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I was curious about this, because every other major/mid-major metro in Upstate NY has one except for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area.
Also, for some reason, Watertown has the NYS Zoo, which is at Thompson Park in that city. You would think it would be in Albany instead of Watertown.
I've wondered this for years! And I grew up and lived in the area for over 35 years. Never made any sense whatsoever to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Q44
The Catskill Game Farm operated in the area for quite a while until it closed down a few years ago.
Now ask yourself - Albany, Schenectady and Troy? Three cities that can barely scrape by. Who would have paid for it? Where would it be and who would maintain it?
Actually, the Catskill Game Farm was not that close to Albany or the Capitol Region. It was 45 minutes or more from Albany.
There IS a STATE zoo. The STATE aka the taxpayers pay for it! As do those who visit it just like I did yesterday.
It's not like the state never spent MILLIONS on the state buildings in downtown Albany....you know that little thing called the Empire State Plaza....has the Egg and the NYS Museum.....little teeny, tiny things.
I know of two other states who have GORGEOUS STATE museums, zoos, and aquariums. North Carolina and South Carolina both have wonderful facilities. And I don't have much pleasant to say about SC. CHK knows that!
The secret to how they made these wonderful things happen? PRIVATE funding. They basically had salespeople get donations aka huge checks to help pay for exhibits. And all of those museums are 100% better than the musty, basement, stinky, OLD, worn down museum the EMPIRE state has. It's pretty pathetic when you visit other states and see what they can do. The clowns in Albany don't appear to do a damn thing.
I've wondered this for years! And I grew up and lived in the area for over 35 years. Never made any sense whatsoever to me.
Actually, the Catskill Game Farm was not that close to Albany or the Capitol Region. It was 45 minutes or more from Albany.
There IS a STATE zoo. The STATE aka the taxpayers pay for it! As do those who visit it just like I did yesterday.
It's not like the state never spent MILLIONS on the state buildings in downtown Albany....you know that little thing called the Empire State Plaza....has the Egg and the NYS Museum.....little teeny, tiny things.
I know of two other states who have GORGEOUS STATE museums, zoos, and aquariums. North Carolina and South Carolina both have wonderful facilities. And I don't have much pleasant to say about SC. CHK knows that!
The secret to how they made these wonderful things happen? PRIVATE funding. They basically had salespeople get donations aka huge checks to help pay for exhibits. And all of those museums are 100% better than the musty, basement, stinky, OLD, worn down museum the EMPIRE state has. It's pretty pathetic when you visit other states and see what they can do. The clowns in Albany don't appear to do a damn thing.
You know why private funding was available? Because those capital cities (specifically Raleigh) are four times as big as Albany! Raleigh's twice as big as Buffalo. Large companies, rich people and big charitable organizations are based there. What do you think Price Chopper and Stewart's are going to foot the bill to build an aquarium and a zoo? The State has had to step in because no one else is doing it.
Honestly for a city of it's size Albany should thank it's lucky stars we have the Egg, the State Museum, The State Capital, The Albany Institute, etc. To give perspective, Albany has about the same population as Davenport, Iowa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
You know why private funding was available? Because those capital cities (specifically Raleigh) are four times as big as Albany! Raleigh's twice as big as Buffalo. Large companies, rich people and big charitable organizations are based there. What do you think Price Chopper and Stewart's are going to foot the bill to build an aquarium and a zoo? The State has had to step in because no one else is doing it.
Honestly for a city of it's size Albany should thank it's lucky stars we have the Egg, the State Museum, The State Capital, The Albany Institute, etc. To give perspective, Albany has about the same population as Davenport, Iowa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Keep in mind the population of the Albany metro area is about 9x the population of the city itself. And if you expand the metro area to the Albany-Schenectady-Amsterdam CSA, the population is 1,118,095, which is over 11x the population of Albany.
Yeah, the city of Albany itself isn't big, but the shear volume of people traveling in and out of it everyday is huge, hence why the Northway basically comes to a standstill during every rush hour.
Keep in mind the population of the Albany metro area is about 9x the population of the city itself. And if you expand the metro area to the Albany-Schenectady-Amsterdam CSA, the population is 1,118,095, which is over 11x the population of Albany.
Yeah, the city of Albany itself isn't big, but the shear volume of people traveling in and out of it everyday is huge, hence why the Northway basically comes to a standstill during every rush hour.
I see that. But do people from Amsterdam really come to Albany all that much? Do people in Schenectady?
My point also still stands because the Metro Area of Raleigh is still 2X Albany-Troy-Schenectady.
I see that. But do people from Amsterdam really come to Albany all that much? Do people in Schenectady?
My point also still stands because the Metro Area of Raleigh is still 2X Albany-Troy-Schenectady.
As someone who grew up in Amsterdam whose parents and neighbors all commuted to Albany daily, yes. Exit 24 on the Thruway in Albany is the busiest exit on the entire highway, seeing 40% more cars annually than the Buffalo exit sees. It sees over 21 million cars a year on average. There are a lot of people traveling in Albany. So it's not really fair to compare Albany's city population to Davenport's or Broken Arrow's populations.
As someone who grew up in Amsterdam whose parents and neighbors all commuted to Albany daily, yes. Exit 24 on the Thruway in Albany is the busiest exit on the entire highway, seeing 40% more cars annually than the Buffalo exit sees. It sees over 21 million cars a year on average. There are a lot of people traveling in Albany. So it's not really fair to compare Albany's city population to Davenport's or Broken Arrow's populations.
Oh and if we're counting cities in close proximity, we can count Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina to Raleigh's population. That's another 250,000.
Oh and if we're counting cities in close proximity, we can count Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina to Raleigh's population. That's another 250,000.
You see how pointless this is?
Yes, it is pointless. Stop trying to pretend Albany is a tiny city with nothing going for it. It clearly isn't. Let's compare Raleigh to New York City and see how puny it looks, why don't we. Some cities are bigger than others. That doesn't mean the smaller cities are pointless flyovers.
Does anyone actually enjoy going to the zoo to begin with?
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