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Old 04-22-2012, 07:58 AM
 
2 posts, read 4,535 times
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I am choosing between starting new employment in Allentown or Pottstown. We are both mid 20's, have our first baby on the way, and are looking for an area with safe neighborhoods, good family environment, solid schools, etc. We are looking to buy a home in the suburbs, but would like to be able to go into the nearest city for museums, events, ect. We have spent lots of time in Philly, but are not too familiar with Allentown.

Any advice?
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Old 04-22-2012, 02:53 PM
 
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You're looking at it the wrong way. Many of the towns surrounding Allentown are not suburbs, per se. They are small towns with their own history, town centers and school districts. My family lives near Coopersburg, a small town between Allentown, Bethlehem and Quakertown. Depending on what we want to do, we'll go to any of the those three equidistant places or just into the town of Coopersburg.

If we want a nice dinner and to walk around afterwards we'll go to Bethlehem Events « Downtown Bethlehem Association or The Promenade shops in nearby Center Valley Welcome to The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley. If we want to see a baseball game, we'll go to Allentown and see the Iron Pigs The Official Site of Minor League Baseball | Lehigh Valley IronPigs Homepage Need some education? There are 7 four year colleges in the Lehigh Valley. Home You mentioned the symphony and museums - Allentown Symphony Association > Home (http://www.allentownsymphony.org/ - broken link) and there are great museums in both Allentown and Bethlehem. How about entertainment? Nightlife - Sands Casino - Resort | Bethlehem or maybe this - Welcome to State Theatre Center of the Arts, Easton - Index and of course, there are parks, farmers markets, drive in's, a velodrome and skiing. Oh, and we're about an hour from Philadelphia and 1 1/2 hours from NYC.

Not sure what Pottstown has...
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Old 04-22-2012, 02:57 PM
 
Location: Lehigh Valley, PA
2,309 posts, read 4,373,128 times
Reputation: 5355
Well done!!

That makes me want to live here...Wait I do live here!!


Quote:
Originally Posted by toobusytoday View Post
You're looking at it the wrong way. Many of the towns surrounding Allentown are not suburbs, per se. They are small towns with their own history, town centers and school districts. My family lives near Coopersburg, a small town between Allentown, Bethlehem and Quakertown. Depending on what we want to do, we'll go to any of the those three equidistant places or just into the town of Coopersburg.

If we want a nice dinner and to walk around afterwards we'll go to Bethlehem Events « Downtown Bethlehem Association or The Promenade shops in nearby Center Valley Welcome to The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley. If we want to see a baseball game, we'll go to Allentown and see the Iron Pigs The Official Site of Minor League Baseball | Lehigh Valley IronPigs Homepage Need some education? There are 7 four year colleges in the Lehigh Valley. Home You mentioned the symphony and museums - Allentown Symphony Association > Home (http://www.allentownsymphony.org/ - broken link) and there are great museums in both Allentown and Bethlehem. How about entertainment? Nightlife - Sands Casino - Resort | Bethlehem or maybe this - Welcome to State Theatre Center of the Arts, Easton - Index and of course, there are parks, farmers markets, drive in's, a velodrome and skiing. Oh, and we're about an hour from Philadelphia and 1 1/2 hours from NYC.

Not sure what Pottstown has...
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Old 04-25-2012, 04:18 PM
 
Location: PA
1,032 posts, read 4,258,069 times
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I currently live in Lower Macungie - a suburb of Allentown - and have also lived in Royersford - a suburb near Pottstown. Having lived in both areas, I can say that I prefer the Lehigh valley area. Montgomery County is nice, but super expensive and the people were not as welcoming as they were in the Lehigh Valley, mostly because the Lehigh Valley has a lot of transplants and we are good at making new friends.

Also, since Montgomery County is more expensive, I found most families were duel income, and being a SAHM, that was boring for me.
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Old 04-30-2012, 06:42 PM
 
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You could also live in the very scenic, less expensive area of Green Lane and the upper Perkiomen valley. Close to pottstown with a huge reservoir to go fishing at.
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Old 04-30-2012, 09:12 PM
 
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Start with the basics. Pottstown is a borough of 3000 acres with about 23,000 people. Allentown is a larger city, but "center city" zip codes are 2000 acres with over 55,000 people. Center city Allentown has the densest population in Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia. Center city is a crowded urban center (mostly Latino) with a very low income, almost no shopping, and a fairly high violent crime rate. Of course, Reading and York and parts of Philadelphia also have high violent crime rates.
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Not to disparage the arts in Allentown, they can't possibly hold a candle to a major city like Philadelphia. If your sole criteria is cultural day trips (monthly ?), then you should go to Philadelphia for theater, symphony or the Art Museum.

Allentown does have Symphony Hall, and Promenade Shopping Center movie theaters do have high quality movies of Ballet and Opera (for $25).
------------
Of course, it is 40 miles from Pottstown to the Philadelphia art museums, and it is 50 miles from Coopersburg to the Philadelphia art museums. It probably won't alter your habits if you live in one or the other.
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Old 05-01-2012, 07:34 AM
 
13,253 posts, read 33,440,554 times
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Good points Paco. I'd like to add that living in the LV also makes day trips into NYC easier too. Of course you can do them from Pottstown, but that adds some time to the trip.
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