| Contents (hide) 1 Inside of Beer-Sheva 1.1 University rooms 1.2 Student association 1.3 Short time guests 2 Outside of Beer-Sheva 2.1 Omer 2.2 Lehavim 2.3 Metar 2.4 Kibbutzim 2.5 Tel Aviv |
Inside of Beer-Sheva
University rooms
University rooms are located at Sinai street, some 4km from the campus. The university owns there several 3-bedrooms apartments and rents out separated rooms to long term visitors.- a room costs approximately 900 NIS per month, including municipal tax (called arnona), water, eletricity and gas,
- every apartment is approximately 100 sq. meter large, and each room has approximately 20 sq. meter,
- there is bus connecting the place with the University,
- there are few shops and restarants in the circle of 200 meters,
- you do not have to rent a room for the whole year,
- theoretically every apartment is single-sex; in particular, staying there with your spouse for the whole year may cause a scandal,
- every apartment is furnished and if something is missing, for example a kitchen utensil, you can get it from the University administration; as a rule, every apartment has a gas stove & owen, refrigerator, microwave owen, washing machine and heaters. On a free market, in average, you can expect gas stove and refrigerator.
- some apartments are maintained pretty badly, but in contrast to the free market, your complains and request very probably will be listened with attention.
- there is no special room for bicycles; usually owners take their bikes inside of the apartments, to the living room.
Student association
Student association rental service offers rooms and apartments, with a special attention given to locations in walking distance from the campus. People there are very helpful and you can either visit them at the second floor of the Student Centre (the same building where the main cafeteria is located, that is building 70, see campus map), room 225, or call them 08-6461728, Sun-Thu between 10:00 and 15:00. Rooms starts from 420 NIS (100 USD) and apartments from 1050 NIS (250 USD), but these prices do not include arnona, electricity, water and gas which, very roughly speaking, costs respectively 400 NIS, 200 NIS, 50 NIS and 25 NIS per apartment per month. The price of electricity will be higher during winter. It will take few days before you find something suitable. Do not decide hastily, because it is usually a one year commitment and some apartments are really bad and noisy. Also, there is only a very remote link between price and quality. You can find for 300 USD a 90 sq. meters+ nice apartment, with air-conditiong, washing machine and a reasonable owner.Areas next to the university considered to be better include neighborhood Bet, a short walk to the south-west of campus, Wingate street just south of the Soroka hospital (one block south of campus), and the older areas of the Ramot neighborhood, to the north-east. In addition to the student association building, you can find listings online (in Hebrew) on the student association's webpage and on a commercial webpage
Short time guests
Short time guests can stay in Golden Tulip Hotel , phone (+9728) 6405444. Another recommended option is the somewhat lower cost Beit Yatziv Hostel (HaAtzmaut 79, phone (+9728) 6277444). If you are on a budget, you may try some hotels in the Old City.
HaNegev Hotel in the Old City.
Outside of Beer-Sheva
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If you stay in Beer-Sheva, you can find a reasonable apartment in a 10 minutes walking distance from your office. However, if the distance from your home to the office is not that important for you, you may decide to live outside of Beer-Sheva, in order to avoid noise, dust and unpleasent atmosphere of some neighborhoods, in particular because besides a shorther distance to the Univeristy, you will be hardly rewarded for staying in the city. Most places, like cinemas, shops, restaurants are rather in a driving, not a walking distance one from another. Cycling in Beer-Sheva is possible, but not fun.
Omer and Lehavim are two suburbs of Be'er Sheva, popular with faculty. Those suburbs do not have apartment buidlings – you can either rent a large house, or a "housing unit" – which is a separate part of someone's house. The quality and size of those can vary quite a bit, from converted basements to separate annexes with their own entrance and garden. The rent on housing units typically includes city taxes ("arnona"), and often some of the utilities and cable TV. Omer is older, larger, more established and closer to Be'er Sheva. Its commercial center has more stores, and a movie theater. One therefore might be able to cope in Omer without a car, but it would still be advisable to have one. Lehavim does have a grocery store, a local bank branch, health clinics and some similar services, but it is strongly unadvisable to try to live there without a car.
Housing In Beer-Sheva And Its Neighborhood
Omer
Omer is a wealthy suburb located 5km north-east from Beer-Sheva. It is connected via highway 60. Walking or cycling this highway is not fun, but you can walk or cycle a rough dust road connecting the Campus with Tel-Sheva junction. Tel-Sheva junction is located at south-west corner of Omer. A more realistic plan is to take the bus to Beer Sheva. The only bus line is run by Metropolin, with several stops before 9:20am, but becoming very infrequent until the afternoon rush hour (see the weekday schedule. Another possibility is to get a car ride with faculty members who live in Omer. Ads for housing units, and some houses, will be posted in Omer's commercial center, although those will typically be in Hebrew. You can also use the help of a specialized real-estate agent.Lehavim
Lehavim is another option, similar to Omer, slightly less expensive, located 12km north from Beer-Sheva, on the busy Highway 40 connecting Be'er Sheva to the center of the country. Walking or cycling this highway (including the shoulders) is very dangerous. However, there is a bus connecting Lehavim with the University, and Lehavim has train station, on the Tel Aviv – Be'er Sheva line (the Lehavim train station is located in the edge of Lehavim; the train runs roughly once an hour during the day, and the ride to the university station takes about 10 minutes). Ads for housing units, and some houses, will be posted in Lehavim's commercial center, although those will typically be in Hebrew. You can also use the help of a specialized real-estate agent.Metar
Metar is located on highway 60, some 15km after Omer towards the North. It is less expensive than Omer and Lehavim, but still nicely maintained. Its location is more controversial, because in order to get to Jerusalem or Tel-Aviv you will need to return to Beer-Sheva and take a bus from there. Also, buses to Beer-Sheva are not that terribly cheap (11 NIS per ride). You can contact a real state agent and arrange a meeting in Metar (0544410924). The real-estate agency is very professional, but for their service they charge one monthly rental payment, if you succeed to sign a cotract with their help. Prices starts from 1250 NIS (300 USD) for an apartment, but more probably you will end paying around 1600 NIS. To this price you have to add electricity, water and gas and in some cases arnona.Kibbutzim
There are several kibbutzim located near to Beer-Sheva and most of them rent small apartments. Conditions vary from a kibbutz to kibbutz, but for a 40 sq. meter you will have to pay approximately 1200 NIS, including arnona. On the top of it you will have to pay for electricity, water and gas, 200 NIS, 50 NIS and 25 NIS respectively. This is an incomplete list of Kibbutzim near Beer-Sheva: Mishmar aNegev, Bet Qama (located on a main highway 40, some 25km north from Beer-Sheva), Shoval, Dvir, Lahav, Ruhama, Dorot. The simplest way to find an apartment in a kibbutz is to visit it with a car on a working day before 2pm, find the secretary of the kibbutz and get the number of a person responsible for rent of the apartments. Call this person and ask to show an apartment. In Kibbutz Ruhama you can call Lili Schiffer, 0547995258.
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Kibbutzim offer children care. Free of charge you can use a library and a swimming pool (Mar-Sep). You will be able to arrange easily internet, telephone and TV for 80 NIS, 30 NIS and 50 NIS respectively. Usually there is a garage, cafeteria (hadar ohel) and a small supermarket. Most of Kibbutzim are not located on main highways and public transportation is almost non-existing.
A house in Kibbutz Ruhama.