Drive through · Central Israel

Driving through Shoham

A planned town beside the airport with no through traffic, a great deal of green and houses in quantity — consistently rated among the best places to live in Israel, and almost unknown abroad.

PlannedBuilt as a whole from the 1990s
No through trafficBy design, and it shows
HousesA high proportion of private homes
The airportBen Gurion immediately west
Not CBS 18No official town average price
Full drive Driving through Shoham, end to end Play the film
Why this drive exists

What a Shoham drive actually shows you

Shoham is one of the best-run towns in Israel and almost invisible to overseas buyers, largely because it has no landmark and no marketing. Houses, gardens, parks, no through traffic, and immediate access to Route 6 and Route 1.

The drive shows what a properly planned Israeli town looks like from the road, and films the flight paths, because Ben Gurion is next door and that is a genuine variable.

The layout

No through traffic by design, with the residential areas arranged off a ring. It reads differently from any ordinary Israeli town.

The houses

Private homes with gardens in quantity, which is the main reason families choose here.

The green spine

Parks and open space threaded through the town, filmed at a normal morning rather than quoted.

The flight paths

Filmed with the audio on, because the airport is immediately west and the effect varies across the town.

The route, stage by stage

The run through Shoham

One continuous pass across the town. Times are from the start of the film.

  1. The approach 00:00

    In from the main road, at a normal hour.

  2. The ring and the layout 02:30

    How the town is arranged, filmed so the no-through-traffic design is visible.

  3. The house streets 05:00

    Private homes and gardens, filmed slowly.

  4. The green spine 08:30

    Parks and open space, at a normal morning hour.

  5. The commercial centre 11:00

    What is here for daily needs.

  6. Schools 13:00

    At the school run, so the traffic and distances are honest.

  7. Under the flight path 15:00

    Filmed with the windows down, on the streets where it matters.

  8. Out to Route 6 and Route 1 16:30

    Both exits, at a real hour.

Shoham on film

Every Shoham film we have

The full drive, the sections worth watching alone, and the noise and commute films.

Drives, walks and commute tests
Drive Shoham, end to end Play the film

Shoham, end to end

The whole town in one continuous run.

Uncut
Drive A town with no through traffic Play the film

A town with no through traffic

The layout walked, because it is the thing that makes this town different.

On foot
Drive The house streets Play the film

The house streets

What the homes and plots here actually are, walked.

On foot
Timed The flight paths, street by street Play the film

The flight paths, street by street

Filmed with the windows down, because the variation across the town is real.

With audio
Commute test Shoham to Tel Aviv Commute test

Shoham to Tel Aviv

Route 1 west at the morning peak, clock on screen.

07:45 start
Commute test Shoham to Jerusalem Commute test

Shoham to Jerusalem

The other direction, filmed at the same standard.

07:30 start
What film cannot tell you

The one thing a drive through Shoham will not answer

Shoham does one thing extremely well and does not pretend to do anything else. It is a residential town — quiet, green, well run and almost entirely without nightlife, culture or employment of its own. Households who want that describe it as the best decision they made; households who wanted a town with a life of its own find it flat.

The airport is the other variable, and as everywhere on this side of it, the effect is street-specific rather than town-wide. Stand on the specific street, or watch the film with the audio on, before deciding it would not bother you.

Asked about this drive

Shoham: questions from the footage

Where is Shoham?

In central Israel beside Ben Gurion airport, with immediate access to Route 6 and Route 1, roughly between Tel Aviv and Modi'in.

What makes it unusual?

It was planned as a whole with no through traffic, arranged off a ring, with a green spine running through it. It reads quite differently from an ordinary Israeli town.

Is it mostly houses?

A high proportion of private homes with gardens, alongside some low-rise blocks.

Is aircraft noise an issue?

It varies street by street with geography and the runway in use. We film it with the windows down rather than describing it.

Is there an official average price?

No — it is not in the CBS eighteen-city series. We work from recorded transactions.

Is there an Anglo community?

Small. Buyers here are typically choosing the housing, the planning and the position rather than community infrastructure.

Seen the streets. Now the numbers.

The drive is one part of the Shoham 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.