flats.  The 2 apartments share a very nice balcony.  The rent includes municipal taxes, water and sewage, so the price is a good one for the neighborhood.  The house is within walking distance to the office of an English speaking family physician.  In order to create the apartment, the landlord has had to build a toilet/shower room, which is incorporated in the flat near the entrance.  It’s kinda awkward and not particularly aesthetic, but serves its purpose.  The rest of the flat comprises 3 room, i.e., 2 bedrooms and a fairly good sized combo living room/dining area with a kitchen built against the wall at one end of the room.  It would be suitable for one or even two persons, if you could get over the rather unusual arrangement.

Hadar:

Because the Municipality and the new Family Park (Park Mishpacha) take up so much space, this neighborhood is comparatively low density. There are some single family homes and duplexes in the newer part of the neighborhood (close to the Midrahov – see Iriasim Neighborhood). The B’nei Akiva Clubhouse (moadon) is located in Hadar, as are 3 kindergartens and an antiquities site.  The grounds surrounding the Municipality are a popular site for Shabbat walks.  An older section of Hadar, close to Sderot Nesiei Israel, contains several apartment houses similar to those described elsewhere.  The older part of the Hadar ends at Arbel Street.  Apartments in this overlook a large park (Park Ofir)  and playground that fronts on the boulevard.  4 room apartments in this area can be found for half of the cost of the newer neighborhoods.  The HaDekel School, which has an ulpan, for olim kids, is located in the older part of this area. Flats (2-3 bedrooms) are available about nis 2800-3000/month.

Across Sderot Nesiei Israel are the "tesha komot" (9 storey buildings).  These are the only 9 storey buildings in Karmiel and have elevators.  Most of the population is stable (elderly, Russian), so it's hard to get an apartment in one of these well-located, old-fashioned buildings.  Most of them are 3 br flats.  A brand new playground has been constructed here, and several small shops are in the plaza behind these buildings.  There are at least 3 synagogues, including Moriah,  within comfortable walking distance of these buildings and all the services of the old center.

Re: Renting / Buying - Real Estate agents, etc.

Re: Renting / Buying - Real Estate agents, etc. In general, renting in Israel is very different from renting in the US. The housing market here has never been set up for rentals in any organized way, so you won't find rental complexes here or rental offices where you drop off your monthly check and report a leaky faucet. Nearly all rentals are private. Sometimes the owner will use a commercial agent, but since this costs him a month's rent as a fee, many do it on their own. Some put ads in the local paper; some list on the internet (mostly Hebrew websites—www.yad2.co.il); some rent by word of mouth; some post ads at the bus stops and some put signs in the windows of the property. From what I have been told recently by 2 friends, one who was looking for a place and one who was looking for a tenant, properties were snapped up within 24 hrs of hitting the market. My friend who was looking for a tenant placed a sign in her window one night and the house was rented out by 08:30 the next a.m.

NOTE: THE RENTAL MARKET IN KARMIEL IS EXREMELY VOLATILE.  PRICES ARE MUCH HIGHER THAN THEY WERE WHEN I FIRST PUT THIS DOCUMENT TOGETHER IN THE SUMMER OF 2009.  TO FIND AN APARTMENT FOR LESS THAN NIS 2000 PLUS IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. 

 The following is thanks to Sharona Standhill, NBN

  Rentals, summer 2012

Older neighborhoods (Dromit, Center, Eshkolot, Maaravit)	Newer neighborhoods (Rabin, Makosh )
2000-2300 NIS	2500 – 2800 NIS	3 rooms
2200-2500 NIS	2800-3200 (if includes garden will be 3200-3500)	4 rooms
Maaravit – 2000-2300	In Makosh – 2000-2300	“Granny apartments”
Purchase
400,000 – 430,000 NIS	600,000 NIS and up	3 rooms
500,000 -520,000 NIS	750,000 NIS and up	4 rooms	Gardens, balconies etc add to the price
1,200,000 NIS and up	1,500,000 NIS and up	Duplex homes (5 rooms)
1,800,000 NIS and up	1,800,000 NIS and up	Private homes (5 rooms and up)

 

Take care,

Trying to rent in advance of arrival is, IMHO, virtually useless. You really gotta be here. And short term rentals are particularly difficult to find. Someone asked: "Would you kindly add to the below estimated budget of 1500 - 3000 NIS for a 3 bedroom apartment, an estimated range for all inclusive rental costs: rent, electricity, non electrical utilities, apartment house fees, telephone, internet, deposits, security system? items I have neglected to list?

The yad2.co.il website is very helpful for real estate searches.  If you cannot read Hebrew very well, try downloading Google Chrome, which contains an automatic translation option.  True, it does make a pretty bad mashup of street names in translation, but you might be able at least to get an idea of costs in the neighborhood you find interesting.  Of course, if you can navigate in Hebrew, the website can be invaluable for information gathering purposes.

Are apartments furnished?  unfurnished? "Are a stove and refrigerator included in unfurnished apartments?" Not usually.

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As I think has been mentioned before, quoted rental prices here include only the cost of the house/apartment.  In addition to the quoted price, the tenant is expected to pay 'arnona' or municipal tax (based on square meterage and neighborhood) and all utilities, including water and sewage.  The arnona on the 87 meter place I live in is nis 3245 for 2009 without water & sewage (including sr. citizen discount of 30%). Bills are sent out bi-monthly. There are significant discounts for new Karmiel olim.

My two month electric bill for April-May 2009 came to about nis 800. The December-January 2011 bill (heavy use for heating) was nis 941. This is for one (working) person in a 4 room party-wall house, some use of air conditioning during that time. I'm pretty profligate with my heating & cooling, so I generally get two enormous electric bills a year, the rest of the time the bi-monthly bills run around 700 nis. If you have a family, do lots of cooking and laundry, etc., can't stand the cold or the heat, your bills will be higher. My gas bill is negligible. I have gas cylinders outside the house. Newer or multi-story buildings also have gas cylinders outside, but the individual flat usage is metered.   My water/sewage bill for May-June 2010 came to less than nis 70.  Since the imposition of new water rates designed to discourage wastage, rates have gone very high and are predicated on the number of persons living at one address. 

The tenant may be asked to provide the Israeli equivalent of a security deposit which is usually in the form of a post-dated check at an agreed upon amount and which is made official by the purchase of certain tax stamps which are bought at the post office.  Your real estate agent or lawyer will explain this.  DO NOT ATTEMPT A RENTAL WITHOUT A LOCAL LAWYER OR AN AGENT YOU ARE SURE YOU CAN TRUST.  If you need a referral, let me know off line.  Lawyers here work for both parties and most rental contracts are standard but, like all contracts, can be modified if both parties agree.

If you do find a suitable place and have worked out all the legal kinks, be sure to take photographs of the interior and exterior of the property to document the condition of the place before taking possession.  A videotaped tour of the flat is best.  It's best to do this in the company of the landlord or rental agent.

Occasionally, a landlord will allow the tenant to pay the utility bills and keep them in his (the landlord's) name.  As a landlord, I do not.  I accompany my tenant to the electric company, gas company and to the local tax office and have all utilities transferred to the name and bank account of the tenant.  (I've had a pretty nasty experience with a deadbeat tenant.) This can be problematic  for the tenant as well.  For example, if your landlord defaults on his telephone bill at his new address, the phone company has the right to turn off all phones listed under his name. If you are renting an apartment and paying the phone bill under the name of someone who is in arrears elsewhere, you could find yourself without service. An additional cost is 'va'ad beit,' or the Israeli equivalent to condominium fees. A multi-storey building with an elevator is going to charge more per month for fees than a 3 story walk-up. Not every multi-tenant building has a va'ad beit, but most do.

Security systems? I have decorative utilitarian iron gates or grates on all doors and windows.  I recently installed a professional security system, mostly because I travel for 2-3 months each year.  The best security system in the world is a good neighbor.

Once in a while a flat is rented furnished or partly furnished, but this is not the usual, and in such cases, generally the landlord will want the apartment back at the end of the year's lease.  The American norm of providing a stove and refrigerator is not the norm here, although it does happen.  Indeed, when I made aliyah, the tenant often also supplied his own light fixtures and his own telephone line.  Today the lines are in place, but, of course, if you want a land line, you have to go to the phone company and set one up.  The landlord may find it convenient to maintain a cable connection (you can't receive TV here without cable or satellite--an antenna won't do it. OTOH, I am not up to date with streaming videos, etc.) and add the cost to the rental.   Do not assume your apt. will be air conditioned or heated.  If an AC is in place, make sure it works before you sign anything.

Note:  All rentals are plus utilities and arnona (municipal residency taxes), as usual.  When 'rooms' are quoted, the reference is to bedrooms plus salon (living room). Dining areas, kitchen, etc. are not counted, thus, a 3.5 room apartment has 2.5 bedrooms and a living room.  A room has to have walls and a door to be counted.

If you can navigate a Hebrew site though, you might want to try www.yad2.co.il.  A lot of people try to go around the agents, to save costs, and they will post to this site. Reminder: Rentals move like lightning. You may face a situation of renting an apartment you have never seen for yourself.

Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend about renting a place in Karmiel.  "An American oleh went to see a flat that was immediately available and liked it," I told her.  "The prospective landlord said 'great--let's go sign a contract at the lawyer's office.'  Unaccustomed to moving that fast and loath to sign a lease on the first apartment he had seen, the oleh said, "Can I have 24 hrs?" and offered a nis 500 deposit for good faith.  "Sure," replied the landlord.  First thing the next morning the new oleh called the landlord to say he'd take the apartment.  "Sorry, it's gone," said the owner.  "But I gave you a deposit of nis 500 and you promised to hold it for me for 24 hrs," said the oleh.  "And I will give you back your money," said the landlord...

How do I explain to a new oleh," I asked, 'that this is not an unusual experience here and has nothing to do with dishonor, disrespect or dishonesty.  The landlord took the money in good faith and was willing to return it, but someone else came along and was ready to sign.  Why should he wait for the eventual return of someone he doesn't know and lose a bird in the hand?  Or that the seller of a property has been offered a higher price that the one you had agreed to, so he has decided to sell the house to the higher bidder?

This is what is known as a 'lama-cacha' kind of question. Lama--why?  Cacha--thusly or because, .and describes a significant difference in cultural perceptions and values. 

Anyhow, after a number of years and similar experiences, I have developed a much thicker skin and a few guidelines for life in Israel.