Allentown welcomes residents' visions for center city

Carol Zimmerman lives in Allentown, but spends much of her money elsewhere. She'll often drive 20 minutes or so to the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley to run errands or buy gifts or just walk around and look.

[Pie in Sky]

Another meeting - another plan. Anyone want to bet on what will change in Allentown after this meeting and plan? I do!

[Kooper]

It wold be nice if the "vision" would come to be; however, I am not holding my breath. By then, my house will be sold and I am outta here. Maybe I'll come visit on occasion

[Mr Wipple]

Pie in Sky wrote:

Another meeting - another plan. Anyone want to bet on what will change in Allentown after this meeting and plan? I do!

Yes, Pawlowski will be a few pounds fatter.

[I Wish]

To all the perennial naysayers on here...Bethlehem did it. Look at Main Street. It can be done in Allentown, if the Mayor and the City get their act together with crime and security.

Without attention, serious attention to that one aspect, nothing else will matter.

How many murders in how many days?

[James Bondo]

Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk.

BULLONEY!!!

[LookingToEscape]

Pie in Sky wrote:

Another meeting - another plan. Anyone want to bet on what will change in Allentown after this meeting and plan? I do!

I attended the meeting.
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It wasn't a waste of time, but I think they had a top down approach, meaning, if services were available, they will come.
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Cities form for a variety of reasons, and the commercial sections rise in reponse to the needs of those people that live in that city.
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I felt if Allentown concentrated on working more towards home ownership and reduce rental properties, business will rise to fill the needs of the moderate income people that would replace the current crop of low income renters. Whether this means a lot of eateries and night clubs, I can not say. The market will decide.

[NostraTimus]

Whatever happened to all the revenue that Fast Eddie Rendell promised would come from Slot machines at the Racetracks?????

Wasn't Fast Eddie promising Property Tax Relief from all the gambling revenue???

Please, AllenSwamp residents, tell us how much Fast Eddie has reduced you Property Tax bills.

BULLONEY!!!

[NostraTimus]

Tony Frye was Right!!!

Tony Frye was Right!!!

Tony Frye was Right!!!

[The Doctor]

Timmy,

Did you go off your meds again?

Doc

[JRR11]

The City brought this on to themselves and they did nothing about it. When I was a kid (late 70's early 80's) I remember going up to Hamilton Street with my parents and there was all sorts of resturants and descent stores. Since then, all the resturants closed and the only stores up there now are pawn shops, ghetto gold jewlers, barber shops, and income tax preparers.

[Damm Fools]

Allentown's downtown: a handful of commercial properties, an overbearing government (both inspection based and property based), set in a sea of asphalt, surrounded by section 8 vouchers, herded by gangbangers, and policed by expensive suburb-dwelling ex-football players. Oops, forgot the noose of welfare institutions of every stripe and a grim public transit that's a faint shadow of the trolley systems that made the original buildup of the downtown possible.

And since we don't need farms adjacent any longer, there's no chance at making the downtown as dense a business opportunity ever again. Instead we get to drive out to those ex-farms to work, take planes, watch movies and walk around the illusion of shopping. Plus park our cars, of course.

[Heinrich]

Anyone who believes Fast Eddie and his empty promises about anything is certainly not the sharpest tool in the shed. You would have to be a genuine moron to believe anything that he says.

[Change the World]

Back in the Sixties there was a vision and it lasted awhile but Malls became more attractive and little by little we lost great stores and replaced them with junk shops. Good luck getting high end stores in Allentown. The parking authority will just deter them anyway.

[John D]

Did anyone suggest my idea of nerve gassing the entire city???

[Lady D]

Main Street is a gorgeous street with historical buildings, boutiques, and, oh yeah, NO CRIME. How is this even vaguely similar to center city Allentown?

I Wish wrote:

To all the perennial naysayers on here...Bethlehem did it. Look at Main Street. It can be done in Allentown, if the Mayor and the City get their act together with crime and security.
Without attention, serious attention to that one aspect, nothing else will matter.
How many murders in how many days?

[Needs Improvement]

Allentown Center City, primarily Hamilton Street, has alot of potential. But if there is any chance for change, they got to get the ghetto stores that sell lids and gangwear, bling bling and such. They have to have an aggressive approach towards keeping undesirable people from loitering for hours for no good reason other than to hang out. The stores look trashy on the outside, and of course many of them sell garbage. If you want people to visit and walk around, you have to get places like Starbucks, Coldstone Creamery, trendy stores. Johnny Mananas and Allentown BrewWorks are steps in the right direction. I would imagine that getting a buyer for the Americus Hotel would be good. And of course parking. Allowing people to park for free in the parking garages was a good move. But they have to also get rid of the low life drug addicts who are breaking into cars.

[Iron Pig]

John D wrote:

Did anyone suggest my idea of nerve gassing the entire city???

Can we preserve the West End of Allentown? Please?

[Seedy]

Maybe if they used many cops crime could be reduced, but all the cops retire early. Oh well the mayor says the problem can be overcome. If the killings continue the problem of crime will go away along with Allentown.

[Lady D]

These officials are truly delusional.

[Perhaps]

Would be nice but I fear most urban areas throughout America are faced with a steep uphill battle to make this happen.

Even in it's prime there were street cops on every numbered street corner on downtown Allentown. That would be the 1st trhing needed.

Other then that it is sad to say that the stores need to sell what the people are interested in. And mostly that seems to mean GunShops, Knife & Hoodie sweatsuit stores.. sorry to say.