Lehigh Valley: relocating HELP! (Bethlehem, Emmaus: insurance, home builders, neighborhood)

[KristyLiz]

My husband will be working in Bethlehem, so we are trying to figure out where to move - presently, we live 25 miles west of Philly.

We have looked at some new constructino in Macungie and Center Valley, and would LOVE any info you could give me on schools - Parkland and East Penn districts.

Thanks!

[2kidsimdone]

We are in the same boat. We are looking to move next summer. I have found that Parkland is one of the better school districts around, also Nazareth and Quakertown are good as well.

What is your price range..how many beds/baths?


I have done a lot of research and we are targeting our hunt to Upper Macungie, Nazareth and Quakertown.

[KristyLiz]

Yea, we've looked at some new construction in macungie and also center valley. We have friends in Nazareth, but since my husband will also have responsibilites in Philly, I think it's too far up. As for Quakertown, it may be too much money being Bucks county. We have 3 small boys and need lots of house in a good school district.

The upper end of our price range is $425K.

I appreciate any inof you can share.

[2kidsimdone]

We are looking to spend at most $400k for a 4 bed/2.5 bath house. There are a lot of newer homes, which we decided is better than new construction for us, since my DH can do all the remodeling, we figured we would get more for our money with a home less than 5 years old.

Do you want new construction? I have a list of all home builders in that area that I can share with you. Email me at itsmichelle@hotmail.com and I can send them to you.

Good luck!

[g_mom_2006]

All the towns you are looking at are nice with good school districts. I live in Quakertown and you can get new or almost new contruction within your price range. Emmaus might also be a place you would want to consider. Close to Macungie, East Penn School District and was just named one of the top 100 places to live in PA by money magazine.

[markas214]

Originally Posted by g_mom_2006

All the towns you are looking at are nice with good school districts. I live in Quakertown and you can get new or almost new contruction within your price range. Emmaus might also be a place you would want to consider. Close to Macungie, East Penn School District and was just named one of the top 100 places to live in PA by money magazine.

Another top 100 places to live in the USA, Bethlehem. You can buy a 100 year old solid stone mansion vs a vinyl McMansion in the burbs. You will also pay about half the taxes and insurance. There are areas to avoid but many, many more that are far superior to the bland sameness of Macungie or any other new development.

[g_mom_2006]

Originally Posted by markas214

Another top 100 places to live in the USA, Bethlehem. You can buy a 100 year old solid stone mansion vs a vinyl McMansion in the burbs. You will also pay about half the taxes and insurance. There are areas to avoid but many, many more that are far superior to the bland sameness of Macungie or any other new development.

I didn't know Bethlehem was in the top 100. I personally would take the stone mansion over vinyl any day. Previous posts sounded as if they are looking for new construction, but I agree there are some very nice areas in Bethlehem. And Bucks county is very high for taxes (at least I feel they are for the Quakertown District) compared to Lehigh and Northampton Counties.

[toobusytoday]

I think it's important to figure out your priorities - schools? new construction or perhaps recently renovated? Shopping? With us, we wanted great schools but not too big and I didn't want a place that was growing too fast. Shopping was not important - I wanted stores but only the grocery store needed to be close. We also did not want to live in a city. We specifically looked for a neighborhood with children our kids ages. When we moved we looked for houses about 10 years old thinking that people often buy new construction when they have babies and young children. One of the things that sold us on our home was finding several families with kids the same ages of ours. Ten years later, my oldest kids are 22 and 20 and they still hang out with their old neighbor friends when they come home.

All that criteria was met by Coopersburg in Southern Lehigh school district. Schools are great and pretty small. The town is small and welcoming. There is a new 4th grade to 6th grade building being built to accomodate the growing population. We're growing but the overwhelming feeling is to try to make the growth as controlled as possible. The shopping came even though I didn't want it - the new Target in Quakertown is 10 minutes away and the Promenade Shops up at the north end of the district has many new shops in a popular trendy mall.

Emmaus made the Money magazine's top 100 towns this year. Bethlehem made it last year. Both are nice places to live. Please check out Schools, High School, Public Schools, School District, Public High Schools - SchoolMatters and compare East Penn (Emmaus and Macungie), Southern Lehigh (Center Valley and Coopersburg), Quakertown, Parkland and Bethlehem if schools really are a priority.

[pa-pa]

I'm in the East Penn School District and by far have been very impressed with the overall curriculum. Parkland and Nazareth are the other ones that top the list. If you need a good realtor to represent you, let me know I can recommend you one.

[toobusytoday]

Pa-pa (and anyone else) Parkland and East Penn are generally good districts, but why do you say that about Nazareth? Not knocking the area - that's where some of my husbands relatives live, but what makes it good?

According to the school matters website their math scores are pretty low at the High School. Not saying I'm an expert but we've moved a few times and have learned where to look for information about schools and what we want out of a school district. Based on what we wanted we did not choose East Penn. Parkland and Nazareth were not considered because my husband was working near Quakertown and didn't want to drive that far. So, what do you like about East Penn, Parkland and Nazareth?