One more family moving to LHV - Lower Macungie (Philadelphia: apartment, rentals)

[brainage2]

When are you moving? July 1 2010
Where are you coming from? West Windsor NJ
Why are you moving? More affordable housing, Peaceful location
Where will you be working? Work from Home
Have you been here yet? Yes

Will you buy or rent? Rent first and then Buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? 250K
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? 1250 Per Month
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? Walk up

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married 2 Kids - 10 Boy and 3 Girl
Do you prefer public or private schools? Public
Do you have pets? No
Do you want or need a yard? No preference
Are you keeping a car? Yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Calm & Quiet

What do you want to be closest to? Nothing
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
Nightlife
Train or subway stations

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Does not matter

Phillies or Mets? Phillies

We are planning to move from the West Windsor, NJ area to LHV. We visited the area and liked the Lower Macungie area.

My son goes to the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District school district which is supposed to be a very good school district.

Can someone suggest nice gated community to rent initially. Also which is a better school district in the area. East Penn / Parkland etc.

Is there any tennis clubs which have lessons for kids and indoor courts?

thanks for the help

regards
Brainage2

[toobusytoday]

I'm hoping someone from Lower Macungie can help you out, because I don't know of any gated communities around here. Even in my School District that has the most expensive houses, the communities are not gated.

Parkland and East Penn are generally accepted as the "best" large school districts, but I happen to know that Southern Lehigh has the highest average SAT scores in the LV right now and I think we're the best small school district. Our schools are also not over-crowded.... However, there won't be too many choices in the $250,000 range around here so Lower Macungie and East Penn may be a better option. The town of Emmaus is very nice and the upcoming place to live with cute shops and restaurants.

The indoor tennis question is another puzzler. I would guess that the local colleges have them and they may be open to the public, but I think the public schools all have them outside, at least I know ours does.

[JohnZ963]

For indoor tennis, the "24/7 Fitness" club near the intersection of 22 & 309 has numerous indoor and outdoor courts. I don't play tennis but had a membership to the facility through work a couple of years back. It's supposedly one of the more expensive local health clubs though.

[brainage2]

Hi All

Thanks for the replies. Can you suggest some places to rent in Southern Lehigh school district.

regards
Brainage2

[toobusytoday]

I think there are some rentals in Liberty Village, which might be Center Valley or Coopersburg - it's around the dividing line between the two towns. If you look at realtor.com and check off rent instead of buy you may also see some properties. On another thread a couple of other posters had some good suggestions for finding rental properties. For Southern Lehigh, you would search in Coopersburg or Center Valley.

[karen_s]

I'm no help as far as gated communities.

However, for the tennis you have two options: The Westend Racquet/Fitness Club at 22/309, and the Northwood Racquet Club on Northwood Avenue near Route 33/248 (Easton).

Lehigh Valley Racquet & 24-7 Fitness Clubs in Pennsylvania - work out at our fitness clubs
NRFC - Home

I am a member of the 24/7 clubs but my membership is less expensive and does not include Westend. However, they also have indoor and outdoor pools and just about anything else you would want in a fitness club, so it's worth checking out. I am really happy with the 24/7 clubs.

Northwood is a long-established racquet club. Can't tell you much about it but again it's another option for you.

Hope that helps

[brainage2]

Now i live in the West Windsor Plainsboro school district , which is supposed to be one of the best schools in the state.

Can someone suggest a town which has similar schools within 60 miles from the Philadelphia airport.

thanks

[pennsynative]

Try GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community. There is a function where you can compare schools. This might give you a better idea of what schools in the Lehigh Valley are similar to yours.

[unoriginal]

The only local gated community I know of is Westmount which is located in Allentown, across from Wegman's...

[toobusytoday]

In my opinion, Great Schools is a very subjective site without stats. Try these two for a starting point - SchoolMatters (http://www.schoolmatters.com/ - broken link) and this one Pennsylvania Schools - Find a Public or Private Pennsylvania School - SchoolDigger.com

You might want to look in Bucks county if you want something a bit more upscale. You can pay a few hundred thousand more but get great schools, probably gated communities and indoor tennis...

Brainage, I just looked up your school district on school matters and you really do have some good schools there! You won't find any HS with kids scoring 90% in the LV. I would have a hard time leaving that.