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As someone who has lived near both.... Albany and Springfield are quite dismal. If I were to go back and live near Springfield, I'd live up near Northampton/Amherst/South Hadley (culturally the Northampton area it blows Saratoga Springs out of the water for year round music arts etc...). Albany has good concerts and of course the summer season brings the stuff to SPAC...but living in Springfield is also close to Hartford (30 miles) which has a great theatre company/Wadsworth/symphony etc. I rarely ever go to Albany unless there is a show at the Egg/Palace/TU Center, but there are some decent ethic eats if you know where to look. Springfield is just closer to a lot more than Albany... Springfield as a city though is really cheap vodka in a paper bag for the most part now...very sad (except Forest Park). Some parts of the western end of Albany are liveable if you have to live in the city. I would never buy a house in Albany due to the taxes tho...even in comparison to MA and CT they are truly off the charts... Hartford and Springfield are basically one metro area....culturally way better than Albany. Plus Bradley Airport is less expensive and has many more non-stop flights to Florida, Mexico, West Coast, Canada.... Springfield is way more diverse as well...there are great Puerto Rican buffets in the city. Albany has some of it but far less....the Albany area is kind of the world capital of mediocrity imho.
As someone who has lived near both.... Albany and Springfield are quite dismal. If I were to go back and live near Springfield, I'd live up near Northampton/Amherst/South Hadley (culturally the Northampton area it blows Saratoga Springs out of the water for year round music arts etc...). Albany has good concerts and of course the summer season brings the stuff to SPAC...but living in Springfield is also close to Hartford (30 miles) which has a great theatre company/Wadsworth/symphony etc. I rarely ever go to Albany unless there is a show at the Egg/Palace/TU Center, but there are some decent ethic eats if you know where to look. Springfield is just closer to a lot more than Albany... Springfield as a city though is really cheap vodka in a paper bag for the most part now...very sad (except Forest Park). Some parts of the western end of Albany are liveable if you have to live in the city. I would never buy a house in Albany due to the taxes tho...even in comparison to MA and CT they are truly off the charts... Hartford and Springfield are basically one metro area....culturally way better than Albany. Plus Bradley Airport is less expensive and has many more non-stop flights to Florida, Mexico, West Coast, Canada.... Springfield is way more diverse as well...there are great Puerto Rican buffets in the city. Albany has some of it but far less....the Albany area is kind of the world capital of mediocrity imho.
Springfield just has more Puerto Ricans, while Albany has a higher black and Asian percentages at the city proper level. This isn't even considering cities like Schenectady and Troy, both of which are also quite culturally diverse.
As someone who has lived near both.... Albany and Springfield are quite dismal. If I were to go back and live near Springfield, I'd live up near Northampton/Amherst/South Hadley (culturally the Northampton area it blows Saratoga Springs out of the water for year round music arts etc...). Albany has good concerts and of course the summer season brings the stuff to SPAC...but living in Springfield is also close to Hartford (30 miles) which has a great theatre company/Wadsworth/symphony etc. I rarely ever go to Albany unless there is a show at the Egg/Palace/TU Center, but there are some decent ethic eats if you know where to look. Springfield is just closer to a lot more than Albany... Springfield as a city though is really cheap vodka in a paper bag for the most part now...very sad (except Forest Park). Some parts of the western end of Albany are liveable if you have to live in the city. I would never buy a house in Albany due to the taxes tho...even in comparison to MA and CT they are truly off the charts... Hartford and Springfield are basically one metro area....culturally way better than Albany. Plus Bradley Airport is less expensive and has many more non-stop flights to Florida, Mexico, West Coast, Canada.... Springfield is way more diverse as well...there are great Puerto Rican buffets in the city. Albany has some of it but far less....the Albany area is kind of the world capital of mediocrity imho.
Thanks for the response—nice to hear from someone who has experience living in/near both cities. I totally forgot how close Hartford is to Springfield. I agree with Springfield's location being better as well, I generally like New England as a whole more than I do NY state.
Thanks for the response—nice to hear from someone who has experience living in/near both cities. I totally forgot how close Hartford is to Springfield. I agree with Springfield's location being better as well, I generally like New England as a whole more than I do NY state.
Location may depend on what you want to be close to. Albany for instance is by multiple mountain ranges and in terms of the areas themselves, Albany has more people. I already touched on the diversity aspect. So, some of this still comes down to what factors are most important to you.
Location may depend on what you want to be close to. Albany for instance is by multiple mountain ranges and in terms of the areas themselves, Albany has more people. I already touched on the diversity aspect. So, some of this still comes down to what factors are most important to you.
Ummm...where on earth do you get your stats? Clearly...you like to comment on things you know absolutely nothing about. The Hartford-Springfield area has a metro combined of almost 2 million (abt 1.9). Even Springfield as a city is larger than Albany. Springfield is near something called the Berkshire Mountains and the Green Mountains of Vermont (about 60 miles to Brattleboro...). Honestly...where on earth do you get that Albany is bigger than Springfield? Hartford sits 25 miles from Springfield...and they share an airport. Diversity in Springfield is way way way more pronounced than Albany. You are pulling statistics but it's painfully clear you haven't lived near either area...
This is totally subjective and just my opinion, but I'd rather be in Albany over Springfield ANY DAY.
If I had all the money in the world I might choose Boston or a nicer area of coastal MA over Albany, but unlimited money isn't the case for me.
This is coming from a person who hasn't ever lived in MA, but has lived all around NYS. Western and Central MA people are...unique.
I'm sure they ask "what's in the water" with the local Albany born-and-raised population as well. I grew up 15 miles from Westfield MA...so I know those folks. I still ask "what's in the water" with Albany area folks.... I live just north of that city and I spend as little time as possible there... While Springfield is not the Shangri-Las...Northampton/Amherst, Farmington Valley CT, and the college scene makes Albany look pretty paltry.
Four words evade Albany NY.....irony, sarcasm. and fine cuisine.
Ummm...where on earth do you get your stats? Clearly...you like to comment on things you know absolutely nothing about. The Hartford-Springfield area has a metro combined of almost 2 million (abt 1.9). Even Springfield as a city is larger than Albany. Springfield is near something called the Berkshire Mountains and the Green Mountains of Vermont (about 60 miles to Brattleboro...). Honestly...where on earth do you get that Albany is bigger than Springfield? Hartford sits 25 miles from Springfield...and they share an airport. Diversity in Springfield is way way way more pronounced than Albany. You are pulling statistics but it's painfully clear you haven't lived near either area...
That isn't an official metro area. Hartford and Springfield are separate metro areas.
So, again, the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area is in fact bigger than the Springfield MA metro area by almost a good 200,000 people. As the Staples slogan states, "That was easy."
"Hartford and Springfield are separate metro areas"
Yes but they are 25 miles apart? Dallas-Fort Worth is one metro but the cities are 32 miles apart. I'm not sure what your point is...obviously you have never lived there...Hartford/Springfield one big mass suburb with two cities. Growing up in Connecticut, people in my neighborhood commuted to Springfield (Mass Mutual is there..). You are pulling stats but the Springfield/Hartford area is basically one big metro if you have spent time there (which you obviously haven't). 1.9 million doesn't include a few other areas within 40 miles..which would throw that figure higher. Albany's metro even with Glens Falls (about 50 miles away which is thrown in for the CSA state)... is barely over a million.
"Springfield is more in line with the Syracuse metro area"...
But Syracuse is an island in CNY (it's 45 miles to Utica). Springfield is in a swath of population...Hartford and Worcester blend into the burbs with Springfield. Basically Boston to Washington DC is one big megalopolis....the suburbs all mesh together.
"Hartford and Springfield are separate metro areas"
Yes but they are 25 miles apart? Dallas-Fort Worth is one metro but the cities are 32 miles apart. I'm not sure what your point is...obviously you have never lived there...Hartford/Springfield one big mass suburb with two cities. Growing up in Connecticut, people in my neighborhood commuted to Springfield (Mass Mutual is there..). You are pulling stats but the Springfield/Hartford area is basically one big metro if you have spent time there (which you obviously haven't). 1.9 million doesn't include a few other areas within 40 miles..which would throw that figure higher. Albany's metro even with Glens Falls (about 50 miles away which is thrown in for the CSA state)... is barely over a million.
"Springfield is more in line with the Syracuse metro area"...
But Syracuse is an island in CNY (it's 45 miles to Utica). Springfield is in a swath of population...Hartford and Worcester blend into the burbs with Springfield. Basically Boston to Washington DC is one big megalopolis....the suburbs all mesh together.
They are still separate metro areas is my point. I know they are close to each other. They are roughly a line of population and even then, looking at it on a map, the population isn't continuous: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sp...1!4d-72.589811
Albany's CSA is about 1.1-1.2 million, if I'm not mistaken.
Springfield as a metro is in line with Syracuse, which is also in a broader region of about 1.2 million(CNY).
To get to the original idea of the post, Albany does allow for easy access to outdoor amenities like mountains and lakes. It also appears to have more options in terms of higher end suburbs. There are also more legitimately urban options in the Albany area as well.
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