Any transplants from Texas in the Lehigh Valley area?? (Allentown: condo, crime)

[dkm2003]

Possibly relocating to the area in the coming months from the Houston area. Would be working in Allentown, but open to living anywhere within a 40-50 mile radius.

3 small, school aged kids so very interested in school quality.

If you have relocated (or have been there for a while) and could pick one area out of that large radius, where would it be and why?

[toobusytoday]

dkm, I suggest that you fill out the sticky at the top of the page a read the forum a bit. Anyone that has kids and is thinking of moving here wants good schools and a nice community, so picking out some priorities would be helpful to local residents giving you advice.

[dkm2003]

thanks...

When are you moving? Summer 2011
Where are you coming from? Houston, TX
Why are you moving? Job
Where will you be working? Downtown Allentown
Have you been here yet? Yes, very briefly

Will you buy or rent? Buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? Up to $400K

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married, 3 children
Do you prefer public or private schools? Not sure yet
Do you have pets? Yes, 1 dog
Do you want or need a yard? Yes
Are you keeping a car? Yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? More towards the calm and quiet side

What do you want to be closest to? Good schools and shopping

[KristyLiz]

We relocated to the area 3 years ago. After a long search, we decided on Lower Macungie (east Penn School District). We have 3 kids - 2 are at Willow Lane Elementary (new school just opened this year!) and the other one is in preschool. Very happy with the schools.

This area is really great! Lots of transplants, so it was very easy to meet people and make friends.

Given your budget, there are many developments for you to pick from. We are in Graymoor (Pulte), but I feel like any of the developments off of Sauerkraut Lane are very nice.

I'm happy to answer any specific questions you have.

Good luck!

[toobusytoday]

I agree with KristyLiz, with your price range you can look in any area surrounding Allentown. There are very good schools here and you'll want to compare the scores with the sites mentioned in the fist post on this forum. Lower Macungie (East Penn School district) is the fastest growing area in the state so you'll find lots of new people there, along with good schools.Lower Macungie Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I live in Southern Lehigh School district and if you want a smaller, but very good, district you should look at Center Valley or Coopersburg. We wanted smaller schools and chose Southern Lehigh to get that. But since you are from Texas, you might want bigger! Parkland is also a very good school district. All three are within easy commuting distance to Allentown.

[loose cannon]

Aside from ppl i can't imagine what job you would be working at in downtown Allenswamp. Brace yourself. Things are getting better, but overall you are entering a warzone. Live in Bethlehem.

[KidArizona]

is it that bad now?? I thought they built another office bldg across from PPL, and created some kind of night club district

[loose cannon]

improvements have been made. It is not like the late 90's and early 2000s. Brewworks is a great spot. Trendy types will come out and have a good time there. This is an option that previously did not exist. And, I have to grudgingly give Crocodile Rock credit. They mostly book awful hair bands, emo, and rap junk but still it is something. Getting back to the Brewworks, next week the hipsters of Bethlehem and other nearby areas will descend upon the Brewworks for Brother JT and Wet. Brother JT features Messianic songwriter John Terlesky. JT is a Lehigh Valley native and sadly not many people are aware this man is one of the most important figures in the last 25 years of rock and roll history! Revered in music circles across the country, but ignored in his own back yard.

[dkm2003]

What is the opinion of Quakertown? Just from looking at school rankings, it seems that it ranks higher than either east penn or parkland.

I see it's about 20 miles from allentown, which is fine by me. That would be considered a short commute where we're coming from.

I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts on Quakertown and how it compares to the areas around Allentown. Thanks!

[toobusytoday]

I live equidistant to Allentown and Quakertown. It's funny, but because Quakertown is in Bucks county, it's not considered the Lehigh Valley and is not covered in the local newspaper, The Morning Call, so I don't feel that I know it as well. I'll give you my subjective opinion. Quakertown has nice amenities - Community Pool, Nice newish library and a big park all in the same area. The downtown is okay. A little tired and worn but not crime ridden or boarded up. The schools are pretty good. The school superintendent actually lives in my school district and her kids went through Southern Lehigh Schools. She was in administration here before changing jobs. They have a funky old school farmers market, the Q-mart. There is good shopping outside of town - Kohl's, Target, BJ's, Best Buy. In fact, I go to Quakertown to shop much more often then I go to Whitehall.

The downside for our family, was that the schools were just too large, but I believe the district is about the same size as East Penn and Parkland, so if you want large schools those three would compare pretty well. The one difference I think you'll find is that there are more lower income people in Quakertown School district, not poor, but there aren't a lot of $400,000 homes there. I'm guessing that fewer kids go on to four year colleges.

I would suggest that you visit the High Schools in the school districts you are interested in and see what feels right. If your children are younger, you will want to visit the appropriate schools for their ages, but make sure you check out the secondary schools too - those are the ones that will make a difference. In Southern Lehigh, we just opened an Intermediate School for grades 4-6 that alleviated overcrowding in our elementary and middle schools. All schools nationwide are dealing with budget cuts, as are our PA ones, so you may want to ask the Principals how that is going to affect their particular schools.