Forty three years ago Philippe Petit walked above Hamilton Street on a tightrope. Two weeks earlier he had walked between the Twin World Trade Towers above Manhattan. Back then, you could count on Allentown's retail titan Max Hess to bring the best to town.
Flash ahead over four decades, and now Allentown itself is on the tightrope. Our mayor, who has been alleged corrupt by the FBI, will likely be re-elected by a coalition of minority voters. Aiding in that election result is a city councilman, who will most likely divide the anti-corruption vote, hoping to enter the office through the back door early next year.
The public is distracted by some new buildings which poach tenants from elsewhere in the valley, and the local newspaper was incentivized to under-report that reality by the same real estate deal.
Those who still seek unbiased commentary may well be limited to this blog.
photocredit: The Morning Call/August 1974
So true. Has the local economic development organizations done ANYTHING to help those building owners whose tenants have been poached to the NIZ, CRIS, BIZ, SNIZ, et al?
ReplyDeleteHas 'Warehouse Don' lifted a finger? All I seem to hear is the under-the-breath snickering about how the suburbs had the upper hand in decades past.