COVID-19 notwithstanding, we enjoy an occasional night on the town in Allentown, maybe taking in an event or a Phantoms hockey game at the PPL Center, or perhaps we enjoy a few hours in the City of Brotherly Love to see an Eagles, Phillies, 76ers or an event at the Kimmel Center.

Given the violence which has occurred in these two major cities recently, many of us must now think twice as to whether it is safe to enjoy these pleasures.

The fear is that the public’s impression of Allentown as a dangerous city will halt revitalization progress that has turned the city into a national example of how public and private partnerships come together for the common good.

As recently as 2017, Allentown was named as one of the top cities to live in by U.S. News & World Report. But now, your chance of being a victim of crime in the Allentown metro area may be as high as 1 in 34 in some neighborhoods, according to one recent crime study.

Newly installed Mayor Matt Tuerk, the first Allentown chief executive of Hispanic descent, is adamant at wanting to get to the root cause of crime in his city.

“My belief is the best remedy for crime is investing in our neighborhoods and health and development, not just throwing more police at the issue,” Tuerk said. “The idea is to interrupt the transmission of the disease of violence.” A Democrat, Tuerk said he is neither a believer in nor a supporter of the “defund the police” crowd.

It is sad to see what is happening in Allentown, because the city is in the midst of a continuing building boom with its downtown and riverfront development, trendy restaurants and PPL center, venue for many big-name entertainment acts that have attracted thousands to the downtown area.

It wasn’t that many years ago when area residents would not set foot in Allentown, branding it as a dangerous place to be, especially after dark. This attitude was gradually shifting as the city spruced itself up, and the crime rate dropped dramatically.

But now, all of those past fears are resurfacing, and city officials are concerned that the gun violence that has sprung up during the past several years will undo much of the progress of the last decade.

What is especially troubling is the randomness of some of the shootings in populated neighborhoods traveled by visitors to the city, the same issue that dogs visitors to Philadelphia.

Philadelphia’s murder rate last year easily surpassed the previous record of 503 with more than 560 losing their lives, including children and teens.

According to City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, chair of the city council’s Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention, reducing gun violence should be the number one priority for all city leaders this year. “There are at least 560 families who have lost a loved one in 2021, and that is totally unacceptable,” he said.

I agree with Kenyatta that the city remains in a “full-on crisis” as we enter the first month of a new year.

Back in Allentown then-Mayor Ray O’Connell, who was defeated by Tuerk in the Democratic mayoral race last spring, members of the city council and concerned citizens group met to try to come up with a game plan to reduce the violence and return a sense of normalcy to the city.

In one of the first meetings, as city officials and community members were in session, a man was shot at an apartment complex not far from the meeting site. He did not have life-threatening injuries, but it underscored the irony of the situation.

There were about a dozen shooting deaths and more than 50 shooting incidents reported in Allentown last year. The situation is complicated by a revolving door of police chiefs. There have been six in six years, and this parade of top cops has had its impact on continuity in trying to come up with a workable plan to reduce the violence and on the morale of the city’s police force.

Allentown can ballyhoo all of its development progress, but if it cannot get a grip on the violence which makes visitors think twice about visiting the city, all of the development in the world will be for nothing.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.