Allentown is part of the Lehigh Valley (Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton). I work in Easton and live just outside of Bethlehem. Both Allentown and Bethlehem have a big union/industrial heritage (Bethlehem Steel, Mack Trucks, Air Products) but much of that has withered over the years. The area as a whole is not that bad, but Allentown in particular has gone down hill recently and some pockets have become downright dangerous. But, the local economy has retooled itself over the last several years into a service economy which is much more diverse and stable. Last year, this area had the largest influx of people of anywhere in PA, largely because we are between NYC and Philly and the entire region is growing into one big continuous area.

So, not all bad, however it is getting more congested all the time, where central PA (not sure about Harrisburg) are generally losing population.

Just FYI

Bob


>>Pardon me, but I've only been to PA a couple of times. I'm curious: why is Harrisburg preferable to Allentown? Or is it a career move?
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>>It's for personal reasons. My wife and I are originally from Mechanicsburg, a town just outside of Harrisburg. We moved to Allentown in late 1996 when we got married, because of a big job offer I had. But I left that company in 2003, and have been doing independent work ever since. My wife and I miss our family and friends back in Mechanicsburg, and she got a job opportunity back in Harrisburg. So we're moving back. It won't affect the work I'm doing at all, and we realized we'd be much happier back home.
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>>Personally, I don't like Allentown that much, and prefer Central PA. Only advantage to Allentown is that it's closer to Philly!
>
>Is it the same Allentown as in the Billy Joel song? From what I remember from this video it did'nt seem to be a very nice place. Anyway I don't really remember what that song was really about.