Discovering what others really think about you can be amusing, aggravating, or both. One way or another, it is almost always thought- provoking.
With that in mind, I dived in among the search engines, to see what people were saying about Bethlehem. I figured--correctly--that there must be a lot out there, and that much of it would be advice offered to the seeming horde of people who want to move here.
I went first to a website with the difficult url http://www.city-data.com/city/South-Bethlehem-Pennsylvania.html. (If anyone reads this and decides to check this out, correct me if the url is wrong.
These things drive me crazy, as they do many people.)
What attracted me about this site in the first place is that it seems to be both geographically and demographically challenged. The little map it shows does not appear to be about Bethlehem, PA at all. The north side is labeled New Bethlehem, Main Street runs north and south and joins New Bethlehem with South Bethlehem, and even the names of other streets on the map are not accurate.
But it gets better, because we go on to demographics. Under "Races In South Bethlehem," it claims that 99.3% are white, non-Hispanic. with the remaining 0.7% Black. (This is the term used by the site.)
As to the ancestries of these residents, here's the alleged breakdown: German, 37.8%; Dutch, 12.6%; Irish, 11.9%; Italian, 7.0%; United States, 6.1%, and French, 4.1%.
On the basis of these data, only one conclusion is possible. Whoever compiled this website has never been to Bethlehem, PA, and knows nothing about it.
Its forum posters HAVE been here, though; and they have posted a range of views. I intend to exam some of them in the near future.