Tell Me About Nazareth Pa (move, area, town)

[kellyi]

I would love some more input on the towns of Nazareth and Bethlehem....My husband and I are moving our family to PA and I have been researching for quite a while to find a nice family town with a great school system and Nazareth seems to be the place for us. But I also hear that Bethlehem is very nice too. We need to stay near NJ as my husband will be commuting to Somerset every day. Thanks everyone for anymore info you can give!

[LifetimeLocal]

Originally Posted by loose cannon

It is a nice town but I have it on high authority that a good portion of the population between 23 and 45 are addicted to Coke. Im not making some abrupt off the cuff statement I have facts to back it up. If I have to get other people on here to validate this I will!

It's definately a drug infested town. My wife's family is from that part of town and I can promise you he's correct. The small town feel left the area and like Bruce Spingstein say's "it ain't coming back". Now you have more violence in the schools and major problems with drainage issues because of the crapdelicious way they built the 1/8 brick McMansions with no concern. Another problem that is just beginning to happen is the HUD homes starting to come to town. That's because so many people are losing their homes to bad decisions and have to "try" and rent to HUD because your average logical person would buy a home instead of paying twelve hundred to two thousand five hundred dollars a month for rent. They only way this "might" happen is from the housing & urban development (HUD). When this happens the neighborhoods decline rapidly and so do property values and property values declining are a major reason for these people losing their homes and making a last ditch effort to keep them or hold off foreclosure by trying to rent. In my opinion I wouldn't recommend moving to anywhere in the valley for a few more years until this horrific economy settles down and contrary to the fed's belief(who got us into this mess) we are by no means close to coming out of this. Jobs, Credit, Housing are all still on the downward spiral and this recession is possibly has 5-10 more years of decline before we start over. Then again what do I know? People will just call me a hillbilly pennsyltucky redneck.

[LifetimeLocal]

Originally Posted by kellyi

I would love some more input on the towns of Nazareth and Bethlehem....My husband and I are moving our family to PA and I have been researching for quite a while to find a nice family town with a great school system and Nazareth seems to be the place for us. But I also hear that Bethlehem is very nice too. We need to stay near NJ as my husband will be commuting to Somerset every day. Thanks everyone for anymore info you can give!

If I were in your situation and had to commute to Somerset you really should consider staying in NJ. When you add in the costs associated with a daily commute gas, tires, oil changes, wear & tear, car payment(can't rely on a high milage older unit) etc you are probably better off staying in NJ. The prices of homes around this area are steadily coming down and they are not going to stop soon. Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton area experienced the same boom in housing that you hear about on the news and the only difference is our prices have not dropped as big (yet) as other areas. Take my word for it considering we've watched homes in our neighborhood go up in value so quick and sell so fast for a few years I thought I was going to get whiplash from the uhaul trucks. Now the same houses in town have seen the prices fall from an average of around two hundred fifety thousand to less than one hundred seventy five thousand and are not selling or renting. This area is going to get back to a medium value of homes that's suitable for the medium income and that means a major price reduction is inevitable. Wait out the storm and think things through wisely. If you still decide it's cost efficent and need any advise on what reasonable rents should be or what houses cost a few years ago compared to todays market send me a private message. My brother in law is a retired owner of a real estate firm and his sister in law is a VP of a brokerage firm. I can give the factual information and not the salesman side of things you will get from those out to make a buck. Sorry if I offended any salesman but you know what I mean.

[robertjohnson]

Originally Posted by Dawne

I was addicted to Coke for a while , but now I prefer Pepsi or Mountain Dew!



Sorry, I just couldn't resist!!

I prefer anthracite to coke.
Sorry also!

[Soccer25]

I like Nazareth because it is has a SONIC. Darn I love that place!

[kellyi]

Originally Posted by LifetimeLocal

If I were in your situation and had to commute to Somerset you really should consider staying in NJ. When you add in the costs associated with a daily commute gas, tires, oil changes, wear & tear, car payment(can't rely on a high milage older unit) etc you are probably better off staying in NJ. The prices of homes around this area are steadily coming down and they are not going to stop soon. Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton area experienced the same boom in housing that you hear about on the news and the only difference is our prices have not dropped as big (yet) as other areas. Take my word for it considering we've watched homes in our neighborhood go up in value so quick and sell so fast for a few years I thought I was going to get whiplash from the uhaul trucks. Now the same houses in town have seen the prices fall from an average of around two hundred fifety thousand to less than one hundred seventy five thousand and are not selling or renting. This area is going to get back to a medium value of homes that's suitable for the medium income and that means a major price reduction is inevitable. Wait out the storm and think things through wisely. If you still decide it's cost efficent and need any advise on what reasonable rents should be or what houses cost a few years ago compared to todays market send me a private message. My brother in law is a retired owner of a real estate firm and his sister in law is a VP of a brokerage firm. I can give the factual information and not the salesman side of things you will get from those out to make a buck. Sorry if I offended any salesman but you know what I mean.

We have actually based our decision to move to PA from NJ on the fact that we will be able to afford for me to stay home to raise our children and will still have room to move financially as opposed to relocating in NJ and worrying about who is caring for them while I work and still being strapped financially. We truely want to give our children the best lives (as does everyone) that we possibly can and I don't forsee that happening in NJ. I will also be able to work a few days here and there if need be bc I travel to NYC and this is a doable commute.

I understand that the local PA residents dislike people from NJ and NY relocating there and I do understand the reasoning behind it. But I do wish that they would also see it from our perspective. NJ has become crazy expensive and I honestly don't know why it's in such high demand. Taxes are crazy - but you have no property. Car insurance is through the roof. You pay $500,000 for a home that is dated and has to be completely renovated where you find a brand new home in PA on an acre of property for 1/2 the $. Everyone seems to care for their homes and neighborhoods alot better than in NJ and I really love this. It just seems so clean and fresh as compared and we do come from a lovely area in Monmouth County- it's just a different feel.

My husband is a lineman for PSE&G in Somerset and many of his coworkers live in PA (Forks, Easton). It's just a matter of us finding an area that suits us. Talking with them and doing my own research for a while now, we have narrowed it down to Upper Nazareth, Bushkill, and possibly Northern Bethlehem (above the Casauqua Lake...sp?...although I am not sure about the school system there). I took a ride today with the kids to check it out and I fell in love with the area. It is breathtakingly beautiful and I left with such a good feeling.

I really think this is what we need to do for our family. Thank you for your advice. I see where you are coming from but as the economy is plummeting in PA it is also doing the same across the country. I really feel the need to get out of NJ and set our future on the right path. If you have any advice on the areas I have mentioned or what to stay away from, I'd greatly appreciate it!! Thanks again.....Kelly

[melog]

Wow! that person going off about Nazerath and the drug problem makes it sound like the heart of Columbia. Ive lived in the area over 40 yrs and use to hang in Nazerath in my teens , its still a nice town but is getting overwhelmed by the overbuilding of bussiness [progress]. The outskirts are nice and rural with people that dont care if your from Jersey or NY. I live in Plaifield twp 2 mins from 33 and the last 2 houses that sold in my nieghborhood are both jersey transplants and also great people cause they wanted to get away from the same crap your in now.
Drugs will be wherever you move but its not like Newark as the one has tried to make you think.
You may want to look at the areas just outside of nazerath ie... Bushkill, Plainfield. Though Plainfield would put you in the Pen Argyl school dist. its also a good choice, lowest tax mill rate in Northampton county, larger building lot codes, NO CONDOS ,easy commute to NJ, and peace and quiet just outside of town that is close to everything.
Ive worked in Jersey for the past 20 yrs, driving everyday to places as far as Freehold to Edgewater,Hoboken,Princeton,and yes Newark !! The commute isnt bad and you couldnt pay me to live in jersey. As a matter of fact I'm getting ready to move and am doing alot of research to go north, so heres a perfect place for you, if you can afford it.

[loose cannon]

Aside from the illegal drug problem, alcoholism is high. There is nothing Holy about the Holy Family Club. WHat a center of debauchery!

[toobusytoday]

Nazareth is drug infested and has a high alcoholism rate? I've never heard of that and it's where many people in my husband's family live. I've always thought of it as a charming little town. Photo Safari of Nazareth, PA

I'm sure you are interested in the schools. Have you looked at this site? SchoolMatters (http://www.schoolmatters.com/schools.aspx/q/page=sr/txt=Nazareth/ust=PA/p=1/fp=1 - broken link) I like to look at test scores as just one of the things to consider. I agree that Nazareth is going to look better then Penn Argyl in that respect.

Bethlehem is a mixed bag because it's a city. Pluses are that you are closer to things to do and shopping, hospitals, etc. The minuses are that some of their schools are not the best, but because the schools are bigger, there will be more class offerings too when the kids get to High School. Some of the places in Bethlehem are simply not safe to live.

[kellyi]

Thank you so much for your input. And to add to my last post - the distance to work for my hubby is only 10 minutes more of a commute, so the wear and tear on the car, mileage, gas, etc doesn't make a difference. I feel the same way as Melog - I've gotten to the point where you couldn't pay me to live in Jersey...I'm so fed up. PA is a such a breathtakingly beautiful, peaceful state as compared to NJ...I don't know why ppl are paying so much to live there. It doesn't make any sense to me. Nazareth - here we come!!....onto a new thread - have one more Q....