Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Lehigh Valley
 [Register]
Lehigh Valley Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-05-2018, 11:24 AM
 
3 posts, read 2,705 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

We are looking to move to the Lehigh Valley this summer and so far have liked the neighborhoods around Johnston Drive in Bethlehem, some areas of Bethlehem Township, Old Orchard in Easton, and possibly College Hill. Unfortunately none of these areas have very highly rated schools. I know it is hard to go just by ratings so I would love some insight into how the schools actually are! The Lehigh Valley Academy charter school is really appealing but sounds like it might be almost impossible to get into. Thanks for any help you have!


When are you moving? June 2018
Where are you coming from? Livingston NJ
Why are you moving? More affordable, job opportunity, new adventure, hopefully people we connect with!
Where will you be working? NJ 3 days a week / Allentown
Have you been here yet? Yes - have made a few trips to check out neighborhoods

Will you buy or rent? Buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? House. Would like to be under $400k including updates
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend?
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up?

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married with elementary aged child
Do you prefer public or private schools? public
Do you have pets? not yet
Do you want or need a yard? yes but not too large
Are you keeping a car? yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? we are city people but leading a suburban lifestyle while our child is young

What do you want to be closest to?
Work - want to make the commute to NJ the easiest possible
Shopping - not super important
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) - would like to have conveniences nearby
Nightlife - we are foodies so would like access to some good restaurants and bars
Near Bus stop? Please note that there is NO rail service in the Lehigh Valley. - are there any good ridesharing programs?

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? We prefer diversity and would like the kind of neighborhood where our child could ride a bike to friends houses

Phillies or Mets? not big sports fans (but Yankees over Mets)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-05-2018, 12:37 PM
 
2,957 posts, read 5,871,810 times
Reputation: 2286
I think you should look for houses in the Nazareth Area School District (NASD). It's basically the closest "good" school district to NJ and "Northampton Crossings" & the "Lower Nazareth Commons" have all of the shopping that you need.

Bethlehem Township has good/ OK? elementary and middle schools, but it's the high school that seems to drag them down in ratings (a lot of parents send their kids to ND for high school).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-06-2018, 07:16 AM
 
13,249 posts, read 33,380,157 times
Reputation: 8098
Quote:
Originally Posted by blazerj View Post
I think you should look for houses in the Nazareth Area School District (NASD). It's basically the closest "good" school district to NJ and "Northampton Crossings" & the "Lower Nazareth Commons" have all of the shopping that you need.

Bethlehem Township has good/ OK? elementary and middle schools, but it's the high school that seems to drag them down in ratings (a lot of parents send their kids to ND for high school).
ND being Notre Dame HS in Easton: Home Page - Notre Dame High School, Inc. Catholic School. I agree. Pennsylvania has screwy public education funding and the city schools are generally the lowest rated and have the lowest paid teachers and not as well maintained schools.
__________________
Please follow THESE rules.

Any Questions on how to use this site? See this.

Realtors, See This.

Moderator - Lehigh Valley, NEPA, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Education and Colleges and Universities.

When I post in bold red, that is Moderator action and per the TOS can be discussed only via Direct Message.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-06-2018, 09:25 PM
 
566 posts, read 566,797 times
Reputation: 901
We live on College Hill and have children in our local elementary school and the middle school. We've been happy with their experience. Easton has a very diverse student population in every way and our family values that. Our lower test scores have more to do with the fact that we are an urban school district than anything else. Other area school districts with higher rankings are more suburban and less diverse. I would never send my kids to school in Nazareth and people that live in Nazareth probably feel the same way about our schools. Different values. My kids have had exceptional teachers and lots of opportunities for extra curriculars. I taught for 8 years and I currently work as a consultant for a large urban school district as well teach college level education coursework and supervise student teachers so I have been in a ton of schools. I'm not saying our schools couldn't improve at all, but overall I've been very pleased. Please don't make a judgement call based on ratings alone. Speak with actual people that have children attending the schools you are considering.

In terms of living on College Hill, we adore our neighborhood. It's a true community where people look out for each other's kids and know their neighbors. My kids can walk to school alone, go to the park with their friends, walk to the local convenience store. We can walk to our pool, to the playground to go sledding. Because we have a college campus in our neighborhood we have access to sporting and cultural events. There's a lot of offerings related to the arts. I can't think of anywhere else I would rather live.

ETA: Our teachers are very highly compensated. It's hard to secure a teaching job here and our school buildings are either brand newly renovated or in the process of being renovated.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2018, 08:57 AM
 
2,957 posts, read 5,871,810 times
Reputation: 2286
Quote:
Originally Posted by ringler24 View Post
We live on College Hill and have children in our local elementary school and the middle school. We've been happy with their experience. Easton has a very diverse student population in every way and our family values that. Our lower test scores have more to do with the fact that we are an urban school district than anything else. Other area school districts with higher rankings are more suburban and less diverse. I would never send my kids to school in Nazareth and people that live in Nazareth probably feel the same way about our schools. Different values. My kids have had exceptional teachers and lots of opportunities for extra curriculars. I taught for 8 years and I currently work as a consultant for a large urban school district as well teach college level education coursework and supervise student teachers so I have been in a ton of schools. I'm not saying our schools couldn't improve at all, but overall I've been very pleased. Please don't make a judgement call based on ratings alone. Speak with actual people that have children attending the schools you are considering.

In terms of living on College Hill, we adore our neighborhood. It's a true community where people look out for each other's kids and know their neighbors. My kids can walk to school alone, go to the park with their friends, walk to the local convenience store. We can walk to our pool, to the playground to go sledding. Because we have a college campus in our neighborhood we have access to sporting and cultural events. There's a lot of offerings related to the arts. I can't think of anywhere else I would rather live.

ETA: Our teachers are very highly compensated. It's hard to secure a teaching job here and our school buildings are either brand newly renovated or in the process of being renovated.
Great post and thanks for the real life perspective. How do you feel about the High School? Also, why wouldn't you want to send your kids to school in Nazareth?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-08-2018, 08:36 PM
 
566 posts, read 566,797 times
Reputation: 901
My neighbors all have good things to say about the high school. There are a lot of AP classes, a great sports program, a huge band, and lots of clubs. It is very big, as is the middle school. That's really the only thing that I don't love about our secondary schools.

For our family, Nazareth wouldn't be somewhere we would send our kids because of the lack of ethnic diversity and we wouldn't want to live there for the same reason as well as Nazareth is fairly conservative politically and that's not our crowd.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-12-2018, 07:26 AM
 
2,957 posts, read 5,871,810 times
Reputation: 2286
Quote:
Originally Posted by ringler24 View Post
My neighbors all have good things to say about the high school. There are a lot of AP classes, a great sports program, a huge band, and lots of clubs. It is very big, as is the middle school. That's really the only thing that I don't love about our secondary schools.

For our family, Nazareth wouldn't be somewhere we would send our kids because of the lack of ethnic diversity and we wouldn't want to live there for the same reason as well as Nazareth is fairly conservative politically and that's not our crowd.
Thanks for the local insight. I'd just like to point out that Obama won Nazareth twice so it's not "fairly conservative".
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2018, 11:46 AM
 
566 posts, read 566,797 times
Reputation: 901
Where are you able to establish national election results by city? I can only see them by county and Nazareth and Easton are in the same. Pennsylvania has long been a swing state. There are very few neighborhoods locally that I feel lean heavily liberal and College Hill is one of them. So yes, I would classify Nazareth as fairly Conservative.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-13-2018, 07:02 PM
 
13,249 posts, read 33,380,157 times
Reputation: 8098
Here are the results for Northampton county election 2016 https://www.northamptoncounty.org/CT...20Precinct.pdf
__________________
Please follow THESE rules.

Any Questions on how to use this site? See this.

Realtors, See This.

Moderator - Lehigh Valley, NEPA, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Education and Colleges and Universities.

When I post in bold red, that is Moderator action and per the TOS can be discussed only via Direct Message.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-14-2018, 10:15 AM
 
3 posts, read 2,705 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks so much for the replies - exactly the kind of local information we were looking for - very helpful! Now we have to decide if we could live without central air in College Hill...

If anyone has any insights on Spring Garden Elementary in Bethlehem too that would be great!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Lehigh Valley

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top