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I can believe that Albany is that bad. It is also no surprise that the school system is horrible; just look at most of the comments posted here and you will find poor grammar and incorrectly spelled and used words. "I was a current resident"...What the hell does that mean?!?! That girl that moved to Atlanta thinks it means something.
Albany, Augusta, Macon... all peas in a pod..
Read some of the posts by the guy who is always praising Augusta...atrocious grammar. It gives you a real insight in how poor the school system is in that city.
Albany, Augusta, Macon.... just call it Georgia's Trifecta of Suck.
I have lived all over GA, including Albany. I moved back to Valdosta from Atlanta a couple of years ago because of job transfer.
Valdosta (Lowndes Co.)- wonderful growth, metropolitan status, great opportunity, bright future.
Albany (Dougherty Co.)- Nothing to look forward to.
I have a few things to say about Albany!!
As for grammar:
Albany is the largest city in a 90 mile radius! Most of the population comes from rural farming families. Many of the older generation did not go to school, there is a little bit of transfer on language.
Size:
Albany, again, is the largest city within 90 miles. Population around 100,000. Again, this is a rural area!
Albany has a huge amount of restaurants..ie: Chili's, Applebee's, Outback, Ruby Tuesday's, Chuck E. Cheese, Chinese, Mexican, Greek.. and all the fast food restaurants, BBQ joints, several seafood restaurants, oyster bars, sports bars, you name it!
It is definitely not a large city, but for it's size @ 100,000 people, it offers plenty!
Children and adults will enjoy the Riverquarium, Planetarium, Chehaw Wild Animal Park, Museum of Art, skating rink, Movies in the Park in the summer, Symphony Orchestra, street dances 3 to 4 times per year, every Friday downtown holds a mini street dance for kids... (if people would show up it would stay) ,the Civic Center and Municipal Auditorium hosts: Arena FOOTBALL!! Rodeos, Disney on Ice, Monster trucks, Ringling Bros. Circus, Ballet, Comedy shows, Harlem Globetrotters, you name it!! Pretty impressive for a small little town, huh?
Bars: plenty of those around , billiard halls,
Extras:
a fun park with bumper boats, mini golf, arcade,batting cages, race track, and laser tag!
Albany is the site of the annual Quail Unlimited Celebrity Quail Hunt, Brett Favre, Larry Hagman, yes, even Vice Presidents show up, too!!
What more could you ask for? well, how about annual coon hunts, motor speedway and drag strip, boating, water skiing, horse riding, gun clubs...ok, we ARE in the south! haha!
Industry: Proctor and Gamble, Masterfoods USA, 2 large hospitals, Miller Brewery, Cooper Tire, Marine Corps Logistics Base, many plantations, and governmental jobs.
I could go on forever! The problem is that the people who live here expect big city stuff out of a small town. When they get it, they complain about it and it gets dropped due to lack of support.
I have never had a problem finding anything to do at any time of the day...if I had time!
Any other questions? I would be happy to answer them!
I have alot of family in Albany. I lived there for a few years and met my husband who was in the marines out there. What I learned about Albany is the crime rate is very high, people are very rude, there are no jobs, and the housing is horrible unless you live out near the mall. If you have children I would totally not recommend moving to Albany.
I came to this site trying to get information about life in Valdosta and Athens; I couldn't resist responding to your post. Many of the things written in the preceding messages occured. I won't say they were isolated events, but the negative things are not true of all the entire population. Below are my experiences:
*The black prejudice I've seen against whites has been passed down generationally from those who don't preach hate, but preach distrust. They have experienced (directly or indirectly) the systemic racism of the 60s and have a hard time trusting whites. In the black churches I have not heard prejudice against whites, but I have heard ministers encouraging young blacks to get an education so they will be able to compete and not be enticed to move to the gang or drug scene.
*Reverse discrimination occurs occasionally. A young black female was told she "sounded white". My perspective, the teenager had lived in the southwest, the midwest and the east (NC and above) before moving to Georgia. She came here without an accent, and she spoke standard English. This was perceived by some (blacks and whites) white, how narrow minded.
*Crime in my neighborhood has been low compared to that in big cities. I am aware of three buglaries that have occured in the past 3 years. There was a short period of time when a couple of people where accosted in their driveways. The community and the responded immediately and the crimes stopped.
*There is still white prejudice against blacks. I won't lay out the specifics, but I will say I have been on the phone conducting business and the person on the other end has made racist comments to not realizing I am black.
*I have heard comments (from whites and blacks) that all the "white folks are moving to Lee County." Is it that all the whites are moving or just the ones with larger incomes? The exclusivity seems to revolve around money not around race. I think the county would like to get rid of the poor whites living in the trailer parks. That comment is totally personal and made because I've seen them do nothing to invite people of lower incomes into the area.
*The 12/29/07 post by wenalb put life in Albany in a positive perspective. I thought he/she was a representative from the local chamber of commerce. Although I must admit that everything you listed is there or has been there, many of the youth have the attitude "been there done that" and they are bored (this may be part of the reason teenage pregnancy has increased). There is a lot of hunting and fishing, but not a lot of areas just to rent a boat and relax. I haven't found a place (closeby) to go horseback riding.
*The educational system is weak. Grammatical errors abound. I haven't figured out the cause. They have no idea how to deal with hard working students who test well. I know of a student who came here working two grade levels about her actual grade. She was short a few percentage points of getting into the gifted program. Their answer was to move her up a grade.
*Bottom line, you will probably meet some very nice people. They will invite you to church, and if you find a group to join you can enjoy life.
Truly and honestly I think Albany is what you make it. I was born and raised in Georgia. I lived in a town that was totally opposite of Albany it was predominantly white. Did I experience racism? Yes, by many people of the opposite race. Do I go around judging or criticizing them about it? No! No one is any position to judge anyone. Albany is a predominently black community. Sadly there is a poverty mindset here? Is there racism? Yes there is. Is racism in Lee County? Yes it is. My family was house searching, and we experienced it first hand because there were some people that did not want black neighbors. Do I care? No. Who am I to judge a place based on ignorance people were taught? Why judge Albany based on the ignorance? Anyhow, in one of the Lee county schools it is assumed that black kids have to walk to school because they live at a trailor park. Hmmmm...is that racism or just an assumption. There are blacks in Lee county and trust me all of them don't stay in that trailor park. I don't care where you go. Racism exist. Just as in this world there will be good and evil. I was married to a Marine, and we've been some places so I know what I'm talking about. Racism is just about everywhere. As for the jobs, on the base. I don't feel that the pay is all that bad for the area. My husband has a wonderful job that pays very well. I'm a full time student. We own our home (we're both under 30), 2 vehicles, and we have kids and we receive no government assistance. We're not in any debt. The cost of living here is great. Our home is in a great neighborhood, and we bought it at a great price. I personally think Lincoln Elementary is a wonderful school. Albany is growing day by day. If you don't like an area that you live in. Do something about it! Pray for your city. Get involved! Instead of putting it down try to do something positive or leave. Honestly all these different businesses that are coming are owned by people just moving to the area or don't live here at all. Really and truly it's what you make it.
Last edited by blessed229; 01-06-2008 at 09:48 PM..
"You drive four hours straight South from Atlanta, and when you arrive in Albany you know you are in the deep South, enveloped by its mystery, its aura of impending violence, the smell of slavery still in the air. So that when someone, somehow, begins to penetrate that atmosphere with even the thinnest shafts of light, there is astonishment, and a small surge of expectation." - Howard Zinn from "You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train" (Describing visiting Albany in 1962)
I grew up in Albany and moved away in 1989 to attend university in Florida and subsquently to the West coast where I have been ever since. In general, I visit family Albany at least once a year and I can tell you for a fact that the city has not changed much in that almost twenty year span.
As a child growing up, I remember Albany as a fairly progressive place with a solid middle class, thriving industry, and a seemingly progressive spirit as the "Good Life City". However, by the mid to late 80's the city took major hits as several large employers shut down or moved away and crime soared with the emergence of crack. In fact, a criminolgy professor in my Freshman year remarked that the city had earned the distinct title as the murder capital of the U.S. of A.
My parents tried to urge me to stick around to first attend college, then to seek employment in Albany after my graduation. I took the next thing smoking because the writing seemed to be on the wall: Albany was going nowhere fast. My father, a lifelong resident, remarked to me on my most recent visit a week ago, that Albany's political and business leadership as well as a good deal of its citizenry are mired in a small town mindset and desire to keep the city as a sleepy backwater. Already handicapped because no interstate highway traverses the town, these leaders, both black and white, don't have the vision that would bring the city forward into the New Millineum. It is that mindset that is most disappointing.
The city has much potential but the schisms of racism that prevail throughout the U.S., the South in particular are much evident. In general, blacks are distrustful of whites and whites are loathsome of blacks whom they blame for crime and poor school. These schisms mask the true reason that Albany is struggling; J-O-B-S. The economic depression that has lingered in the city since the mid-eighties has led to many of my peers fleeing to Atlanta and other points as soon as possible. Sadly, a good deal of those who remain have fallen into the trap of prison and/or low wage service jobs.
During my visits I frequently get in my car and ride around the city. There is usually nostalgia at seeing the old haunts and coming across old familiar places. However, with each passing year the same old, same old gets more and more depressing. I've grown up but I'm afraid Albany is stuck in the past.
Location: Metro Atlanta (Sandy Springs), by way of Macon, GA
2,014 posts, read 5,100,546 times
Reputation: 2089
Hey listen man, I believe it is possible that any town is what you make of it. I mean I've read some horrible things about Macon but I can look out my window right now and its quiet, no bums walking, cut yards, middle class black community. I can leave here and go downtown to nice historic houses with old architecture. I can go to North Macon and see nice neighborhoods and tons of new restaurants. I can go to extreme South Macon and see a brand new community/suburban type area being built Rutland/Hartley Bridge. There are also other nice areas just across borders in Jones County/Monroe County/Houston County. With that being said yes we have some ghetto parts of towns but who doesn't?
Considering people are saying Albany is similar to Macon then I would think they have some nice areas and some bad areas as well. I HIGHLY doubt you would move to a bad area so that solves that right? The last time I was there a girl I know drove me around and it didn't seem that bad.
I honestly believe several of these people just happen to see a large group of black people and happen to think "oh this must be horrible"
I also do not buy TOO much into all of the talk when people say "oh the people there act this way and that way"
Fact of the matter is people are individuals and you have all types of people everywhere you go.
I'm not saying Albany is the best place on earth but I'm more than certain it is livable to the extent that u CAN find a nice home,a nice neighborhood and reasonable entertainment.
Hell, there are RACIST in diverse cities like NYC and there are white boys I'm cool with that drive pick ups that stay just across the border from my East Macon area in Jones County.
I would bet you that several of these comments on here are based off stereotypes and hearsay.
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This Train Ain't Moving
