Celebrating Bethlehem's Southside Culture
With fall coming to the Lehigh Valley, Southsider wants to highlight the best of the summer 2024 events. The Wildlands Conservancy’s Get Out for Wellness events, in our staff’s opinion, are truly worthy of this designation as they provide the local community with opportunities to connect with one another while embracing Pennsylvania’s abundant nature. The…
Throughout Bethlehem, the story of the collaboration between activists and developer John Noble to save a chimney swift migration habitat has spread. Southsider has previously published articles that feature details about these incredible birds and the project to help them flourish. In this third panel about the Save Our Swifts initiative, panelists explored more broadly…
This featured photo, “Down ‘n’ Out” by Nicholas A. Tonelli is licensed by CC. BY 2.0. “When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” ~Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac The forests surrounding the Lehigh Valley are home to many species of wildlife…
These days, chimneys tend to be a part of a home we don’t think much about. Chimneys are simply decorative, rather than functional and necessary parts of the home. But chimneys are actually a fundamental habitat for another creature that they weren’t originally designed for. Chimneys are a central part of the larger ecosystem for…
The Lehigh Valley Sierra Club’s recent meeting was a workshop-style dialogue for Sierra Club members to consider equity in the outdoors. The discussion was premised around the question of who feels safe or unsafe in outdoor spaces and doing outdoor activities. The main goal for the meeting was to investigate how the mainstream environmentalist community…
The swirling hurricane of thousands of tiny black birds plunging into the Masonic Temple chimney at the gateway to the southside of Bethlehem is certainly a beautiful and haunting sight to see. It is also a reminder of the ways that nature all around us has adapted to the structures we build for our own…
*Map courtesy of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Bethlehem is not immune to the trouble that plagues many communities in Pennsylvania: fracked gas pipelines. Here, Southsider takes a look at the ongoing fights against the Mariner East II and the PennEast pipeline, which highlight a common concern that unites Pennsylvanians across counties. This article will…
The City of Bethlehem and consultant WSP are actively constructing the Bethlehem Climate Action Plan (CAP), and currently are seeking community feedback about their proposal. On October 7th, 2020, the City hosted the second community-wide webinar during the design process. The October CAP community meeting presented the progress for the design of the CAP based…
MAREA, or the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Association, is a nonprofit organization that has been around in Pennsylvania for 15 years. Based out of Kutztown, this organization fights to save the Earth from climate change by advocating for energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy in Pennsylvania. Their work includes extensive school and community-based education, renewable…
Inspired by Bethlehem’s previous successes in implementing more energy efficient utilities and infrastructure into municipal buildings, the city of Bethlehem is invested in doing its part to reduce its contributions to climate change and build resilience and adaptive capacity throughout the city.