North by Northwest Neighborhood Initiative
Connecting Neighbors….Renewing Neighborhoods

• View the Elm Street Plan Report (Multiple PDF files)

Pennsylvania’s Elm Street Program assists municipalities in rejuvenating residential and mixed-use areas adjacent to their central business district. Pennsylvania based its Elm Street Program on its successful Main Street Program, which targets downtown commercial districts. Central commercial areas and the neighborhoods that surround them are linked. Vibrant neighborhoods provide customers and a labor pool for downtown businesses. In turn, a healthy downtown improves the quality of life in nearby neighborhoods. The idea behind the Elm Street Program is that communities should plan the future of these two types of areas together, instead of treating them like separate entities.

This area is defined on the west by the border shared with the City of Allentown, on the east by Stefko Boulevard, on the north by Elizabeth Avenue, Route 378 and Easton Avenue, and on the south by the Lehigh River. Its exact boundaries can be seen on the available map.

Within these neighborhoods, the goals of the Elm Street Program are:
• To improve physical appearances by enhancing exterior building conditions and the local streetscape;
• To connect with revitalization activities happening in nearby commercial areas;
• To create and sustain neighborhood organizations that will help prevent decline; and
• To devise a vision for neighborhood revitalization and a comprehensive strategy to carry out that vision.

Please fill out this survey if you live or work within the Elm Street District which is bordered on the Westside by W. Spruce Street on the north, 6th Avenue on the West and Prospect Avenue on the South. The Northside borders are West Fairview on the North, Pulaski Street on the East and E. Rasberry on the South.

THANK YOU for completing this survey. It will help us as we strive to make your neighborhood a better place! The survey can be completed online.