Drive through · The Sharon
Driving through Ra'anana
The city Americans founded, filmed end to end at normal speed — Ahuza from top to bottom, the north and the south, the park, the school catchments and the streets where the houses are. If you have been told Ra'anana is the answer, this is what it actually looks like on a Tuesday.
What a Ra'anana drive actually shows you
Ra'anana has a reputation that arrives before the buyer does, and reputations do not show you streets. The city is smaller than people expect, more uniform than people expect, and the differences that decide where a family should live — north or south, which catchment, how far from Ahuza — are visible in about twenty minutes of footage and invisible in a listing.
So the camera runs the whole city, at the hours that show you who lives in it.
North and south
The religious north and the more secular south, filmed as one continuous run so the change is visible rather than asserted.
The Ahuza spine
The commercial heart from end to end, with the residential blocks either side and the parking picture as it actually is.
The catchments
The streets around the schools that draw Anglo families, because in Ra'anana the catchment is often the decision.
Where the houses are
The private homes and cottages that pull families out of Tel Aviv, and how few of them there actually are.
The run through Ra'anana
The full drive runs Ahuza end to end and then the residential streets either side. Times are from the start of the film.
Ahuza, south to north 00:00
The commercial spine from one end to the other, filmed at normal speed so the length of it is clear.
South Ra'anana 05:30
The broadly more secular side, closer to the older core, with a mix of blocks and private homes.
Lev HaPark and the park edge 09:00
The streets around Ra'anana Park — green, quiet and among the city's strongest addresses.
North Ra'anana and Neve Zemer 12:20
The predominantly religious side, with the newer family housing and the heaviest Anglo concentration.
The school catchments 16:00
The streets around the schools olim cluster near, filmed at the school run so the traffic is honest.
The house streets 19:40
Where the cottages and two-family homes are, and how tightly held they are.
The Kfar Saba boundary 22:30
Where Ra'anana ends and Kfar Saba begins — worth seeing, because the price difference across that line is real.
Every Ra'anana film we have
The full drive, the sections worth seeing on their own, and the timed commute tests.
Ra'anana, end to end
Ahuza top to bottom, then the residential streets either side, so the difference between the addresses is visible.
North and south, back to back
The two halves of the city in one continuous run, filmed for buyers weighing community character.
The school run, 07:45
The catchment streets at their busiest, with the clock on screen.
Ra'anana and Kfar Saba
Across the boundary in one run, because the price gap between the two cities surprises people.
Ra'anana to Tel Aviv
Route 4 and the Ayalon at 08:00, clock on screen the whole way.
Ra'anana to Herzliya station
The route most residents actually use for the train, timed at the morning peak.
The one thing a drive through Ra'anana will not answer
Ra'anana is the easiest city in Israel for an Anglo family to arrive in, and that is exactly why it is worth being careful. The reputation is deserved and it also stops people looking. Buyers pay a Ra'anana premium without driving Kfar Saba, Hod HaSharon or Even Yehuda first — and the film of that boundary crossing is on this page for a reason.
The other thing a drive cannot show you is the price. Ra'anana is not in the CBS eighteen-city series, so there is no official city average, and any single figure you are quoted has been built from somewhere else. Work from recorded transactions street by street.
Ra'anana: questions from the footage
Why is Ra'anana so popular with English speakers?
It was founded in the 1920s by New Yorkers and has had a large English-speaking population ever since, with established schools, shuls and community organisations, in one of the best-maintained cities in Israel.
What is the difference between north and south Ra'anana?
Broadly, the religious community is concentrated in the north and the secular community in the south, with much of the newer family housing also in the north. Both have significant Anglo populations.
Does Ra'anana have a train station?
Not in the centre of the city. Most residents use Herzliya station, a short drive or bus away, or drive via routes 4 and 531. The commute films run both.
Is there an average price for Ra'anana?
No official one — the city is not in the CBS eighteen-city series. Treat any single headline figure with caution and work from recorded deals.
Is there new construction in Ra'anana?
Limited. The city is largely built out, so new supply comes from infill, renewal and the northern expansion, and projects tend to sell quickly.
Should I look at Kfar Saba as well?
Yes, and the drive crosses the boundary for that reason. Kfar Saba typically costs less for equivalent stock and shares much of the same daily infrastructure.
The neighbouring drives
Nobody buys in the Sharon without comparing. These are filmed to the same standard, so they can be watched back to back.
Kfar Saba
Larger, greener and typically cheaper for equivalent stock, sharing a border with Ra'anana.
Drive throughHod HaSharon
Four villages merged into one low-rise city, heavier on houses and gardens.
Drive throughHerzliya
Pituach and the rest — two markets in one municipality, with the station and the tech park.
Drive throughNetanya
The coast twenty minutes north, and a very different price level for sea-facing stock.
Seen the streets. Now the numbers.
The drive is one part of the Ra'anana file. The area profile, the quarterly market analysis, the current projects and the remote purchase guide are all filmed and written to the same standard.