Metalhead/film lover moving at the end of the year (Allentown: apartment, rent)

[resevil239]

Hi all, I stumbled across this forum and figured I'd see what kind of info I might get by posting on here. I grew up in the Valley but moved to South Florida when I was 10. Since my mom is moving back up and almost all of my family lives in or near the valley, I decided I was definitely moving back after graduation in December. That said, I have no real idea where in the valley I want to live. I've been looking at Allentown and Bethlehem but only because the former is the center of that area and the latter is where my grandmother lives.

I'm 23 (24 in the fall) and I'm getting my degree in marketing and would prefer to work in entertainment marketing (film preferably, but I'd be interested in music as well). I'd prefer to live in a more liberal area and somewhere where I'd be more likely to meet fellow film lovers and metalheads. Obviously I want to avoid any high crime areas, I do not want to live in the middle of nowhere, and I'd prefer to live closer to the center of the area, or at least avoid farther north west areas as one of the things that appeals most to me about that area is the relatively close proximity to NYC, Phili, and Baltimore, essentially guaranteeing that I will never miss a tour due to a lack of close dates.

I've heard Bethlehem is a good choice as there is a lot of art stuff to check out, but I don't know a whole lot beyond that. Also does anyone have any experience with RCN's 1gb/s service? I'm used to getting 50mb/s from comcast (I don't do cable, I stream or download everything). Is it reliable? do you frequently get that speed (or at least the 50mb/s I'm used to)? Are there any other companies in the valley that offer comparable speeds (again at least 50)? Edit: Also all the companies in the area let you use your own equipment right? Because as someone who is very tech savvy, I think renting a modem or router is a waste of money.

edit: I didn't see this initially so I'll add it in here


When are you moving? December of this year
Where are you coming from? South Florida, specifically Boca Raton
Why are you moving? Graduating college, used to live in the area, family is up there
Where will you be working? not sure yet, just graduating college
Have you been here yet? yes, obviously.

Will you buy or rent? rent

If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? n/a

If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? Any/not that far yet. I plan on moving in with my mom initially if I don't already have a job locked down prior to the move. That said, rent here is nuts (roughly $600-700 per room) and I personally think paying more than $600 is ridiculous. Obviously I'd be looking for somewhere that would let me rent out the other rooms, prefer no more than 3 rooms total since each room is another roommate I have to find.

Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? both are fine, though I'd prefer walk up just for being logistically easier

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Single and no.

Do you prefer public or private schools? irrelevant

Do you have pets? not yet. I want a shiba inu and an alaskan malamute (or similar massive dog) eventually.

Do you want or need a yard? need no. Want? Well I want two dogs eventually so yes.

Are you keeping a car? yes

Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Either or. I'm pretty hard to wake so I don't mind noise and I like to crank my stereo on occasion so neighbors who wouldn't mind that would be best.

What do you want to be closest to? Work

Work? Anywhere where marketing jobs can be found. Particularly entertainment (film/music) marketing firms.

Shopping? I use amazon a lot, but I'd prefer to have a best buy, FYE, or similar store not too far from me. Also barnes and noble

Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)? I'd prefer to be somewhat close to supermarkets, but in my experience there are plenty in the valley and if I lived farther I'd just need to plan a bit better. Still, the closer the better.

Nightlife? not really a concern, though it'd be nice to have a decent bar not too far. Are there any rock bars in the valley, besides crocodile rock (yes I'm aware they had their liquor license revoked, so I guess they aren't really a bar anymore)

Near Bus stop? Please note that there is NO rail service in the Lehigh Valley. I have a car and I hate using public transportation

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? yes and no. I'd prefer to avoid strongly religious areas (I'm an agnostic and generally believe religion is largely nonsense), I'm not bothered by LGBTs (my sister is a lesbian, most gay people I've met are pretty cool), I'd definitely prefer living near people my age to living near a bunch of families but as long as there is at least a good mix I'm not too worried about it. Race is irrelevant.

Phillies or Mets? well the phillie phanatic is pretty amusing to watch but that said, Sports are pretty unimportant to me. I check standings in Hockey (Go Ducks!), watch the occasional game, go to a game maybe once a year if that. But outside of that I have little to no interest in sports.

[toobusytoday]

I think Bethlehem is your best bet. Yes, there is crime, but it's not as bad as many city's and there are a lot of pluses. Because there are two colleges located in Bethlehem, Lehigh and Moravian, there are a lot of young people, Cafe's, restaurants and bars. There are festivals every few months including Musikfest Musikfest — Bethlehem, PA. Steel Stacks SteelStacks — Bethlehem, PA, The Sands Casino http://www.pasands.com/nightlife/event-center.html and now the PPL center PPL Center in Allentown have big name acts year round.

Welcome home!

[resevil239]

yeah I know about musikfest, I have very vague memories of going when I was little. I also just went to the PPL center when I was up there visiting relatives in december to see a phantoms game, and I went to the Sands for the first time as well. I've heard of SteelStacks before but don't know much about it.

I was pretty sure Bethlehem was the best fit for an art lover like myself, I just wanted confirmation from someone who lives there. Souds like there is a lot more to check out for an art lover like myself. I saw the film section at SteelStacks, do they usually play more limited release films? Or films like Birdman or whiplash that get limited releases initially? Do you know of any other theaters in the area that play more indie films like that? I watch movies all the time and go to the theater fairly frequently, as I love to write about and review films.

[toobusytoday]

This was just reviewed on Yelp! Civic Theatre of Allentown - Allentown, PA | Yelp I know people that like to go there. Another small theater that plays movies right before they come out on DVD's is the Emmaus Theater: Emmaus Theatre I like it because it's old and inexpensive, but clean.

I should have mentioned The State theater before. A great landmark theater in Easton: http://statetheatre.org/

[loose cannon]

Bethlehem is your best bet!

[resevil239]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

This was just reviewed on Yelp! Civic Theatre of Allentown - Allentown, PA | Yelp I know people that like to go there. Another small theater that plays movies right before they come out on DVD's is the Emmaus Theater: Emmaus Theatre I like it because it's old and inexpensive, but clean.

I should have mentioned The State theater before. A great landmark theater in Easton: http://statetheatre.org/

Cool, thanks! My mom is moving to Emmaus, so I'm sure I'll check out that theater at some point. I'm not sure how frequently I will go to either place, I usually want to see stuff as soon as it comes out and looking at the sites, they either get things very late or just keep a given film in rotation for a while. That said, a theater near where I currently live plays classic/older films periodically with about 5 or 6 a month (ranges from stuff like North by Northwest to The Matrix) so I'm glad to see there are similar places up there.

IDK when I'm actually moving anymore though. I got a job recently at an outside sales/Marketing firm that has an office in Strasbourg. I still plan to live in Bethlahem eventually, but I'll have to wait for a position to open up at that office and I doubt they will let me transfer right after graduation, since I'm currently only part time. We'll see how it goes, I don't start till tuesday. I really hope I don't have to stay in FL for another 2 years...I've waited 14 to move and I'm really sick of it down here