Edit Desk: Out in Bethlehem they’re killing time

“Well, we’re living here in Allentown / 

And they’re closing all the factories down /

Out in Bethlehem, they’re killing time /

Filling out forms, standing in line”

To those who don’t recognize these lyrics, they come from Billy Joel’s hit song “Allentown,” which was actually written about Bethlehem.

At first, I couldn’t believe it. What was so special about Bethlehem that inspired Billy Joel to dedicate a song to it?

Like many students, when I first came to Lehigh, I took South Bethlehem for granted. Growing up next to Rutgers, the idea of a “college town” wasn’t anything special to me. It’s just what I was used to. 

When applying to colleges, I knew exactly what I wanted — a beautiful campus, a medium-sized school and a place where I would not run into anyone from my high school.

While proximity to home was something I considered, precise location was not.

After a self-guided tour in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I applied early decision to Lehigh in hopes of quickly wrapping up my college admission process. 

Lehigh checked all my boxes, and besides, what did it matter if I didn’t know much about Bethlehem? It’s not like I would interact with the city much anyways.

After my first semester with The Brown and White, I decided I didn’t want to only write about Lehigh news. I applied to be an associate editor for the Community Pages on a whim, and to my surprise, I got the role.

Being a part of the Community Pages team has transformed the way I view Bethlehem, teaching me more about its history than I thought possible. 

This past semester, I wrote a feature story on South Bethlehem’s National Museum of Industrial History. The museum honors the work of former workers from Bethlehem Steel, one of the largest steel production companies in history. 

Between Bethlehem Steel’s abundance of job opportunities and the number of families desperate to find work, Bethlehem quickly became a recognizable name on the map, even when Bethlehem Steel shut down in 2003. 

Like Joel sings, they were closing all the factories down. They killed time. They filled out forms. They stood in line.

Through all this, the city’s legacy continues to live on.

The SteelStacks remain on the border of South Bethlehem, a symbol of what Bethlehem Steel once was. While some may refer to it as an eyesore, it reminds me of what used to exist before my time at Lehigh.

For some Lehigh students, Bethlehem appears to just be a city outside of Allentown. Without knowledge of its history, Bethlehem is no different from any other small city in the surrounding area.

If my work with the Community Pages has taught me anything, it has been to seek out the beauty around me. As I slowly approach the halfway point of my time at Lehigh, I have a newfound appreciation for Bethlehem that I didn’t see when I first came here. 

During my freshman year, I rarely left campus — I never saw the point in leaving. To me, Lehigh University was my home, and Bethlehem just happened to be the city it was placed in. 

Today, I own a Bethlehem library card. I know the path of the Greenway by heart. I have favorite local restaurants, and I know how to drive to them without directions.

I appreciate and admire Bethlehem’s history, and I work with the Community Pages to share my discoveries with others.

I encourage my peers to leave campus and explore the shops, restaurants and events within the community we’re so lucky to be a part of. 

For many, the city you live in during your college years is nothing more than a transient stop in your lives — a place you reside in for a time then and leave behind once you graduate.

In high school, I didn’t understand why people visited their college towns or chose to live there post-graduation. 

Now, I see Bethlehem as being more than just where I go to school. I see it as my home, and I finally understand why Billy Joel would write a song about it.