Allentown, Pennsylvania, became a household word in 1982 when rocker Billy Joel released his hit song, Allentown, about the city's disintegrating economy with the exit in droves of the steel mills. Unemployment skyrocketed into the double digits. Acres of manufacturing buildings went dormant.

Fast forward a quarter century later, and you'll find a city in transition, according to Mayor Ed Pawlowski on the city's official website. The city hosts the headquarters for international corporations and has a real estate market with growing home sales prices, but one that remains affordable. The median income is just over $42,000, an increase of 38 percent in the past 18 years.

After years of job growth, the unemployment rate currently matches the national level, home sales have slowed as it has nationwide, but sales prices continue to move on up. Today, an average single-family home in the Lehigh Valley region stands at about $260,000 -- up 7 percent in the last two years. The overall median sales price, including townhouses and condominiums, stands at $108,000. In the last five years, prices have increased more than 60 percent.

Mayor Pawlowski sums up the city's direction: "s Allentown maneuvers into the 21st Century, this former industrial city is moving ahead with a transformation to a modern American downtown."

Published: April 4, 2008

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