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I am a Western NY fanatic I live in Rochester/Buffalo and I hated Albany with a passion before I went, just for the principle of how corrupt our state is...
But... I went to SPAC for a Dave concert... and I literally fell in love with your region.
Saratoga Springs... It is such an elegant place... Everything is very well taken care of and your night-life is very professional.
Albany... I thought it was also well taken care of. The architecture is also amazing. I was sad to see a beautiful catholic church closed on a hill... Forget the name but other than that... I enjoyed walking around.
Schenectady... Was by far my favorite place... reminded me of Saratoga Springs... But Schenectady has so much history and I love my history. The architecture is simply amazing... Jay street is my favorite walk-about. Lastly the stockade made me really ponder this question... Should I transfer to Suny Albany for my last year of college just to live there? I am still thinking about it.
Thanks for making this hater into a true lover of such a beautiful region.
Yes. Come to SUNY Albany. I might be a little biased though because that's where I'm going to be a freshman this fall. I hope I like the Capital Region as much as you do. These posters are scaring me away.
I definitely agree about Saratoga Springs and SPAC (I was also at the Saturday night Dave show). I'm a bit surprised that you were so enamored with Schenectady, but to each his own.
As an Albany native transplanted to Rochester....Are you KIDDING?This region is so negative and has no culture. What is there to like?
Well it might be the fact that I am also seeing someone from there but... I really like the a architecture. That is the easiest way to win me over. It seemed very clean, small and safe. I could be wrong.. but that is my first impression.
I am glad you love Rochester... That makes me happy! How the heck hasnt a mod kicked you off of your hometown forum yet? lol Keep loving Rochester.
My first impression of the Albany area was the complete opposite. I saw a lot of blight and it kinda freaked me out...especially in Schenectady and Troy. Of course, I moved there from Colorado instead of another Upstate city. I decided early on that we'd shoot for the Saratoga area instead.
There is some great architecture in the nicer areas of Albany-Troy-Schenectady so we can agree on that. There are pockets of safe/nice areas in the urban areas but I wouldn't consider the whole area particularly nice...except Saratoga Springs of course.
My first impression of the Albany area was the complete opposite. I saw a lot of blight and it kinda freaked me out...especially in Schenectady and Troy. Of course, I moved there from Colorado instead of another Upstate city. I decided early on that we'd shoot for the Saratoga area instead.
There is some great architecture in the nicer areas of Albany-Troy-Schenectady so we can agree on that. There are pockets of safe/nice areas in the urban areas but I wouldn't consider the whole area particularly nice...except Saratoga Springs of course.
What about outside of the urban areas? So, basically, outside of the blight in the major cities of the area(nothing new to most cities of any decent size), does the rest of the area looks fine?
What about outside of the urban areas? So, basically, outside of the blight in the major cities of the area(nothing new to most cities of any decent size), does the rest of the area looks fine?
I think the blight here is a little worse than your average urban area out west. Denver's bad streets look a lot better than the bad streets in the Capital region. Granted, the blight is mostly due to vacancies because a lot people left the urban areas decades ago.
Most of the rest of the area looks fine. However even Ballston Spa (where I lived for a couple of years) and Schuylerville, have several dumpy looking streets. Those areas are due to people not caring about their surroundings and/or unable to afford routine maintenance. I've also noticed that since I moved out here, that some dirty folks like to throw cigarette butts and garbage out the window.
That's just my take, as an outsider. I have no idea how it compares to Rochester since I haven't spent much time there yet.
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