That's a bit of an overstatement, even though Haifa's beach is quite nice, and the view from the hills might remind one of San Francisco. But in the end, the sea is of little significance without the city's people. Haifa is far more affordable than Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, seen as "where the action is". But culturally it has a long way to go. And despite its "Red Haifa" reputation, it's a working city and one of the country's high tech centers (with much credit to the Technion up the hill).

i think by them saying "its biggest asset the sea" they didnt specificly mean the beach or the views but the fact that it is a major port

...Haifa's layout doesn't permit it from being a trendy city. The mountain makes it difficult to plan. Haifa has many centers and it can't decide which one is the main one. There really is nowhere to step out on the town here. The universities didn't necessarily fail to give Haifa a youthful facelift, just the city itself failed to aggregate the students into student neighborhoods (they're all spread out) on top of the fact that each neighborhood is very demographically diverse (families, students, etc.).

Been here nearly 30 years and can't think of a better place to be in Israel. The city's facelift is ongoing and really taking shape. I am seeing an influx of young immigrants moving here and I look foreward to the trend continuing. AND it is only 45 mins to TA by train and 105 mins to Jerusalem by bus. Everything is very accessible. Touring the Galillee and the Golan is so convenient.

Ashdod-Ashkelon-Beersheeba Triangle 5-10 years from now it will be the Golden Triangle Sorry Haifa!