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LVPC tells Northampton County committee the region will grow; housing shortage and multimunicipal planning top concerns
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Summary
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission reported projections of roughly 108,000 new residents and 80,000 new jobs regionwide by 2050, described LVPC’s housing dashboard and multi‑municipal planning work, outlined environmental and transportation initiatives, and answered committee questions about data centers and municipal plan participation.
Becky Bradley, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, told the Northampton County Economic Development Committee on March 5 that LVPC published its annual report Feb. 20 and is required to report activities under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
"We posted this to our website on February 20," Bradley said, noting LVPC works for both Lehigh and Northampton counties and partners with PennDOT and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In a presentation summarizing LVPC’s 2025 work, Matt Assad, the commission’s managing editor, said the region is projected to gain about "a 108,000 people by 2050," roughly a 19% increase, and to add about 80,000 jobs (about 25% growth). "We're actually gonna grow faster in jobs by 25%," Assad said, and he added the Lehigh Valley has become a net importer of workers, with about 4,800 more people commuting in daily than leaving.
Jill Sites, chief community and regional planner, said LVPC completed roughly 930 reviews in 2025 — including subdivision and land development, stormwater and traffic reviews — split nearly evenly between Lehigh County (498) and Northampton County (434). She said LVPC reviewed just under 5,891 housing units regionwide; if built, those units would substantially reduce the region’s estimated housing shortage of about 9,000 units but production at price points accessible to all remains a challenge.
Sites demonstrated LVPC’s public housing dashboard, which allows users to select a municipality and view current shortages, 2050 projections and affordability comparisons. Using Bethlehem Township as an example, she said the dashboard shows a current shortage of about 310 housing units and includes wage‑to‑housing cost comparisons for common occupations.
Jacob Weinberg, community and regional planner, described ongoing multi‑municipal efforts: Slate Belt (seven communities adopted a shared plan, with adoption targeted around 2027) and River Central (five municipalities coordinating ordinance updates following a 2024 plan that crosses both counties). Weinberg said the multi‑municipal approach helps communities plan for emerging land uses — including data centers — and coordinate on stormwater and housing.
"Multi municipal planning gives the communities an advantage when navigating evolving land development landscapes," Weinberg said.
Susan Meyerhoff, director of environmental planning, summarized LVPC’s regional climate and carbon reduction plan submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a watershed assessment and stormwater ordinance update covering 15 watersheds. She said LVPC is building a Lehigh Valley model (including AI tools) to understand watershed interactions and help municipalities adopt consistent ordinances.
Steve Weber, director of transportation planning, reviewed transportation work including phase 2 of an electric‑vehicle infrastructure program, a regionwide roadway functional classification update (approved by LVTS and PennDOT and forwarded to FHWA), and allocations of federal funds. Weber said LVPC helped allocate $11,386,000 to 14 projects through the Carbon Reduction Program and Transportation Alternatives Set‑Aside (TASA), and cited specific local awards: $500,000 in TASA funds for the South Bethlehem Greenway and $1,000,000 in CRP funding for east downtown pedestrian and traffic‑calming improvements. He also noted $92,846,000 in completed TIP investments and $401,659,000 in projects under construction in the region.
Committee member Jason Billett asked for historical municipal‑level housing data to be added to the dashboard and whether LVPC has strategies to reduce municipalities dropping out of multi‑municipal plans. Bradley said turnover among supervisors and a divisive proposed development in Upper Mount Bethel contributed to some communities leaving a multi‑municipal plan; she told the committee that one community now "has no comprehensive plan in violation of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code" and that a community which left the plan is now "likely to see a hyperscale data center," comments that LVPC presented as context for why coordinated planning matters.
The committee chair thanked LVPC and asked staff to return for a future discussion on data centers, electric‑vehicle infrastructure and manufactured housing. The LVPC presentation materials and the housing dashboard will be circulated to committee members.
