Allentown: The Steel Town Billy Joel Made Famous
Billy Joel's 'Allentown' became the anthem of American industrial decline - 'Well we're living here in Allentown, and they're closing all the factories down.' The song, released in 1982, captured what was happening across the Rust Belt: the steel mills closing, the jobs disappearing, the generations who'd expected factory work finding nothing. Allentown itself (population 125,000) anchors the Lehigh Valley alongside Bethlehem and Easton, the region that once produced the steel that built America. The Bethlehem Steel plant is mostly demolished now, the site redeveloped as casino and cultural venue. Allentown has recovered more than many similar cities, but the song remains the city's most famous export - the reminder of what was lost.
The Song
Billy Joel wrote 'Allentown' in 1982, inspired by the Lehigh Valley's industrial collapse - though he'd originally titled it 'Levittown.' The lyrics described what every steel town experienced: the promises broken, the union halls emptied, the futility of job-hunting in an economy that no longer needed factory labor. The song hit #17 and made Allentown synonymous with deindustrialization. Locals have complicated feelings - the fame the song brought is inseparable from the decline it described. The song plays at arena events and moments of civic pride, the anthem of loss become anthem of survival.
The Steel
Bethlehem Steel, next door in the city of Bethlehem, was America's second-largest steel company - the beams that built New York's skyscrapers, the ships that won World War II, the rails that connected the continent. The company employed 30,000 in the Lehigh Valley at peak; it employed zero when it went bankrupt in 2001. The plant site, a mile-long industrial cathedral, has been partially redeveloped - the Sands Casino occupies former mill buildings, the SteelStacks arts venue presents concerts against the industrial backdrop. The blast furnaces still stand, too expensive to demolish, monuments to what the valley once made.
The Recovery
The Lehigh Valley has recovered better than most Rust Belt regions - the proximity to New York and Philadelphia (each 90 minutes away), the distribution warehouses that Amazon and others built, the healthcare and higher education that replaced manufacturing. The population is growing; the economy is diversified. Allentown's downtown has revived somewhat, the NIZ (Neighborhood Improvement Zone) incentive program drawing development. The recovery is real but uneven - the warehouse jobs don't pay what the steel jobs did, the prosperity doesn't reach everyone. The valley is better than it was in 1982; whether it's better enough depends on who you ask.
The Lehigh
Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, provides the educated workforce and research that modern economies require. The university founded in 1865 on Bethlehem Steel money now outlasts the company that funded it. The South Mountain campus rises above the former steel plant; the engineering programs that once fed the mills now feed tech companies. The valley's recovery owes something to Lehigh and the other regional colleges that kept producing graduates when manufacturing collapsed. The university that steel money built became the institution that survived steel's demise.
Visiting Allentown
The Lehigh Valley is served by Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE). The SteelStacks arts venue in Bethlehem presents concerts and festivals against the blast furnace backdrop - the setting is extraordinary. The National Museum of Industrial History tells the steel story. The Allentown Art Museum holds a solid collection. Historic Bethlehem preserves the Moravian settlement that preceded the steel. The Christmas markets (Christkindlmarkt) draw crowds in December. For food, the region has Pennsylvania Dutch heritage and growing diversity. The weather is four-season; fall is best. The Lehigh Valley rewards visitors who appreciate industrial heritage and recovery.
From the Air
Located at 40.60°N, 75.49°W in the Lehigh Valley of eastern Pennsylvania. From altitude, Allentown appears as one of three adjacent cities - Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton forming continuous development. The Bethlehem Steel site is visible, the blast furnaces still standing. What appears from altitude as a Pennsylvania valley region is where Billy Joel's anthem was set - where Bethlehem Steel once employed 30,000, where the factories closed down, and where the recovery continues.