Housing & Business Decline

My first post is about the housing and business decline in the city. Allentown was once a booming thriving city that had well known successful businesses and historic well kept housing. Throughout the years the housing and business development has seen a decline. This is reflected with current property values throughout the city. We all can remember Hess store that was located at 9th and Hamilton. It was sad to see such a great store go.

In the 1980s the city allowed for too many conversions of single family homes into multi-unit apartment buildings creating a decline in home ownership which also affected property values. In my personal opinion this is when the downfall of the housing stock started. The city thought that more rentals would bring more people which would bring more tax dollars being spent however the opposite happened. It did bring more people but it also allowed for too many rentals throughout the city. Big mistake of that city administration.

Because of all the rentals the city had to start a rental inspection program. This program was working and was making progress but the program is not being utilized correctly today. We have rentals in this city going 10+ years without being inspected. This is due to the low manpower of code enforcement. Also I feel code enforcement is being directed wrongly by the city administration. The city has seen more blight in the recent years then it ever had. It is a known fact that urban blight contributes to more crime and discourages business development. I feel the city needs to get a handle on the current blight issue if they want to save Allentown.

We all are fully aware of the hockey arena and office/apartments being built downtown currently but it will not save the city. The city must improve the housing stock throughout center city and the rest of the city that has pockets of blight. If we do not handle the blight issue correctly then Allentown will continue to see a decline in it's housing stock.

So what do we do now? I think the city needs to be strict with the rental program we have. Show the slumlords and absentee landlords that we will not tolerate their neglect of our housing stock. We need to hire more code enforcement inspectors since the city is currently 52% rental which is about 27,000 rental units in the city. The city needs to enforce the city ordinances that we have instead of ignoring them. The city needs to hold neglecting property owners accountable for their actions as well as renters who trash the city. One thing myself and the organization I am president of is looking into is creating a quality of life unit within the police department to address quality of life issues such as illegal dumping, littering, graffiti, etc. Right now I personally feel the sweep department within recycling is not effective enough.

I don't think people realize that the housing and business decline affect the city in many ways. It affects property values, the tax base, crime element, our school system, etc.