Outside set out to answer a simple question with a hard answer: what actually makes a great waterfront? In its feature “How to Create the Perfect Waterfront,” the magazine examined the design choices that set a riverfront people love apart from one they pass by, and included The Waterfront in Allentown among the projects getting it right.

The piece lands on a principle that has guided this district from the start. A waterfront cannot be only a place to work. As designer Alex Krieger told Outside, “People attract other people. If your waterfront is just a place to work, there won’t be anyone there in the evenings or on weekends.” A riverbank that empties at 5 p.m. is a missed opportunity, not a neighborhood.

The Waterfront was planned to answer that directly. Its designers set aside more than a third of the project’s square footage for housing, a deliberate choice to keep the riverbank populated after the workday ends and through the weekend. The former industrial site was never meant to be read as an office park. It was meant to read as a place to live.

That mix is the point. The Waterfront brings together Class A office space, homes, dining, retail promenades, and open recreation along the western shore of the Lehigh River. River House anchors the residential side with 201 apartments at 30 East Allen Street. Offices anchor the working side. The river ties both together.

There is research behind the instinct. A growing body of work on what scientists call blue space, the lakes, rivers, and coastlines near where people live, links time spent near water to lower stress and better day-to-day wellbeing. A waterfront that invites people down to the water’s edge is not just attractive; it is good for the people who use it.

When complete, The Waterfront is planned to support more than 2,800 permanent jobs and become home to roughly 750 residents, with public programming designed to draw thousands more to the river’s edge across the year. A great waterfront, in the end, is one that people choose to spend their free time on. That is the standard Outside set, and it is the one this district is built to meet.

Walk the River Walk and see the principle in practice. Schedule a visit.

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