Georgia family needs help relocating! (Allentown, Scranton: transplants, low crime, hotel)

[TerraZ]

My husband and toddler are relocating to the East Penn area, but we don't know anything about it?! I have heard Bethlehem is a great city...what are some good neighborhoods for young families, but that are not in the middle of nowhere?! We are in our late 20's and want a safe neighborhood, but also like to be near lots of things to do...any ideas?

[KristyLiz]

After a long search of the Lewhigh Valley, my family and I relocated to Lower Macungie (East Penn school district) - best move ever!

My husband works in Bethlehem, so his commute time is about 25 minutes.

This area is full of transplants like ourselves - actually have a friend at the end of my street from GA - so making friends has been very easy.

There are tons of developments around here - single homes and townhomes - so there's a lot to pick from. The taxes are high ( we pay $8000 on a 3300 sq ft house) but the schools are great and well worth it.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about this area, or my search in general.

Good luck!

[jlawr]

Just beware, alot of areas in the Mont, Lehigh & Berks Co's are extremely racist. We live west of quakertown and I never knew how bad it was till we moved up from Lansdale. Heck, Boyertown just last yr had a KKK parade.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by jlawr

Just beware, alot of areas in the Mont, Lehigh & Berks Co's are extremely racist. We live west of quakertown and I never knew how bad it was till we moved up from Lansdale. Heck, Boyertown just last yr had a KKK parade.

Oh please. The Lehigh Valley is like a liberal bastion in comparison to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. You even have a major gay pride festival every year in Allentown, don't you?

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Oh please. The Lehigh Valley is like a liberal bastion in comparison to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. You even have a major gay pride festival every year in Allentown, don't you?

I'm speechless as well.

TerraZ., are you definitely moving to Macungie or just to that area? What do you mean by a lot of things to do? In the small towns surrounding the cities most of the things to do revolve around the schools and families, some shopping and movie theaters. If you want a livelier scene then you will want to move to Bethlehem.

[bush]

do not move to Pocono country in the pocono,s they call it pocono,s of the hood
there rules change all the time once your in here this is a gated community
my family dosen,t want to visit because they make it so hard for them to get in to visit .your be very happy if you don,t move into any community in P.A. the dues are getting out of hand ours just went up 255.00 dollars we now pay 1,255.00 a year some are even higher hope this helps you some from Bush

[KristyLiz]

Originally Posted by jlawr

Just beware, alot of areas in the Mont, Lehigh & Berks Co's are extremely racist. We live west of quakertown and I never knew how bad it was till we moved up from Lansdale. Heck, Boyertown just last yr had a KKK parade.

I have lived in Montgomery county and now Lehigh county and have not seen this to be true at all.

[Barbados61123]

Bethlehem is a wounderful area. Safe low crime Crime Rates in Pennsylvania: Search for Crime Statistics it is the Northhampton area. I moved from NY 2 years ago and what a difference. People are pleasent. Just FYI - Bethlehem will soon have a casion Bethlehem Hotel Amenities Hotel Services - Sands Casino Resort | Bethlehem ; so, think of the long term and what Bethlehem is my not be. Stay away from Allentown. Crime is high, economic and quality of life situation are the worst.

[EmmausRocks]

I love when people brag up bethlehem. Only newbies would think bethlehem is so great. It's the hood and not much better than allentown. The SD is horrible and it's nasty in 90% of the town.

[toobusytoday]

I just got back from a trip in Bethlehem, all I saw were office workers going out for lunch and people like myself taking a brisk walk or shopping. As I was driving back I was wondering about the area on the North East side of town. The houses looked well kept up and seemed like a convenient area to live. I think the area around Main Street and down towards Moravian College are very nice. While the schools do not rate that high on paper, there have been a few posters here that speak highly of Liberty High School in Bethlehem School District.

I'm guessing that someone's take on racism depends mostly on their skin color. I was raised not to pay too much attention to it but If I was something other then white, I'm sure I would be more sensitive to slights. That said, I've never heard of any racial tension in my school district, Southern Lehigh.