Despite all the new construction, Allentown is still desolate, even before the pandemic. While there is a slight pulse during lunch hour, evenings and weekends remained deceased.
Once the pandemic subsides, hopefully the arena will start scheduling numerous events. In reality, most of the Hamilton corridor is now owned by one man, whose debt obligations are serviced by redirected state taxes. If the corridor remains the domicile of the invisible and walking dead, it matters little to his bottom line. Eventually he will be cashing out, a $Billion dollars the plusher for it.
Needless to say, nobody is hiring me to write brochures for downtown Allentown. Unfortunately, those yarns are being spun by the Morning Call.
photocredit:molovinsky
Allentown needs a mayor and administration that wants to represent the residents of Allentown. To make it place that people want to live, not just visit.
ReplyDeletethere's a tipping point in any redevelopment project when the investment begins to attract energy to the redevelopment area. I don't think allentown is anywhere near that. They redeveolped too large an area and shut out entrepeneurs with high rent. I live now near a city that got it right and it took a decade to turn past that tipping point, allentown continues to get it wrong. I still remember the prediction that the Hilton was going to revitalize downtown....
ReplyDeleteI was called a Naysayer, Negative Thinker, etc but it wasn't about wishing bad for Allentown, PA I just knew a bad plan when I saw it. Many did. And I', not even a developer. Alot of us knew you couldn't put a square peg in a round hole and economically speaking, we needed opportunities for the community not new buildings and restaurants. Eminent domain, an limited hour privately owned Starbucks, and 2 billion dollars later, it's STILL a ghost town. (And please don't blame COVID, it was like this way before the pandemic era started). Those delusional A-town cheerleaders seem mighty quiet now.... All we ever needed was TURE diverse entrepreneurial investment in the community and to allow organic growth to move forward as it was actually doing before the wanna-be gentrification plan was implemented...
ReplyDeleteI remember as a child taking the bus with my mom to go downtown. Hess's and Leh's were my favorite places, but the memories of walking on the red brick sidewalks under the canopies stick with me, as well. It was such a treat to go there. As a mother, I very rarely took my children downtown, other than the occasional visit to the Liberty Bell Shrine and the historical museum. It just isn't the same. The same can be said for all of Allentown. My family lived in Allentown for generations, but most of us have left. I'm saddened that my kids won't ever see it the way I did.
ReplyDeletePreach on my brother!!! I'm tired of all these guys not from Allentown. We need one of our own
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