What's wrong with Troy, NY? (New York, Rensselaer: city hall, theatre, school)

[d0n]

Whats wrong with Troy? Lots.

In 2004 I purchased a 3 unit rental property in Lansignburgh. Then, I bought my own home on Oakwood ave in 2005 and have been living here since. It's a little house (900sq ft) in a shabby neighborhood but it was cheap.

My biggest beef with the city of Troy is it's main artery. Have you ever tried driving up Hoosick street toward Brunswick?! If you need to go to walmart, food shopping, need a hair cut, rent a movie, go to the diner, want burger king or mcdonalds food ...you're better off jumping on Alternate 7 & going to latham. You'll be done shopping, eating etc etc etc and back home a lot faster than if you tried driving up hoosick street and back down.

Troy spent millions widening hoosick street and adding sidewalks a few years back but they didn't fix the root problem... there's STILL 2 lanes that reduce to one lane right at the north lake road intersection. The bottleneck is rediculous and inexcusable after spending so much taxpayer money supposedly alleviating the hoosick street traffic problem. I can't wait to see how the gigantic new hotel on hoosick street (across from the liquor store) is going to effect the already rediculous traffic flow?! LOL!

Hoosick isn't always jam packed but more often than not, it is. I do most of my shopping in Latham because hoosick street is such a cluster Moderator cut: inappropriate .

Oakwood ave from hoosick st. to frear park is a mess. Potholes everywhere. It's not just Oakwood ave that's pothole ridden but I live here so I notice it more.

There are no less than 3 trucking companies that use oakwood ave to get in and out of Troy... Fane, Gallivan & Troy sand / gravel. They drive their overloaded trucks up & down Oakwood Ave hill 50-100 times a day. All the homes on the oakwood ave hill are literally within 5 to 10 feet of the travel lanes. The heavy trucks hit the potholes and each house vibrates as the truck zooms down the hill. If the vibrating houses weren't bad enough... residents have to listen to those rediculously loud "jake-brakes" all day and night. Yes, even at 3am these trucks go down the hill with their exhausts sounding like an army helicopter flying 10 feet above the road. The truck drivers have no regard for sleeping residents.

I have been in contact with the mayors office about getting oakwood ave resurfaced. I was told all last year that it was scheduled to be done in 2008. Surprise... It didn't get done. I contacted them again this spring and was told by the mayor that it is scheduled to be resurfaced this year. If they would just repave the street 90% of the home vibrations from the trucks hitting the potholes would be gone.

I asked about having the oakwood ave hill designated as a "no engine brake" zone between certain hours... like, 6pm to 6 am. Many cities and towns with truck traffic do this. My suggestion fell on deaf ears.

Troys taxes are really high and going up like crazy. In 2006 property/school taxes on both my home & rental property almost doubled! Water, sewer & recycling fees keep going up too. I wouldn't mind all these increases if I thought I was getting more for my money.

I don't get to the downtown area often because there's nothing there that really draws me. And when I do go downtown, navigating the 1 way streets and finding parking is always a pain in the arse.

I'm looking at other homes in quieter areas of Troy but the taxes are so darned high, who can afford to buy? I looked at a place today on 23rd street. Not a particularly nice home but it is in a quiet area. Asking price $199k. Taxes $4600 a year! WTF? I'm not going to pay almost $400 a month just in property/school taxes. No way. Especially, now that governor pattersons new budget has ELIMINATED THE STAR REBATES.

[d0n]

I just got a notification in the mail today that says Troy property & school taxes for 2009 are going up 4%.

4% doesn't sound like all that much until you realize that the taxes keep going up that much or more every single year.

No wonder people are moving out of NY state in droves.

[vintagechic]

i moved to troy and opened a business here 6 months ago- the town is getting better and it is so pretty with all the old architecture-all the business owners i met are really friendly and coming from long island i find it really pleasant that people will look you in the face and say hello, however the other day i made a delivery to delmar and it was reallllly nice- i would move there and raise a family there as well, albany has some rough areas too! best of luck

[sandykk]

My son is looking at colleges and is considering RPI. We went on a campus tour in April but they didn't mention anything about Troy, except that the town had built a stairway to make it easier for the students to get into Troy.

We are from a small town in Connecticut and I have a few questions about Troy. I've read here about the good and bad sections of Troy, but not being from the area I don't know which "section" the area near the RPI campus is (north, south, etc.) and what is it like? If they built the stairway so the students could get into Troy easier does that mean it makes it easier for criminals to get onto the RPI campus, or is there a problem with this? Also, since they can't have cars on campus, are there stores they can walk to easily from Campus? Apparently a large percentage of students live off campus in frat houses; where are these located?

I know schools always want to promote the positive side of the area, that's why I would love to hear from people in the area who actually live there or go to RPI. I know Yale has a great reputation, but I wouldn't necessarily want my son living in New Haven.

Thanks for any replies.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by sandykk

My son is looking at colleges and is considering RPI. We went on a campus tour in April but they didn't mention anything about Troy, except that the town had built a stairway to make it easier for the students to get into Troy.

We are from a small town in Connecticut and I have a few questions about Troy. I've read here about the good and bad sections of Troy, but not being from the area I don't know which "section" the area near the RPI campus is (north, south, etc.) and what is it like? If they built the stairway so the students could get into Troy easier does that mean it makes it easier for criminals to get onto the RPI campus, or is there a problem with this? Also, since they can't have cars on campus, are there stores they can walk to easily from Campus? Apparently a large percentage of students live off campus in frat houses; where are these located?

I know schools always want to promote the positive side of the area, that's why I would love to hear from people in the area who actually live there or go to RPI. I know Yale has a great reputation, but I wouldn't necessarily want my son living in New Haven.

Thanks for any replies.

I'm sure about all of that, but here is a street view of the area of Troy by RPI: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, Rensselaer, New York 12180 - Google Maps

Here's more on Troy: http://www.troyny.gov/neighborhoods.html

[peteandpuff]

I am totally amazed at this Comment. I have lived in Troy, my entire life, born in South Troy and in all those years was never able to find a 'downtown' in South Troy. And also since when are there 'very respectable gangs'? I am staying in Troy, away from the Crime and shootings and killings in Albany and Schenectady. In Schenectady the cops are worst than the Criminals.

[hmtklein]

I absolutely love that block of restaurants near Browns Brewery... back decks, riverviews... Troy has assets, I think in 10 -15 years it will be pretty slick in Troy if investors step to the plate.

[peteandpuff]

Originally Posted by sandykk

My son is looking at colleges and is considering RPI. We went on a campus tour in April but they didn't mention anything about Troy, except that the town had built a stairway to make it easier for the students to get into Troy.

We are from a small town in Connecticut and I have a few questions about Troy. I've read here about the good and bad sections of Troy, but not being from the area I don't know which "section" the area near the RPI campus is (north, south, etc.) and what is it like? If they built the stairway so the students could get into Troy easier does that mean it makes it easier for criminals to get onto the RPI campus, or is there a problem with this? Also, since they can't have cars on campus, are there stores they can walk to easily from Campus? Apparently a large percentage of students live off campus in frat houses; where are these located?

I know schools always want to promote the positive side of the area, that's why I would love to hear from people in the area who actually live there or go to RPI. I know Yale has a great reputation, but I wouldn't necessarily want my son living in New Haven.

Thanks for any replies.

RPI is a fabulous College and anyone would be honored to be accepted there. As for the 'staircase' the APPROACH was built around 1914 or earlier, it is not 'new' and has been used for years as a shortcut to downtown. RPI has bought most of the real estate in that area and either level and rebuilt or used in some shape of form. Troy is a great place to live, I have been here my entire life and been to many others. EVERY town or City has it great and not so great spots. Your neighborhood is what you make it. The WORST thing about Troy? THe influx of Absentee Landlords trying to make their fortunes on the backs of the Troy residents. We are trying to run them out of town just as quickly as possible!

[7 Wishes]

I went to RPI (albeit about 20 years ago) and while parts of it made me think like a small version of "average" parts of the Bronx, I found it to be a safer area than the neighborhoods just outside downtown Albany and many sections of Schenectady (or Watervliet across the river, but it wasn't that bad there either).

The dorms are perfectly safe, and the apts. and multi-family houses in the Burdett Ave. area (where I lived 3 of my 4 years), I found that to be a really nice, quiet area of the city. And many areas where the majority of the population are RPI or Sage students in off-campus apartments are fine too.

I stopped by there last month on the way to a business trip in Burlington, VT and in my view it looked even cleaner and safer than I remember it (the Approach was a wreck in my day, for example).

It's a great school with a fabulous reputation, I wouldn't turn it down over the area. Good luck!

[navyjay]

I was born and raised in troy, i went to school at lansingburgh but i spent my summers at troy central little league at my grandmothers house. I have lived in troy until i joined the navy and now that i am stationed in CT i love to visit home as often as i can. the past 7 years that i have been in CT i have noticed that when i come home to visit there is something new. Downtown is starting to attract a lot more businesses than i have seen in a long time, and i noticed that they are converting the old stanley's building into condo's? i still have family that live in the north and south end of troy and i just love coming home to visit. and i take pride in the fact that i am from troy because there is a lot of history in troy. oh and people that aren't from troy and are in the military thinks that it is crazy that uncle sam was a real person from a real place.