Reviews & Comments
Allentown, PA
A-town is A-ok -
7/21/2006I have lived in ALlentown for about a year and have been hanging out here for over two years. I have previously lived in Kutztown and was always hanging out in Bethlehem. Before Kutztown, I lived in New Jersey for about 14 years. In New Jersey, I lived right outside of Stockton and Frenchtown, which are very expensive, beautiful, country-like settings. I feel that Allentown isn't as bad as a lot make it out to be. I felt safer on 12th Street and Linden than I did on 4th Street in Bethlehem's South Side. There is definetly more to do in Bethlehem if you are looking for nightly entertainment, but in Allentown there is plenty of good entertainment if you know where to find it. There is also less college kids everywhere, so you don't always have to deal with the stupid drunken frats. If you plan on living/visiting Allentown, and want to play it safe, the best are is West Allentown, which is any street above 15th. (19th street is really nice). Allentown has a few really great parks, a cool Farmer's Market, nice bars like Cannon's, and a pretty low cost of housing. (I pay $685 for a very nice and spacious 2 bedroom apartment that isn in a nice neighborhood and includes heat and garbage, which is taken care of by a private company that comes 3x a week.) If you ever need to leave the city and go to the the lake or something, the country is only about 10 minutes away. Actually, living in Allentown, anything is about 10 minutes away (Bethlehem, the mall, 2 Walmarts, any fast food place, small surrounding towns). Allentown ain't know NYC, or Philly (thank God it ain't Philly), but for a third-rate city, it is pretty fine.