Shaking Off the Rust, New Suburbs Are Born
Interesting piece in the New York Times on NYC's newest bedroom community: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It seems that the Lehigh Valley area has become the hottest market for middle class families in New York that are priced out of the real estate market in the city and traditional Long Island/Ct. suburbs.
"America's newest suburbs are neither the classic towns close to a major city, nor are they distant exurbs built on once-empty farmland. They are aging industrial cities and their environs, on the far periphery of the most expensive metropolitan areas in the northeast and California - places where middle-class parents can still buy homes for their growing families while keeping their big city jobs."
Again, one of the biggest factors (aside from the desire for large McMansions) is the school districts. The houses in the traditional NY suburbs with good public schools are too expensive and the tuition costs for private schools in the city make the cheaper housing costs of even outlying boroughs prohibitive.
This tale comes on the heels of a story last year about attempts to market homes in the Poconos to even lower income New Yorkers (and the huge increase in foreclosures due to fraud on the part of homebuilders and appraisers.)
The cost? Four hours of round-trip commuting; churches, little leagues etc. have a dearth of volunteers because of the punishing work hours of parents, locals being priced out of the housing market by influx of New Yorkers, the yuppification of the town to cater to the tastes of the new residents.
"America's newest suburbs are neither the classic towns close to a major city, nor are they distant exurbs built on once-empty farmland. They are aging industrial cities and their environs, on the far periphery of the most expensive metropolitan areas in the northeast and California - places where middle-class parents can still buy homes for their growing families while keeping their big city jobs."
Again, one of the biggest factors (aside from the desire for large McMansions) is the school districts. The houses in the traditional NY suburbs with good public schools are too expensive and the tuition costs for private schools in the city make the cheaper housing costs of even outlying boroughs prohibitive.
This tale comes on the heels of a story last year about attempts to market homes in the Poconos to even lower income New Yorkers (and the huge increase in foreclosures due to fraud on the part of homebuilders and appraisers.)
The cost? Four hours of round-trip commuting; churches, little leagues etc. have a dearth of volunteers because of the punishing work hours of parents, locals being priced out of the housing market by influx of New Yorkers, the yuppification of the town to cater to the tastes of the new residents.
