Berks County-Fleetwood,Kutztown (Allentown, Reading, Lancaster: amusement park, crime, construction)

[proroc]

I'm considering moving to the area of Kutztown, Fleetwood in Berks county from nyc area. Any thoughts on the traffic, crime , etc?

thanks

[jjj]

I'm sure if you check on this site for the city crime data you will find very little crime in Kutztown and Fleetwood. Fleetwoood is a more rural area with new sub divisions popping up. My favorite golf courses are in Fleetwood so what I see of the area looks really nice. Not much help but its something.

[dcris]

I'm in Fleetwood, Ruscombmanor Township to be exact. It's an odd setup, as we don't utilize Fleetwood municipal services, (we're patrolled by the State Police, and have our own fire company) and my kids go to the Oley Valley schools, not Fleetwood schools. We are serviced by the Fleetwood Post Office and have a Fleetwood zip code.

I really like it here, as the area where we are is quite rural, as mentioned, but shopping, entertainment, dining, etc., is close by, about 10-15 minutes away in the Reading area, and within an hour in the other direction in the Allentown area. I feel there is plenty to do in the area, and having moved here from the Jersey Shore, the only thing "missing" here is the beach, which I didn't use anyway. There's several amusement park type attractions here too.

Traffic leaves a little to be desired on the main highway through the area, Rt 222, but it is under construction in certain areas in attempt to improve things. That's the artery that connects Allentown to Reading, and to Lancaster as well. Horse and buggy combos sometimes use Rt 222. The Weis grocery store in Kutztown and the Fleetwood Post Office, among others, provide hitching posts for horse "parking".

Crime seems to be heaviest in Reading, and thins out as you leave the city.

I am a Realtor. If you want any information on housing in this area, feel free to call on me. I'd be glad to help you.

[lovelymiss]

Hi I will be new to the Fleetwood area and I am african american. And I just wanted to know the the atmosphere of the people thoughts and treatment of people of color living there..All comments are welcome. Thanks

[Icy Tea]

Racism isn't really a problem in Berks, maybe in the southeast a little but even then it was more like 20 years ago that it was kinda bad. People carried alot of prejudices with them as they moved from Philly like 30, 40 years ago and maybe they still do. There is some tension between spanish and whites, but probably 90% of that is over english speaking versus spanish speaking. People will get annoyed when they hear spanish being spoken but if a spanish person speaks english, they are accepted like anybody else. Reading is bad with crime, but it drops off dramatically once you leave the city limits.
Fleetwood/ Kutztown is a nice area but there is one drawback. Deka Battery is there and lead levels in Berks are the highest in the state. Deka is a top company to work for, a good place to get a job one and of the best in the state. Still, if I had small children I'd look into any possible health risks.