Northwestern Lehigh Valley Advice (Allentown, Bethlehem: cul-de-sac, lease, crime)

[SteelGuitar22]

I am looking for small-town and rural areas in Lehigh Valley that are kind of out of the suburban sprawl, yet commutable to the Allentown/Bethlehem area. I like the northwestern part of Lehigh county area (Northwestern Lehigh School District) and would like to know if it is a nice small-town area to live. I wouldn't want to live right in town, just on the outskirts. I have researched the school district and it seems to have good schools for a small-town area. I also like recreational activities, and it seems like there are things like the D&L Trail and the Lehigh River. Can anyone tell me about the area and if it is a good place to live and raise a family? How are the schools in Northwestern Lehigh? Are there any issues regarding crime and drugs? How are the people in the community?

[mrknowitall526]

I live in Lynn Township and went to Northwestern Lehigh HS. I enjoyed the school and the people here are great. There isn't really a "town" to live in, unless you consider the townhouses in New Tripoli. And even then, it is literally 4 streets in a grid.

Housing is expensive, as are the property taxes, because we have little business/industry to support the schools. Expect to pay at least $250,000 for a decent sized house.

There are some great people in this community. However, if you're wanting your kids to be able to walk down the street to have others to play with, it's not that kind of place -- unless you do choose a townhouse in New Tripoli. The houses are far apart (township ordinances require at least 1 acre per house) and unless you live on a cul-de-sac, you won't have many neighbors. But, you just get used to it. I liked that my high school friends were spread out all over the district. Got to drive on lots of pretty back roads to visit them.

Careful before you buy a house, especially in parts of Lynn & Weisenberg Townships, some areas have no cable and also no access to DSL. In Lynn Township, Blue Ridge is the cable company and they do a pretty good job of connecting many back roads, but some areas that seem like they should have cable, don't. And these are the same areas that are too far from the Verizon central office (either New Tripoli, New Smithville, or Kempton depending on where you are) for DSL service. This is really only limited to areas around Kings Highway near Leaser Lake, and out towards the Pine Lakes of Lynn. The best thing to do is to call Verizon or the cable company before you even make an offer on a house (that's my opinion, anyway. My parents bought a house without thinking about this about 3 years ago, the cable stops 1/2 mile down the road, and it took Verizon 2 years to bring us DSL (due to a state law). We lived with a 12 GB mobile hotspot for those 2 years and it was pretty painful). I just wanted to add this, because it's something most people take for granted, and it's probably one of the only areas of the Lehigh Valley where there sometimes is no choice for high speed Internet (or even only 1).


You'll love the views and the "country living" as long as you don't mind driving 10-12 miles to a grocery store. The new Weis in Fogelsville is very convenient to stop at on your way home. It's 13 miles from my house. When you live out here, you get used to driving to do everything. You can get just about anywhere in 30-35 minutes, including Whitehall and/or Trexlertown to go shopping. If you work anywhere east of the Lehigh River, expect lots of traffic on 22 in the mornings driving westbound. It's enough to make you consider Tilghman St through downtown Allentown or other alternate routes.