A local developer is trying to get approval to build a 7 building 180 unit apartment complex in East Allentown.
Slam the brakes. First off does Allentown really need to build more apartments in a residential area?
Several problems arise right out the gate
1st off property values of single homes will most definitely drop in value unless these apartments are high end which they wont be. Here is a photo of what I predict in 10 years.
2nd 180 units. Should bring in a ballpark of 400-600 people living in the buildings. Just if you say 3 people to a unit that is 540. Some may be single occupants, or a couple or a family of four. Family of 8, who knows. Im going to say on the low end 100 of the occupants are kids.
3rd 100 more kids. Where do we put them? Thats 100 more for the Allentown School district.
4th more apartments unless people are civilized means more police calls for noise complaints, domestics etc.
5th I do not think the taxes collected on 7 buildings would be the same as if you had single dwelling homes. I could be wrong tho.
Allentown doesnt need more people living here. The state hospital is going to cause enough problems with all the traffic, extra students and required services for all the people living there.
Allentown needs businesses. Needs jobs, a bigger tax base. Apartment units create temporary jobs until they are completed, plus a few after completion. I just dont think more apartments should be built, especially over on the East Side.
10 comments:
Instant slum.
Here we go again. I didn't see the article but I'll bet it'll involve moving the NIZ lines again. My crystal ball hasn't failed me yet. Pretty soon they'll be at the Allentown/Bethlehem Border.
Just going to create more problems. Why move to Allentown?
Reillyville eastside allentowns Pokémon villiage.
No question in my mind, moderate to low end apartment rentals bring a multitude of nuisance problems to the immediate neighborhood. Unless, of course, the occupants are elderly.
Abe is correct. Multi-unit buildings do NOT contribute a same amount of property taxes per unit as would the same housing space configured as a single family residence. The difference is not even close. It's an easy concept to research with online tax records. Put simply, a six unit building does NOT bring in six times the amount of taxes to fund services required by a single family dwelling.
This points to the serious problem fairly funding school districts like Allentown. The majority ASD student population is coming from 2 unit (and more) rental buildings and public housing communities.
Traffic? On the increased traffic alone this is a very bad idea. There is No upside for Allentown or its residents in this proposal. That means it will likely get approved.
Cheaper than NJ with less gunfire.
Land use isn't decided by citizen referendum or based on what a community "needs". If apartments are permitted and meet the regulations they have to be approved. I'm certain the Mayor would be happy about more dwelling units and higher population in Allentown. Hopefully the rents will be high enough that the new apartments attract quality tenants with fewer children enrolled at ASD. These types of professionally managed buildings aren't the problem in Allentown, its the multi-unit conversions owned by suburban slum lords in central Allentown that attract bad tenants/urban underclass, suffer from poor maintenance/upkeep and generate crime and nuisance activity.
Honest Abe and anonymous 5:29 are spot on. Just a randomly generated comparison using public information: 323 N 6th Street is a 4 unit owned by a wealthy investor from Franklin Lakes, NJ which pays $4,400 in property tax or $1,100 per unit. Meanwhile, 1120 S. 7th Street contains an owner-occupied single family dwelling; a modest one story ranch home. This owner pays $4,500 in property tax or $4,500 per unit. If Pat Browne could devise the NIZ why can't any local elected officials fix this problem, which instead of making one politically connected investor rich, would improve the lives of thousands of homeowners across the City???
That is saying nothing to the fact that there are many LLC rentals that are ngo's covered by the non profit umbrella. Also the churches set up in row homes are another farce too.
Hit the flush button when exiting the cistern so the next person doesn't smell the outhowse aroma?
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