Sad Southside buying experience

Affordable Housing, Neighborhoods, Serious Issues, Southside 1 Minute

(The latest in a series of posts on the Southside and Neighborhoods)

Judy Parr is a lifelong resident of Bethlehem.

Gadfly:

A young man I know is employed at Lehigh and wanted to buy a house on the south side. Lehigh offers grants to employees who buy within its catchment area. Despite this, and despite almost a year of looking, he gave up and moved to the other side of route 22. He couldn’t compete with the professional property buyers. He made an offer of asking price on one house and was beat out by someone who offered $20K less than that but who could pay cash. Here was someone who wanted to buy near work, work encouraged him to do so, and he just couldn’t get a foothold.

Judy

Published by The Bethlehem Gadfly

Edward J. Gallagher, Bethlehem immigrant, retired, nearly 50 years as Professor of American Literature at Lehigh University, known as "Dr. G" and "Conan the Grammarian" to students, whose virtual world avatar "EdwardScholarhands" stares at you here, has reinvented himself as the Bethlehem Gadfly.

Published

2 thoughts on “Sad Southside buying experience”

  1. That’s the Southside reality, the reality that some think that by just “covering their eyes with one hand” no one else will see. It’s happening! Current longtime owner occupied are been chase out and families interested in buying can’t compete with developers. Needless is to say: sad, sad, sad… I REST MY CASE…

    Councilwoman Olga Negrón
    Community Liaison
    HGSK Law Firm
    1136 Hamilton St. Suite 101
    Allentown, PA 18101
    _______________
    Hispanic Center
    520 E 4th St.
    Bethlehem, PA 18015
    Bethlehem Office

    484-223-4743
    onegron@hgsklawyers.com

  2. This has terrible implications for what SS is becoming & will become. Think of the trendy areas in lower Manhattan or Brooklyn—increasingly unaffordable for most people.

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