I decided to head to Musicfest. It was crowded as expected and a millshake set me back $10. But it hit the spot so who cares.
I started to wonder why Allentown couldnt do a festival like that. Could you imagine what that would look like. Instead of beerplatz it would be weedplatz. Leiderplatz would be illegaldirtbikeplatz.
Comedyplatz equals Tuerkplatz. Newsplatz more like shotinthechestplatz and crashplatz would take over matchplatz. Prideplatz, Raiseaflagplatz etc.
It would be a total disaster. You wouldnt smell Karl Elmers sausage more like Snoop Doggs chronic.
You would barely see any police. Forget seeing mounted officers on horses. APD would be sleeping in the parking lots.
Artsquest makes over like 150million on the festival. Allentown would end up raising taxes after the event.
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Allentown could build a real waterfront and still not touch anything on Bethlehem. Their is no way a ten day festival would survive.
Sorry but I gotta do the main acts. Rastaman, Gangsta Style, Gimme that free shit, one round two round, chitty chitty bang bang and illegal is legal here. Stellar lineup. $5 gets you all access.
Its just so sad a neighboring city can do great festivals all year long, and Allentown screws up basically every one day festival they have. The Puerto Rican day parade turned into the Fast and the Furious afterwards. I mean in 10 days musicfest generates probably close to the entire Allentown budget when its all said and done.
The parking authority kills it. Hundreds of tickets are issued. The buses are constantly busy. All the hotels are fully packed. The restaurants cant keep up with the orders.
Oddly, you dont see the streets littered with trash which is a constant everyday problem in Allentown.
Allentown will never step up. The leaders don't lead. We have a selfie mayor and a managing director who belongs at Pop-eyes. And lastly, a council that is bought by the mayor and basically does whatever the mayor wants.
10 comments:
It’s simple math and economics.
Bethlehem created a festival and downtown image that is upscale and attractive to people from out of town with disposable income.
Allentown’s downtown image is that it’s unsafe, and the city has created events that reinforce that image and repels those same people with disposable income.
Cities can’t flourish without drawing in people from the outside with money to spend. That’s certainly the case in Allentown, where too much of the population is living at or below the poverty line.
Elected officials in Allentown lack the intellectual ability or courage to improve the city. When was the last time there was a discussion about the economic health of the city in terms of things like what percentage of city residents can live at or below the poverty line; what percentage of residential properties should be rentals vs. owner occupied; etc.?
Answer, never.
And if City Hall can’t look at those statistics objectively and have the discussion on what those numbers SHOULD be, when are you ever going to have the debate on what policies need to be put in place for the city reach those numbers?
Again, the answer is never.
Interestingly, Allentown just finished the biggest annual “Convention” in its history. That would be the 3-day Drum Corps International gathering culminating at J. Birney Crum Stadium. Thousands upon thousands of out-of-participants and spectators, 80% non-local from all around this and other nations. But, the whole thing is largely ignored by the city of Allentown. Been that way going on for 50 years. Oh, well.
As a long time homeowner in Allentown, I regret daily my fateful decision to buy here and not in Bethlehem. While Bethlehem basks in August glory...we're stuck longing for the cold weather for a bit of a break from the motor bikes, burble tuners, loud music and clouds of dope smoke. I guess you can make a top 100 list of reasons why Bethlehem is so much nicer than Allentown. I have a couple:
1.Bethlehem participates in a diverse regional public school system; Bethlehem residents have less incentives to suburbanize.
2. While affluent people bought homes in downtown Bethlehem in 1980s, Allentown was encouraging the conversion of homes into multi-units in the 1980s, ushering in an overwhelming era of in-migration of poor renters and mass out-migration of middle class homeowners to the suburbs. The current administration has inexplicably begun re-encouraging conversion of homes to multi-family dwellings.
Bethlehem is routinely recognized for its events and genuine small town city charm.
Allentown is only recognized for corrupt and failed leaders, crumbling infrastructure, section 8 housing, crime, and drugs. The events are a joke and attract small numbers overall. Who wants to go to Allentown for anything? The place is a dump and has become the armpit of the Lehigh Valley.
Posted this on local internet blogs and pages in 2009. Nothing has changed since. While Bethlehem may have it's "First Night" celebration I doubt it could top the spectacle of "Allentown's Blizzard of Litter Festival" happening now right downtown. Give Mother Nature's best winds and Allentown's urban slovinliness credit for this dazzling show. While driving through the heart of the city earlier today I was awed by the trash tornados that whirled newspapers and multi-colored food wrappers up past roof tops. At street level a ballet of twirling uncollected autumn leaves and empty plastics beverage containers seem to square dance before me. Old cigarette packs cartwheeled endlessly, empty trash and recycling bins bounded about free and unburdened of their former contents. It was a beautiful sight and I counted my blessings for having stumbled upon it. Judging by conditions I think it's safe to say the show will be running through tonight and into tomorrow. So if you haven't seen it yet there's still plenty of time.
Haha. Love it Scott. Allentown honestly has nothing at all on Bethlehem. Even after a night of musicfest, it is still cleaner than a regular day in Allentown.
REpete the cistern of the eastcoast only 2nd two one!)$? ThoZe imports like drinking from cisterns as swimming in them is also considered a delight too!)$?
When the local elites with wet brains are in charge allentown is the result.
"Leiderplatz would be illegaldirtbikeplatz." This is such a bad joke that it ruins the whole article.
meh, illegaldirtbikeplatz is spot on. It highlights just how Mayor McPronouns chooses to restrain the enforcement upon the people he pretends to be "one of". Plus all of that racial virtue signaling is nullified if the NAACP drops another letter. So McPronouns just needs to keep jogging around the city and hoping that "his people" don't think he has turned on them and applied any heat.
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