Florentin (Hebrew: פלורנטין) is a neighborhood in the southern part of Tel Aviv, Israel, named for David Florentin, a Greek Jew who purchased the land in the late 1920s. Development of the area was spurred by its proximity to the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway.
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The land was purchased in the 1920's by the Salonika-Palestine Investment Company, founded in 1921 by Jews in Salonika for the purpose of facilitating aliyah for the Jews of Salonika.[1]
A gentrification campaign sponsored by the Tel Aviv municipality in the 1990s led to a revival of the area, which has become a trendy night spot.[2][3]
Florentin property prices increased from 2001 to 2010 by 65% according to Maariv (May 17, 2010). This is in contrast to 45% for the rest of Tel Aviv. The population there in the same period nearly doubled from 3900 people to 7000 people, of which today 21% are between the 35–44 age range, 33.7% are between the ages of 25-34 and children till the age of 17 are 7% of the population.
Florentin has been the setting for a popular TV series in the late 1990s called Florentin. The area's hip/trendy atmosphere has led to comparisons with SoHo and the Lower East Side in New York City.[1]