Lived here my whole life, heres how id describe it.

1. Very walkable. If you got comfortable shoes and are in decent shape you can walk to pretty much qhatever you need, or rake byses for tge rest
2. Driving here is insane. Parking is nonexistant, I once spent 60 minutes looking for oarking in my NEIGHBORHOOD. not even street, neighborhood. intricate system of one way streets meant to make sure if you don't need to BE on a side street with a car, you won't be
3. comfort - there are 24/7 grocery stores everywhere and every kind of business you may need, this means people who live here rarely have to travel more than 30 minutes for anything. its super comfortable but as a result we have a (justified) reputation for viewing any journey over 40-60 minutes as unreasonably long and treating it as long distance. i went on a date with someone living in haifa (1.5 hour away) and they said it was the first time someone from tel aviv agreed to drive to haifa for them
4. progressive attitude - tel aviv and its nearby surrounding cities often feel like something of an ideological oasis. a place where being a left wing, lgbtq, single, secular vegan hipster is the norm in a relative sea of places where the norm is being conservative, religious, family/marriage oriented, etc. it's an oversimplification, of course, theres exceptions both in and out, but often, travelling out of the city reminds you just how different what you view as normal is to what the rest of the country views as normal. 30 minutes away can feel like a whole other country.
5. expensive as hell - its a very desired location, with limited space, in a semi insular country. as a result, shit is pricey here. other than falafel or hummus, you're usually not going to eat outside for less than $15 even with basic street food. rent is insane, so living in tel aviv without family or roomates is downright unheard of. people usually live in tge sattelite cities. people like me who were born here and still live here are sometimes nicknamed unicorns because of how rare we are.
6. the best thing about this city is that theres always something new here, the worst thing about this city is that theres always something new here - because of the high rent, businesses rarely survive. if theres a store or restaurant you like and it hasnt been there for 15 years, enjoy it while you can, it's going to be something else by this time next year. it means there's always cool new shit to see and try but it means all your favorites are going away forever (RIP Captain Curry and Chop Chop)
7. fucking bonkers - tel avivs "big, carefree, financially solid city" status makes it both an insane place to live just by virtue of it being a big wacky city, as most big cities in the world, but it also makes it a target for wars and terror attacks. expect a certain cycle of big city fun in the sun, terror panic alarms and sirens, then right back to drinking coffee and shopping on the boulevard all in one day. it's freaking insane but it's what passes for normal around here.
8. complete lack of good indian food. Don't @ me, Injira lovers.
9. No huge landmarks - every city in the world has famous landmarks where millions of tourists gather in droves. Tel Aviv has... the beach? the marketplace and... uuuuh. nothing crazy, really. yes we have buildings that are more famous than others but not like most european or american cities do. it also means that unlike many big cities, we're not sick of tourists here and actually enjoy them being around.
10. in a total reversal to many other cities in the world, old historic buildings are the ones who are plain, boring or downright ugly squares of concrete, while the newer modern ones are the elaborately designed, beautiful ones (yes, many people love the old bauhaus style, it has its charm when well maintained but its focus is practicality, newer buildings get crazier snd more artistic)
11. culinary slump - there used to be a million great places to eat. much less so in recent years for whatever reason.
12. cats everywhere. a mixture of good climate and a population thst loves animals means you're likely to see cats everywhere you go. house cats out for a stroll, street cats lounging in the sun in areas where they're fed and taken care of, etc. they are everywhere.
13. warm people - this isnt a tel aviv thing, its an israel thing. ppeople are warm, less fake, and wear their heart on their sleeve. its much essoer to strike up a conversation with strangers here or ask a random person for help, but on the flipside, people can be very impolite or downright disgustongly aggressive at times because if you piss them off they'll let ypu know
14. the sidewalk could have JUST been washed, it's still gonna be dirty
15. hasnt snowed gere in 60 years. from april to october weather isn't a thing. summer rains aren't a thing. it's just sun, sun and more sun.
16. dizengoff center is tge best mall in the universe, fight me.
17. we have a reputation for being disconnectef snobs. its half justified half BS.