Place Where You Live:

Allentown, Pennsylvania

The third most populated city in Pennsylvania is Allentown, my home. The night life is great. People go out every night, with the sole intent on not remembering it. In Allentown there are state of the art empty parks. The only statistic in my city that is higher than the Pennsylvania Power and Light building’s height is the crime and dropout rate. However, the PPL building is so easy to see being that is pierces through the night sky that is void of any stars. If it was not the smoke from the factories that stole our stars, then it was the smoke from the drugs that are regularly used on the streets. Parents tell their children to never do drugs as the inhale their next hit. I used to chase my friends around the neighborhood while playing hide and seek. Now, when I see kids running it is usually the cops chasing behind them. I live in a city where if you do not lock your doors, then it turns your car into our car. The youth in my city are learning more from rap videos than they are from their vacant parents.

I love my evil city. Allentown has shaped me into the man I am today. It has showed me exactly how not to act and how to survive. People are products of their environment and there is no escaping that. However, I have used the place where I live to my advantage. My success has been amplified due to where I live. The place where small family businesses excel. The place where family, respect, and loyalty is valued over everything. The place where Billy Joel famously sung about. The place where I can’t imagine anything spectacular nor terrible coming from.

Leaving Allentown to go to school in New York has shown me how perfect my imperfect city really is. In a community so close that the only thing that separates our homes are 3 inches of drywall, I don’t know my neighbors name, yet I love them so much.