As the state representative who represents the majority of Allentown’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone, I’m astounded by doubts about its return on investment. I see them daily and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s recent study showed beyond question just how successful that investment has been, not just for the city, but our entire region.
It might seem like the fortunes of downtowns are distant in their importance to the communities which surround them, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank looked at 58 metropolitan areas between 1970 and 2000, finding that the faster a metro area’s city grew, the faster its suburbs grew. Conversely, the slower that an area’s city grew, the slower their suburbs grew.
Cities and suburbs held a shared fortune. Our future, prosperity, economic opportunity, and quality of life are bound together.
That’s why the LVPC study determined that “successful downtowns are essential to successful prosperous regions”. Downtowns offer a variety of amenities that are critical to attracting and retaining residents and in turn employers.
Recent research from the Brookings Institute, a nationally renowned policy organization, determined that quality of life investments resulted in better economic growth than traditional policies affecting business climate. Things like outdoor recreation, cultural amenities, parks, public spaces and leisure activity were far more effective in growing the economy.
In fact, 85% of Americans said access to recreational opportunities are critical in shaping where they want to live, according to the National Recreation and Park Association; a survey of 1,200 tech workers by the company KMPG found a high quality of life made jobs 33% more appealing.
Furthermore, rich, and vibrant downtown areas play a role in attracting the most high-growth firms. Research from the University of North Carolina and University of Kansas of 6,000 fast-growing firms found those companies concentrated in neighborhoods that were more mixed-use, more transit friendly and more walkable.
Allentown’s revitalization has created those amenities. With the Da Vinci Science Center, PPL Center, Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown Art Museum, and the upcoming Archer Music Hall, along with the Arts Walk, modernized streetscapes to its emerging Waterfront District, the NIZ has created an economic and cultural hub and magnetic force upon which future development and growth can be built.
LVPC’s report concludes that Allentown’s urban core is home to 5,000 new jobs and leading firms in finance, health care and payroll processing, such as Lehigh Valley Health Network and ADP. The proximity to lifestyle, amenities and quality of life drew employees, which in turn drew the firms seeking to hire them.
Furthermore, if you’re concerned with farmland preservation, open space and balancing our growth in a sustainable fashion, Allentown’s NIZ has helped serve those goals. The Lehigh Valley is 9,000 housing units short, a figure that grows annually, which in turn drives up costs for individuals and seniors. Meanwhile, the Lehigh Valley adds up 4,000 residents a year. As a region we have two choices, build denser, more walkable neighborhoods or sprawl further out, increasing infrastructure costs and absorbing precious greenspace.
LVPC’s study shows Allentown’s downtown is a model for how to absorb that growth. Over the last decade, the city has added nearly 1,300 housing units on just 11.2 acres. If that same housing were built in a low-density format, it would require over 160 acres, according to LVPC. That housing would have further eroded our region’s outdoors and placed housing further from jobs and opportunities, increasing traffic and pollution.
This development on average also creates 10 times more tax revenue per acre then traditional sprawl development. Allentown’s NIZ is helping preserve open space, reduce traffic and add desperately needed housing stock, which benefits us all as residents.
Most importantly, the NIZ is helping improve public education and public safety. Since its inception, in the study area that includes the NIZ and surrounding neighborhoods, Allentown School District alone saw tax revenues climb by 126% from about $9 million to over $21 million. That revenue helps pay for teachers, counselors and critical resources our kids need to succeed.
The NIZ is also making the neighborhoods where those kids go to school safer. In the study area, serious crimes declined by 50%, outpacing Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley. Our entire region benefits when our schools have the resources to shape young minds into the leaders of tomorrow and when our communities are safe and secure, because crime doesn’t respect municipal borders.
Whether you work in Allentown, live in the city, venture in for sports and dining, or reside in a surrounding community, Allentown belongs to all of us, and we all share in the endless ripples of its revitalization. So goes our city, so goes our region. Allentown is our symbol, representing our spirit and determination, our will to renew and exemplifying the best of our region.
Joshua Siegel, D-Lehigh, is the state representative for the 22nd District, which includes parts of Allentown and Salisbury Township.
