Honoring the past while embracing a dynamic future
At the confluence of the Lehigh and Delaware rivers sits Easton, a small historic town on the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border and nearly equidistant from Philadelphia and New York City. Easton is renowned as one of three places where the Declaration of Independence was publicly read days after its signing in July 1776. It also emerged as an industrial center due to its location on two rivers, the construction of the Lehigh Canal and the building of five major railroads through the area, making Easton a hub for transportation and manufacturing.
Easton, however, is not stuck in the past; today, its vibrant downtown offers over 100 shops and eateries. Centre Square, where the historic reading occurred, is a center of community life, featuring the Crayola Experience, an interactive learning playground with over 20 exhibits. The Easton Public Market, which opened near the square, features food vendors, a farm stand and a full-service grocery store. “The city has done a tremendous job of revitalizing the downtown,” says Associate Broker Desiree Carroll with Keller Williams Northampton. Carroll remembers how distressed the area was when she started selling real estate in 2007. “Now there are tons of restaurants and things to do.”
With a lower tax rate than New Jersey, a population of nearly 30,000 and ample amenities for active lifestyles, Easton has become a favorite of commuters. “Homebuyers who want more than a suburban lifestyle are attracted to the walkability, breweries, riverfront and historic homes in Easton,” says Broker/Owner Clay Mitman of Berkshire Hathaway Paul Ford Realtors. A fifth-generation resident, Mitman is proud to say that his extended family lives no more than six blocks from each other in College Hill, an Easton neighborhood. “It’s exciting to see young families in their 20s gutting and restoring homes, embracing the history around them. It’s the perfection of imperfection that makes this community so special.”
The city has capitalized on its waterfront location recently, building new apartment buildings with rooftop terraces, such as the Watermark and the Commodore. These buildings take advantage of the city skyline and waterfront views of the Lehigh and Delaware rivers. Hearst Publishing, which produces specialty magazines like Bicycling, chose to locate in Easton because of the city’s biking trails and the community’s willingness to test new equipment and write reviews. Lafayette College, another major employer, has supported the city by developing several properties downtown. “There are few cities where you can walk from home and go trout fishing, bike for 5 or 10 miles, and see a concert in the park,” Mitman says. With a high temperature of 84 degrees in July and a low of 22 degrees in January, the challenging part of living in Easton reserving a spot in the Poconos, about 50 miles north, during the height of ski season.
The Josiah White II is a part of the National Canal Boat Museum at High Moore Park.
The beautiful Center Square serves as the hub of shopping and dining in Easton.
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Historic rowhomes and houses built around the turn of the century
The Downtown Historic District, College Hill, South Side and West Ward make up the four main neighborhoods in Easton. Most feature a mixture of townhouses and single-family homes built around 1900 when the city was booming as a coal, iron and steel transportation hub.
Victorian and colonial-style rowhomes banket the downtown and are a popular housing option. They can feature original hardwood floors, high ceilings and oversized windows. While some have seen better days and are priced to sell, from $50,000 for complete rehabs, others are magnificent, fully restored urban mansions that cost up to $750,000. Buyers will also find single-family homes built around the turn of the century west of 6th Street in the West Ward area. Unlike their townhouse neighbors, these homes are detached and offer side yards or exceptional front lawns. Overall, single-family homes in West Ward can range from $100,000 to $450,000
College Hill, north of downtown, gets its name from Lafayette College. Historic single-family homes and estates in College Hill offer more acreage and often feature driveways, detached garages and backyard entertainment spaces. They run from $300,000 to $900,000. South of the Lehigh River, Easton’s South Side District features townhouses and single-family homes less tightly packed than downtown. Here, front lawns lengthen to 10 feet deep, and residents are never too far from local playgrounds, sports fields and bike paths. Homes in South Side list for between $150,000 and $550,000.
Historic brick row homes line the residential streets around downtown Easton.
Row homes make up the majority of housing options close to downtown Easton.
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Parks and trails along Easton rivers and creeks
Easton’s riverfront is popular for its beauty, water activities and special events. Boaters can access the Lehigh and Delaware rivers through launches in Scott Park. The park also features a bronze statue of Larry Homes, the heavyweight boxing champion who grew up in Easton, overlooking the Lehigh Dam. An open-air amphitheater near the dam hosts “Live at the Falls,” a summer concert series held on Thursday evenings. Next door, Riverside Park has a -seat, covered-stage amphitheater. Walking paths and bikeways connect the parks, and both offer large playgrounds.
Cyclists can challenge themselves on the D and L Trail. This 150-mile bikeway hugs the bend in the rivers at Easton, beginning in Bristol north of Philadelphia on the Delaware River and continuing through Easton along the Lehigh River to well beyond Jim Thorp. To the south, the National Canal Museum sits in Hugh Moore Park on over 2 miles of restored canal. The park offers canal boat rides, a dog park and bike, canoe, paddleboat and kayak rentals.
On the north side of town, Bushkill Creek divides Easton's downtown and College Hill areas and offers some of the best trout fishing in Pennsylvania. Three century-old dams are being removed to restore the creek's wetlands and natural flow. The Karl Stirner Arts Trail follows the creek for nearly two miles. Named after an Easton sculptor who promoted the city as an arts destination, the trail connects Lafayette College’s main campus to the redeveloped Simon Silk Mill on 13th Street and Simon Boulevard. The Easton YMCA is nearby, featuring a heated pool, full-court gymnasium, racquet court and fitness center. Hackett Park, too, has an 18-hole Ultimate Frisbee Course, baseball and softball fields, and hiking trails and bikeway access.
Bikers love the 165 miles D&L Trail that runs through South Side Easton.
A view of the river makes Scott Park a great place for a chat.
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Downtown restaurants, shops and attractions
While Easton offers several retail centers and malls, its main shopping and dining district is downtown. Brewpubs mix with Mediterranean bakeries, and premium steakhouses occupy the same historic buildings as chocolatiers. The Easton Public Market, responsible for some of this diversity, opened on Northampton Street in 2016 as an extension of the Easton Farmers Market, the country’s oldest continually operated farmers market, bringing entrepreneurs, farmers and chefs together to wield their craft. The result is a lively and industrial space with wood floors, high ceilings and high-quality goods that grab the attention and tastebuds.
Many buildings downtown testify to the city’s past, such as the 1753 Bachmann Publick House, a tavern visited by George Washington and Ben Franklin and the long-time residence of George Taylor, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Antique stores are another common business downtown, such as Salvage Goods, a dealer that visits auctions, estate sales and clean-outs to salvage the best items. Shoppers will also run into murals, whimsical sculptures and innovative bike racks on their walks downtown. Art lovers can enjoy the quaint shops and galleries during Fourth Fridays. Many establishments feature live music or fun activities.
At the Crayola Experience, a working Crayola factory in Centre Square, visitors can get an in-depth look at what it takes to create this unique drawing tool. At the store onsite, guests can create a coloring book and take home a personalized crayon. The State Theatre Center for the Arts nearby features over 100 live performances each season, including comedy shows, ballets, musical performances and illusionists. The Sigal Museum is dedicated to preserving the pre- and post-European history of Northampton County through artifacts, textiles, farming implements, and furniture. The Nurture Nature Center, founded in 2007 to educate the public on flood risk after repeated flooding by the Delaware River, has received approval to build a new $8 million planetarium downtown. The new theater will feature stars, underwater scenes and other science-related topics.
State Center for the Arts serves as the center of artistic performances in Easton.
The Easton Public Market is a local hot spot for groceries, gifts, and lunch in Easton.
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Easton Farmers Market and other local favorite events
Easton is home to the oldest continuously operated open-air farmers market in the United States. Started in 1752, the year the city was founded, the Easton Farmers Market features fresh produce, meat, eggs, bread, honey, wine and spirits on Saturday mornings from May to December and on the 300 block of Northampton Street in front of the Easton Public Market from January to April.
The city also celebrates its history in early July on Easton Heritage Day. The Declaration of Independence is read again in Centre Square, accompanied by kids' activities and live music. Centre Square is also where the town’s Garlic Festival is held in October, with cooking competitions and food, and where the PA Bacon Fest takes place in November, which brings over 100,000 spectators, 150 vendors and over 15 musical acts together for the two-day event.
Residents flock to the Easton Farmers' Market May through December.
Locals enjoy live music at the Easton Farmers' Market.
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Easton schools and football rivalries
The schools that serve Easton belong to the Easton Area School District, which receives a B from Niche. Enrolling nearly 3,000 students, the district includes Easton Area High School, Easton Area Middle School and seven elementary schools. Highly diverse, with minorities representing almost half the student population, the school system encompasses rural, suburban and urban communities, including Easton and its surrounding townships. Seventh through twelfth graders can participate in district athletics, with 32 boys and 28 girls teams, all part of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s District XI. The high school’s football team has won 24 conference championships. It is known for its long-standing rivalry with Phillipsburg High School in neighboring Phillipsburg, New Jersey, just across the Delaware River. The teams play on Thanksgiving Day at Lafayette College’s Fisher Stadium every year.
Located in the College Hill area of Eaton, Lafayette College is a private liberal arts school ranked the nation’s 31st best liberal arts college in 2024 by U.S. News and World Report. Lafayette has a student body of over 2,700 and requires students to live on campus for their first three years. Its football team, too, has a notable rivalry with Lehigh University’s team, located in neighboring Bethlehem.
Easton Area High School excels in higher learning and athletics.
Easton Area Middle school serves 1,874 students in grades 6-8.
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Getting around Easton by foot, car or bus
Most streets in Easton are lined with sidewalks, and neighborhoods feature parks and businesses, making these communities walkable places to live. While the city has no marked bike lanes, several trails exist, such as the D and L Trail/Lehigh Canal Towpath along the Lehigh and Delaware rivers. Scott and Riverside parks, the Easton Cemetery and the Lafayette College campus are more areas with extensive bike paths.
Interstate 78 runs along the south side of the city and connects Easton to New York City, 75 miles away. U.S. Route 22, also known as the Lehigh Valley Thruway, travels east-west and is the closest highway to downtown. It takes drivers into Allentown, a 20-mile drive west, and intersects with Interstate 476 on the west side of Allentown, which takes drivers to Philadelphia, a 55-mile drive south.
The Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (or LANTA) provides local bus service, with routes connecting Easton to Bethlehem and Allentown. Easton has no passenger rail service, but travelers can catch a flight from Lehigh Valley International Airport, 15 miles west, with nonstop flights to 14 U.S. destinations.
On average, homes in Easton, PA sell after 28 days on the market compared to the national average of 50 days. The median sale price for homes in Easton, PA over the last 12 months is $360,000, up 4% from the median home sale price over the previous 12 months.
Ayon is the Director of Keller Williams Real Estate -Ayon A. Codner. Ayon formed a relationship with Keller Williams Allentown Market Center in 2015, and the Company is currently producing outstanding gross commission sales year after year. Ayon has more than six years of experience in Commercial and Residental investments, landlord and tenant representation, lease/contract negotiations, Estate Sales, and 1031 Exchanges. He has completed multiple transactions with quality Tenants such as CHS/Easton Hospital, barre3, Blue Rhino Propane, Boost Mobile, Starbucks, Advance Auto Parts, T-Mobile, H&R Block, Metro PCS, Dickey’s BBQ, Wing Stop, Sleepy Cat Urban Winery, Udder Bar Ice Cream, Red Crab Juicy Seafood, Grocery Outlet, Health Network Labs and many more.
Ayon also handles investment/ Probate sales in the Lehigh Valley. Before becoming a PA licensed Commercial Agent, Ayon was employed as an investment property analyst in NYC, where he was responsible for property valuations in multiple real estate disciplines, including multi-family investments and commercial properties. Ayon is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and a proud member of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Disclaimer: Certain information contained herein is derived from information provided by parties other than Homes.com. Our sources include: Accuweather, Public Records and Neustar. All information provided is deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed to be accurate and should be independently verified.
