Rentals/living near Center Valley, PA (Philadelphia, Allentown: apartment complex, townhouse, safe area)

[Aquitaine]

Hi there,

My fiancee may be attending DeSales next fall and I'm trying to familiarize myself with the Center Valley/Allentown area as much as I can before we go and look for a place to rent for a couple of years (grad school). I grew up in northern DE just outside Philadelphia but we're moving from NYC, though we're not really huge city people.

All of the apartments/smaller houses that I've found online are in Allentown, which looks like it's about ten miles north of DeSales in Center Valley. Does anyone have any advice/experience on a good place to rent in the area? I'm ambivalent about actually living in Allentown, and we don't need a whole heck of a lot - no kids (nor will there be any time soon), and maybe a large 2BR for two years; I run a small business out of my home but it doesn't take up too much space.

Where is a good place to look for listings? Where outside of Allentown but within a 15-20 minute commute to Center Valley is a good place to look? Budget is probably up to about $1800, though obviously lower would be better!

Thanks very much!
Aquitaine

[JohnZ963]

There is a townhouse development just to the west of Rt. 309 and south of I-78 in Center Valley/Upper Saucon where you can rent 4-5 year old 3BR homes for less than $1,800/mo. I forget the name of the development but the street names are something like Huckleberry, Jasmine, and a bunch of golf-related names. This would put you, I dunno, about 10 minutes from DeSales.

Since this site doesn't allow one to give links to properties, just check out the lehigh valley MLS site, www.lvarmls.com. Under areas select "Upper Saucon" and select rental properties on the main page. This will show you all the rentals listed w/realtors in that township.

Over in Lower Saucon there is a newer apartment complex called "Saucon View" on Friedensville Rd. near Hellertown. Also well within your price range, although I heard their vacancy rate is low and it could be hard to get into. Owned by Landmark communities, you can google it for more info.

Both of these are in very safe areas.

Stay away from Allentown. If you can afford over $1,000 per month there is no need to even bother.

[Aquitaine]

Great site, thank you!

Any other areas beside Upper Saucon? We can drop $1500 on a rental but 2BR, a 1-car garage, and closer to $1100 or $1200 would be awesome. I'll browse the site for that - what is Emmaus like?

[toobusytoday]

You should also be looking at Coopersburg and Hellertown. Hellertown and Lower Saucon are in Northampton County so will not be listed as Lehigh county, but they are much closer to DeSales then Emmaus. Hellertown is a neat little town and seems to be the place where the under thirty crowd is moving to.

Emmaus is a great town, about 20 minutes from DeSales. We can not post listings from individual agents but we can post general information sites. Here's one Apartments, Homes & Houses for Rent - Home Rentals in Lehigh Valley, PA - LehighValleyLive.com Agree about staying away from center city Allentown, but West Allentown is fine as is Salisbury township just south of Allentown but north of route 309/78.

The historic area of Bethlehem is a nice area for a young couple - lots of things going on and places to walk to.