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Our family is looking for a walkable downtown to live in...weare thinking of Bethlehem, Coopersburg and Emmaus. are there any other towns that I should put on my list? My husband will be working for Air Products so something not too far out. so far, I am liking southern lehigh school district but I also. Like the charter school in Emmaus but there is a long waiting list.
we are going to rent first and then buy once we sort where we want to live. I am from NEPAL but haven't lived in Pa since 1996. I am so happy to be moving back to family and friends.
Last edited by Mossy; 09-11-2012 at 11:21 PM..
Reason: Typo
Our family is looking for a walkable downtown to live in...we are thinking of Bethlehem, Coopersburg and Emmaus. are there any other towns that I should put on my list? My husband will be working for Air Products so something not too far out. so far, I am liking southern lehigh school district but I also. Like the charter school in Emmaus but there is a long waiting list.
we are going to rent first and then buy once we sort where we want to live. I am from NEPAL but haven't lived in Pa since 1996. I am so happy to be moving back to family and friends.
Bethlehem is a city, and there are sections that are semi-dangerous. You may well choose Catholic Schools if you live there. I do know people whose kids have gone through Bethlehem Schools though and speak well of them. People on this board know Bethlehem better then I can help you with locations.
Emmaus has my favorite small town downtown area but we purposely chose Coopersburg (we don't live in town) because of the school district. Emmaus has wonderful schools, and higher rated then Southern Lehigh's, but much larger. East Penn's HS has about 3,000 students compared to Southern Lehigh's 1,000. We wanted small schools and that was more important to us then a walkable downtown. We have a great neighborhood that is very friendly and socially active, so I feel we have the best of both worlds.
When we were house hunting here we figured out our area first and then concentrated looking for homes in that area. Renting is going to be quite a bit harder as there aren't as many houses for rent, at least in Southern Lehigh. You will probably have better luck with that in East Penn and Bethlehem.
Macungie is also a nice small town in East Penn School district with a walkable downtown area. I would put that on the list too. http://www.macungie.pa.us/
After doing so much reading, I really like southern Leigh district the best with the size and like the immersion program at Liberty Bell. How are the gifted classes there as my daughter would need those? It is nice to have choices with the great schools around. I wished I knew more about the catholic schools around and how good they were academically. My daughter will need speech so public schools are what we need but I have to say I would love religious teachings as well. I am really torn. also, we will be moving in October/ Nov and am wondering if I should homeschool until after the new year to enroll her. I didnt know if homeschooling is big in Pa. I know California is a great state for homeschooling. We never had to move mid school year.
Thanks for the heads up on rentals. I am already looking but would love to get a feel for these towns.
What grade is your daughter in Mossy? They do testing for gifted here at the end of second grade and then kids get enrichment starting in third. If your daughter needs a speech therapist then I would not home school. The therapists at the schools work closely with the the teachers and pull the kids out of class to work with them. My son had a speech therapist for part of second grade and there was absolutely no stigma attached to it. Most of the Catholic kids I knew just had CCD class. California may be great for homeschooling because there's a huge problem with California schools and budget cuts.... I know a few families that homeschool in our school district. It's not unheard of and the kids can do some extra curricular things with the public schools like band.
Our family is looking for a walkable downtown to live in...weare thinking of Bethlehem, Coopersburg and Emmaus. are there any other towns that I should put on my list?
For a rental I would stick with Emmaus. You can look in Macungie , Coopersburg or Bethlehem to buy, but you will get a bigger choice of places to rent in Emmaus, and also places to walk to. You might get bored in Macungie.
Median value-owner occupied (2006-2010) abbreviated MVOO
Municipal Profile Emmaus, 11,211 people on 1,854.7 acres, MVOO $186,400, (Median age 40.3)
Macungie, 3,074 people on 631.6 acres , MVOO $191,100, (Median age 41.3)
Coopersburg, 2,386 people on 598.7 acres, MVOO $227,000, (Median age 45.9) ------------
Emmaus Details
Land Use 2010 (in acres) Total Acres (100.0%)
Residential 823.6 (44.4%)
Commercial 120.8 (6.5%)
Industrial 80.8 (4.4%)
Wholesale & Warehousing 4.7 (0.3%)
Transp., Comm. & Utilities 419.3 (22.6%)
Public & Quasi-Public 106.0 (5.7%)
Parks & Recreation 208.5 (11.2%)
Agriculture & Vacant 91.0 (4.9%)
Selected Race & Hispanic Origin Characteristics 2010 White 10,472 (93.4%)
Black or African American 175 (1.5%)
American Indian, Alaska Native 20 (0.2%)
Asian 164 (1.5%)
All Others 380 (3.4%)
Hispanic or Latino (origin any race) 529 (4.7%)
Educational Attainment 2006-2010 (persons 25 years & over) No high school degree 818 (10.1%)
High school graduate only 2,998 (37.1%)
Some college/associate degree 1,795 (22.2%)
Bachelor’s or graduate degree 2,468 (30.6%)
High school degree or higher 89.9%
The Cities are much younger, but that also means there are more youth gangs
Bethlehem Median age 35.7
Allentown Median age 32.7
Easton Median age 31.9 (youngest municipality)
The oldest median age in a municipality in the Lehigh Valley is 48.0
Last edited by PacoMartin; 09-12-2012 at 09:32 PM..
What grade is your daughter in Mossy? They do testing for gifted here at the end of second grade and then kids get enrichment starting in third. If your daughter needs a speech therapist then I would not home school. The therapists at the schools work closely with the the teachers and pull the kids out of class to work with them. My son had a speech therapist for part of second grade and there was absolutely no stigma attached to it. Most of the Catholic kids I knew just had CCD class. California may be great for homeschooling because there's a huge problem with California schools and budget cuts.... I know a few families that homeschool in our school district. It's not unheard of and the kids can do some extra curricular things with the public schools like band.
My daughter is in first grade now. CCD classes are fine with us. Catholic schools in California are terrible on the whole. We are in the top rated school district in our hometown but to me the school is just good and not great. I am from PA and the schools are just so much better. What I consider good is considered average here. So sad...really. I didn't know how good the catholic schools are in the Lehigh Valley but public is also fine with us. I went to catholic school my whole life in Pa and did very well. I actually heard from Liberty Bell and they were very nice and welcoming. I like their Spanish immersion program but there is no room this year. I haven't contacted the other schools yet but am liking southern Lehigh more and more. Small is good.
We are also looking at Movarian Academy but read bad reviews about them which had me concerned. I liked Seven Generations charter school. The school reminds me of schools in California with the organic feel to it. I am wondering how the academics are? Sports are important and extra activities like art are as well. My daughter does Karate and would like to continue.
Thanks for all this great info....what websites besides Craigslist would you recommend looking for rentals? We have one indoor kitty who is fabulous.
For a rental I would stick with Emmaus. You can look in Macungie , Coopersburg or Bethlehem to buy, but you will get a bigger choice of places to rent in Emmaus, and also places to walk to. You might get bored in Macungie.
Median value-owner occupied (2006-2010) abbreviated MVOO
Municipal Profile Emmaus, 11,211 people on 1,854.7 acres, MVOO $186,400, (Median age 40.3)
Macungie, 3,074 people on 631.6 acres , MVOO $191,100, (Median age 41.3)
Coopersburg, 2,386 people on 598.7 acres, MVOO $227,000, (Median age 45.9) ------------
Emmaus Details
Land Use 2010 (in acres) Total Acres (100.0%)
Residential 823.6 (44.4%)
Commercial 120.8 (6.5%)
Industrial 80.8 (4.4%)
Wholesale & Warehousing 4.7 (0.3%)
Transp., Comm. & Utilities 419.3 (22.6%)
Public & Quasi-Public 106.0 (5.7%)
Parks & Recreation 208.5 (11.2%)
Agriculture & Vacant 91.0 (4.9%)
Selected Race & Hispanic Origin Characteristics 2010 White 10,472 (93.4%)
Black or African American 175 (1.5%)
American Indian, Alaska Native 20 (0.2%)
Asian 164 (1.5%)
All Others 380 (3.4%)
Hispanic or Latino (origin any race) 529 (4.7%)
Educational Attainment 2006-2010 (persons 25 years & over) No high school degree 818 (10.1%)
High school graduate only 2,998 (37.1%)
Some college/associate degree 1,795 (22.2%)
Bachelor’s or graduate degree 2,468 (30.6%)
High school degree or higher 89.9%
The Cities are much younger, but that also means there are more youth gangs
Bethlehem Median age 35.7
Allentown Median age 32.7
Easton Median age 31.9 (youngest municipality)
The oldest median age in a municipality in the Lehigh Valley is 48.0
Thanks for the statistics...love it. My thoughts were Emmaus for renting but what if I want to be in southern Lehigh school district? Can I do an inter district transfer? Would love to live downtown Emmaus. I am just liking SLSD the best so far. Parkland and East Penn seem very good as well but the high numbers are a concern. Coming from California those numbers aren't bad...you should see the crowds out here. 26-32 kids per class and some classes have more kids. 3-6 k kids in local high schools. Are the gangs bad in the area? Gangs out here are very bad but we don't live near it.
Thanks for the statistics...love it. My thoughts were Emmaus for renting but what if I want to be in southern Lehigh school district? Can I do an inter district transfer? Would love to live downtown Emmaus. I am just liking SLSD the best so far. Parkland and East Penn seem very good as well but the high numbers are a concern. Coming from California those numbers aren't bad...you should see the crowds out here. 26-32 kids per class and some classes have more kids. 3-6 k kids in local high schools. Are the gangs bad in the area? Gangs out here are very bad but we don't live near it.
Again, thanks for theist!
SLSD is pretty rarified with less than 1000 homes occupied by renters . East Penn School District has closer to 4000 homes occupied by renters.
Inter district transfers I don't know about, but I would suspect it is only for very special circumstances. Gang activity is not really prevalent in these suburbs (they are all fairly upscale and not very dense).
Key - Total housing units (Renter occupied)
SLSD school district
Upper Saucon Township 5,262 (530)
Coopersburg borough 985 (317)
Lower Milford Township 1,417 (123)
Total - 7,665 homes with 970 renter occupied
East Penn School District Emmaus borough - 5,192 (1,822)
Alburtis borough - 910 (146)
Macungie borough - 1,493 (580)
Lower Macungie Township - 11,910 (1,361)
Upper Milford Township - 2,931 (265)
Total - 22,436 homes with 4174 renter occupied
Unfortunately, you cannot live in one district and go to school in another. There are some links at the sticky at the top that have information about renting. //www.city-data.com/forum/14583252-post2.html I know of one Realtor that has a sign advertising Rentals. This doesn't work for out of town people, but a popular way to rent a house is to simply stick a "house for rent" sign in the front lawn. As Paco has pointed out, it's a landlord's market here.
Moravian Academy has an excellent reputation but is very expensive. I know a couple of people that have kids at Seventh Generation and really like it, but have no idea of how the academics pan out when the kids go onto HS. I understand that they are slowly adding grades so perhaps it will be through 12th by the time your daughter gets there!
Gangs pretty much stick to the city's, and even then they are not reported on much in the paper.
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Prefer Emmaus to rent
