Welcome to Bethlehem
By: David Gritz
THE LEHIGH VALLEY HAS A LOT TO OFFER, IF YOU KNOW THE RIGHT PLACES TO LOOK
As a student of Lehigh University, you are now officially a citizen of Bethlehem and more broadly the Lehigh Valley. The Lehigh Valley is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania roughly 15 minutes from New Jersey and two hours from New York. Bethlehem is the central city of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area including Allentown and Easton. Most often, the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton conglomerate goes by the Lehigh Valley or ABE as the region airport is titled. This region is similar to most the suburban United States, meaning you need a car to get anywhere. That means if you want to leave Bethlehem, you most likely will have to bum a ride off an upperclassmen, unless you find a good spot to hide your car. However, Bethlehem is still a city, and that means you still have to worry about crime. My advice: don’t carry your valuables alone at night, and use common sense.
Bethlehem is ranked the 58th best place to live and launch by CNN Money Magazine. The city was once dominated by Bethlehem Steel, one of the largest corporations in America. However, facing global pressures in the nineties, Bethlehem Steel went bankrupt. In its wake, a new focus on high-tech and entrepreneurial revitalization bore a strong culture of economic development. Bethlehem now has a technology incubator on Mountaintop, near Iacocca Hall. Most major employment in the Lehigh Valley is provided by Air Products and Chemical (Chemical Engineers), Lutron Electronics (Electrical Engineers), Rodale Press (Journalists), PPL Corporation, and Crayola.
If you are looking for something to do on the weekends, the Lehigh Valley has a wide selection for its size:
ACTIVITIES:
Movie Theaters
Regal Cinemas Saucon Valley
Rave at the Promenade
Boyd Theater in North Bethlehem
Dorney Park
Lehigh Grand Prix
Sands Casino
SHOPPING:
Lehigh Valley Mall
Promenade
Tannersville Outlets
SPORTS:
Stabler Arena
Coca Cola Park (Home of the Allentown Iron Pigs, AA Baseball affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies)
FOOD OPTIONS:
Italian/Pizza
Sal’s Pizza
Campus Pizza
Lehigh Pizza
America & Diners
Starters
Red Robin
Shula’s Steakhouse
Carnegie Deli
Asian
Asian Bistro (3rd street)
Hop Ping
White Orchid
Kome
Groceries
Wegmans
Aharts
Pathmark
Breakfast & Dinners
Alexandria’s Bistro
Jonny’s Bagel
Other
Melt
Pita Pit
The Cup
PLACES/SITE SEEING:
Bethlehem, PA (north)
Easton, PA
Allentown, PA
Jim Thorpe, PA
East Stroudsburg, PA
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 5th, 2010 at 4:49 pm and is filed under August 2010, Articles, Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
