With storied Dutch roots, the state’s third-largest city boasts four major hospitals, 12 post-secondary institutions, and (of course) the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Minor League Baseball team. Health care, technology, energy, manufacturing, professional services, and transportation dominate the city’s robust economic scene. With major employers such as Fortune 500 companies Air Products & Chemicals (an international industrial gases company with $8.9 billion in sales in 2019 alone) and PPL Corporation (one of the largest regulated utility companies in the country), Allentown made it’s Top 3 for U.S. small cities for Prosperity (#3), including #16 in the country for Household Income. It’s also Top 10 for Safety. It’s sense of place will only improve with Allentown’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone’s recent approval of $21 million in financing for New York developers to upgrade downtown’s outdoor Grand Plaza (formerly PPL Plaza) with a food hall, outdoor area, and new retail and office space.