| North and West
Side Neighborhood Plan
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.
The areas under study in this plan are Bethlehem’s
North and West Side neighborhoods which lie adjacent to the
City’s North Side Central Business District. 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.
The Elm Street Program also provides three types of state
grants to municipalities which are planning grants to prepare
five-year revitalization strategies, operational grants for
hiring a professional Elm Street Manager to oversee implementation
of the five-year strategy, and reinvestment grants to fund
physical improvements recommended in the five-year strategy.
The City has received a planning grant to prepare a revitalization
strategy and has hired Urban Research & Development Corporation
as the planning consultant for this project. In order to develop
as successful of a project as possible, the City will be holding
a series of public meetings to solicit public input into the
plan development process. In addition, residents may submit
comments through this website as the plan develops.
Elm Street Survey
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! Please
return the survey to:
A.G. Pitsilos – Elm Street Manager
City of Bethlehem
10 East Church Street
Bethlehem PA 18018
or by email to apitsilos@bethlehem-pa.gov
Give Feedback about the North and
West Side Neighborhood Plan
View
a Map of the Project Area
View Other Maps and Charts presented
at 1st public meeting
View Maps and Charts presented at
2nd public meeting
View the Elm Street Plan
Report (Multiple PDF files)
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