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Driving on I-87 I am surprised at how rural and undeveloped metro Albany is south of the city relative to I-87 north of the city where it seems the urbanization continues for a good 20-30 miles to Saratoga Springs. Any reason why the north developed more than the south?
I believe a lot of it is due to the multimodal set up of the metro area, as Schenectady, Troy and even Saratoga Springs are sizeable cities with suburban development of their own around them. There is development in between the cities in Colonie and in southern Saratoga County(Clifton Park, Halfmoon, Rexford, etc.) as well.
Also, Greene and Columbia counties aren’t in the metro area, but are generally viewed as a part of the Capital Region. For HS sports, schools in those counties play in Section 2, which consists of Albany metro/Capital Region schools. This includes those in the Glens Falls metro area(Warren and Washington counties), Fulton, Montgomery and Schoharie counties.
The Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area consists of Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady and Rensselaer counties.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 04-08-2021 at 05:36 AM..
Just to add, it isn't so much that the development is to the north, but that the development is dispersed due to the way the city centers are set up in the metro area.
Why is it that development is so much more sprawled out to the north then it is to the south?
I would think it would sprawl more south since that is closer to NYC.
Why is it that development is so much more sprawled out to the north then it is to the south?
I would think it would sprawl more south since that is closer to NYC.
Well, NYC is a good 2 hours or so from Albany and as mentioned, it is a multimodal metro area. So, it isn’t necessarily centered around Albany/one city like many other NY State metro areas. There are technically quite a few multimodal metro areas in the state.
Even in between NYC and Albany, you have multiple metro/micro areas that are built around a city like Kingston or are multimodal like the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown area. So, the areas in between vary in terms of development with urban, suburban and rural environments.
Gotcha. So it’s not Albany sprawling north, it’s having more urban centers north.
Then why is it there are so many more urban centers north v south?
Gotcha. So it’s not Albany sprawling north, it’s having more urban centers north.
Then why is it there are so many more urban centers north v south?
It likely just comes down to settlement patterns in terms of the cities and the pull/commuting interchange between them.
Another thing I didn’t mention is that Saratoga County has been one of the fastest growing counties in the state. I believe tax rates, available land and job growth(Global Foundries) are aspects behind that. Having Saratoga Springs in the county doesn’t hurt either, as it attract a quite affluent set of people. So, that is something else to consider.
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