Mount Airy Neighborhood Association
Located on the west side of Bethlehem, the Mount Airy neighborhood blends the amenities of modern urban living with the charm of its historic past. At the end of the 19th century, Bethlehemites moved to the area, once considered the suburbs, to take advantage of the fresh air and view from the ridge on which its homes are built. Generations of families have since walked along its tree-lined streets to neighborhood schools, downtown shopping, restaurants and cafes. Today's residents may also avail themselves of a pool, tennis courts, and biking paths. A variety of housing options exist for singles and families alike--those hoping to buy their first home or condominium, some move into a period dreamhouse or others simply wanting to rent an apartment. Local businesses that border the area provide mulitiple services and convenient shopping for the community. There is easy access to highways and public transportation to other Lehigh Valley locations as well as New York City.
This site is dedicated to involving neighbors in a collective effort to enhance and celebrate the quality of residential life in the Mount Airy neighborhood, and on welcome those who may be looking to relocate to the area.
If you have any questions about our site, membership or our organization, please contact us. Thanks for visiting!
Mount Airy Neighborhood Association News
Mount Airy Neighborhood Association, Incorporated
As of March 3rd, we are officially incorporated. Many thanks to our Planning Committee, Heather Hosfeld, Jennifer Lader and Mary Toulouse.
What is the Elm Street Program
One of the state-funded items Mount Airy neighbors may benefit from is the proposed Elm Street Program currently under review. If approved, it would bring street, sidewalk, tree and park improvements and beautification to our area east of 8th Avenue.
Since this is an ongoing item, I'll link to the "official" city site concerning this project and supporting documentation. The City of Bethlehem is soliciting suggestions regarding the plan from neighbors here.
Bethlehem-pa.gov: North and West Side Neighborhood Plan
PADowntown.org: Elm Street Program
Please review these plans and get involved!
Historic Research Committee "Wiki"
We are pleased to announce that we have implemented a "Wiki" to aid in research and archiving of facts, oral histories, documents and images of the MANA area. It can be found here or in the left resource index of any page on our site under "Historic Research".
What's a Wiki? A Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit web page content using any web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly.
Wiki is unusual among group communication mechanisms in that it allows the organization of contributions to be edited in addition to the content itself.
Like many simple concepts, "open editing" has some profound and subtle effects on Wiki usage. Allowing everyday users to create and edit any page in a Web site is exciting in that it encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by nontechnical users.
Our Wiki comes into play as both a research tool and library. You are free not only to view its content, but also add and modify what you see. It is a truly open collaborative effort, one we hope you will boldly contribute to!
City to Use Meeting to Gauge Interest in Historic District
Neighbors will have the opportunity to meet on Thursday, January 26, 2006, in the community room of the Bethlehem Public Library to review the implications and possibility of a local ordinance for an historic district; this district would parallel the already existing Mount Airy National Register Historic District.
Results from the Zoning Meeting
The Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board on Wednesday rejected appeals by Holy Family Manor to expand an assisted living home for senior citizens in the city's West Side. The variance would have more than doubled the size of the existing structure, added a parking lot and removed trees.