Emmaus (Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton: for sale, foreclosures, rent)

[toobusytoday]

Great article about the revitalization of Emmaus The move to Emmaus - themorningcall.com.

"A downtown that had vacant signs on about 20 percent of its storefronts about a decade ago has solidified itself as a destination for shoppers and store owners since the inception of its Main Street Program, which was kick-started with state funding in the mid-1990s. In recent years, the borough has boasted a vacancy rate of less than 3 percent, according to Teri Madison, executive director of the borough's Main Street Program."

[LifetimeLocal]

The stores in town are garbage. They are constantly going out of business. The morning call is such a rag. What about Emmaus beverage? The list goes on and on and on. Please! It's just like Emmaus being ranked in the magazine poll as one of the best places to live. Funny how Rodale press is located there.....Hmmm......Rodale the magazine publishers? Emmaus is worse off than it was a decade ago and the crime shows it! Ask a local about Emmaus better yet ask a cop!

[toobusytoday]

Hold on a sec, LL, because I'm really confused. Isn't your hometown Emmaus? And you are saying that all of the stores are "garbage"? That's pretty depressing. When we moved to the area in 1997 we looked briefly in Emmaus and all I remember was the second hand store and Royal furniture and it looked kind of beaten down. But now there are all kinds of small independently owned shops and restaurants and there are always people walking around. Sundays in the summer are especially busy with the farmers market right on Main Street. I really like Emmaus and think it's one of the nicest all around towns in the Lehigh Valley, I'm surprised you don't feel the same if you've lived there all your life.

[18060]

From what I have seen, Emmaus has gone in both directions. The businesses and the downtown have come a long way with the Main Street program (though what I think they did inside the triangle looks terrible), but the quality of residents has gone down in the last few years. Now that HUD has been approved, you are seeing a lot more riff-raff in that town compared to just a few years ago. I worked in Emmaus for several years (1997-2005) and have seen a lot of changes in that time

[LifetimeLocal]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Hold on a sec, LL, because I'm really confused. Isn't your hometown Emmaus? And you are saying that all of the stores are "garbage"? That's pretty depressing. When we moved to the area in 1997 we looked briefly in Emmaus and all I remember was the second hand store and Royal furniture and it looked kind of beaten down. But now there are all kinds of small independently owned shops and restaurants and there are always people walking around. Sundays in the summer are especially busy with the farmers market right on Main Street. I really like Emmaus and think it's one of the nicest all around towns in the Lehigh Valley, I'm surprised you don't feel the same if you've lived there all your life.

I've never told anyone where I lived.

[toobusytoday]

My bad, making assumptions from a few of your posts that speak of familiarity with Emmaus.

Seriously though, was there ever a time that Emmaus had a thriving downtown that makes what's going on now look worse? Little Coopersburg has about a dozen stores and not nearly as much street activity as Emmaus. And if you think about it, it's quite interesting that people would rather go shop in Emmaus then into the city of Allentown. Everyone I know that grew up in this area always talks about how when they were growing up Allentown was THE place to shop. Macungie is a nice town with a great community center but it doesn't have nearly the stores or restaurants that Emmaus has.

I grew up in a small town in lower Delaware a lot like Emmaus and Coopersburg. During the 1980's most of the business in town folded and moved to the outskirts of town or closed completely. It was truly sad to see a once active and interesting town fall apart. The store where we always bought shoes- gone. The movie theater that had a balcony and I saw my first movie - closed up. Forty years later, there is a revitalization effort but it's not been nearly as successful as the one in Emmaus. There probably are some bad changes but as far as small towns go, I think Emmaus is doing a lot of things right.

[LifetimeLocal]

Emmaus has went downhill the last decade. Riff Raff moved in the streets are not kept up, hud homes, crime has exploded and I really dont understand why the paper has not reported on this. In just one night the other month there was 3 burglaries. Those shops in town change hands so quick and they are usually junk stuff. There are some nice stores as you mentioned there are a few furniture stores but overall it's going downhill and with foreclosures and the economy getting worse it's not good for Emmaus and all the other little towns around here. The only reason it was listed as one of the best places to live is because of Rodale, let's be real here.

Today I had to drive through through Emmaus and the main street was salted but the side streets were a mess(as usual). I went through the triangle and there was 2 boro trucks sitting there with 3 guys in them that must have been taking down the decorations off the tree. 25 minutes later they guys were still sitting in those trucks now I know for a fact they start working at 7AM and this was from 9:15AM - 9:40AM when I finished my stuff. They didnt even plow the street where the maintenance shed is located. There is some real low lifes walking around but I'll give you it's better than Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton combined but give it 5 or more years and see what happens. The economy and housing collapse is only going to make things worse for Emmaus and the Lehigh Valley in general. Everything is for rent/sale and foreclosures are just warming up and like I've shown before it's going to get worse. The area that really has gone to the crapper is Macungie. There are so many McMansion developments that have a large amount of empty homes that they cant rent and cant even get the hud people in there and it's getting worse. They are still building which is only going to make things worse. I could not even imagine ever buying a home in those developments that were built on land farmers wouldnt even use(SWAMP) and those places will not last 75 years without major, major problems due to shotty contruction and sinking homes. There are many people having huge structual problems that were built less than a decade ago. This housing bubble is just catching up with the valley but it's created a mess that cant be fixed. While some people say I am doom and gloom I like the think I am realistic. This mess was so easy to see coming but greed and lies pumped up this mess and we will be like Florida and all the other markets that are simply never going to see the nonsense of the bubble years come back. History repeats itself but this was broke the mold. I've seen homes in Emmaus/Macungie with asking prices under 150,000 sitting empty for a year or more that during the peak of the insanity would have sold in 1-3 days for 225,000-250,000. Realtors and the NAR cant even spin the lies anymore about how it's going to comeback in 6 months, 1 years etc.

[toobusytoday]

Where are these HUD homes of which you speak? I've driven through Emmaus many times and I couldn't tell you any bad sections. It's not like there are homes that are bordered up or anything. I went to the HUD site to see where they might be and there are no HUD homes listed for sale in Emmaus. Hooks Van Holm (http://www.hooksvanholm.com/PropertyPennsylvania.aspx - broken link)

[18060]

The HUD homes are in the general area of the police station/movie theater, though I no longer remember where-The so called "other side of the tracks".


Lifetimelocal-were you the same person posting on the morning call a few years ago? If you are, I remember you predicting a lot of what has happened long before it did, and you got mocked for it from a lot of the other posters. Wonder who is laughing now?