<p>Geez, good thing I logged on! We’ve lived in the Lehigh Valley for just about ten years. I live about 15 minutes (max) from Bethlehem and about the same from Allentown. I go into both quite often. Bethlehem has changed quite a bit in the last few years. Bethlehem Steele closed before we moved here and all those workers have moved on. The factory area is slated to be developed into a casino with hotels. </p>
<p>My daughter (just graduated college) visited a friend in Bethlehem last night and was remarking how nice the town has become. It’s a nice small city with quite a few cool and quirky bars, restaurants, shops, etc. Because of the colleges in the area (Moravian, Lehigh, DeSales, Lafayette and Muhlenberg) there’s always a play, musical, lecture or something fun going on. Bethlehem also hosts four big festivals a year. The most popular is Musikfest which last 10 days in August. </p>
<p>Several of my daughters friends who went out of state for college are now finding jobs locally and getting apartments in Bethlehem. I would hands down choose it over Allentown. I’m not as familiar with Easton but I don’t think it’s any livelier then Bethlehem. It’s extremely easy to get a bus to NYC or a plane anywhere. The Lehigh Valley airport is 10 minutes from Bethlehem.</p>
<p>Quakertown is the pits, except for their library and parks. I go there for a couple of stores but would not suggest anyone live there if there are other choices. Okay, it’s not horrible but not a destination town. No colleges, the schools are not very good. I would guess the majority of residents do not have college degrees. One small community theatre. </p>
<p>Coopersburg is nice (my town!), but it’s a small town and not what I think the op said they were looking for. </p>
<p>The commute to Philadelphia would most likely be dreadful. There is ALWAYS an accident on one of the many roads between here and there. So every morning instead of having a leisurely cup of coffee before driving five minutes to work you would have to get up very early and have a stressful hour or two on the road - and then repeat it every night. yuck.</p>
<p>Aha! Frankly, for 17 months, it will be better if he’s in Phillie and you’re in – wherever. You’ll commute to see each other every weekend, but during the week you’ll be able to focus on work, work, work. You’ll stay till 7:00 or 8:00 and not care, so you’ll impress everyone.</p>
<p>I agree with previous posters regarding commuting on the NE extension–it’s a dangerous road. Find yourself somewhere to live that’s closer to Allentown/Bethlehem–my brother lived in Lansdale as a newly hatched college grad and found it not so hard to drive home (still in PA but very close to DE), Center City as well as points south. And this was before the Blue Route (southern end of Interstate 476) was open!</p>
<p>I don’t know how anyone could characterize Bethlehem as dreary anymore. Downtown is very quaint with a lot of good restaurants and the South side has some dicey neighborhoods, but an increasing number of funky shops and restaurants as is the trend in many old industrial neighborhoods across the country. It may still be raw enough to turn off a certain kind of suburbanite but I think someone with any degree of real sophistication would find Bethlehem a very interesting place today. The obvious limitations of being a small city nothwithstanding.</p>
<p>My dad commutes to Philly every day for work and it’s an hour and 15 minutes each way… the gas, miles on car, as well as tolls really add up in expenses… i would strongly suggest not doing that commute.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks to everyone for your advice. I’m glad to hear Bethlehem may not be as dreary as other posters suggested. (Thanks especially to KathieP and MrMountainHawk.) </p>
<p>I’m also pretty sure I’ve ruled out Quakertown – it certainly doesn’t seem like my kind of place. It sounds pretty depressing.</p>
<p>Thanks, also, fendergirl for letting me know how long your father’s commute takes. It certainly doesn’t sound like the bottom line is worth it.</p>
<p>What area of Bethlehem should I look to live in? I’ve been told to shy away from the Lehigh area – but is there a place that anyone would recommend? I’d love to be near nice restaurants, some vintage stores, conveniences, etc.</p>
<p>Lolabelle–
H. and I are Lehigh alums from a million years ago. We’ve only visited briefly in recent years, but were disappointed to see South Bethlehem still looking pretty sad. Lehigh’s campus is lovely, though (check out Linderman Library), and if you liked the hill at Tufts you might find South Mountain appealing…! It won’t compare to Boston, but there are a definitely some cultural offerings on campus. As MrMountainHawk noted, there are some eateries and such (is The Goosey Gander still there?), but South Bethlehem probably isn’t a place you’ll be spending much time.</p>
<p>Just a few minutes north over the bridge, however, other side of Bethlehem is very nice, and there are some really beautiful old homes, the Hotel Bethlehem, shops, etc. It should be noted that it’s VERY different from the South side.</p>
<p>I sort of think you’d need to visit Bethlehem to decide where you’d prefer living. Downtown is a little on the touristy side in the sense that it is beautiful to look at with some very good restaurants and shops but not a lot in the way of retail for every day living.</p>
<p>Some samples to get a sense of the downtown area.</p>
<p>The Lehigh area (South Side) is actually only a long walk or a couple minute’s drive from downtown. It is kind of in a state of flux because the former Bethlehem Steel plant is being converted into high end retail, performing arts venues, a hotel, Casino, apartments, restaurants and a museum of industrial history affiliated with the Smithsonian. A year or so from now this part of town will be quite different. It does contain some of the more seedy neighborhoods in the city but the commercial area is fine and it is probably the most conducive to urban living in the sense that there are late night convenience stores, a good news stand and a lot of people your age around.</p>
<p>That’s just a bunch of stuff I have bookmarked, so worry not, I didn’t turn the internet upside down to find stuff for ya. LOL. But as I said, I would definitely visit and decide for yourself where to live. These two areas are the best two options without factoring in driving. But very different. If you just want to be a quick car ride from things then your options open up a lot.</p>
<p>Trust me - you don’t want to commute to Philly.
Occasionally I will take the NE extension from Qtown to Mid County Exchange and it takes at least an hour (even at 6 am) from on to off.</p>
<p>Mr MountainHawk has given you some excellent references to check out. I was going to suggest Riverport but I see he has the link there.</p>
<p>I also agree with Mountainhawk, although with that name, hmmm sounds like he might be partial to the Lehigh side of Bethlehem! </p>
<p>I would want my daughter to choose the North side and as close to Main Street and Moravian as possible to make it possible to walk to the nice part of town. I hate to say it, but there have been some violent crimes on the South side including home invasions. If I go to the South Side it’s usually for something at the Banana Factory or to go to Starters - a huge new sports bar.</p>
<p>Hey! I just discovered that Allentown-Bethlehm will have AAA Baseball next year. Lehibh Valley IronPigs (great name, for those who get it) Nice. Stadium looks like it will be between Allentown and Bethlem. Lolabelle, you can’t have a better summer evening than minor league baseball. <a href=“http://www.ironpigsbaseball.com%5B/url%5D”>www.ironpigsbaseball.com</a></p>
<p>I am now living and working in L.A. and love it. And once again I am freaking out about having to live in the PA suburbs. More and more I can only think that living in Philadelphia would ease my emotional pain about this whole move. </p>
<p>Can anyone experientially tell me how long the reverse commute takes – Philly-LehighValley-Philly? In re-reading this thread I saw that one girl’s father’s commute the other way around LV-Philly-LV takes 1hr15min. Someone else here said it takes them 45 min, but I couldn’t tell in which direction they meant. </p>
<p>Can anyone confirm? I really appreciate all your help. </p>
<p>(I now commute 30-45 minutes in L.A. It is totally bearable. And when I was going to take a job in New York, my subway commute would’ve been 45 min-hour so I am weighing it all in these terms.)</p>
<p>I also wanted to update you: I no longer am dating the boyfriend who would’ve moved/been living in Philly so he is not the reason for this change of heart. I just really, really think feel – more than ever – that I need to live in a city, and am willing to make certain sacrifices (including a longer commute than necessary) for what I believe will generally make me happier.</p>
<p>Also, I know there’s no public transportation that connects Allentown/Bethlehem to Philadelphia directly, but is there something, like a commuter rail, that does it halfway? For example, is there a station I could park my car at and drive half-way, take the train half-way?</p>
<p>Well. the Bieber bus does go all the way from Allentown to Philadelphia’s 30th street station daily, but it’s not public and I don’t know how cost-effective it would be. Your idea about driving part of the way is probably workable. Check the SEPTA website and look for the Regional Rail maps link – if you click on any of the stations on the map you’ll see information about how many parking spots are available and what the average day’s actual parking numbers are.</p>
<p>lolabelle-
Just a thought-
Maybe it would be a good thing to try something new before you are convinced you will hate it. How do you know for sure you will hate a slower paced life, just because you have lived in the big city most of your life? Also, why dont you consider visiting the Lehigh valley area for a long weekend and see what it is like before you decide it does not provide enough cultural opportunities for you? I agree with MOWC- you might prefer to live in a college town so that you will be around more people your age and you will have some cultural opportunities offered by the university. There may not be lots of little coffeeshops where you can sit and discuss art and philosophy with the person at the next table, but there may still be plenty of opportunities to find activities and events that you will enjoy for a year and a half. Give it a thought…</p>
<p>lolabelle, The most northern rail stop is in Lansdale or Colmar, both a good 40 minutes from Bethlehem. The difference with your commute here is that there is a good chance that you would be dealing with weather problems. When there is talk of snow they generally say that it’s north and west of the city (Philadelphia) and they mean us here in the Lehigh Valley. Mapquest says it’s 1 hour 16 minutes or 60.36 miles. without traffic. Most people think of it as at least 1 1/2 hours.</p>
<p>BTW, Bethlehem IS a city- it’s not a suburb of anything. Look, if you are that terrified of not living in a big city, find a job in one. Bethlehem is a great place to live, it’s funny to think that you would consider moving to Philadelphia (where people move FROM) and commuting here.</p>
<p>I can not even imagine why you would want to undertake that commute- which is very difficult- to live in PHILADELPHIA. I’m sorry, but all the benefits of Philadelphia (of which there are many) can be gotten by NOT living in town. I would give anything if my son didn’t have to live in Philadelphia, but he is a college student and really needs to live at his college. By the way, he is facing a once or twice a week “commute” up to the Lansdale area and has a CAR and is still dreading it. He said it is horrible and takes him about an hour to get where he is going. The Lehigh Valley is the place to be.</p>