Why I Love the Lehigh Valley
Six alumni who’ve built lives and careers close to campus explain what’s so great about the region that includes the city of Allentown.
Imagine living in a mid-sized city that’s a short drive from two other cities, each with unique downtown areas, bars and restaurants, entertainment options and park systems. Imagine being able to travel just 20 to 30 minutes to find yourself buying fresh produce from a farmer, enjoying the tranquility of a state park or tubing down a rushing river. Imagine the opportunities available in a region that’s ranked first in the nation for economic development among similarly sized regions and fourth in the Northeast among regions of any size.
Current Muhlenberg students don’t have to imagine this. Allentown and the surrounding Lehigh Valley have evolved significantly in recent years, with extensive revitalization taking place in downtown Allentown and downtown Easton and on the former Bethlehem Steel site, SteelStacks, which now hosts concerts, festivals, movies and other cultural events.
The population of Lehigh and Northampton Counties has been on the rise, adding 11,000 people since 2020 for a total of 696,845 residents. The Lehigh Valley has also seen the creation of 11,600 jobs in the last five years. The Allentown Billy Joel sang about is a distant memory. It’s getting very easy to stay. Here, some local alumni share what they love about living close to their alma mater.
As a student, I fell in love with the area, and it began to feel like home, even more so than my hometown. I stayed in the Lehigh Valley for grad school and got to see a level of connection here that’s much deeper than other places I’ve lived. The nonprofit professionals here really understand partnership and collective impact. All three of the big cities have their own unique flair and different offerings. The outdoor entertainment is wonderful: We have our festivals — Musikfest, the Bethlehem Rose Garden concert series, plus family movie screenings at the SteelStacks. I have three kids, and the Lehigh Valley is excellent for raising a family.”
Katherine Jackson ’08, a Spanish and political science double major at Muhlenberg, is originally from upstate New York. She first became familiar with the broader LehighValley through work with the Office of Community Engagement, and today, she is director of programs & operations for the Boys & Girls Club of Allentown. She lives in Bethlehem.
The Allentown Farmers Market, just down the street from the College, has fantastic food, and then the Agricultural Hall [next door] has events on the weekend. I just went to the Lehigh Valley Comic Con. It was the first time I ever went to a comic con, and it was much bigger than I thought it would be. A couple weeks later, there was a pinball tournament. There are lots of events there that most people aren’t aware of.”
Dr. Bankim Bhatt ’91, a chemistry major at Muhlenberg, returned to the Lehigh Valley in 2007 after completing a fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. He works for St. Luke’s University Health Network and is the chief of the division of endocrinology & metabolism. He lives in Center Valley, about 20 minutes from campus.
Whenever I have lived in the Lehigh Valley, I’ve always been a city of Allentown resident very much by choice. The sense of community just on my block is something that I’m not going to be able to get in a suburban or rural community. We have such distinct communities within the Lehigh Valley that in 20 minutes I could be in a different city, I could be on a farm, I could be at a park and a whole host of other things. I also found a roller derby community here. People never
tell you that after college it becomes so much harder to make friends. I found roller derby when I came back for good in 2015, and I never left it. Those folks are some of my best friends.”
Hannah Milagio ’13, a theatre and Spanish major who came to Muhlenberg from Maryland, has remained in Allentown since graduating, leaving only for a year to earn a master’s degree. As a student, Milagio worked closely with the Office of Community Engagement, which connected her with Community Bike Works, a nonprofit where she spent the first decade of her career. Now, she is the regional planner for community engagement at the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, and she lives within walking distance of campus and the Civic Theatre of Allentown (pictured).
You can go to a downtown [area] at night and find tons of restaurants — I love the Bayou in Bethlehem — or you can go 15 to 20 minutes up the road and Jacobsburg State Park is right there. I really love the D&L Trail. I did my first marathon locally as part of the D&L RaceFest. I’ve been doing the St. Luke’s Half Marathon for three years now. Running is still a very big part of my life, so I love the trails that are available, and then, at the same time, I can get down to Philadelphia in an hour and a half. I can drive 40 minutes to one of the New Jersey Transit stations and take the train into New York City. It’s very easy to see friends in both cities. If I lived in New York City or Philly without a car, that’s way harder to do.”
Corey Mullins ’19, a media & communication and English double major and student-athlete on the track and cross-country teams, discovered a love for
video storytelling as a student. The Connecticut native held a couple local video production jobs before landing his current role as a videographer for St. Luke’s University Health Network. He lives in Easton with former teammate Anthony Calantoni ’18.
What I like is the variety of options. No matter what it is, you’re in close proximity, if you’re a skier, if you’re somebody who likes taking hikes. The velodrome [a track for racing bikes] is there [in Trexlertown]. The different minor league teams — the Phantoms [hockey team], the Iron Pigs [baseball team]. There are just so many different things that you can do in the Valley that make it a wonderful place to live.”
Josh Carter ’02, a business administration major at Muhlenberg, came from the New York City suburbs and was a multi-sport student-athlete on the football, basketball and baseball teams. He recently moved back to the Lehigh Valley for a second time since graduating to work in sales for ADP in downtown Allentown. He lives in Emmaus, about 15 minutes from campus.
I like the Lehigh Valley so much because it is such a microcosm of the state and the country as a whole. We really run the gamut. My wife and I were at a fundraiser downtown and then we were walking through the city and there was a Phantoms [hockey] game, and there was stuff going on in Symphony Hall, and we couldn’t get into any of the restaurants because they were all so crowded, and it was awesome. This is a vibrant area. When we couldn’t find anything to eat, we just went back closer to home [in Allentown’s West End]. We went to Sumo and had sushi. You can get almost anything you want in this area. There is such diversity across the board.”
Mike Schlossberg ’05, a political science and psychology double major who came to Muhlenberg from New Jersey, didn’t appreciate how much Allentown and the Lehigh Valley had to offer until he got off campus by interning with Pennsylvania State Representative Jennifer Mann as a senior. When Mann chose not to pursue reelection in 2012, Schlossberg ran and was elected. He’s represented the 132nd district, which includes Allentown’s West End and parts of South Whitehall and Upper Macungie, ever since. He lives about a mile from campus.
