lower / upper saucon valley vs. Nazareth? (Allentown, Bethlehem: houses, neighborhoods, cinema)

[onthemove39]

In doing some further research of the area, the looming relocation of my husband is causing a bit of panic on my end. In looking at houses / property / and neighborhoods, the homes in Nazareth (upper) seem like a good fit (mid 400's to 500) but I am not certain regarding schools in Nazareth or commute distance / roads to Bethlehem (Market st. Bethlehem). If anyone could weigh in on the comparison of these two regions I would appreciate it.

Dawn

[PacoMartin]

The ratings are for high schools from the most recent state sponsored tests.
The grouping of the schools into four groups is my personal view, but opinions may differ slightly. Saucon Valley is often more desirable than Nazareth because it has better access to major roads, and has more upscale shopping and restaurants.

Some people prefer Lower Nazareth over Upper Nazareth because it takes less time to get to the main highways. Upper Nazareth and Bushkill Township has more of the giant estates. Lower Nazareth has more upscale developments.

Total population of high school seniors is 28,926 (grades 9-12). Enrollment statistics are for HIGH SCHOOL only.

Wealthiest Suburban School Districts 31.1%
92.5 Emmaus High School East Penn School District 2,566
90.9 Parkland High School Parkland School District 3,109
90.6 Nazareth Area High School Nazareth Area School District 1,533
88.9 Saucon Valley High School Saucon Valley School District 751
88.0 Southern Lehigh High School Southern Lehigh School District 1,032

Inner Suburban School Districts 9.1%
86.9 Whitehall High School Whitehall-Coplay School District 1,411
86.4 Salisbury High School Salisbury Township School District 553
84.9 Wilson Area High School Wilson Area School District 669

Mostly rural School Districts 10.4%
83.5 Northwestern Lehigh High School Northwestern Lehigh School District 733
81.5 Bangor Area High School Bangor Area School District 1,087
80.6 Pen Argyl Area High School Pen Argyl Area School District 598
77.8 Northern Lehigh High School Northern Lehigh School District 587

Urban School Districts 49.4%
73.2 Freedom High School Bethlehem Area School District 1,939
72.9 Northampton Area High School Northampton Area School District 1,734
68.2 Catasauqua High School Catasauqua Area School District 497
64.9 Easton Area High School Easton Area School District 2,693
57.1 Liberty*High School Bethlehem Area School District 2,809
54.5 Louis E Dieruff High School Allentown City School District 1,783
50.8 William Allen High School Allentown City School District 2,842

There are people who argue about the best district, but I think it comes down to preferences and individual experience.

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by onthemove39

In doing some further research of the area, the looming relocation of my husband is causing a bit of panic on my end. In looking at houses / property / and neighborhoods, the homes in Nazareth (upper) seem like a good fit (mid 400's to 500) but I am not certain regarding schools in Nazareth or commute distance / roads to Bethlehem (Market st. Bethlehem). If anyone could weigh in on the comparison of these two regions I would appreciate it.

Dawn

I live in the NASD and used to live in Center Valley (Upper Saucon). I'd say that the schools are both very good and it kind of depends on the neighborhood you live in (some are very personable, some more private in both towns).

My wife commutes to Bethlehem (a few weeks a month) and thinks that it's about the same time-wise from CV and the NASD. I guess it's just a difference of 378 North or South.

I tend to like the convenience of the Lower Nazareth shopping area over Quakertown, but the Promenade is great and gets a bit far from the NASD. Upper Saucon is also closer to Philly and the NASD closer to Jersey/ NYC (depending on if/ where you go).

If you have specific questions, hopefully I can answer.

[Cjs610]

Both areas are very nice Saucon Valley Area School District is one of the most expensive in the state though. Nazareth police department seems very community involved but, the community itself is very racially discriminatory. Hellertown, Lower and Upper Saucon Township have some of the youngest cops and many individuals in the community find that they are very beligerent and highly racist.

[PacoMartin]

Downloads - PA School Performance Profile - Source of Data

Originally Posted by onthemove39

the homes in Nazareth (upper) seem like a good fit (mid 400's to 500) but I am not certain regarding schools in Nazareth

Although I posted the high school scores which shows Saucon Valley and Nazareth High schools as about equal, posting scores for Middle and elementary schools for Northampton High School is very positive for NASD. This list is only partial and only for Northampton County.

95.1 Williams Township El Sch | Wilson Area SD
93.3 Lower Nazareth El Sch | Nazareth Area SD
91.1 Nazareth Area MS | Nazareth Area SD
90.0 Shafer El Sch | Nazareth Area SD
89.4 Bushkill El Sch | Nazareth Area SD
89.0 Wilson Borough El Sch | Wilson Area SD
87.7 Nazareth Area Intermediate Sch | Nazareth Area SD
86.8 Northeast MS | Bethlehem Area SD
86.7 Forks El Sch | Easton Area SD
85.5 Asa Packer El Sch | Bethlehem Area SD
84.5 Plainfield El Sch | Pen Argyl Area SD
84.4 Saucon Valley El Sch | Saucon Valley SD
83.1 Tracy El Sch | Easton Area SD
82.6 Shawnee El Sch | Easton Area SD
82.4 Cheston El Sch | Easton Area SD
82.2 Easton Area MS Campus Grades 7-8 | Easton Area SD
82.1 Hanover El Sch | Bethlehem Area SD
81.8 Avona El Sch | Wilson Area SD
81.7 Moore Twp El Sch | Northampton Area SD
81.1 Palmer El Sch | Easton Area SD
81.1 Saucon Valley MS | Saucon Valley SD
...
53.5 Freemansburg El Sch | Bethlehem Area SD

[minghi]

I moved to upper nazareth (stockertown/bangor exit on pa-191) about a year and half ago and live up on schoeneck ave which is about walking distance to nazareth area middle school and feel this area is almost at the edge of rural and urban communities but the development i live in is very huge and have friendly neighbors. prices here range from 300s to 400s for around 2800sqft homes built within the last +/-10 years.

lower nazareth would be slightly better if you want to be closer to jersey on i-78 (10 minutes closer) or closer to rt-22 to get to bethlehem or easton. there is a development on hecktown rd exit with some really nice homes if you are looking for upscale development; then behind it is a mid-tier development in the price range you are looking for.

both areas are equally close to the huge shopping plaza's on the easton exit which is in between upper and lower nazareth and basically has almost everything: wegmans, target, walmart, sams club, petsmart, petco, sears appliance, kohls, staples, red robin, applebees, regal cinemas, starbucks, panera bread, mcdonalds, burger king, pnc bank and a bunch of other smaller stores, basically everything except for babysrus/toysrus/tjmaxx/homegoods/marshalls which we usually go to phillipsburg or bethlehem/whitehall.

our kids are too young for me to comment on the nazareth area school district but we heard its the best in eastern lehigh valley area.

i don't have much information about saucon valley except that i've been there few times to the really nice promenade mall and looked at the nicer less rural developments around there but i didn't find as much everyday shopping choices as in the nazareth-easton area. also, this is a bit more closer to jersey if you do intend to commute although saucon might not be too bad. finally, the pocono outlets are about 30 mins from upper nazareth area if you are into outlet shopping.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by minghi

I moved to upper Nazareth (stockertown/bangor exit on pa-191) about a year and half ago and live up on schoeneck ave which is about walking distance to Nazareth area middle school and feel this area is almost at the edge of rural and urban communities but the development i live in is very huge and have friendly neighbors. prices here range from 300s to 400s for around 2800sqft homes built within the last +/-10 years.

lower Nazareth would be slightly better if you want to be closer to jersey on i-78 (10 minutes closer) or closer to rt-22 to get to Bethlehem or Easton. there is a development on Hecktown rd exit with some really nice homes if you are looking for upscale development; then behind it is a mid-tier development in the price range you are looking for.

both areas are equally close to the huge shopping plaza's on the easton exit which is in between upper and lower nazareth and basically has almost everything: wegmans, target, walmart, sams club, petsmart, petco, sears appliance, kohls, staples, red robin, applebees, regal cinemas, starbucks, panera bread, mcdonalds, burger king, pnc bank and a bunch of other smaller stores, basically everything except for babysrus/toysrus/tjmaxx/homegoods/marshalls which we usually go to Phillipsburg or Bethlehem/Whitehall.

Our kids are too young for me to comment on the Nazareth area school district but we heard its the best in eastern Lehigh valley area.

i don't have much information about saucon valley except that i've been there few times to the really nice promenade mall and looked at the nicer less rural developments around there but i didn't find as much everyday shopping choices as in the nazareth-easton area. also, this is a bit more closer to jersey if you do intend to commute although Saucon might not be too bad. finally, the pocono outlets are about 30 mins from upper nazareth area if you are into outlet shopping.

Good comments on all the shopping up in the Nazareth area. I had no idea there was so much going on up there!

The Promenade shops of Saucon Valley is in Southern Lehigh School district, not Saucon Valley. The name does make that confusing! We moved here before the Promenade shops were built so shopping was not a big priority for us - schools were and we have been very satisfied. They are very well rated.

This site allows you to compare schools. I usually choose to compare High Schools: School Performance Profile: Southern Lehigh SHS