The ugliest town in Israel is...

Petach Tikva.*

Surely the most demoralising, boring, ugliest town in Israel? OK, I admit, I'm not that objective, I used to live there in the 90's with a local girl (pre-pre mrs. anglosaxy) and her family (including the legendary Jewish mother, mentioned here), but even then I was aware of how godawful the place was/is. Recently, what with visits to the local hospital and our relocation to smallsville (meaning visits to the local tax and health insurance offices), I've had the misfortune to frequent the place again. Not recommended.

Is there any other town with such a blatant "let's make our city center the ugliest in Israel" policy? As for just getting to this town from Tel Aviv (just 10km away), that's another story. Think gridlock and an abundance of traffic lights. And, asketh you, how dare I label the town boring? Well, thanks to its religious tendencies, everything is pretty much closed on Friday night, meaning you have to go out of town for the simple pleasure of a beer in half-decent surroundings. I don't know if this has changed in the last few years, but I'd put money on it that it hasn't...

The building below sticks out like a sore-thumb every time I enter the city, I'm just amazed that I found a pic of it on the municipality's site. Never mind the quality of the pic, would you put this on your website as a teaser for potential new residents?


Shit, I've just twigged, anglosaxy junior was born in this town...

* Can be spelt: Petah Tikva, Petakh Tikwa or Shite-Hole.