Lehigh or Bucks?-any and all opinions please! (Philadelphia, Allentown: rentals, crime)

[cherylb59]

I live in the Lehigh Valley - for about 13 years now - wouldn't send my kids to school here, we homeschool. The area is definitely beautiful and most of the world is being built up but as far as progressive, and kid stuff to do, I find it lacking. It's getting better, no doubt as younger, more progressive people move into the area but it's still too redneck, backwoods for me. I don't appreciate walking into a public school library and finding wall to wall dead animals heads hanging that were donated by a local hunter. Or taking a drive and seeing grown men in hunting gear hiding behind trees with a rifle. Or even picking up a local newspaper and seeing photos of locals and their 'kill' . Some of the hunters even being 14 years old. Not an environment I want my kids raised in.
But that's just me.
I dont' want a big city life either but there has to be a balance somewhere in between the two! I guess it gets down to what you are looking for, what's important to you. Allentown is close to Emmaus and Allentown is high crime, drive by shootings, robberies, murders, lots of drugs, you name it. How long will it take to come to surrounding towns? Thats anybody's guess.

[Karla with a K]

Greeting from Florida
I have family in Doylestown when I was up there for xmas I told my husband "you know I could move back here"
lets see good pizza, diners and Wegmans a few of the things we don;t have here
I really like the area its close to Phila, I can make it from Doylestown to the Phila airport in about 1 hour.
Also New Hope and Peddlers Village is maybe 15 to 20 mins away.
You have a choice of older homes in the heart of Doylestown to new construction.
I wish I could remember the prices I saw on the new developments but they didn't seem outrageous otherwise I would of remembered.

good luck in your move

karla

[L.K.]

thanks all,it appears that bucks is winning out!The Doylestown area sounds great.The lack of kid things to do in some of Lehigh would have me worried.When we were there, it seemed sort of too rural.As far as the hunting stuff,I guess you've never been to Wisconsin! I can live without it,but it also doesn't bother me.thank you though.

[peterryan]

Cheryl, saw your post regarding East Penn...interesting to say the least. We have a senior at Emmaus, I'm a native, and rather well educated, as is my wife, a teacher. Our older daughter is an honor student at one of the finer colleges in the area. I might add...one of a number of extremely well regarded colleges and universities here. My profession is intimately tied to the reputation of this area, and I'd be very interested to learn what credentials you have to make such claims. L.K., if you do indeed have an interest in this area, I suggest that you research it thoroughly. As you might imagine, I am an advicate, and bring a number of years of experience to the perspective I have. All the best.....

[Livindoll]

Originally Posted by peterryan

Cheryl, saw your post regarding East Penn...interesting to say the least. We have a senior at Emmaus, I'm a native, and rather well educated, as is my wife, a teacher. Our older daughter is an honor student at one of the finer colleges in the area. I might add...one of a number of extremely well regarded colleges and universities here. My profession is intimately tied to the reputation of this area, and I'd be very interested to learn what credentials you have to make such claims. L.K., if you do indeed have an interest in this area, I suggest that you research it thoroughly. As you might imagine, I am an advicate, and bring a number of years of experience to the perspective I have. All the best.....

Uhh..it's advocate ...i think what worries LK is the proximity to Allentown...

[Tama]

L.K.--don't give up the Lehigh Valley too quickly. Check out Nazareth or Hellertown. My niece lives in Macungie and seems quite pleased there. She has small kids and it suits her and the family. She is a professional woman and I think she chose her area carefully. Just don't want you to get too turned off and miss out on a place that might give you what you want with less cost. It is quite easy to get to Phila. or NYC from the Valley.

[L.K.]

Yes,I will be sure not to judge too quickly.We did visit Macungie and it seemed very nice.It looked like there would be lots of kids/families in that area.What school do your niece's kids go to?I thought part of Macungie was Parkland schools,part was east Penn,is that correct?What is the closest downtown area? We didn't visit Nazareth,do you know much about the schools there? Thanks

[cherylb59]

Peter,
I appreciate your ties to the Valley and understand your defensiveness in regards to this area but I wasn't aware that I needed "credentials" to voice my opinion here.

I agree with Livindoll that the close proximity to Allentown is a major concern. One doesn't want to need body shields to drive through town.
Maybe it gets down to what each individual wants from an area. Also, financial status plays a huge role, in my opinion, regarding experiences.
The area is still very 'red-neck' and not getting picked on in middle or high school is directly related to what kind of clothes you wear and how much money you have. The high school IS full of drugs - ask any student or employee who will talk to you. Even the middle schools are becomming grounds for kids venting anger and hosility. What about the recent 'hit list' at Eyer Middle School? Maybe the problem isn't in the area but in our educational system - and I dont' mean just the Valley's - I mean the American educational system.
I recall an article awhile back about the high suicide rate in the Lehigh Valley school districts. Anyone remember it? I'm trying to locate it and I'll post when I do.

I know dozens of parents who have taken their kids out of this district because of drugs and bullying problems.
I am sure your views of the area are much different than most and I bet you are not living at a low or middle income level.

[L.K.]

There seem to be a great many private schools in eastern Pa in general.I was wondering if it had to do with the lack of quality public schools? I don't know,there seem to be alot of things that are different in Pa, having lived in Wisconsin my whole life,but we seem to have the majority of kids in public school.On the other hand,things can vary greatly in a relatively short proximity.We left Madison Wi[the capital] because of the schools,crime,property taxes, and moved just a short drive away to the next community, to great schools.We still pay alot in property taxes,but I don't mind,because now we are at least getting what we pay for.If I need to pay more to live in Bucks Co. to not have drug and violence issues,I will gladly do so I know that no school is perfect,there will always be problems,but the whole environment is critical.I am not cut out to home school!And I do not want to do private school for many reasons.I know you can't shield your kids from everything,but we can do our best!

[cherylb59]

Yes, there are many private schools and many homeschoolers and cyber schools in this area.
And you are so right about shielding our kids - we can't keep them from everything - just give them a good strong foundation and hope they make the right choices for themselves.