The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's (LVPC) Annual Report, published on February 28, was presented to Northampton County Council last week. According to the study, the Lehigh Valley faces a 9,000-unit housing shortage, a strained transportation and utility infrastructure, and a rapidly changing development landscape with new industrial uses (can you say data center?). Population is increasing, but job growth is even greater.
Job growth is predicted to increase by 25% by 2040, which Healthcare and Social Assistance jobs leading the pack.
Although there is an affordable housing crisis, plans for nearly 6,000 residential units were reviewed in 2025, of which more than half - 3,450 - were for apartments.
In addition to housing units, LVPC also reviewed plans to develop 1.3 million sq ft of nonresidential use, of which 7.2 million sq ft is for industrial use.
Council member Jason Boulette asked Executive Director Becky Bradley about Plan Slate Belt multi-municipal plan, where three townships dropped out. She explained that a "really divisive" development planned in Upper Mount Bethel (Lou Pektor's subdivision) "created some issues of trust in the communities up there." She added that one of the developments that pulled out (Lower Mount Bethel?) is currently writing legislation to support a data center.
Council member Jeff Warren said he'd be inviting Bradley back to discuss her views on data centers. She's already discussed them in a piece for the Morning Call in which she cautions that Pa. is a right-to-develop state, meaning every community must plan for every lawful use. She added that the Lehigh Valley already has several small data centers, which a large one planned in Upper Macungie. Rather than painting them as villains, she noted that many of them "are looking to develop geothermal, closed loop and onsite energy generation systems to not only reduce their costs of operation but, reduce impacts. The industry itself is rapidly evolving too. So before anyone declares the downfall of mankind or stirs up any more gossip bordering on hysteria, take a deep breath and proceed with logic."
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