Moving to Bethlehem/Allentown area-what would it be like?
 

Can anyone offer any tips to me here? I am considering a move to this area and would like to know the pluses and minuses of this area. I already live in north, so weather isn't a factor. <BR> <BR>What are public schools like, availability of arts, housing costs, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

It is considered the armpit of PA. Enter at your own risk!!!!

I thought Erie was the armpit of PA. Well A/B must be the other armpit. I'd rethink your move. <BR>Consider beutiful Chester County. 30 mins from the culture of both Philadelphia & Wilmington, DE. Great schools, reasonable housing. 1.5 hours from both the beach or mountains. Good luck.

Rand: It depends on what life style you want. if you want the crowded area like Chester county south of phily or bucks county north of phily. with its constant traffic, lights at every corner. always road work. no sensery but housing developments then thats for you. If you prefer less conjestion, hills and small mountains, snow, less traffic, then make your move. in my view a school is only as good as the student's parents. if you give the kids the time and attention and watch what they are learning they can be a success at any school.

This is one of those questions that is hard to answer without knowing what factors caused you to consider this location in the first place.It has been 30 years since I went to college in the area so I don't have the kind of first hand experience you are asking for ;however, until recently my sister and her family lived in Center Village which is right next to Bethlehem{part of?} and she was very impressed with the school system having previously lived in RI.At the elementary and Jr H level she found them to be ahead of RI with more advanced and special placement classes being offered. As far as arts there are several colleges in the area: Lehigh, Cedar Crest, Mulenburgh, Moravian and Lafayette in Easton , all of which I assume would offer concert/lecture series. Relatively easy to get into either NYC or Phila from here.About 4-5 years ago the area was listed as an econicially depressed area which probably prompted some of the remarks.Don't know it's currert status. It all depends on your needs. Good Luck.

Opps, forgot to include a suggestion that you check the local newspapers on line. Newpaper websites are frequently great sources of information about an area and provide links to other useful sites.Go to newspapers.com , I think in Allentown it was the Morning Call , and I would also look at the Easton Express, just down the road.This area will not provide you the swankness/charm of Chester or Bucks County , but I am almost certain it has lower housing costs. My sister felt it was a fine place to raise a family and prerfered it to living in Syracuse where they were transferred to. It really don't know if that says anything. Check the newspaper web sites and look for other sources of feedback on the area. Again, Good Luck.

Hi - <BR> <BR>Another opinion! There is Allentown and there is Bethlehem, with Allentown and the outlying area being much, much nicer for the most part! We lived in Macungie, outside Allentown, for 13 years and raised a son from 11 through his Master's Degree at Penn State. The schools were excellent, and there's also an excellent Catholic School system. Allentown has excellent professional theater, and the colleges in the area have many cultural events and activities. We have been in the South now for nine years, and are thinking of retiring back to the Allentown area, even though I'm originally from the South. I prefer the cooler weather in PA. Housing costs are much less than the Bucks County / Chester areas. And in fact cheaper than the booming area we've moved to in the South. <BR> <BR>I certainly can say that the Allentown area is no armpit! Check further!!!

Hardly an armpit. I live in Los Angeles, but I grew up in Emmaus, a suburb of Allentown. The high schools (especially Emmaus and Parkland) are very good. It is 45 minutes to Philadelphia, and an hour and a half to NYC. I loved growing up there, as did most of my friends. There are some ugly parts in downtown Allentown, but you'll have that. There are also some really charming parts. If you like to have a little breathing room, within short distance of major cities, I really recommend it.

I have to correct a few things written here. <BR>1) Chester County is far from congested. In fact, most of Chester County is rural & we have a nationally recognized successful program called "Landscapes" that is preserving open space. <BR> <BR>2)The housing is more expensive in Chester/Bucks due to the law of supply & demand. <BR> <BR>3)You MIGHT, & I stress MIGHT, be able to get to Philadelphia in 45 mins from Allentown @ 2 in the morning & noone on the roads, but certainly not at any normal traffic time. More like an hour, or two, depending on the PA Turnpike traffic tie-up dujour. <BR> <BR>Best of luck in your decision.

I regularly commuted from Allentown to Manayunk (philadelphia) in 45 minutes. No problem.

Manayunk & Philadelphia are 2 different things. It might have a Philadelphia address, but is just adjacent to the convenient 476 Turnpike extension. Center City Philadelphia, or South Philadelphia is what I'm talking about.

Can anyone update this info for me? Thinking of moving there.

We moved to Allentown from western Canada in Nov.2001. I think these people gave it a bad rap. I advise not to live in the downtown area. But, other than that, it seems like a nice place to live.

My husband is from Allentown, so we go there several times a year to visit his parents, and I've been going there for something like 13 years now.<BR>Downtown Allentown is seedy, but further out is nice. The schools in the Allentown school district are not very good; my husband went to schools in the West Highland school district, which was good then, but I don't know about now.<BR>Bethlehem has gotten to be a cute town. And Emmaus is a popular place to live.

To Chris C.: A person who puts down another person's community is a snob. You speak of culture in the Chester County area? Well, you certainly need some.<BR>

I use to have an long distance relationship w/ex-bf and he moved to Allentown to work for Air Products and went there many times. To me, since I love the countryside, thought is was a really nice rural-type area. Allentown is so small compared to other PA cities. The bonus of living in this area is that if you want some culture (theatre, museums and opera), Philly is only one hour South, NYC is 80 miles north. The ocean is only about 2 hours away. I really disagree with stating it is the armpit of PA. It is an old town, that is part of its appeal.

When we moved to Allentown back in the 1980's this city was a "boom town". The downtown was nice with lots of great stores for shopping. The outlying areas were nice. It's not like that anymore! The downtown area is very seedy, I haven't been down there in years. Many businesses have left the outlying areas also and there are a lot of big empty stores. (Hechingers, American Appliance, Costless, Home Life, Drug Emporium/Oak works, Ponderosa, etc.) It seems no businesses want to venture into this depressed area. And when one DOES want to move in, there's always a small group of people that don't want them here so they petition against it and for some reason they win and the new business builds elsewhere. I once heard Allentown described on TV as a "sleepy" town. They are so right. The only good part about Allentown is it's pretty close to the great city of New York City with lots to see and do!

I grew up in Emmaus (a suburb of Allentown) and can certainly say that the area is not an armpit. It is not a bustling, cosmopolitan city but it is also not a stuck-in-the-middle-of-nowhere rural setting. I can not imagine a better place to raise a family than in the Lehigh Valley. Downtown Allentown has gone to hell over the last 20 years while downtown Bethlehem has seen a bit of a resurgence and actually has some quaint shops and restaurants. <BR>As always, choosing a place to live depends on your personal needs/wants. The Lehigh Valley provides great accessibility to the Jersey Shore (although we preferred to travel to the Delaware beaches - almost as convenient!), the Poconos, Hershey, Lancaster, and of course, both Philly and NYC. (There's even a bus company that makes daily trips to NYC so you can easily take trips to see shows or shop!) In addition, there's an international airport, reputable school districts (East Penn and Parkland top the list), and colleges, well-established companies (Air Products and Rodale Press) and much more. It's definitely an area to explore to see if it appeals to you.

I just moved to The Lehigh Valley from Philadelphia, and I must say that I love it, but I have mixed feelings. Growing up in an urban area, I became very accustomed to having everything at my fingertips--from hard to find foreign movies, to contemporary, cutting edge restaurants, to shopping at fun boutiques, etc. You can find these things in the Lehigh Valley, but just not as easily. What you do get here, though, and I think it's so important to stress, is lots of kind people. People up here are just nicer in general. They talk to their neighbors, coach soccer, all that stuff. What is also great about this area are the many arts and music festivals. I would say this is a great place to go if you would like to raise a family. One more thing: Philadelphia and NYC are both a little over an hour away, so you are close to city life too!

As a resident of Bethlehem, I have to agree with Liz. I moved here with my family 7 years ago from New Jersey and I love it! I am so glad to be raising my son in an area that has such nice people. I love the friends I have made and everyone gets very, very involved in the schools and sports. The shopping was what I missed most after leaving NJ, but more stores are opening up in this area every day. Everyone is very down to earth here, very little snobbery. Locals (born and raised here) tend to be more blue collar but the influx in my area of NY'ers and NJ'ers is changing that demographic. Many, many new developments are springing up and many commuters to NJ and NY in my area. I have found the Bethlehem Schools to be excellent. Lower Saucon is also an exceptionally nice area. I have never regretted coming here. Good luck!