The highest-paid public company and nonprofit executives in the Albany area

[Yuptag]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Yes estimates, which everyone else seems to use and given the percentages, it is likely that there is growth.

I answered your question. It isn’t an opinion and you do realize that the Rockies aren’t right next to Denver, as it is actually in the Plains with the mountains to the west. Roanoke and Yakima are much smaller than Albany and the A-S-T metro area.

Albany has more than just state government as an industry. It has a tech sector, engineering, some manufacturing, healthcare and higher education, among some others.

You may be able to consolidate, but it likely to occur at the county level. Again, all 3 of those cities are more dense than many growing city propers and actually had official population growth between 2000-2010. So, it doesn’t make sense to “shrink” any of them. All 3 aren’t that big in terms of land area as it is. So, shrinking them doesn’t make any sense.

Also, I don’t know many people that would compare Albany and Boston anyway.

I wonder then . . . If Albany allegedly has all these diverse 'sectors', the venerable state government of a not-dying overtaxing Northeastern state, great natural beauty to rival that of the Rockies, a climate that does not include a brutal winter, and if its carefully selected equals are growing by leaps and bounds, why is Albany not growing? Why has Albany shrunk by 1/3 since the 1950 census and basically hovering at the same population for the last 40 years? What year can the good people of Albany (and Troy and Schenectady) see a turnaround?

[Yuptag]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

You may be able to consolidate, but it likely to occur at the county level. Again, all 3 of those cities are more dense than many growing city propers and actually had official population growth between 2000-2010. So, it doesn’t make sense to “shrink” any of them. All 3 aren’t that big in terms of land area as it is. So, shrinking them doesn’t make any sense.

The population growth you talk about is 2.3%. The nation grew by 9.7%. Albany managed 1/3 of the national growth rate. 1/3. Let that sink in. In the period which you cite as success, Albany fell behind the national average by 2/3. In most well-educated quarters that would cause some rethink.

But, but . . . it's growth - not when you are a business and design for a certain scale and when there is competition from other cities that are holding there own.

I hear from friends in Albany and environs that they wish store X was there. It's part of the problem that Albany is not keeping up.

The solution is to decide what is an appropriate demographic size for Albany, Troy, Schenectady with a tax and discretionary income base to match and shrink it to that size. It's the only way out. You need to bleed people and quickly. Consolidate services and shrink those to only the core area. It sounds and is harsh. Have a plan in place and communicate that so residents and everyone else knows when, how, and why services may end.

[ckhthankgod]

^ I'll address both....

Albany doesn't have the ability to annex land like many of the growing cities in the country have been able to do. Meaning, many of the "Sun Belt" and some other cities have been able to expand their city limits to include areas that would be first and second ring suburbs in the Albany area. This is why those that are actually privy to this fact do not just use city proper population information, which you have chosen to do, but look at metro population due to having the same criteria. It doesn't make sense also when you include the fact of Urban Renewal, which removed neighborhoods in cities across the country. Keep in mind that the city of Albany is only 21 square miles, Schenectady is 10.79 sq. miles and Troy is 10.36 square miles. For a top 100(it is 64th in the country) metro area in population, those city proper land areas are very small. In fact, in terms of metro areas that are bigger or of a similar size, only a handful of metros have city propers with a smaller land area than Albany(Providence and the bigger CT cities of Hartford, Bridgeport and New Haven). So, that should put that into perspective.

I also didn't use the word "success" for anything and stop putting words in my mouth to make your point seem good. The fact remains that Albany did have growth of 2.3% between 2000-2010. Schenectady had 7% population growth in that same period within its city limits and Troy grew by 2% during that same period within its city limits. These are just simple facts and didn't have anything to do with mentioning "success".