| THE TRUTH |
| JUNE 15, 2011 |
| We Present the Truth, But You Do Not Comprehend By Dennis L. Pearson (c) 2009 by Dennis L. Pearson --- All Rights Reserved --- No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the author. Part One Preface During the mid to late fifties the Lehigh Valley was predominately agricultural in both orientation and thought. The then existing industrial complex being primarily concentrated in the cities (that is, Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton in Pennsylvania and Phillipsburg in New Jersey) and a few outlying suburban communities. We note the heart of this four county industrial complex comprised the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, New Jersey Zinc Company, Ingersoll-Rand, Mack Trucks, Air Products & Chemicals, Lehigh Portland Cement and Western Electric ( evolving from AT & T Technologies, Lucent Technologies, to Agere Technologies and to LSI). In the same mid to late fifties period there stood a lonely candle-like building protruding upward into the sky like a beacon for progress. This was the corporate headquarters for the Pennsylvania Power and Light Company located at 9th & Hamilton Streets in downtown Allentown. It was the area's only skyscraper then, easy to see day or night, in an empty and seemingly undeveloped land that could not comprehend or visualize that P.P & L would become a very strong advocate or ally for planned industrial development activities and home development activities that would forever change the long-term economic usage of land resources that can be best described as sacred and irreplaceable. Simply stated, whether individuals within the PP & L were the authors, the disciples, the instigators, the planners, the architects, or the draftsmen of enhanced transformation activities, the historic fact is that corporate leaders of PP & L in the mid to late fifties understood that such activities would increase customer demand for electric service within the PP & L's service area. Consequently, corporate leaders informed corporate stockholders that additional power capacity had to be furnished to meet the future requirements of new residential, industrial, and commercial customers. And with this investment in capital and resources, the PP & L had a vested interest in offering its expertise to those adherents for enhanced urban development whose implied and secret purpose was to educate both the public and government officials as to benefits that would be derived from economic development activities in areas that were historically agricultural in orientation and thought. Genevieve Blatt, the Pennsylvania Secretary of Internal Affairs in the George Leader Administration (1955 - 1958) once likened Metropolitan area growth in the United States to the human life. She said: "We're now suffering the same growing pains that at the same time depressed us and exhilarated us as individuals in our adolescence... Adolescence goes hand in hand with boundless energy, limitless imagination, chronic optimism, and in some instances a bit of naivete that comes from lack of experience," In analysis, Secretary Blatt suggested that our communities were leaping from infancy to adulthood without being able to afford the luxury of casual youth. To which we reply: " The thought has occurred to us that this sudden rush of the Lehigh Valley from infancy to adolescence to premature adulthood could lead to a dramatic decline into maturity and senility in rapid succession if the destruction of moral considerations resultant from uncontrolled and mismanaged economic development became too severe to be corrected within acceptable monetary limits." In 1957, Ralph C. Swartz, a Vice President for Commercial Operations for the Pennsylvania Power & Light Company, explained to the Tri-City Conference, an association comprising public officials of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, that a community can be stable, can grow and expand in wealth only " by mining, manufacturing, and processing commodities to sell." Hence, the wealth of a community depended upon its industry. But what factors are important to an industry seeking a site for location or expansion? Mr. Swartz spelled out that an industry seeking a site for location or expansion looks for a desirable industrial climate, good labor markets, reasonable tax rates, plus good schools, churches, residential areas and recreational and cultural facilities. But what Mr. Swartz stressed most was that industry wanted to be accepted not just by public officials but by the public as well. He said: " The attitude of the public reflects on its public officials and healthy relationships result." *** *** *** We initiated this study believing that we can come to a general understanding concerning the chronology and decision-making that has led to the planned or unanticipated destruction of the character of the Lehigh Valley's landscape from largely rural to urban sprawl in the name of an ideal called Megalopolis. A megalopolis, of course, is an urban complex encompassing several major cities. Its application in the Lehigh Valley region would be the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (S.M.S.A) of Allentown-Bethlehem and Easton (A-B- E). The A-B-E S.M.S.A comprises the Counties of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton in Pennsylvania and Warren County in New Jersey. We add that in regards to this study we shall concentrate on considerations that have impacted upon Lehigh County and its major city, Allentown; and we shall only concern ourselves with Carbon, Northampton or Warren Counties should developments there tie-in and match our field of consideration. Basically, we are very concerned that the long-range regional drive for economic transformation, community metamorphosis and social reorganization may be too costly to achieve in terms of both moral and monetary values; and more important, it may be too costly to achieve in the terms of the necessitated encroachment upon personal values and freedom. What we have in the Allentown-Lehigh County area is a clash of what individuals, groups, corporations, and government units’ view as the undefined future. Simply stated --- one facet of the argument is the growth-no growth issue, the other facet is a creation of a new balance of power. Allentown, the County Seat of Lehigh County, the declining industrial, and besieged retail and cultural center of the Lehigh Valley, still tends to view the suburban and rural areas of the Lehigh County as the tribute-paying colonies they once were. It still regards itself as the real center of power in the area, not having come to grips with a change in population demographics and the inexorable slide of jobs and money in other directions. The fact is, since 1970 the city's population declined about 5.6 percent while the population of Lehigh County inclusive of Allentown population figures rose by 5.5 percent. The population of Lehigh County in 1980 comprises 272,349 souls. In want of a better word, the townships and municipalities of western Lehigh County consider Allentown as irrelevant. Outside the municipal boundaries of Allentown are locating the industries, which hopefully would keep Lehigh County and the Lehigh Valley a growth area throughout the rest of the century and beyond. Its natural markets and lessons about living are inclined toward influence other than Allentown. We note --- as this process gained momentum, it produced within the region's chief city (Allentown) a more urban style population with all its related social and economic problems, and has fostered a tax base that in the best scenario has grown only slightly. A development, which in the course of time has affected the city’s ability to provide, needed services in such areas as parks and recreation, health delivery, police and fire protection. Yet, the water and wastewater treatment service provided by Allentown has historically been the focal point around which suburban units sought growth for their communities. *** *** *** The Borough of Emmaus became the first municipality to tie-in into the Allentown wastewater treatment network and this tie-in set the stage for other tie-in requests; requests that Allentown could only handle by expansion of reserve capacity of the Kline's Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. We surmise that the Borough of Emmaus announcement in October of 1956 that it would build a wastewater treatment plant on the Little Lehigh Creek just one- half mile above the Allentown water filtration plant intake had a troubling aftermath on Allentown Officials. Allentown Mayor Donald V. Hock placed this problem on the agenda of the Tri- City Conference, which comprised the mayors, and municipal officials of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton. Historically, The Tri-City Conference can be best described as an early predecessor of regional planning that in our study period had not outlived its usefulness despite the existence of the Joint Planning Commission of Lehigh and Northampton Counties. This point demonstrated by the periodic get together of Allentown Mayor Joseph S. Daddona, Bethlehem Mayor Paul Marcincin, and Easton Mayor Salvatore Panto and their top aides. It was this Tri-City Conference that sponsored a historic gathering of representatives from twenty-three political subdivisions of Lehigh and Northampton Counties that met at the former South Mountain Junior High School in Allentown during a snow storm, October 7, 1957... Furthermore, it was this association that invited or arranged for Genevieve Blatt, the Secretary of Internal Affairs in the George Leader Administration, to be the main speaker. *** *** *** Our initial mission was to chronicle the enthusiasm of political leaders, influential citizens, businessmen and the electronic and printed media to advance the opening of western Lehigh County for new economic development activities. In the pages of the Lehigh Valley Common Sense Herald we characterized these people as the masterminds of the transformation and noted that they had acquired the mind set that traditional agricultural activities in western Lehigh County in the long-run would not be economically correct for the future interests of Lehigh County. *** *** *** Nevertheless in Lehigh County a number of citizens emerged to express concerns about the loss of open space in the County. Consequently, in 1987 , the Lehigh County Commissioners adopted a resolution creating a Lehigh County Farmland Preservation Task Force. This task force reviewed Lehigh County farmland studies, assessed county wide interest in farmland preservation, and made recommendations for future farmland preservation actions in the county. But surely one can surmise that this incipient County farmland preservation activity was not conducted in complete isolation. Lehigh County officials and advocates for land preservation had to be aware that the State of Pennsylvania in 1987 had placed a $100 million farmland preservation bond referendum on that year's November general election ballot. The bond issue passed but at this moment my research has not revealed whether the County took this action before the election in anticipation of passage of the bond and the enactment new enabling legislation that they could tap money from or afterward. And on whatever side one was on the growth or non-growth issue, both sides acted the same way when money was added into the equation... Money created interest in whatever activity it advocated. As it happened, following the passage of the bond issue, the Pennsylvania legislature amended the Agricultural Area Security Law (Act 43 of 1981), enabling Pennsylvania counties to tap the $100 million farmland preservation fund for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements. You guessed it, 1989, the Lehigh County Commissioners established a Lehigh County Agricultural Land Preservation Board with Ordinance 1989 - No. 117. This 9 member board's primary purpose was to preserve farmland in Lehigh County by developing and administering a program to purchase agricultural conservation easements from landowners in the county. Continued concerns about the loss of open space prompted the County to conduct a referendum to establish a $30 million bond pool – the Green Future Fund – to preserve green space. This proposal was supported by 64 percent of the voters in 2003. In a 2005 Lehigh County Land Use and Growth Management, Lehigh County touted itself as having a very aggressive farmland and open space preservation program focused upon acquisitions outside the path of future growth. As of June 2003, the Lehigh County Agricultural Land Preservation Board had protected 154 farms with permanent conservation easements totaling 13,925 acres – or about 6 percent of the County’s total land area. The highest concentration of preserved farmland is located in the northwestern part of the County. An area that for years was represented for years by quiet-spoken but iron willed Sterling Raber whose day time job was a pig farmer. *** *** *** Since August 1981 the Common Sense Herald has stood tall in reporting the story. But in 1996 a colleague wondered if he could say anything new and profound about the events that have occurred and consequences that followed. He also wondered whether the Common Sense Herald was the proper vehicle in the age of electronic mail and the Internet to tell the story. This is due to the fact that matters in the Lehigh Valley are now effected by outside forces, which are beyond the control of local officials on the city and county level, and by trends being set by these outside forces, including the national and international economies. In the Lehigh Valley, part of the story, of course, is that we are using up too much valuable farmland in order to pursue our economic development goals. And, land developers wait like vultures to devour the carcasses of former farms. If Western Lehigh County were a real frontier, (that is, it was land occupied by no one except God's creatures,) one pictures hundreds of land hungry settlers arriving by Conestoga wagon in order to claim valuable real estate for themselves by squatters occupation. Once the signal was given it was a real horse race to stake a claim... However, in the context of Pennsylvania history, the race for land might involve frontiersmen staking out a claim by human power rather than by animal power. In fact, we might say that these frontiersmen could have conceivably invented the future Olympic sport of fast walking by their ability to move quickly even though not actually in a running gait. But that is not the true image of what happened. The true image was, in fact, detailed in past reports of the Herald and will be recreated in this manuscript: " We present the truth, but you do not comprehend: "A Study of the Transformation of Lehigh County from its Traditional Agricultural Roots to that of Enhanced Urban Sprawl." Please consider this manuscript as a road map that highlights the important steps along the transformation journey. It was our intent that this road map provides the reader with a constructive understanding of this transformation journey and encourages them to recognize the importance of their personal responsibility to divert these economic activities to the proper highway. Please note -- When we speak of the proper highway, we do not speak in the physical sense, but in the metaphysical sense. Therefore, we do not speak of route 78, route 33 or Basin Street when we speak of diverting economic development activities to the proper highway. But interestingly, these roadways indeed played a role as the story line unfolded. *** *** *** In this it may appear that we pay more attention to Genevieve Blatt then her participation in the transformation of the Lehigh Valley might warrant. Yet we regard Genevieve Blatt as a symbol of the optimism that prevailed during the period concerning economic growth and inter-community co-operation. Consequently, reflection upon Genevieve Blatt's words develop for us a useful tool to introduce the portfolio (or myriad) of quasi-governmental agencies and corporations that developed just before, in conjunction, and within a reasonable time period after her historic visit to the Lehigh Valley. It also came apparent from our study the ever present participation of the Pennsylvania Power & Light Company in this transitional development. We note --- the presence of a speaker from the P.P & L at the before mentioned South Mountain Conference. We note --- the use of Jack Gross, an employee of P.P. & L in the drafting and implementation of the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Assistance Act. And, we note the same involvement of another P. P. & L figure in regards to the formation of the Industrial Development Corporation of Lehigh County. Are we indicating that the P.P. & L acted irresponsibly in participating as they did? No, we don't say that. But what we say is that the Pennsylvania Power & Light Company growth depended upon the transformation of what might be perceived as undeveloped land into residential units, industrial sites and commercial oriented establishments; and, we do suggest that the P.P & L would encourage public policy to be established toward that end. *** *** *** The implied agenda of the P.P. & L received its expression through the creation of the Joint Planning Commission, Lehigh and Northampton Counties and the Industrial Development Corporation of Lehigh County. Concerning the IDC --- its stated purpose as of 1964 was to assist, develop and promote the industrial and economic development of the County of Lehigh and The City I. Cyrus Gutman, President of the Industrial Development Corporation of Lehigh County until his retirement in 1984, has proven to be a mainstay in this quest since 1959. Gutman's office and his staff as 0f 1983 has been credited with paving the way for 244 new industries and commercial projects to start up in the Valley; and, in addition, the services of the IDC were used in 399 expansions of local industries and commercial projects. Statistically, this adds up to approximately 36,430 jobs with annual payrolls of more than $405 million. These figures seem to be impressive. But, we must stress that most of these gains were in the townships of western Lehigh County, not Allentown; and also, we must inquire whether the good that was derived from these projects render insignificant the possible unpleasant realities of excessive moral or monetary costs? Or shall it be vice versa. What do we mean by moral costs? We mean the abuse of God's elements by individuals guided only by thoughts for material gain. And, in this regard we are speaking of the impairment of air quality, degradation and overuse of water resources and disturbances and willful depletion of topsoil qualities. What do we mean by monetary costs? We mean the level of support passed on to present and future taxpayers, users and consumers to finance capital improvement and service projects deemed necessary and a priority by decision- makers whether they be from government, the utilities or business. *** *** *** Indeed we live in interesting times in the Lehigh Valley, while officials in Lehigh and Northampton Counties seek economic development activities that use up valuable farmland at an alarming rate; we also see the reverse trend of industrial abandonment in our urban core areas. Lehigh County economic development leaders are very delighted that brand name companies such as Nestle and Pillsbury have decided to locate land consuming new warehouse operations in what remains of the alfalfa, corn and wheat fields of Western Lehigh County and that Perrier Water of Switzerland and the Coca Cola Bottling Company of Atlanta, Georgia have followed suit Northampton County, we see more of the same in the Industrial Parks along U. S. Route 22. However, I ask --- Can these leaders be satisfied with this short list of industrial sites in the urban core of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon Counties of Pennsylvania and Warren County in New Jersey that will be or have been totally or partially abandoned: Mack Trucks, Lehigh Structural Steel, Black and Decker, Neuweiler Beer, Horlacher Beer, Bethlehem Steel, Durkee-French Foods/Spice Factory, Champion Spark plugs, New Jersey Zinc Company and countless garment mills. Does this mean that the Lehigh Valley is: lacking in providing a desirable industrial climate? Does this mean that the Lehigh Valley is lacking in providing good labor markets? Does this mean that the Lehigh Valley is lacking in assessing reasonable tax rates? And also, does this mean that the Lehigh Valley is lacking in providing good schools, churches, residential areas and recreational and cultural facilities? And finally, does this mean that public support for industry is lacking in the Lehigh Valley? I am quite certain that this set of circumstances was quite upsetting to Harrison E. Forker, an avid fisherman, who was very concerned about the quality of Lehigh Valley waterways and the water and sewer infrastructure that supported economic growth activities in the Lehigh Valley region, especially western Lehigh County. I miss Harry... When I was a young puppy in the old Community of Neighborhood Organizations; it was Harry who took me under his wings... We would spend many hours talking about water and sewer issues... And when I established the Allentown/Lehigh Valley Common Sense Herald Newsletter in 1981, Harry Forker joined the enterprise which also included a third member, Gordon D. Sharp Jr. I admired Harry for his willingness to confront public officials with his facts and concerns... I admired Harry for his willingness to continue the fight despite the resistance and mockery of public officials and the media... In my book Harry Forker did comprehend the long-range environmental and economic impact of the economic development goals advocated by our public officials... In my book, these same public officials did not comprehend in the long-run the negative implications of their long-range economic development goals. I am very proud that Harry Forker stood with me the day that we took a sleeping bag to the Office of former Mayor Joseph S. Daddona in protest of then current conditions at the Kline's Island Waste Water Treatment Plant. Harry, I guess, is now in that place that no wide-eyed developer can go, he is now throwing his fly line into that pristine cold-water stream of eternity seeking to bring in the perfect brook or brown trout... The early 1996 announcement by nationsCredit that it will relocate various business operations now centered in Allentown and relocate these operations to Dallas, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia is very unsettling. Behaviorists say that we ought to feel more comfortable when we know what to expect next. Unfortunately, that state of circumstance won't work with me on this issue. If we can only expect more of the same, that real-time reality certainly won't make me feel any more comfortable then before. The fact is, I am tired of this internal hemorrhaging that is inflicting the Lehigh Valley even with all the economic development activity that is said to be ongoing. I am tired of the loss of good jobs; and, I am very much concerned by the many dislocations that are occurring here... And, I pray that we can turn the corner. The loss of Nation's Credit is just one of a series of economic losses to downtown Allentown which includes the departure of the mortgage servicing center of first fidelity and the corporate headquarters of the Lehigh Portland Cement Company. It is not hard to forget that the onetime All-American City once had a downtown business district (Hamilton Street) flanked by three homegrown department stores which served as a hub for serious shopping by the vast majority of Lehigh County residents. But as we write, Hess's, Leh's, and Zollinger Harnerd are only notations in the pages of the Queen City's history. The fact is, the shopping district of choice for most Lehigh Countians has moved north to MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township. And at this moment, we are also seeing the development of a second shopping center of choice to the west on Tilghman Street in South Whitehall Township. And, to add to the insult, financial institutions such as Merrill, Lynch. Pierce, Fenner & Smith and Legg, Mason, Wood and Walker, Incorporated have followed the Lehigh County Authority's Highway of Wastewater west and have set up business in the Iron Run Corporate Center in Lower Macungie Township. Paul McHale, formerly a Democratic U.S. Congressman from the 15th Congressional District of Pennsylvania (1993-1999) and a Sierra Club supporter, while in office voiced a strong concern that "We're using up valuable farmland" for new industrial sites rather than reusing existing properties that "would be just as appropriate" if the pollution liability questions would be addressed. So in proposed legislation he addressed these pollution liability concerns by providing incentives to expedite the reuse of abandoned industrial sites. Says McHale, "It's vital for the future economy of the Lehigh Valley" that the Brownfields Remediation and Economic Development Act of 1996 be passed. The legislation addressed industrial sites with enough pollution to be considered extreme liability risks for developers and lending institutions, but not enough pollution to qualify for Superfund provisions. McHale's legislation called for the release of liability to new site owners and lenders, which many say constitutes a major roadblock to Brownfields development. The bill reportedly would establish cleanup standards that are protective of public health and the environment. Says McHale: "The responsibility for pollution should be that of the polluters, not those who plan to develop the land after the polluters are gone. Hey little children what do you see? One Hundred acres of prime Bethlehem Steel Company property sprawling vacant in front of me! Hey little children what do you see? Blackened and useless hulks of a once proud blast furnace standing in front me! Hey little children what do you see? The faces of effected United Steelworkers of America union members leaving the premises of "OLE" Bessy for the last time! Later in 1996, employees of the former Allentown office of General Acceptance, Bank of America and Chrysler First also walked out the door of their center city Allentown office for the last time. Their jobs as we said earlier were transferred to Atlanta, Georgia and Dallas, Texas... Some of these employees will choose to follow Nation's Credit to either Atlanta or Dallas or other hot spots within the NationsCredit system... The rest remained behind in a job market that was extremely tight due to the amount of business downsizing that occurred here locally. Even the beacon of economic progress in the Lehigh Valley, the Pennsylvania Power & Light Company, is hard at work reducing its personnel. This scenario, seemingly, a by-product of the economic mindset which inflicts corporate America and corporate Planet Earth today. It's part of the mindset of the freewheeling global economy. That is, domestic or foreign companies essentially in the same business or market, may buy other businesses to incorporate the strength or ingenuity of that business into their own network of businesses and then announce plans to close down the older or less strategic facilities when a surplus of capacity is created in the network Please note --- such business decisions, result in much dislocation of workers and works to frustrate long-term city planning. City Administrators may think that the worst was over in these dislocations only to see more of the same happen. For employees of NationsCredit, this trail of tears had its incubation in the 1970's when General Acceptance, a local firm, decided to sale out to the Bank of America, not a local firm. To the Bank of America's credit, it did not buy General Acceptance to co-op or eliminate competition, rather it sought to strengthen its own business operations by strengthening and improving the business of General Acceptance. But for whatever reasons, the Bank of America sold the former General Acceptance business unit in Allentown to Chrysler First. Unfortunately, for the former employees of General Acceptance their business unit was rapidly becoming a pawn in the financial market of buy and sell. And Chrysler First brought forth the final act in the drama when it sold off the former General Acceptance business unit to Nation's Credit. The employees of Bethlehem-based Durkee Spice Factory share the feeling as their parent company, Beatrice, the giant food conglomerate, elected to sale off their business unit to an Australian firm which immediately decided it created surplus capacity in its business organization with its purchase of the Durkee plant in Bethlehem... Perhaps all the long, this Australian firm, wanted to close Durkee and keep its plant in Iowa. So mischievously it elected to pit one American community against and another to get a better deal. And more mischievously. It forced the United Steelworkers of America to go head to head against another union --- So much for union solidarity! The decision made that the Durkee spice factory based in Bethlehem would become history --- Another casualty of the ongoing economic warfare which has erupted intra-state, inter- state, and internationally! And another sign that the Service economy is taking over big time in the Lehigh Valley as manufacturing leaves. On the very same property that the Durkee Spice Factory proudly stood is now occupied by a Lowe's Store. *** *** *** Lastly, before we end this discussion, we find it imperative to state our views on the complex subject of spatial urban growth. We don't want to give the impression that we are against all spatial urban growth. After all, spatial growth that comes about, as the result of normal population increase pressures is simply avoidable and natural. But spatial urban growth being the end result of induced and unneeded speculative ventures is avoidable and unfortunate. We acknowledge that the "die was cast" for past, present and possible future spatial urban growth activities the day Allentown agreed to accept effluent from Emmaus into its wastewater treatment network; and significantly, this occurrence also marked the regionalization of Allentown's Kline's Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. We note --- a lot of money these past years have been spent by either the City of Allentown, County of Lehigh, Lehigh County Authority and suburban entities to create an inter-linking interceptor and collector system that would be serviced by one or more regional wastewater treatment plants. The excuse for these projects was the need to have in place the infrastructure necessary to service wanted economic development projects like F.M. Schaefer Brewing Company and Kraft Foods. Notice --- we have underlined the word wanted because there is a question whether the need was present for said projects being located where they were located in the first place. We believe the projects were purposely targeted for the townships of western Lehigh County as a means to foster the enhanced urbanization of the Lehigh Valley. Meanwhile, in Allentown, within a relative short period the Horlacher and Neuweiler Breweries ceased operation as well as the Arbogast & Bastian Meat packing Plant. The blighting remains of these operations haunted Allentown's Sixth and first ward landscape into the new 21st Century. But interestingly, boarded up windows and doors provide great opportunity for politicians to hang up their campaign posters especially on the Neuweiler building. Recently, however there has been some movement to bring these old properties back to life. At the Old A &B site a new Mack Truck supported America On Wheels, automotive museum offers a glimpse of the past, present and future of the nation's over-the-road transportation system and seeks to preserve its legacy by looking back in time, collecting valuable artifacts and vehicles and illustrating the tremendous impact transportation has had on people's daily lives. However, any proposed re- development of the Neuweiler tract might take years to materialize. Indeed, it is the intent of this study to present a reminder of the hidden destructive nature of the beast --- the developing Megalopolis of the Lehigh Valley. We also note --- in the process of creating the system, a lot of mistakes were made. Unfortunately these same mistakes have done damage to the City of Allentown and will impact on other Lehigh Valley communities as well. What bothers this writer the most about this situation is the fact that Allentown's water supply has become threatened by this rush within the last forty years to urbanize western Lehigh County. This is indeed sad for an earlier generation of Allentonians developed Allentown's park system in order to preserve for itself a safe water supply. But now both the water supply and the Allentown Park system seem to be threatened by the intentions of area developers |
