According to point2,  there are “currently, a total of 81 industrial listings for rent in Lehigh Valley, PA. Availabilities add up to a grand total of 14,275,749 square feet across all listed spaces”.

Yet with all this available space, warehouses/logistics centers continue to take over farmland and open space in the Lehigh Valley. The negative results are loss of farmland,  increased truck traffic contributing to air pollution, water runoff problems, and sometimes sinkholes. The concentration and proximity of diesel trucks and the warehousing facilities that service them threaten the health of people living and working near busy roads and logistics facilities. The trucks that carry freight to be warehoused (and trucks idling engines at or near warehouse sites) pollute by emitting small toxic particles called particulate matter (PM) into the air. Warehouse centers also deprive local communities of land that could be used for future green space, schools and public buildings, and new residential, retail, and commercial centers. Acres and acres of formerly agricultural land located next to residential areas have been rezoned to permit heavy industrial uses. Once warehouses are allowed, city and county officials approve new warehouse developments very close to existing residences, schools, and other sensitive receptors, even though additional scientific research shows that health risks from particulates increase significantly when pollution sources are close to where people live.
Conclusion: Corporations build and operate warehouses according to their own logistical needs and profit motives. Clusters of warehouses develop where land is located close to transportation infrastructure and is relatively inexpensive. But people also live near many warehouses, and warehouses bring pollution and noise, shape traffic patterns, and influence future economic and community development options. Decision-makers need to update land-use rules and conditional use permits to ensure that warehouses are better neighbors, and, when appropriate, block new warehouses that would unfairly burden communities already facing polluted air.
Storing Harm: the Health and Community Impacts of Goods Movement Warehousing and Logistics THE Impact Project Policy Brief Series