BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Bethlehem\u2019s oldest public housing community, Pembroke Village, could be getting significant updates.<\/p>\n
For the past two years, the city has worked with residents to develop a plan that reflects their vision for the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have spent the last two years going through a planning process with the community and tried to create a plan that was truly reflective of the future residents want to see here,\u201d said Sara Satullo, deputy director of community development for the City of Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
In September 2023, the city and its housing authority received $500,000 through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development\u2019s Choice Neighborhoods grant program.<\/p>\n
Since then, officials have developed the Pembroke Choice Neighborhood Transformation Plan, incorporating feedback from residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people are saying the apartments need work, they have to be updated,\u201d said Henry Quinones, ambassador for the Pembroke Choice Neighborhood.<\/p>\n
The plan will be used to apply for $30 million to $50 million in additional grants from the Choice Neighborhoods program. If awarded, the funding would be used to:<\/p>\n
Create safer streets for familiesBuild new playgroundsReconstruct homes to better meet residents\u2019 needs<\/p>\n
\u201cIt includes two buildings with elevators for seniors, where they would have their own balconies overlooking green space,\u201d Satullo said.<\/p>\n
Even without the grant funding, city officials say the work will still be completed, though it may take longer.<\/p>\n
Residents are hopeful their vision will come to life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plans are great – they look good. I think it will be a positive change for the community,\u201d said resident Gail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Bethlehem\u2019s oldest public housing community, Pembroke Village, could be getting significant updates. For the past…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[549,153,155,154,548,550,28,547,546],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-ambassador-for-the-pembroke-choice-neighborhood","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-deputy-director-of-community-development","tag-henry-quinones","tag-pennsylvania","tag-sara-satullo","tag-u-s-department-of-housing-and-urban-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}