Local Government TV

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Is Allentown All Inspiring?

Allentown is no longer the city without limits. It's now "all inspiring". The City apparently got its inspiration from a Pittsburgh consulting firm. Here's how the City explains it. 

Allentown’s brand theme line, “All Inspiring,” speaks of the city’s commitment to come together to create a place of big ideas, varied influences, and greater opportunities. The new logo mirrors the city’s waterways, personal approach, and welcoming nature. The bright, appealing color palette, graphic illustrations and iconography further define key strengths and attributes.

 

As Allentown Director of Community and Economic Development Leonard Lightner explained, “Allentown has accomplished one of the most dramatic turnarounds in the U.S. over the past decade. Our new brand showcases who we are today; a diverse and unified community, thriving entrepreneurs and artists, and residents and businesses committed to creating a better way of life. When you think about all we offer, Allentown truly is All Inspiring.” 

  • A better quality of life: A 21st century melting pot, Allentown offers affordable, distinctive urban living options, abundant parks and greenspaces, and a mix of walkable neighborhoods and cultural amenities. 
  • Fresh ideas. New opportunities: The city’s population is young, diverse and fast-growing, bringing a wave of entrepreneurial activity, an eclectic art scene, and unique shopping, dining, and cultural activities.
  • Perfectly positioned for success: Located halfway between NYC and Philadelphia, Allentown is a hotbed of business and career potential with innovative economic development strategies, a revitalized downtown corridor, and one of the strongest regional economies in the U.S.
  • A unified, inspiring community. In 2020, long-time residents, new families, and visionary dreamers collaborated on an ambitious, 10-year plan. Together, we are achieving goals, setting new ones, and creating a better Allentown for all. 

I happen to like Allentown myself. But I'd disagreee with any claim that it is unified. My view is that the City, like the entire Lehigh Valley, is very divided. One City Council meeting is asll you need to see those divisions.

34 comments:

  1. Allentown's fundamental division is between net taxpayers and tax consumers. That's why the recent 27% municipal tax increase and regularized school tax increases.

    The city has become a poverty magnet for the Eastern PA / NJ / NY region because of years of misguided housing policy. That's going to be tough to reverse, especially now that demographics make poverty pandering leftists the preferred choice for public office.

    I don't know yet, but I wonder if referendum initiatives might be part of the answer.

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  2. So, do those looped ‘Ls’ represent 2 people standing together, or those trendy ribbon ‘remembrance’ things? I don’t really like the design, but I also don’t really like the way an Allentown lifestyle has declined either. Allentown COULD have grown in an inspiring way, but the politicians and money-changers took too much personal advantage of the situation on the ground. The mess remains.

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  3. Bethlehem: balls deep in Allentown's Girlfriend since 1741

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    1. Lol! That's the funniest one liner I've ever here!

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  4. Uninspiring, unless you’re a mattress manufacturer… what’s with the springs? What a waste of time and money.

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  5. I get that the city has to market itself to attract new economic development, but every company out there can see right through all this BS, with its catchy phrases meant to entice non-local companies to come here:

    "visionary dreamers" who? Pat Browne and JB Reilly?
    "achieving goals" Huh? JB Reilly sells all the apartment buildings and makes a killing?
    "eclectic art scene" come on man!

    Surprised they didn't mention the Bronx style public school system and the radicals on City Council and ASD that are taxing all these wonderful "long term residents" to death. All these wonderful amenities mentioned can easily be enjoyed by the region's suburbanites who can send their kids to functional public schools and pay half the EIT residents pay here.

    In fact, one need only check out Matt Tuerk's campaign donor list, which is so well funded by non-resident suburbanites, that Fed Ed would be proud.

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  6. I don’t know the price paid for this design, but guess it was between 30-50K. I DO know a design of this quality(?) could have been achieved at almost no charge if the task was given to Computer Design students at the Lehigh County Vo-Tech. Probably, even an Advanced Art student at Allen or Dieruff.

    4:26 - I don’t believe the current sorry state of Allentown can be reversed. Just look at the place. Filthy streets and backyards, older rental conversions all over. An unkempt Park System that was mostly destroyed by those ridiculous, unnecessary, riparian buffers whose real purpose is to create less grass to mow. Oh, yes. The success of the ANIZDA is minimal and rather phony.

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    1. Allentown actually maintains a well kept parks system. There's city parks and greenways within walking distance of every Allentonian. Your hatred of streamside vegetation and pining for the good old days of ignorantly mowing it to the water's edge can't be used to hate on Allentown City Parks/Hall/Council.

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  7. Silly, just silly. Very amateurish at best. I would have loved to have heard that sales pitch by whatever Pittsburgh agency developed this thing. Allentown is not for all. Allentown's slide into poverty picked-up the pace during the pandemic as more of New York moved here. Downtown is a fallacy. Allentown missed the mark by becoming a one-owner, bland, suburban-looking downtown. It also missed the mark by not allowing private development in Reilleyville. It also missed the mark by not developing condos so that residents in the new development had an interest in the commercial success of the area. I've been in the Stradas and other buildings. New, nice, not-exceptional, and all for renters only. Rentals attract transients. Rental properties generate income and depreciation for the owner. Allentown missed the mark 40 years ago by not developing more owner-occupant housing programs and encouraging private investment in livable areas, such as the 8th Street corridor that retained the unique architecture, pride, and responsibility in ownership. More rentals generate more problems. It will be interesting to see what happens tax-wise when the one owner starts selling. Who will benefit then? Downtown looks nice, but you have to drive through Detroit to get there. Allentown is not for all.

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  8. As an Allentown resident I am underwhelmed with this marketing approach. Logo is simplistic and UN-INSPIRING. But typical of Madison Ave. Just watch a few really stupid Liberty Mutual ads. You scratch your head and wonder how much money was wasted with these awful ad campaigns.

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  9. Keep voting the way you have the results will not change.

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  10. All inspiring for those that want to take money out of the publics hand and line their pockets. Can you say the Arena, City Center, And the striped one.

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  11. Just another economic development pile of crap where they spend wheel barrow loads of money for something that does not mean much to anyone other then those that get the kick backs from he company they decide to pay the big bucks too!. I bet LVEDC was a prime consultant in this.

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  12. Childish with a falic fallisy with the LL's and some intertwined massive payment dicking the lifelong public from behind with a heavy grit sand and no vaseline.

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  13. Too bad O'Connell would have saved you people with another 27% tax increase along with the school system that is doing such a great job according to the administrators and the union.

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  14. At least they didn't use this lie : BUILD BACK BETTER! LOL

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  15. The solution for allentown is very simple. enact policies that encourage people with incomes and companies to locate there. forget government programs and bailouts. Strong law enforcement. simple stuff that that has worked for centuries. When people are elected who know nothing of real business and work they will never be able to fix it.

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  16. @2:58 Or they could have utilized Make Allentown Great Again (MAGA) or would they have to pay stipend/usage fee to the past president?

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  17. Someone needs to do a deep dive in the cigarette tax company, its investors, and its benefactors that is supposedly a public stock company which you cannot find on the any exchange. Supposed run out of a single office space with a single phone line and no real employees.

    And it generated a surplus of $30,000,000 that hmm seemingly disappeared instead of paying down the debt for the city.

    Mean while the NIZ gets to Keep EIT that taxes which should have gone to pay for schools. And now look school taxes are going up hmm. Skim it off one side and then increase it on the other. So a few can keep the skim!

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  18. @4:58

    You make an excellent point. How many on Council are net taxpayers employed in the private sector? How many have ever made a payroll? Paid a dividend? Paid taxes as opposed to being paid by them?

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  19. I could easily have come up with a appropriate slogan for free:

    "Allentown the All-American City? NIZn't!"

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  20. A couple of decades ago, after multiple break ins at our home and vehicle, conditions in Allentown inspired us to move out. Unfortunately, the hoods are now moving in to our present area. Inspiration could strike again.

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  21. "Fresh Ideas..New Opportunities" This could be LCA's new slogan too! They have found new opportunities in Allentown, doubling the water rates of 110,000 people in 3 years. Now that's a fresh idea.

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  22. "In fact, one need only check out Matt Tuerk's campaign donor list, which is so well funded by non-resident suburbanites, that Fed Ed would be proud.

    July 29, 2021 at 7:51 AM"

    Can you add a link to read his donor list?

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  23. "Anonymous Anonymous said...
    Someone needs to do a deep dive in the cigarette tax company, its investors, and its benefactors that is supposedly a public stock company which you cannot find on the any exchange. Supposed run out of a single office space with a single phone line and no real employees."

    Why not check out that office address to discover if it's even real.

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  24. Allentown is a f----ing dump. They are trying hard to bring it back and I can understand starting at the core of the downtown, but it's still a dump and unsafe after hours. Bethlehem is safe and really nice and even Easton is really coming along. People want to feel safe and Allentown isn't, same old same old.

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  25. The last time I was at the office it was a single room and no one was there. I have not been able to find it again since then it got gobbled up into one of the new development areas and people are not allowed to get to it.

    If you have the new office address post it!

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  26. Allentown is hopeless --if you live there get out as soon as you can

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  27. Gotta love that one word slogan by doc rock, NIZn't sums up the criminality of the matter as a whole.

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  28. Allentown has been over and done decades ago no inspiration there at all! The demographic has changed for the worse and will stay that way.

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  29. If you look at the people and organization that vulture in on a depressed area it is usually easy to identify those that are the worst among them. A depressed can recover piece by pie and re-prosper such as Easton but areas such as Allentown where a select few come in and write or have the laws written for their benefit only hollow out the area further. The Allentown redevelopers and ANIZDA is creating a hollow shell being supported buy the school districts and thereby the tax payers. They are utilizing it for their own and a bunch of people they paid off benefits. Watch what happens in a few years when the NIZ expire. The downtown developers, sports teams, and so many will run away from Allentown like the rats they are. The only difference is that they will have scammed Billions out of the city and out of the people.

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  30. "Allentown is hopeless --if you live there get out as soon as you can"

    Ignorant comment by an un-educated bigot, no doubt. I'll bet your community isn't too different than Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris's "idyllic" suburb. You go out of your way to insult those of us who live in Allentown, yet are oblivious to the dark under-currents of intolerance, homophobia and close minded perspectives in your own backyard.

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