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I wish you and your family all the best. It sounds really hard for all of you right now and I hope that your next move will bring you prosperity and happiness.
I live in Albany, and I have experienced what you describe as well. Then again, I'm a Boston native, so maybe my standards are low!
Thanks for this. I am a m******* myself looking to move to Albany from the Bay Area. The job is good and Albany is only a 3 hour drive to visit my parents. Reading a thread about people hating the place gave me a little down feeling.
The weird thing about me is that I think I actually hate living in the Bay Area apart from the weather. I spent a year in Portland Or so complaining about a few months of cloudy weather is a little funny for me. It Portland it is likely to rain straight for months.
Thanks for this. I am a m******* myself looking to move to Albany from the Bay Area. The job is good and Albany is only a 3 hour drive to visit my parents. Reading a thread about people hating the place gave me a little down feeling.
The weird thing about me is that I think I actually hate living in the Bay Area apart from the weather. I spent a year in Portland Or so complaining about a few months of cloudy weather is a little funny for me. It Portland it is likely to rain straight for months.
Dinzy, if you move here from the Bay Area, you will feel like you are rolling in dough. It is so much cheaper here, and much cheaper than Boston too. The drive from Albany to Boston is so easy. You rarely hit any traffic except on big holidays. Because it's a major toll road, it is well maintained.
Living in Albany, I feel I now have a better sense of all of Massachusetts. Albany is a short drive to western Mass and the Berkshires, so we visit there a lot - something I never did when I lived in Boston except for a once-in-a-blue-moon visit to Tanglewood. Oh, and people in Western Mass aren't really M********.
Thanks for this. I am a m******* myself looking to move to Albany from the Bay Area. The job is good and Albany is only a 3 hour drive to visit my parents. Reading a thread about people hating the place gave me a little down feeling.
The weird thing about me is that I think I actually hate living in the Bay Area apart from the weather. I spent a year in Portland Or so complaining about a few months of cloudy weather is a little funny for me. It Portland it is likely to rain straight for months.
I think what determines whether people like the Albany area or not is their age/demographic, if they're able to find a good job here, or they don't mind living in smaller metro. I don't know how old you are, but I stated in another thread that Albany is an underwhelming place for young working professionals, but great for college students and families.
As for the people, I do find them more down-to-earth than people from bigger and more cosmopolitan metro areas, but I've observed a big negative attitude among many people here as well (stated by myself and other posters), which is quite annoying IMO. As for the weather, it is a contrast from the Bay Area and Boston (Boston has more sunnier days than Upstate NY), but if you've lived in Portland you probably have no problem adjusting. The COL is cake compared to the Bay Area and your money will go further, even if you're making less.
I would visit the Albany area first before you make a decision in moving there, which you probably will.
Going back to the OPs question: I was an Albany transplant - I grew up in Maryland, went to Atlanta for 3 years after college, then Albany for 8 years to work at GE, and now I've been in Austin for 8 years.
First, I can't be too disappointed about my time in Albany, as I met my wife there (she is an Albany native). And as others have found, there are fantastic outdoor activities - when the weather allows. But in the end, you can count me as one of the transplants that "couldn't wait to leave." This sentiment was shared by many former co-workers at GE; amongst the people I worked with, I'd guess that those of us that were transplants stayed an average of probably 3 years before moving to a 'more preferred' location.
I'm a believer that almost any area has its plusses and minuses, but the thing that always struck me about the Albany area was the incredible negativity that I encountered wherever I'd meet people. It's hard to describe, maybe it was all the cloudy days, but it seemed like every single day I would have conversations that left me feeling depressed. I've never encountered this in other places, but even when we go back to visit her family, we find tone and attitude of general conversation quite different. On the contrary, here in Austin I'll stand in line at the Post Office and talk about home improvement with the guy in front of me, practically make friends just walking the dog, and have generally positive conversations with my neighbors and co-workers. People are happier.
I think a lot of the natives around Albany simply don't know any better and perpetuate this attitude. I can assure you my wife has "seen the light", and saw it when we arrived in Austin and bought our first house here. When we moved in, every neighbor within a a block OR TWO stopped by with gifts in the first few days. Two years ago, we moved into a larger house - same welcome to the neighborhood effect. We are great friends with our neighbors. I don't even think we ever spoke with our neighbors in Albany, and not for lack of effort. Finally, don't even get me started on the taxes, I'll save that for another post....
I wish Albany well, as my wife still has family there and we still rent out our first-ever house. But simply stated, Albany NY has an attitude that simply does not suit me, and presumably does not suit many other transplants from "brighter" climates either.
I know this is an old thread, but it really caught my eye. What part of Maryland are you originally from?
I'm curious, because I applied for a job at GE (kind of on a whim), and now it's at the stage where they want me to come up for an interview. I'm from Maryland, too (AA county), right now living in Montgomery County. You've given some good info on the Albany area. Overall is it more suited for people coming with families. While I'm not exactly a youngster, I am single. I've been to areas that are nice and have great outdoor activities, but they are not really suited for single people.
Also, if you don't mind, what was your take on GE (even though it's been 8 years)?
Its funny to see people saying how nasty NY and NJ are LOL! If youve been born and raised around it , it doesnt bother you. We dont bother no one and no one bothers us. Some people just feel the need to be in a happy, chummy neighborhood where everyone knows your name. For the most part, that doesnt exist around here. NJ and NY people are just private and mind our own business. Im not a nasty person, I could be, but overall Im not. But ive lived next to the same people for almost a decade and we dont know each others names and we dont care. They arent insulted, Im not insulted. Its just understood that we keep to ourselves
Its funny to see people saying how nasty NY and NJ are LOL! If youve been born and raised around it , it doesnt bother you. We dont bother no one and no one bothers us. Some people just feel the need to be in a happy, chummy neighborhood where everyone knows your name. For the most part, that doesnt exist around here. NJ and NY people are just private and mind our own business. Im not a nasty person, I could be, but overall Im not. But ive lived next to the same people for almost a decade and we dont know each others names and we dont care. They arent insulted, Im not insulted. Its just understood that we keep to ourselves
When we lived in Jersey we were "acquainted" with our neighbors but our neighbors in NY are friendly and we help each other out. I've helped a neighbor build a large deck, another a dining room table and they in turn have help me lay pavers and put a fence in with 41 posts. We watch out for each other and although the age differences are all over the place we get together here and there and enjoy each other's company. We even watch each other's dogs.
I know this is an old thread, but it really caught my eye. What part of Maryland are you originally from?
I'm curious, because I applied for a job at GE (kind of on a whim), and now it's at the stage where they want me to come up for an interview. I'm from Maryland, too (AA county), right now living in Montgomery County. You've given some good info on the Albany area. Overall is it more suited for people coming with families. While I'm not exactly a youngster, I am single. I've been to areas that are nice and have great outdoor activities, but they are not really suited for single people.
Also, if you don't mind, what was your take on GE (even though it's been 8 years)?
Thanks.
Look into the Upper Union area of Schenectady, Center Square and the Delaware Avenue area of Albany or maybe even Saratoga Springs or Downtown Troy.
I'm not officially a transplant, but I did make a return after living elsewhere, for me, it's all about the weather and sunshine. I grew up in Albany, moved out west (Utah and California) after college for ten years, then returned to Albany to raise a family. Since my return, I am perpetually disappointed by the weather. Winter here in Albany just drags on and on, it seems to start in November and not end until April. Some years we get snow, others we get nothing. The actual sunny days in winter tend to be sub-zero, the rest of the days are usually overcast. Spring can be very rainy and summer can be hot as heck humid. Fall is the best time to enjoy upstate NY, but it's so short-lived. This is my only complaint about this area. Otherwise, I think the Albany has great schools, great culture, and great people. It's the days that I'm housebound and stuck inside that I get frustrated and long for the sun and decent weather to enjoy the outdoors.
To those not from the area looking at this thread, look at the replies by Sally and artistatheart and similar from Saratoga Springs about someone not finding Saratoga Springs people friendly, because that is the condescending, snobby attitude that is extremely common in Saratoga. That little city is all about money. The more you have, the "nicer" (it is fake) people there will be to you. Otherwise, you are treated as a scummy, poor outsider.
I know, I have been around the area for 22 years. Upstaters in general are not nice people, and if they are you always find out they recently transplanted to the area. But Saratoga residents are some of the absolute worst because all they care about is how deep your pockets are and how lined they are. They are worse than a gold-digging girlfriend.
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It's the weather
