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Hello all! My wife and I are anticipating moving to the Lehigh Valley (specifically Bethlehem township) area in the next 6-12 months. I am hoping to connect with some locals to get some insight as to what to expect and hear of anything we should take into consideration.
We plan to rent for a year or two to make sure we are happy with the area before purchasing. We're both looking forward to being able to spend time outdoors- we bike, hike and ski, and I scuba dive.
If anyone has any thoughts for us, particularly what areas to consider relocating to, we would greatly appreciate it. We are leaning toward Bethlehem township as it seems to offer quite a bit of activity but can still find a rental that is still a bit rural. She has not secured work yet, but we will likely try to find a place that is near a hospital as that is where she will be seeking employment. Thanks so much for any insight you may be able to provide!
When are you moving? In the next 6-12 months
Where are you coming from? Palm Beach County, Florida
Why are you moving? We got married in December and are looking forward to starting our family! The area we live in is not the type of community in which we want to raise our children- crime rate is very high, education system is lacking and there is no sense of community. Also, our families live in the Scranton are and Ohio so we are looking forward to being much closer to them.
Where will you be working? I will be working from home and my wife will be working at a local hospital.
Have you been here yet? Very little! I grew up outside of Scranton but never spent much time in the area. After doing a good bit of research my wife and I spent 2 days checking out the area this past winter and were very attracted to the quaint and friendly aura of the area.
Will you buy or rent? Rent until we get a feel for the area, and then intend to purchase 1 to 2 years later
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If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? When the time comes, single family home between 150-250K
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? Preferably single family home with a fenced in yard for the pups. Otherwise, likely a townhouse. $1,000-$1,400 range.
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? Walk up
Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married, no children for now.
Do you prefer public or private schools? Public
Do you have pets? Yes, two (not foofie) dogs.
Do you want or need a yard? Want!
Are you keeping a car? One car currently. I work from home, wife will be seeking employment in a local hospital.
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? A bit of both! Currently live near Miami, Ft Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, but usually enjoy our quieter area.
What do you want to be closest to? Hospital (her work) and basic services- gym, parks, bike paths,
Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? No significant preference.
Phillies or Mets? Phillies or Mets??? Go Buckeyes!
A few quick things to add about ourselves- my wife and I are in our mid twenties. She is a clinical dietitian and I own a small business which I operate from home. Just wanted to add that info!
Hello all! My wife and I are anticipating moving to the Lehigh Valley (specifically Bethlehem township) area in the next 6-12 months.
Since you specifically said Bethlehem Township, I assume your wife works at St. Luke's Hospital - Anderson 1600-1900 Riverside Circle Easton, PA 18045. The hospital is nearby a massive Park and Ride where many people catch the bus to NYC or the financial centers in Jersey City.
Those two exits near route 33 are slated for massive development. The road was opened ten years ago, but access to I 78 is very good. A lot of residents of Northampton county work in NJ or NY, and they look here for low cost houses and lower real estate taxes.
In your particular case, you might be better of purchasing a home rather than renting. You are going to find rents very high around that area, and you might not like what you get.
On the other hand there are some inexpensive homes. One within a mile of the hospital is $125K Beds:4, Baths:1, Sqft: 1092 Lot:0.16 acres, year 1953. A home like that you could get by for Principal Interest Taxes Insurance for $9K per year . You could add a half bath to increase value. In a year it would be a good home to keep as an investment. In contrast you could easily shell out $12K a year in rent and live in a dump of a house.
At this particular moment, rents are very high, often much higher than home ownership costs. Since you are looking at an area of the county primed for future growth, you may make a mistake to rent.
Since you specifically said Bethlehem Township, I assume your wife works at St. Luke's Hospital - Anderson 1600-1900 Riverside Circle Easton, PA 18045. The hospital is nearby a massive Park and Ride where many people catch the bus to NYC or the financial centers in Jersey City.
Those two exits near route 33 are slated for massive development. The road was opened ten years ago, but access to I 78 is very good. A lot of residents of Northampton county work in NJ or NY, and they look here for low cost houses and lower real estate taxes.
In your particular case, you might be better of purchasing a home rather than renting. You are going to find rents very high around that area, and you might not like what you get.
On the other hand there are some inexpensive homes. One within a mile of the hospital is $125K Beds:4, Baths:1, Sqft: 1092 Lot:0.16 acres, year 1953. A home like that you could get by for Principal Interest Taxes Insurance for $9K per year . You could add a half bath to increase value. In a year it would be a good home to keep as an investment. In contrast you could easily shell out $12K a year in rent and live in a dump of a house.
At this particular moment, rents are very high, often much higher than home ownership costs. Since you are looking at an area of the county primed for future growth, you may make a mistake to rent.
Agee, rents are kind of high. I have a 3 bedroom townhouse and it's $1,750/month. I heard a few years back, they were going for $1,300 to $1,400.
You should definitely start searching ASAP for a rental that will accept pets in your price range. Anyone I know who has pets and rents has had challenges in this regard. You will probably have to leave that Bethlehem Township corridor and head north to find a nice rental in your price range. However, as you head closer to to the Blue Mountain, while it will be more of a commute to work for your wife, it will be closer to the rural living you would like and the recreational activities you desire, so that should balance it out for the two of you. You could also search a bit south into the Williams Township/Lower Saucon/Hellertown/Coopersburg area, although I think the rental prices down there are fairly steep as well.
Also, I would not exactly call Bethlehem Township "rural," it is all pretty suburban sprawl-ish to me, and more development is on the way for that William Penn Highway/Freemansburg Avenue corridor. I do love hiking and especially biking, and so can definitely help in that regard with any questions you may have. There are lots of opportunities to do both around here.
Also, I would not exactly call Bethlehem Township "rural," it is all pretty suburban sprawl-ish to me, and more development is on the way for that William Penn Highway/Freemansburg Avenue corridor. I do love hiking and especially biking, and so can definitely help in that regard with any questions you may have. There are lots of opportunities to do both around here.
Bethlehem Township is going to experience considerable growth in upcoming years. It is positioned too close to the 33 corridor
If you look at people per acre for the Northampton County townships, Palmer, Hanover and Bethlehem are the densest, while Forks is the fastest growing. Nothing in Northampton County is close to the 18102 zip code in center city Allentown, with 50K people at 26.5 people per acre.
People per acre
9.61 Easton city
5.80 Bethlehem city (Northampton County section)
3.10 Palmer township
2.55 Hanover township
2.52 Bethlehem township
1.87 Forks township
1.30 Upper Nazareth township
0.65 Lower Nazareth township
0.59 Allen township
0.55 Lehigh township
0.53 East Allen township
0.50 Bushkill township
0.38 Moore township
SOUTH OF LEHIGH
0.69 Lower Saucon township
0.49 Williams township
SLATE BELT
0.45 Washington township
0.39 Plainfield township
0.24 Upper Mount Bethel township
0.20 Lower Mount Bethel township
Thank you all for your responses, these are exactly the types of things I was hoping to learn!
I've been keeping a pretty good watch on rentals on craigslist that allow pets and it has seemed as if it shouldn't be too hard to find something for under $1,400 even with the two dogs. While it's likely that many of them may only allow one pet or have size restrictions, I am hopeful that we'll find something. My search has pretty much been the entire Lehigh Valley though too, so I am probably seeing homes outside of Bethlehem Township as well.
While we are really looking forward to purchasing a home, we feel it is imperative that we rent for a year or two to ensure that this is in fact the area we want to stay in first. While I hate "throwing money away" by renting, I would much regret being stuck in a home that we wouldn't want to be in.
Can anyone give some further information about what other areas we might want to consider that are in the Lehigh Valley area? Basically what is most important for the rental is going to be convenience and affordability. We are going to use the time that we are renting to get to know the area and figure out exactly where we want to buy our home. Since this will not necessarily be where we stay permanently, it doesn't have to be a perfect fit. One friend who used to live there suggested Schnecksville, although I don't see it mentioned much anywhere else.
What are the highlights of life in the Lehigh Valley area? Where should we focus/avoid? Are there any apartment complexes that we might want to consider? I'm not seeming to find many in my search but I may just be looking in the wrong place! Thanks again!
I live in the west end of Allentown. About 2 mins away from the highway which will bring me to downtown Bethlehem in 10-15 min. If you move to Allentown, I would only suggest the west end ( not too far from schnecksville). Cedar crest blvd contains restaurants, chains, grocery shopping, target, etc. movie theatre, mall, etc all within 5 mins from me. A few minutes from my house is Trexler Park apartments. I've been inside and they are beautiful. I know pets are allowed but not sure about the policy. They are a bit pricy, but within your range. They are connected to Trexler park which is a popular area for jogging and dog walking. They are right across the street from Wegmans (awesome grocery store which is currently adding a pub). About one minute from Starbucks and a few chain restaurants. Happy to help if you have any questions. We actually just put our house up for sale. We're moving to SC
Can anyone give some further information about what other areas we might want to consider that are in the Lehigh Valley area? Basically what is most important for the rental is going to be convenience and affordability. We are going to use the time that we are renting to get to know the area and figure out exactly where we want to buy our home. Since this will not necessarily be where we stay permanently, it doesn't have to be a perfect fit. One friend who used to live there suggested Schnecksville, although I don't see it mentioned much anywhere else.
Schnecksville is not convenient, since it is about 25 miles from the St Lukes Hospital in Bethlehem Township (since you haven't confirmed that is where your wife will be working, I'll use it as a base point). I have to admit that there are for more apartment complexes in Lehigh County than in Northampton County.
If you are looking for less expensive, and with some trails you can walk on, head north about 10 miles on route 33 and look closer to Jacobsburg State Park.
Not the cheapest place, but the newest and very convenient would be Woodmont in Palmer Township about 2.5 miles from the hospital.
I think the info provided so far has given us a good starting point for our search. So far we are still hoping to find a SFH to rent, but the Brooke at Peachtree Village is looking like a possible option as far as apartment complexes are concerned. This is in Whitehall, any thoughts on the area?
We still aren't sure as to where she will be working. That's basically what we're waiting on. She is speaking with a recruiter to determine what options are available in regards to a transfer. She may actually be working between several hospitals between LV, NJ and Philly, (staying in hotels while working at each hospital) so that may not have too drastic of an impact on where we choose.
How about life in the area? We aren't much for partying, she drinks very minimally and I do not drink at all. We're really hoping to find a closer community, as there is no sense of that where we currently live. Really we're pretty simple people and it sounds like this area would offer quite a bit to do outdoors and also seems to have a lot of happenings throughout the community.
Thanks again. Getting eager to find our way up there!
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