Lehigh Valley Suburbs? (Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton: insurance, low crime, loans)

[JanetG]

We may relocate from NJ to Lehigh Valley. What are nicest suburbs - in terms of best schools, good shopping, cultural and recreation opportunities, etc?

[Tama]

Janet-You may want to search the forum under Easton, Bethlehem, or Allentown individually. There are some lovely areas and some good schools. I just don't have the specifics for you. Maybe someone will chime in.

[sunflower53072]

I haven't lived there in years, but I student taught in the East Penn School District which was one of the bests around. It is located in the Macungie area which is a bit more rural.

[Luvcoffee]

The valley is a great place to raise a family and live! That being said there are many great great areas. In the EASTON area zip 18045, 18040, 18042 you can find beautiful homes and a nice suburban feel. If URBAN living is not your thing stay out side of the CITY OF EASTON and look in Forks or Palmer, These have WONDERFUL elementary schools yet further down the road come 5 grade and up it becomes a matter of opinion. The 2 worlds of Suburban and Urban living collide and all the schools merge into one. It is called Easton School district yet Tracey, Forks and Palmer elementary house the students of Forks, and Palmer.

Lower Saucon is great and have a beautiful new mall if a more upscale lifestyle suits you. Saucon Valley school district is highly rated along with Parkland School District. Parkland school district both are blue ribbon. If a little more removed and a older town feel is your thing, Nazareth is GREAT! Wonderful small town, excellent schools and set back from the Urban areas. Allentown and Easton and Bethlehem are the cities in the Valley. Bethlehem Township has 2 of the best elementary schools in PA. Top notch! Down the road the kids merge. And again all worlds collide. For me we are in Forks right now. Low crime, beautiful settings excellent elementary schools.

some websites to check out are
Greatschools.net
and on Weichert.com you can scroll down to the bottom of a listing and see the crime rates and school info. Please remeber many areas around here may be lumped under one name Such as Easton yet the house is in Palmer or Forks townships You than have to go to the Zip code and research the crime or you will get the WRONG information and it will direct you crime rates of The city of Easton. Which obviously the surrounding suburbs would not experience.

what exactly are you looking for?

[bluemonday]

I used to live near Lehigh Valley when I worked for "Lehigh Valley's Largest Employer". I would say a lot of the areas in the Northwestern Lehigh School District are very nice, if you like living more rural. It is still very close proximity to shopping areas, and the schools there have an excellent reputation. Crime was virtually non-existant when I lived near there (just a few years ago). I would recommend the area if you have a job in the Leghih Valley Region, but it may be a haul if you are commuting from New Jersey.

[GoingtoPA]

and on Weichert.com you can scroll down to the bottom of a listing and see the crime rates and school info.

I am planning to move to Eastern Pa soon.
Can you tell me if Weichert is a good realtor. I have searched the web and they look really good. Are they as good as they look? Seem as if they have it all. Homes new or older. Loans, moving companys. Insurance......any informaton would be greatly appreciated.

[berryjuice4life]

we looked in Macungie, we really liked it, we looked at the Parkland school district which is incredible, and e penn, however we were looking at newer resale's and new construction and my goodness taxes were 8k and above...which we thought was insane for PA, we reserached alot of areas in PA and decided not to move to PA.....good luck to all...make sure you find out about taxes...

[L.K.]

are the taxes actually higher in those areas of Pa than in NJ? I thought NJ had some of the highest taxes?

[berryjuice4life]

LK we did too, we made numerous of trips, back and fourth we looked in 4 different areas of Pa and all the "good areas" with Good Schools had very high property taxes, and even the homes werent that inexpensive..we looked in Yardley too and wow my house there is 650k which is the same here and the taxes on the house we liked the home in Macungie was 400k taxes were 8500k yes your getting a nicer house than Jersey but still expensive, I had 4 different reatlors since it was all different areas, and im a realtor here in NJ ocean and monmouth counties so they were all pretty honest with me on housing...Macungie was a little bit industrial but homes are beautiful..def rural but really good schools...you know in jersey its the same thing your paying for an area and paying for the schools...but then again everyone is different on what they want in and or out of a home price etc...im sure an older home and smaller home would be less expensive....do your research use these boards because they are a great source of information, we are moving to NC after doing research for 9 months after we Axed out Pa and made trips down to NC and decided we are moving there...However If I hadnt found the boards I dont know If I would have been as gung ho as we are which for us is a GREAT THING, since we need to leave NJ...the boards have been awesome, also take certain people and things they say with a grain assault....good luck to you where ever you decide to go....

[changinglivesinpa]

HI there,

I have another website if you email me I can give you school comparisons.. One big question, are you going to commute? if you are going to commute to NJ there are some parts that are a closer commute than others. Macungie used to be rural, its not anymore , Many many new neighborhood communities. A few months ago there was an article that said more people were moving there from NY / NJ each day and was growing as fast as PHila! Its not too far from grocery stores etc. and Home New construction prices are affordable and wide variety , much better than NJ and taxes are reasonable.. Thats the East Penn School disctrict which is very good. Also good but bigger is Parkland more near Allentown.