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Old 03-09-2013, 12:14 PM
 
36 posts, read 54,023 times
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Well I always say it can't hurt to look. You would know better than me undoubtedly and I really appreciate the input but still I have to look. I'm not discouraged that easily, so don't worry about being negative at all. The comments are just as helpful as positive ones, sometimes more so. It's still pretty early in my home search so I'm just looking at everything right now (on a computer screen) in a few weeks I think the wife and I will spend a weekend down there to see what it's like and get a better sense of what we want.

Toobusy are there any specific houses you do recommend in my budget at all?
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Old 03-09-2013, 09:14 PM
 
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Sorry, but I cannot recommend specific homes as that would be against the TOS. There are several houses for sale right now that seem interesting with good locations on the link I shared.
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Moderator - Lehigh Valley, NEPA, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Education and Colleges and Universities.

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Old 03-10-2013, 10:28 AM
 
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If it isn't obvious, boroughs are usually cheaper than townships. Most of the homes are older.

Median value-owner occupied (2006-2010) of the affluent Saucon Valley
$227,000 Coopersburg borough- Lehigh County- School District: Southern Lehigh: Owner Occupied 65%
$299,800 Upper Saucon township - Lehigh County - School District: Southern Lehigh
$294,000 Lower Milford township - Lehigh County - School District: Southern Lehigh
$305,300 L Saucon township - Northampton County School District: Saucon Valley
$189,500 Hellertown borough- Northampton County School District: Saucon Valley: Owner Occupied 64%

The cities are majority rental occupied or vacant homes. The value of the owner occupied homes are lower than the townships

Median value-owner occupied (2006-2010) of the Cities majority of houses are rented or vacant
$175,900 Bethlehem City- Northampton County: Owner Occupied 54%
$203,200 Allentown City - Lehigh County: Owner Occupied 44%
$139,200 Easton City - Northampton County Owner: Occupied 42%

All three cities have an affluent areas.
Easton sold a victorian house for over $500,000 in the last two years in College Hill
Bethlehem regularly sells houses for over $500,000 in historic district and the north side
Allentown has many mansions in the west side

The elementary schools are high caliber in the more affluent areas of the cities.
Allentown School District cover 95% of City of Allentown & is one of the lowest ranked in the state
Bethlehem Area School District covers City of Bethlehem, Hanover & Bethlehem Township, Boroughs of Fountain Hill and Freemansburg
Easton Area School District covers City of Easton, Palmer Township, Forks Township, and part of Lower Mount Bethel Township.

There is a bus terminal in Wescosville that adds 15-20 minutes each direction over Hellertown in the commute to NYC: Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Wescosville Bus terminal 40°34'10.76"N 75°32'41.77"W
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Old 03-10-2013, 12:03 PM
 
14,613 posts, read 17,293,877 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by toobusytoday View Post
The size of the median is misleading because directly behind the houses is a long hill, or ridge, it's not a flat woods. I suspect it's made of fill from when they built that section of 309 and did it to create a sound barrier for those houses that were already there. Do not overlook the impact of the traffic light just a few doors down. It's a common site of accidents since the East- West light onto 378 is short and people will run it going either way.
You can see from an old 1876 map of Upper Saucon Township that Main Street Center Valley was already over a century old (built on a former Indian Trail). Some of those buildings from 1876 are still standing.

The borough of Coopersburg (click for map) was officially established around the 1870's although it went by that name from 1840. There was a log cabin hotel there back in colonial era.

Center Valley was never a legal borough. It is just a place name.

Just for your information, there was no Europeans in Lehigh Valley before 1737, so you won't find even an old mill before then. It was entirely Indian territory.
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Old 03-10-2013, 01:37 PM
 
13,248 posts, read 33,354,439 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PacoMartin View Post
You can see from an old 1876 map of Upper Saucon Township that Main Street Center Valley was already over a century old (built on a former Indian Trail). Some of those buildings from 1876 are still standing.

The borough of Coopersburg (click for map) was officially established around the 1870's although it went by that name from 1840. There was a log cabin hotel there back in colonial era.

Center Valley was never a legal borough. It is just a place name.

Just for your information, there was no Europeans in Lehigh Valley before 1737, so you won't find even an old mill before then. It was entirely Indian territory.

Yes, 309 (Main Street) has been around for a long time, but it only became a two lane highway within the last 50 years or so. The Main street designation at that section of 309 is confusing since it's far from the typical main street with stores and houses. You're right PacoMartin, Center Valley is more of an area then a real town. Coopersburg, OTOH is a real town with a city hall, stores, many walkable streets and some old Victorian homes: ABOUT OUR TOWN | Borough of Coopersburg
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Old 03-10-2013, 02:19 PM
 
Location: Lehigh Valley, PA
2,309 posts, read 4,360,860 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by toobusytoday View Post
Coopersburg, OTOH is a real town with a city hall, stores, many walkable streets and some old Victorian homes: ABOUT OUR TOWN | Borough of Coopersburg

And let's not forget this place!! Coopersburg Diner & Family Restaurant | Bakery | Special Occasions | Coopersburg PA

Home of Guss's Big Omelet, my favorite!!
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Old 03-10-2013, 04:42 PM
 
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In addition to the 62 legally incorporated municipalities in Lehigh Valley there are multiple communities (some where a census is taken, and some without a census)

Communities (census taken)
Ancient Oaks
Breinigsville
Cementon
Cetronia
DeSales University
Dorneyville
Egypt
Fullerton
Hokendauqua
Laurys Station
New Tripoli
Schnecksville
Slatedale
Stiles
Trexlertown
Wescosville

Communities (no census)
Center Valley
Colesville
East Texas
Fogelsville
Gauff Hill
Germansville
Hensingersville
Hosensack
Ironton
Kuhnsville
Lanark
Lehigh Gap
Limeport
Lynnport
Neffs
New Smithville
Newtown
Old Zionsville
Orefield
Pleasant Corners
Powder Valley
Scherersville
Schoenersville
Shimerville
Summit Lawn
Vera Cruz
Walbert
Werleys Corner
West Catasauqua
Zionsville

In addition there are multiple historic communities that still exist in street names, and sometimes school names
Many were just the names of wealthy landlords or hotels
Friedensville, Bingen , Rosemont, etc.
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Old 03-11-2013, 02:02 AM
 
36 posts, read 54,023 times
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Damn you guys are a wealth of info!!! Thanks for it.
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Old 03-11-2013, 09:40 AM
 
14,613 posts, read 17,293,877 times
Reputation: 7781
Quote:
Originally Posted by Detale View Post
Damn you guys are a wealth of info!!! Thanks for it.
A peculiarity of PA is to have so many incorporated and unincorporated municipalities. People used to call it the Holy Roman Empire of the United States. New Jersey is a distant second place among the states.

It used to bug me as a kid. My grandmother would say "that bakery is up in Arnold". My grandmother lived in the small borough of New Kensington on 4th street. After 13th street began the borough of Arnold.
I would think that we were driving to another town, and she would drive 10 blocks and we were there.

With so many governments it can get confusing. We have a situation that has been in litigation for almost a decade over the maintenance of a one lane bridge that crosses a creek between two municipalities.

PA could eliminate a thousand boroughs and townships by simply requiring every municipality under 1000 people to merge with their neighbor.
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Old 03-12-2013, 02:10 PM
 
14,613 posts, read 17,293,877 times
Reputation: 7781
You can get to the casino (less than 2 miles from Hellertown Park and Ride) for relatively inexpensive from Brooklyn. They usually charge $25 round trip, but provide $30 in free play and $5 food coupon. I tried it once and won back $22.
You have to call the operators in Brooklyn to find out where the nearest pick up location (they don't have website).
347-839-9202 88 Bacarat Inc
347-702-3322 Lucky 9 Enterprise
718-256-0887 Full House Travel
You can almost guarantee that there is a pick up location in an area with a lot of Chinese residents. I know that two of those companies pick up at Confucius Plaza in Manhattan.

It is a good cheap way to see Bethlehem. There is a $2 bus ride to Historic Bethlehem.

You can usually rent a car for the day. Many places will deliver a car
RENT-A-WRECK OF BETHLEHEM 1016 LINDEN STREET BETHLEHEM PA 18018
(800)-383-8288(610)-434-2099
bethlehem@rentawreck.com
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