Who was born and bred in the Lehigh Valley? (Allentown: environment, transplants)

[KristyLiz]

We just moved here in October, and so far I can count on one hand the number of people I've met that are natives to the lehigh valley.

We were at a neighbor's last night for a party, and everyone who was there was from somewhere else. I have no problem with that since we too are transplants, I just didn't realize the lehigh valley was home to so many transplants.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by KristyLiz

We just moved here in October, and so far I can count on one hand the number of people I've met that are natives to the lehigh valley.

We were at a neighbor's last night for a party, and everyone who was there was from somewhere else. I have no problem with that since we too are transplants, I just didn't realize the lehigh valley was home to so many transplants.

I was, but I'm not in the area currently. If I had to guess, I would say you are living in one of the new suburban housing developments, am I right?

[fishinginasuit]

I am born and bred.

[KristyLiz]

Originally Posted by Lehigh Valley Native

I was, but I'm not in the area currently. If I had to guess, I would say you are living in one of the new suburban housing developments, am I right?

Yup, you'd be right. We like it here a lot!

[Copernicus]

Technically I'm just out of the valley, having grown up near Phillipsburg, NJ. But my mother's family came from Allentown. And you just have to love those Allentown accents when you hear them!

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by KristyLiz

Yup, you'd be right. We like it here a lot!

Many of the new suburban developments are filled with new residents to the area. I have found that long time residents of the area tend to live in the older developments and housing that is not in planned communities.
There is a lot to like and I miss the area very much. Although we are only 50 minutes to the north, it is a world of difference.

[karen_s]

Native here, lived here my whole life. DH and I briefly lived in Easton when first married, but then bought our home in the town I grew up in. I was born at St. Luke's Fountain Hill. I have to consult the genealogy book, but I'm something like the 12th generation of our family to live here in PA in the Nazareth area. We are of PA Dutch descent. My grandfather spoke only Pennsylvania Dutch until he entered school.

Just for what it's worth, we do not live in a brand-new McMansion

[toobusytoday]

I am not a Lehigh Valley native but my mother in law was born and raised in not too far way Nazareth. Her parents spoke Pennsylvania Dutch. Lots of relatives still live in the area. We've lived here for 10 years.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

I am not a Lehigh Valley native but my mother in law was born and raised in not too far way Nazareth. Her parents spoke Pennsylvania Dutch. Lots of relatives still live in the area. We've lived here for 10 years.

10 years is pretty close to being native

[ScranBarre]

My uncle and his live-in girlfriend moved to Bethlehem about seven or eight years ago and lived in an attic apartment of a grand old mansion near St. Luke's Hospital. They have since moved only about a mile away to a detached dwelling in Fountain Hill, just over the Lehigh County line. Next year they will be moving though to Washington, DC.

The Lehigh Valley now has an estimated 800,000+ residents, and that number is climbing each day. As Lehigh Valley Native said already, newer transplants tend to flock to newer subdivisions when they relocate to a new area because they know these developments are magnets for other transplants just like themselves and that they might have an easier time assimilating amongst people who can relate to their moving experiences. I see this myself here in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, where we're seeing an influx of transplants from NY and NJ (yes, our population has just started to grow again believe it or not after many decades of decline), but they all flock to McMansion-villes on the suburban periphery because they are presumably afraid they won't be able to adjust as well to an in-town environment.

For the life of me though I never figured out why more folks didn't move to Bethlehem proper as opposed to Forks Township, Palmer Township, Bethlehem Township, Saucon Valley, and the other suburbs. That is quite honestly one of the nicest cities I've been to in my life, yet people still avoid moving there. Why?