So now if you dare to go downtown you may see Ambassadors wondering around. These Ambassadors are there to help you park so your car doesnt get stolen, help you find where your going so you dont get robbed at gunpoint and tell you what excitong things are happening that day in other cool cities.
The Downtown Allentown Alliance formed this dumb idea in hopes of bringing people to downtown.
“Downtown Allentown already has so much to offer. Our ambassadors will help more people experience it by ensuring everyone feels welcome, informed and connected."
Jim Stang, operations manager, Downtown Allentown Ambassador Team
This is ridiculous. What the hell does downtown have to offer? Is this guy even from the area??
What else is there to do besides the PPL center that is open maybe 100x a year? The Archer? Eh. I only ever recognized one act there so far that I ever heard of. The restaurants arent that great. Most close before dark anyways. The ones that were great like Billys Diner have left. There is no good retail stores. Like half a dozen cell phone stores. Oh dont forget the pawn shop. There is lots of places to lease or rent. Downtown has nothing to offer.
The ambassador program will be operated by Block by Block, (aka New Kids on the Block) a nationally recognized leader in downtown place management. Until now. They will fail in Allentown.
“Block by Block programs are about presence, people and pride,” said Jim Stang, the newly appointed Downtown Allentown Ambassador Team operations manager.
Stang has more than a decade of experience, most recently serving as Block by Block’s operations manager for Camden, New Jersey. We all know what a dump Camden is.
Our new office and hospitality ambassador team represent major investments in creating a downtown that feels friendly, vibrant and cared for every day.” DAA Acting Director Jill Meyers
Cared for? Vibrant? You forgot fabulous and safe too. Haha.
There is literally the "Clean Team" that every morning has to clean up all the trash on the streets from the slobs the night before. Very inviting. They do an awesome job tho.
The DAA received $804,000 in initial funding from the City of Allentown, the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority, the state (secured by state Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th District) and private partners through the DAA Founders Council. Could have guessed that. Unreal.
Drum roll please
The Founders Council members include Air Products, Alvin H. Butz, Capital Blue Cross, City Center Group, Duggan and Marcon, Dunne Manning, Gross McGinley, Leonard Parker Pool Institute for Health, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Morton Brown, North Star Construction Management, PPL and St. Luke’s University Health Network.
So basically all the companies (minus the hospitals and Gross McGinley who the city uses for all the lawsuits against them) that get all the building contracts in the city.
This is all Quid pro quo. Writeoffs as well for these companies.
I give this program 1 year or as long as it continues to be funded. Another waste of money and failure of the city.
As I said before the perception and reality of downtown will always be its downfall. It could be the safest and most exciting place in the world but until people actually believe its safe, it doesnt matter what you do there.
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