Coopersburg has an identity problem. It is where I live, a quiet little town that seems to suddenly be booming, much to my chagrin. We moved here after living in Manhattan for three years and after I had lived on Long Island (mostly in famous Massapequa where Seinfelds and Baldwins and many other musicians, comedians and actors are made) for most of my life.

So, the “quiet little town” part was appealing after the tired old traffic jams of Long Island and the noise and mayhem of NYC. I loved both LI and NYC but movement was a chore. I needed to be free so a job offer in eastern PA seemed like a great idea back in 1994.

It still is, but quiet little towns don’t stay that way for long. Oh no, their planning commissioners and township boards of supervisors see to that, you betcha. Whoa, just about all the supervisors have real estate business ties or are contractors. Which way do you think this is going to go? Remain quiet or bust out developing every square inch of God’s little acres across our town? It’s not just here, it is everywhere, your town too.

Recently, we got ourselves a bull in Coopersburg. Well, not really a bull. It’s a steer but it also has an udder. And it’s a huge bronze statue. Oh, and it faces the wrong way. Green Acres anyone? Apparently, when they commissioned the steer to be sculpted and bronzed, it was supposed to face Main Street. But when it was installed two years ago in the new town square, they realized it faced away from Main Street. So, reverse it, right? Oh no, then the bull’s or steer’s ass would be facing Main Street instead of its proud head with its huge horns. And that udder. As we all know, you cannot have it all but that bull or steer certainly does have it all. This is a dilemma!

Let me tell you a little bit about Coopersburg. They have recently installed beautiful lampposts along Main Street and it truly looks nice. It now looks like Sheriff Andy’s Mayberry RFD but without Deputy Barney Fife, Floyd the Barber and Otis the drunk. But the lampposts add a nice touch of light during the night. So much so that residents along Main St. now complain there is too much light at night and since their homes are close to the sidewalk, now they are having trouble falling asleep! You just can’t please everyone.

The male steer with the udder hanging down is situated across from the Police Station and the Fire Station and across the street from the Wells Fargo bank. My son is the Personal Banker at this location and he cannot believe the number of bank customers who have come up to him and complain about the statue and the controversy it has caused. They care more about the misguided steer than they do about their deposits at the bank, or so it would seem. Of course, his bank has nothing to do with the statue or the controversy, but people like to vent to their bankers, apparently.

Coopersburg is trying, though, as all our towns across this USA are trying. The bull/steer on Main St. is part of Coopersburg Borough and according to the 2020 US Census, its population is 2,447. But we do not live in the borough, we live well beyond in the rolling hills of Coopersburg among Upper Saucon Township. There are thousands of more people and homes beyond the borough but we are told our mailing address is Coopersburg. Okay, I am a former Demographer who has worked with reams of US Census Bureau data back when I conducted a lot of market research. And I cannot find an exact figure for how big my own town is (non-borough). So, we’ll chalk this up to small town politics.

So why a steer or bull, you ask? Originally known as Fryburg (Joseph Fry, Jr was a hotel owner and distillery owner in the early 1800s) and in 1832, the village was renamed Coopersburg for Peter Cooper. I guess Peter had more money than Joe Fry – or better PR.

But a descendant named T.S. Cooper was a livestock dealer known as “the Jersey Cattle King.” Aha!

I’m sure T.S. is spinning in his grave if he is aware of the statue and controversy based on his early success with the steers.

So, Coopersburg, is this the best we can do? With all the progress you want, do we really need to look to the past in order to look to the future?

When we moved here, I’d never seen so many golf courses per capita in such a tiny area. Now, most are gone, gone to the developers who made lucrative offers that could not be refused by struggling golf course owners. Their land had become too valuable. Now our area has multiplied and the quiet little town is getting closer to a Long Island metropolis.

The traffic is still a lot less than it is on LI but it is also a lot more than it used to be. Houses are going up everywhere here. Big sprawling acres of green land – gone.

But it is part of the Southern Lehigh School District and when we moved here, we were impressed that it had the highest rate of graduates going on to college. So that was a strong positive.

And recently, Coopersburg was identified as the Lehigh Valley town with the highest home prices! How the hell did that happen? Center Valley (our closest community) was always supposed to be where the money is. But – this explosion of all these new homes selling like hotcakes including many in brand new 55+ communities – well that helps explain why the average price of a home here has shot up.

In the meantime, we can hope the town elders figure which way to orient the steer. I guess whoever the artist was who created the design has not responded to criticism or to redoing the job.  No matter, there’s bigger fish to fry. Like figuring out how to get people to Main Street. After all, it is about a half mile from the main thoroughfare that runs through town, a 4-lane highway, route 309. That’s where the real action and all the shopping is. Main St, used to be the main byway in America; no more, now it is relegated to a historic marker to center parades and patriotic holidays around: community pride. Our steer will be watching the celebrations, even if its head and ass are pointed in the wrong direction.

Chris Ebel
8/16/23

Photo credit: WDIY