HELP! Meeting with realtor in next weeks (Philadelphia, Allentown: new house, job transfer)

[austere]

Considering job transfer to Allentown area.

I posted a couple times asking about the area, now I'm desperate for some good info !

The company is flying my dh and me out and wants to have a realtor show us around the areas (not looking at homes yet, but narrowing the search area a bit).

Where would you take me to look if you were a realtor?
1. We have 3 kids (plus a baby on the way)

2. We have a dog

3. Kids are all in sports/activites (hockey, figure skating, baseball, soccer)

4. We prefer playing outside rather than shopping, but would like to be close enough to not spend the afternoon in the car when running errands.

THANKS for helping me out!!!

~Austere

[toobusytoday]

Prioritze what's important to you. On this board, East Penn and Parkland School districts seem the most popular. I'm not sure why, but I guess you can get new construction a little cheaper. Good school districts. More expensive, smaller school districts are Southern Lehigh and Saucon Valley. Also very good school districts. I live in Southern Lehigh, we chose it 10 years ago because we wanted a smaller middle and high school. I think all districts in the area have small elementary schools.

East Penn is a more compact school district then Parkland but it's bursting at the seams. Both East Penn and Southern Lehigh are building new schools, but East Penns is still on the drawing boards, ours is under construction. I would see if you could visit the upper schools, look at the course selections, sports and clubs that are offered and see what feels right. I'm not sure you can make a wrong choice, just stay out of CC Allentown and Bethlehem.

[Summering]

If your husband likes golf, or if you would like a very, new and upcoming development I'd go see these homes Welcome to Segal & Morel
Off of 611 in Forks. Homes are in and around the 18 hole golf course.
You would have a wonderful home, be close to shopping at the Palmer Mall or the Phillipsburg Mall. Have a Wegmans close by and the larger Lehigh Mall.
Plus, the schools are quite good in the Lehigh area. The sports should be plentyful and all around. The area is wonderful, you won't be making a mistake in moving this way.

[MJCM]

You should also consider the Nazareth school district (comprised of Nazareth Borough, Lower Nazareth, Upper Nazareth and Bushkill). You are certainly within commuting distance to Allentown from Nazareth. It is my understanding from reviewing the PSSA scores that Nazareth is a top district along with Parkland, East Penn and Lower Saucon.

[karen_s]

Originally Posted by Summering

If your husband likes golf, or if you would like a very, new and upcoming development I'd go see these homes Welcome to Segal & Morel
Off of 611 in Forks. Homes are in and around the 18 hole golf course.
You would have a wonderful home, be close to shopping at the Palmer Mall or the Phillipsburg Mall. Have a Wegmans close by and the larger Lehigh Mall.
Plus, the schools are quite good in the Lehigh area. The sports should be plentyful and all around. The area is wonderful, you won't be making a mistake in moving this way.

I would avoid Forks Township if you have older children who must be in public school. The elementary is fine but middle school/high school would put your children in a situation you would probably want to avoid. If you can afford private schooling or do home/cyber schooling, then don't worry about it.

There are lots of sports in the Lehigh Valley and lots of outdoor recreation opportunities. A favorite of our family is the Ice Cream Ride along the river/canal sponsored by Genesis Bicycles.

[virangos]

Don't over look Whitehall. Schools are good, Shopping is great. Taxes are resonable. And it's kind of in the center of all.

[KristyLiz]

We are relocating to the Lehigh Valley and we basically concentrated our search in Lower Macungie Township, Saucon Valley, Center Valley and Nazareth.

In the end, we decided to move to Macungie (East Penn SD) - we're building a new house and moving in October.

I am a SAHM mom to three little kids - 6, 4 & 2, and this community seemed to fit the bill of what we were looking for.

Good luck!

[toobusytoday]

MJCM, Not sure about your numbers and how good Nazareth is. I know I read about the PSSA scores in the Morning Call but couldn't really recall much except my district, Southern Lehigh did fine. So I googled it and came up with this site; http://www.pde.state.pa.us/a_and_t/lib/a_and_t/2007_District_Level_PSSA_Results.xls (broken link) that has the actual numbers for all the districts. It's confusing if you don't know where the district boundaries are but a realtor could help with that part.

[austere]

This is so helpful! Keep it coming!

We actually won't be sending our kids to school, but if a community demands a good school district, that speaks good things for the city officials and people who live there, and the economy. We homeschool our kids but are heavily involved in community sports and stuff.

Sounds like this may be a decent area to raise a family -- although I cry inside to think about leaving my land of 10,000 lakes (including our family cabin). Is there good fishing and boating in the area?

I've heard that there is cultural stuff in the area (we homeschool, again, so important to us). Orchestra? Theatre? Museums? Living History sites? (All we have in the midwest is pioneer stuff and I think we heard it all LOL)

I appreciate all this advice so much! Makes me feel more at ease with this major life change....

Thanks all.

[toobusytoday]

Lake Noxamickson Pennsylvania State Parks - Nockamixon - PA DCNR is about 30 minutes from Bethlehem. There are other State Parks farther out. There is a wonderful Living History farm called Quiet Valley Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm about 30 minutes north of Bethlehem where they teach about farming in Colonial times. Bethlehem has the Burnside plantation Historic Bethlehem: How to Get Here (broken link) where you can learn about the rich history of the Moravian's and the Lehigh Valley. There is a nice art Gallery in Allentown as well as an Orchestra. The Farmers Market has some Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch farmers and is open on weekends in Allentown.

Most of the surrounding towns have parks in them for riding bikes, playing soccer and baseball and just walking. There is a great library in the Upper Saucon Park and that's a great place to visit too!

In addition to the things going on here in the Lehigh Valley, NYC is about an hour and a half away and Philadelphia is a bit closer. Lots and lots to see in the big cities!

For mountain hiking, the Appalchian Trail is less then an hour from Bethlehem and Hawk Mountain Welcome to Hawk Mountain is a great day trip for the whole family in the fall when birds are migrating. Our 6th graders go there every year. And that's what I can think of off the top of my head!