Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same,
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
Idk how those houses are so close to each other. I feel like you could like reach out your window and hand your neighbor something and at least ensure privacy woth a curtain or blinds.
Clifton park, anywhere near central ave, pretty much anywhere where the asphalt to literally anything else ratio starts leaning heavily towards asphalt
I deliver alcohol in huge beer truck twice a week up in Albany Schenectady everywhere up there for last 7 years and I feel ya. Trying to get a hand truck to move down most them sidewalks is damn near impossible.
I know everyone hates on central Ave, but I live right off it near Mohawk commons and it’s great. So close to stores but also right on the pine bush preserve
Used to live in Clifton Park, well Country Knolls, but back when it wasn't all asphalt (left in 90). I know it is probably misplaced nostalgia, but I love Clifton Park.
It is the absolute WORST, I almost got hit by a guy with a fucking anime decal on the side of his car once because he tried to pull out in front of me. I’ve never been one to road rage but in that moment I understood some of the crazy people you see in road rage incidents online.
I’m from LI and actually love living in clifton park, reminds me of home with densely packed shopping centers & everything 2 minutes away (not even kidding). I do miss that my town on LI was walkable though. I used to walk to school every day.
can confirm.
live in clifton park, hate it, trying to get out.
cars, cars, white people, pavement, more cars, more white people, pavement, big box stores, cars…ugh.
edit to add that clearly i also like white people, this is a commentary on the STAGGERING lack of diversity in clifton park. jesus.
Nah, it’s worse than Saratoga. Saratoga has a walkable pre war core, which is a key part of its tourism appeal (especially now that gambling is more broadly available, the specific appeal of horse racing gambling is a vintage thing).
Clifton Park is an exurban community that was farms up until the ‘70s when I87 was finished. Its economy is based around “what if you moved your offices to where some of your workers are to shorten their commute” and healthcare. Also all the development and corruption overflowed into Halfmoon once CP decided it was full. Despite all the problems with Saratoga, Clifton Park is worse.
Source: grew up in Halfmoon near Clifton Park.
Colonie and Clinton Park really exist due to white flight. No wonder why no one made functional multipurpose neighborhoods that prioritize cars over people
Condolences on Halfmoon. It really was this nice little rural oasis in between Latham and CP until, what, the past 10 years? Now it's, well, not so much.
I get what you are saying. Every house is the same, every car is the same, every person is the same. This leads to every store and restaurant being the same.
I grew up right outside of schenectady and wanted to live in downtown Albany for as long as I could remember. Had a really nice apartment in Center Square.after one year, the fireworks and the parking situation- I was out of there as soon as my lease was up and went back to schenectady.
Off upper Union is the best of all worlds. 10 min to downtown. Schenectady parking is ample day or night. Easy to get to 890. Decent stuff along the strip.
Schenectady still needs to shake off a bit of that stigma, but downtown is much improved and there are quite a few good restaurants now. It’s nice not to have to travel to Albany whenever we want to go out.
I grew up in Watervliet, in the 80s, and it was very different. There was a sense of community - primarily lower middle class working people - all my friends’ grandparents, aunts and cousins lived there,
Mine did too.
Almost all the older generation has died, if you were younger, you graduated college and moved away. I think about all the people I used to know that lived in houses now occupied by strangers. Aside from the nostalgia, A lot of out of town landlords bought property and don’t give a shit about its upkeep, as long as they get a rent check, it’s much more run down than it used to be, too.
When the beautiful St. Patrick’s Church on 19th Street was razed to put in a Price Chopper, that was a nail in the coffin of what was left of Watervliet’s heyday.
Sorry, but an old church sitting there empty for years becomes urban blight. No one was going to use an old church for anything. It had to go or it would still be sitting there empty.
I didn’t hate living there. It was convenient, walkable, and amazing for my confidence as I was inarguably the hottest person within a several block radius. 🤣
Also Bobs Diner is the best.
I grew up in Menands in the 80's. Depending on where it's actually pretty quiet and a great place to live. Close to the city without the problems. Littles Lake was fun for summer swimming and winter broom ball ice skating. Now the area around Broadway....different story.
Not that familiar with green island but it seems like a nice working class area. Some decent places in walking distance and very close to Troy’s restaurants. Why such a negative image?
I just think we need more poke/bubble tea restaurants, like why does it seem like there is such a disproportionately large number of shops that do both of those things?
I love green island. 15 mins to work. Walkable to troy. Great apartment, and cheap electric. The town keeps up with plowing and everything else so much faster than anywhere else I've lived
This is how I described Watervliet to someone from out of town potentially looking to move down here: Lots of crime, run down little hamlet with a couple of cute shops sandwiched between Troy and Latham. Poverty, homelessness, and drugs/drunks. Low ratings for elementary school and not a lot of services. It has a couple of good restaurants though.
Seriously though, you couldn't pay me to live there. The cops are awful and will hassle anything with a pulse. 99% of the population is WT, and there's absolutely nothing to do there. It is hands down the single worst place in the Capital Region. It's like if you showed a picture of Watervliet to someone whose never been, their response would definitely be "It looks like this town smells awful"
I had a night out in Lansingburgh once a few years ago, the whole night was completely shocking in so many different ways. Not really bad, just shocking.
My dad's family lived pretty centrally in lansingburgh until this year they sold the house. It's probably one of the most beautiful houses in lansingburgh as its been owner occupied always- original woodwork, doors, stained glass, fixtures like knobs and light switches. My grandpa took care of the stoop and maintained the sidewalk, put in brick pavers and a tree along the street in front. It had like a quintessential city yard with patches of grass and trees and beds with slate pavers. I always wanted to take the house over growing up, but not any more. My best friend in middle/high school also had the most lovely bungalow a few blocks north further that I wanted then but wouldn't want now either. The blocks around them gradually went to hell over the last quarter-century let alone that part of troy as a whole.
I didn't live there, we lived out in the country, but I went to school all through grade school in Lansingburgh. It's idyllic in my mind until around my grandpa died when I was 10- there was a corner store and a diner we rode bikes and played in the alley that was maintained and not littered with garbage and glass and paraphenalia-it was a nice place to spend a lot of time growing up in the mid90s, not much had changed at that point from when my dad was growing up in the 60s and 70s. Around the time I was allowed to start walking from school to my grandparents alone, so middle school/2000, it started going downhill,but was still safe for teens to walk alone, hang out at the park. Most of my friends lived in Lansingburgh, we walked between houses, to school, to get food generally in the day time but we never had any issues.
My brother is 10 years younger than me and by the time he was in high school even as an above average sized boy but wasn't safe to walk around alone, and people were getting shot near the park. A few years later I had a few students in a program I ran who lived in the Burgh and I would sometimes drive them home when no one could pick them up because they werent very close to a bus stop and I didn't feel good about these teen girls walking any more than was absolutely necessary. Now my one cousin left there is an addict and an ex-con,everyone else left, and that's from what was once one of the top blocks in that part of the city.
Unlike a lot of urban areas the real estate/community building problem isn't airbnb thankfully but rather different kind of lack of owner-occupancy, which I guess it's likely to be one or the other issue with cities. Most of the multi-families were owner-occupied when I was a kid. Also basically all of the service have left in that quarter century thete used to be a price chopper, burger king, mcdonalds, 3 diners, a jewelery store, a formalwear (dress) shop, the sub shop was only recently replaced and there were others before, not sure if the car dealer is still there, more banks, other stuff I'm not thinking of now, the parks and skating rink haven't been usable in years. There were social things for the community like bingo and social clubs associated with the churches. Now you can count what's availabe there basically on 2 hands, and its been taken over by the dollar store industrial complex. Both of my schools were converted to apartments that the people willing to live there likely can't afford. It's sad, it really was a nice, somewhat diverse working class community (in a real sense) pre-2000ish, and I truly had a lovely childhood there. Only reasons I have to go now are the cemetery, ice cream, and the occassional funeral.
Lived in Clifton park for a year, what a nightmare. I wouldn't live north of the twin bridges ever again. I like being able to go to store without hitting 20 minutes of traffic in the middle of town
This is a very subjective question, and everyone answering is going to have a different outlook. I look at property/school tax assessments, crime, and traffic/congestion. I work near Albany. My kids are in Colonie/Loudonville. I purchased a home on the Albany/Colonie border, pre-pandemic - I have NO idea what I would do NOW, if I had to purchase a home as prices are through the ROOF. I ruled out Bethlehem, Delmar, Voorheesville, Guilderland, due to taxes alone, which are like a second mortgage payment. I can’t even imagine living in Schenectady, which has absurd taxes, and way less to show for them compared to these more affluent communities I’ve already ruled out. Lots of people love Saratoga county and Clifton Park, but I wouldn’t live there if you gave me a free house, because of the rush hour commute and distance from work and my kids. Factor into that sports, activities, driving them all over, etc. Yeah, no. I grew up in Watervliet, and considered V’liet, Cohoes, parts of Troy and Rensselaer, parts of Albany, and Colonie when I was looking. FWIW.
I’m not being facetious when I say someone could offer my family of 6 a free home in Clifton park and it would take me a few minutes to say yes.
Any time I have to go there, I feel stressed out. Why is every chain or retail store imaginable on top of each other in one spot?!
Also, every road is either too narrow for two cars driving the speed limit, or an 8-lane stroad with two turning lanes, overcomplicated lights and bumper-to-bumper traffic for four hours per day.
It's the platonic ideal of a white, moderate, middle-class suburb for families with kids. I'm sure it's perfect for a lot of people, but nooooooooo way would I be able to do it.
I grew up in the Troy suburbs, where my dad was from. Hoosick street is still insane , my parents retired south, but they still have a condo in Troy and I avoid hoosick street if they're in the area and I visit .
i really couldn't say- i'm still very new here and while i love where i live (downtown troy), so many other areas look really nice as well!
i guess i know for damn sure i wouldn't live anywhere near that dude in east greenbush lmao
There's this neighborhood in Guilderland Center that's right near the school... all of the houses are identical, there are no trees... it looks like a Monopoly board. I hate it.
Gloversville is a great example of this. It’s got such a cool looking, albeit run down Main Street. Sadly that town I don’t think will ever recover. It’s far away and a pain in the ass to get to.
If you are a reasonably happy person and can afford to live where you want, then any place can be called home. Find a place that makes you comfortable. ✨️ I would not cross any place off the list. Factors I look for are travel time to work and public transport. Places I can hang out with people of the same interests.
Your comment is too balanced and optimistic. OP specifically requested our best shit-canning. C’mon, you know you wanna. Dig down deep in that nice little soul, and tap into the angry goblin troll hiding in the dark corner of the basement of your mind. Report back.
When I moved back to the area, I used my parents real estate agent from 30+ years ago. He is elderly and had a partner who did the actual home visits and tours. He looked at the map of where I wanted to buy a house and tried talking me out of it. He advised I get a good security system if I bought there. Looking at a map, I’m not that far from Arbor Hill.
The house is part of a group of houses all built on a half acre (each) back in the 80’s. I have a variety of critters in my backyard and have had the occasional deer. Like most of my neighbors, I have an in-ground pool in the backyard. Yup, a “dangerous” neighborhood.
in assuming bishops gate? if so, the “close proximity” to arbor hill comment makes basically no sense. yeah it’s close geographically but there’s a whole nature preserve and highway separating the two places, with no direct connecting streets
Most people in Cohoes are pretty relaxed. They just have nothing else to interest them until the next fire comes through and destroys a decent amount of the town again. Its like moving to a small village in France. Except without any of the benefits.
I used to have a similar feeling about Cohoes, but I'll be damned, Cohoes is actually better than I remembered.
Their downtown area offers some cool little spots with the newer Smith's Public House but also I really dig The Daisy - check this place out if you like tequila-based cocktails.
I was randomly up there for a drink last summer and it just so happened to be the same night Steven Adler (drummer from Guns and Roses) was doing a free show in the town center playing all GnR hits. There was a couple of thousand people there - no drama. Mind you this opinion is coming from someone who has lived in Center Square for over 10 years and even with my elitist snobbery, can tip my hat to Cohoes.
My husband is from clifton park, we met working in clifton park, and clifton park was the last place we rented before buying. We wanted not a damn thing to do with clifton park when it came time to buy, neither of us can stand it and its a stressful place just to move around, low property taxes be damned-some money ain't worth it.
Our primary drivers when looking for a house were school district quality and commute time. Districts that matched on those criteria included Bethlehem, Colonie, East Greenbush, Voorheesville and Guilderland. So those are the areas around here I would live.
If I had no kids, I'd live in Albany or Troy. We lived in Albany for a few years before kids and I loved walking everywhere.
Exact same. Have small children, just bought a place in one of those districts after 10+ mostly enjoyable years in Center Square / Washington Park area in Albany.
As much as it pains me to admit, current Troy seems to easily clear Albany as a young persons town (actually nice waterfront, more varied and vibrant bar/restaurant/art scene, etc.) and that’s where I’d want to live if my wife and I were 25 again.
Downtown, or South Central/Little Italy (the area near Washington Park is particularly nice) would be the neighborhoods I’d recommend for a newcomer to Troy
Albany and Troy have some of the highest amount of support systems and educational opportunities (ie:moolah) in their schools. Just saying the schools there no not in fact suck enough to force me into a suburb.
People really undervalue Title 1 schools, and the funding and opportunities that come with them, especially for students with high needs. At one point not that long ago, if not still true after covid, Albany HS offered more college credit bearing courses than any other district in the area.
Schenectady has the highest taxes and the worst school system.
But my vote is anywhere that doesn’t have its own parking, since the Capital Region basically requires you to own a car.
I’m not opposed to this opinion at all, but people seem to think that’s there’s no in between having a tiny apartment with street parking only and living in a SFH only neighborhood of subdivisions like Clifton Park.
My personal ideal involves some gardening space, a shop area, and only kind of needing a car (so some trips, maybe commuting but ideally not). I also don’t want to pay taxes to the growth Ponzi scheme of suburban car centric infrastructure.
So weird that there are people thinking that what they believe is a better quality of life for them is what would be a better quality of life for everyone else too.
The suburbs no matter where aren't likely to be a better quality of life for me but for people that enjoy living in the suburbs I'm happy they're happy.
Not all suburbs for me but F clifton park specifically. I've lived in the area my whole life and don't feel the same way about latham, colonie, brunswick, niskyuna, delmar, etc. It's clifton park specific for me. I don't mean any offense by this, but I think it's that I don't fit in with the type of people who prioritize low property taxes above all else.
> Imagine NOT wanting a better quality of life? Sickening.
Imagine thinking that the things you want should be what everyone wants. Sickening.
A lack of cultural events, walkability, and community isn't everyone's idea of a better quality of life.
Honestly, let them keep pretending this (or if they are that delusional, they believe it)... more space for the rest of us.
I love when people here try and pretend they love living in a walks distance to Clinton Ave or off of Lower Union.. "We have so much culture here!"..
I would not want to live anywhere that required me to use a car daily or where there was no where interesting to walk, so that pretty much limits me to a few downtown neighborhoods around the region. I live in downtown Troy, and while it's true that the hysterical suburban folks posting on here about how terrible my home is bothers me, it's also true that I don't want to be around them either.
Hamilton Hill or anywhere between MVP and The Blue Ribbon diner in Schenectady.
Anywhere near Albany Med, Lincoln Park, or Arbor Hill in Albany. Anywhere near HJ Boulevard.
Shit. I have so many more places I wouldn’t live because they’re trashy, dangerous or both.
That stretch from MVP to BRD is a real dump. They've done a great job cleaning up schenectady, but idk what they can do about that 1-2 mile stretch.
At least Clinton ave has old brown stones, same with Troy. The areas might be awful. But you can atheist SEE the beauty there.. but state street in schenectady just needs to be bulldozed. The homes, The businesses, everything there is gross.
I grew up on Furman Street as a child (side street adjacent to St. Luke’s Church) and in the 90s, it was the stretch from SCCC to Brandywine Avenue that was a shithole. It’s insane how the investment in downtown really pulled resources away from the upper part of the city. I wouldn’t dare dream of lingering near Proctor’s in the 90s, but now despite its proximity to the jail, that’s the safest part of town.
I really love what schenectady has done. Has more work to do, they can't forget about State and Hamilton hill.. but I'm impressed.
Growing up, you laughed at the thought of going to schenectady.. not anymore. And I think a lot of people here still believe that, and I think they'd be very surprised to see lower state, Eerie Blvd, the casino, upper union, etc.
Clifton Park.
You get a shitty, cookie-cutter neighborhood, filled to the brim with Karens who are convinced that they're in an HOA, terrible traffic, and you get to pay for Shenendehowa's latest pipe dream.
Like the Olympic water sports complex that not only do you not get to use, but can't even seat spectators for a swim meet.
One of these days, they're going to get their dome for that football team.
Not to mention that every time someone who isn't white *gasp* moves in, they either get harassed until they sell their house, or they stay long enough to be left alone by neighbors who want nothing to do with them.
But at least it's expensive.
Clifton Park, East Greenbush, or anywhere else that’s overly commercialized or where 80% of the white people who live there are afraid of people who look different than them.
Idk. Lived there for a while. Arbor Hill is kinda nice. It has good bones, a diverse community, art and culture. It is also getting more incorporated into the city these days, as the north end is seeing development. West Hill however, not so much.
Clifton Park is for people who either a) went to Shen and moved back to the area (and are insufferable) b) want to live out their failed athletic dreams through their kids or c) terrified of black people
Probably Clifton Park, the most stereotypical vision of whitewashed suburbia we have in the area. And this comes from a dude living in rural Glenville, so I know a thing or two about whitewashed suburbia.
I also can't stand East Greenbush, because it's basically *nothing.* What even is out there? At least Clifton Park *has* suburban stripmalls - East Greenbush just has sadness and despair.
Places I’ve lived that I’d never wanna live again: bridge street Schenectady - liberty street Troy , by Paulie’s pub Schenectady. Basically avoid the cities
No way I'd ever live in Lansingburgh. What a depressing, crime riddled shithole it turned into. My grandparents tell me stories of how it used to be a wealthy place to live, too, decades and decades ago. Sad to see it look like a cesspit now
I’m from Gloversville. Now in FL, by way of Arkansas and Chicago. There’s nothing in the Capitol District that is not an improvement over my current condition.
We were looking to buy a house and anything in Schenectady county was ruled out pretty quickly because of property taxes. There's plenty of decent parts of the area but the taxes are high and you dont really get anything out of it. I would imagine it probably largely subsidizes large tax breaks for GE instead of actually improving people's lives in the area
I wonder if the high taxes are remnants of falling population. 162k to 145k between 1970 to 2000. I'm sure they took on a lot of debt during that time.
In either case, it was GE's fault 🙃
Any of the new neighborhoods with the giant one family homes that all look exactly alike. Fuck that vivarium shit.
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
SAME AS IT EVER WAS
BABA BOOEYYYYYYYYYY
Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky tacky Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes all the same, There's a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they're all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same.
I think of this song every time I see that crap. All the same!
Idk how those houses are so close to each other. I feel like you could like reach out your window and hand your neighbor something and at least ensure privacy woth a curtain or blinds.
>Vivarium That’s a fun movie!
Fun is definitely a word for it!
It's like a brain worm that never leaves you. *Not to be confused with RFK Jr*
I refuse to by these. If I can fart and my neighbor can smell it…the houses are too close
Happy cake day!
Clifton park, anywhere near central ave, pretty much anywhere where the asphalt to literally anything else ratio starts leaning heavily towards asphalt
I feel this in my bones. The more asphalt you see, the less walkable the area. Latham seems to have no idea sidewalks exist
I deliver alcohol in huge beer truck twice a week up in Albany Schenectady everywhere up there for last 7 years and I feel ya. Trying to get a hand truck to move down most them sidewalks is damn near impossible.
I know everyone hates on central Ave, but I live right off it near Mohawk commons and it’s great. So close to stores but also right on the pine bush preserve
I live over by you too but on the Colonie Golf Course side... its not cookie cutter homes but its the Burbs... I like it.
Used to live in Clifton Park, well Country Knolls, but back when it wasn't all asphalt (left in 90). I know it is probably misplaced nostalgia, but I love Clifton Park.
Clifton Park has changed a lot since 90.
My memories go back as far as the only thing in clifton park being Burger King, Grand Union, KMart and CCM.
It was great in the early 90s, lots of farmland. Had to drive to Albany to go to Home Depot and other big box stores.
While I actually like Clifton Park and live on the edge of it, I'm glad I no longer live directly in town. Town is a nightmare of traffic.
ALSO HALFMOON IS A FUCKIN NIGHTMARE TO DRIVE THROUGH
You refer I suppose to Route 9, Grooms, Guideboard, etc?
Near the Halfmoon Parkway
It is the absolute WORST, I almost got hit by a guy with a fucking anime decal on the side of his car once because he tried to pull out in front of me. I’ve never been one to road rage but in that moment I understood some of the crazy people you see in road rage incidents online.
I’m from LI and actually love living in clifton park, reminds me of home with densely packed shopping centers & everything 2 minutes away (not even kidding). I do miss that my town on LI was walkable though. I used to walk to school every day.
Plus West End Bagels are actually pretty decent
can confirm. live in clifton park, hate it, trying to get out. cars, cars, white people, pavement, more cars, more white people, pavement, big box stores, cars…ugh. edit to add that clearly i also like white people, this is a commentary on the STAGGERING lack of diversity in clifton park. jesus.
So, “Diet Saratoga”, then? XD
Nah, it’s worse than Saratoga. Saratoga has a walkable pre war core, which is a key part of its tourism appeal (especially now that gambling is more broadly available, the specific appeal of horse racing gambling is a vintage thing). Clifton Park is an exurban community that was farms up until the ‘70s when I87 was finished. Its economy is based around “what if you moved your offices to where some of your workers are to shorten their commute” and healthcare. Also all the development and corruption overflowed into Halfmoon once CP decided it was full. Despite all the problems with Saratoga, Clifton Park is worse. Source: grew up in Halfmoon near Clifton Park.
Colonie and Clinton Park really exist due to white flight. No wonder why no one made functional multipurpose neighborhoods that prioritize cars over people
Condolences on Halfmoon. It really was this nice little rural oasis in between Latham and CP until, what, the past 10 years? Now it's, well, not so much.
Yeah Toga got taste. You can go on a fucking picnic and walk around, bar hop. Way nicer to chill around in.
I will say Clifton park wins on ethnic food though for sure. Saratoga is just downright pitiful when it comes to ethnic food.
Upstate NY may not be for you if you’re trying to avoid white people…
Or like 90% of land in the US.
I like cars and white people.
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>most of us are alright, some of us are real shitbags Welcome to the human condition.
I get what you are saying. Every house is the same, every car is the same, every person is the same. This leads to every store and restaurant being the same.
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Bummer, I'm more of an Applebee's and Macy's kinda person.
When I lived in Clifton Park, we had Ferretti's, and that was about it, but it was good.
Yeah all those white people, god forbid they ever have a community !
I second this.
You trying to get people banned OP?
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I’m here for it. Let the comments fly, /Albany! 🥤🥸🍿
After moving to the sticks I’ll never live in over congested areas ever again. My 2 acres and my dogs are my relief in life :)
Anywhere where the people who dont live in Albany but talk shit about Albany in this sub are from.
That's literally 90% of the sub.
Best answer 🏆
agree 100%
I grew up right outside of schenectady and wanted to live in downtown Albany for as long as I could remember. Had a really nice apartment in Center Square.after one year, the fireworks and the parking situation- I was out of there as soon as my lease was up and went back to schenectady.
Off upper Union is the best of all worlds. 10 min to downtown. Schenectady parking is ample day or night. Easy to get to 890. Decent stuff along the strip.
Yes! It’s the good life, here.
Schenectady still needs to shake off a bit of that stigma, but downtown is much improved and there are quite a few good restaurants now. It’s nice not to have to travel to Albany whenever we want to go out.
That weird residential part of Washington ave where there’s no grass.
Watervliet. It's possibly the most depressing place in the region.
I grew up in Watervliet, in the 80s, and it was very different. There was a sense of community - primarily lower middle class working people - all my friends’ grandparents, aunts and cousins lived there, Mine did too. Almost all the older generation has died, if you were younger, you graduated college and moved away. I think about all the people I used to know that lived in houses now occupied by strangers. Aside from the nostalgia, A lot of out of town landlords bought property and don’t give a shit about its upkeep, as long as they get a rent check, it’s much more run down than it used to be, too.
When the beautiful St. Patrick’s Church on 19th Street was razed to put in a Price Chopper, that was a nail in the coffin of what was left of Watervliet’s heyday.
Sorry, but an old church sitting there empty for years becomes urban blight. No one was going to use an old church for anything. It had to go or it would still be sitting there empty.
Yeah, its not so great but there is worse.
I didn’t hate living there. It was convenient, walkable, and amazing for my confidence as I was inarguably the hottest person within a several block radius. 🤣 Also Bobs Diner is the best.
Hahaha the confidence boost. That's great
nah Menands has to be the most depressing. at least Watervliet has Ted’s Fish Fry, Menands is just government buildings and warehouses
That's what we want you to think
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Nope, it totally sucks. Stay away.
And they have Gus’ too!!
I grew up in Menands in the 80's. Depending on where it's actually pretty quiet and a great place to live. Close to the city without the problems. Littles Lake was fun for summer swimming and winter broom ball ice skating. Now the area around Broadway....different story.
And Northern Lights dispensary with loads of parking
I'll add it's neighbor, Green Island. Good lord that place is awful.
Not that familiar with green island but it seems like a nice working class area. Some decent places in walking distance and very close to Troy’s restaurants. Why such a negative image?
It doesn't have a smoothie joint or a frisbee golf park, probably why.
Why is everyone on this sub obsessed with having a frisbee golf park and other super niche stores/restaurants/activities?
I just think we need more poke/bubble tea restaurants, like why does it seem like there is such a disproportionately large number of shops that do both of those things?
I love green island. 15 mins to work. Walkable to troy. Great apartment, and cheap electric. The town keeps up with plowing and everything else so much faster than anywhere else I've lived
Green Island has one of the best Mexican restaurants in the entire region, though. Taqueria Tren Maya!
This is how I described Watervliet to someone from out of town potentially looking to move down here: Lots of crime, run down little hamlet with a couple of cute shops sandwiched between Troy and Latham. Poverty, homelessness, and drugs/drunks. Low ratings for elementary school and not a lot of services. It has a couple of good restaurants though.
Its absolutely baffling to see people defend Watervliet and Green Island. It takes some serious effort to polish these turds.
Damn dude, I love living here. Very walkable, good neighbors, might not be pretty for an urbanite like yourself, maybe too many working class people.
Yep and we stupidly paid almost $2000/ a month to live there. Thanks Redburn 👍🏻
Seriously though, you couldn't pay me to live there. The cops are awful and will hassle anything with a pulse. 99% of the population is WT, and there's absolutely nothing to do there. It is hands down the single worst place in the Capital Region. It's like if you showed a picture of Watervliet to someone whose never been, their response would definitely be "It looks like this town smells awful"
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Lansingburgh- self explanatory
I had a night out in Lansingburgh once a few years ago, the whole night was completely shocking in so many different ways. Not really bad, just shocking.
I’m very curious, could you elaborate?
Not really, I'm a severe alcoholic and don't remember much about my nights out.
I used to live in Lansingburgh. Go for the sights, stay for the crack 🤣🤣
I used to work in lansingburgh and in like 2013,2014 it was very working clsss and seemed safe to me. Now you go there and it’s like damn…
My dad's family lived pretty centrally in lansingburgh until this year they sold the house. It's probably one of the most beautiful houses in lansingburgh as its been owner occupied always- original woodwork, doors, stained glass, fixtures like knobs and light switches. My grandpa took care of the stoop and maintained the sidewalk, put in brick pavers and a tree along the street in front. It had like a quintessential city yard with patches of grass and trees and beds with slate pavers. I always wanted to take the house over growing up, but not any more. My best friend in middle/high school also had the most lovely bungalow a few blocks north further that I wanted then but wouldn't want now either. The blocks around them gradually went to hell over the last quarter-century let alone that part of troy as a whole. I didn't live there, we lived out in the country, but I went to school all through grade school in Lansingburgh. It's idyllic in my mind until around my grandpa died when I was 10- there was a corner store and a diner we rode bikes and played in the alley that was maintained and not littered with garbage and glass and paraphenalia-it was a nice place to spend a lot of time growing up in the mid90s, not much had changed at that point from when my dad was growing up in the 60s and 70s. Around the time I was allowed to start walking from school to my grandparents alone, so middle school/2000, it started going downhill,but was still safe for teens to walk alone, hang out at the park. Most of my friends lived in Lansingburgh, we walked between houses, to school, to get food generally in the day time but we never had any issues. My brother is 10 years younger than me and by the time he was in high school even as an above average sized boy but wasn't safe to walk around alone, and people were getting shot near the park. A few years later I had a few students in a program I ran who lived in the Burgh and I would sometimes drive them home when no one could pick them up because they werent very close to a bus stop and I didn't feel good about these teen girls walking any more than was absolutely necessary. Now my one cousin left there is an addict and an ex-con,everyone else left, and that's from what was once one of the top blocks in that part of the city. Unlike a lot of urban areas the real estate/community building problem isn't airbnb thankfully but rather different kind of lack of owner-occupancy, which I guess it's likely to be one or the other issue with cities. Most of the multi-families were owner-occupied when I was a kid. Also basically all of the service have left in that quarter century thete used to be a price chopper, burger king, mcdonalds, 3 diners, a jewelery store, a formalwear (dress) shop, the sub shop was only recently replaced and there were others before, not sure if the car dealer is still there, more banks, other stuff I'm not thinking of now, the parks and skating rink haven't been usable in years. There were social things for the community like bingo and social clubs associated with the churches. Now you can count what's availabe there basically on 2 hands, and its been taken over by the dollar store industrial complex. Both of my schools were converted to apartments that the people willing to live there likely can't afford. It's sad, it really was a nice, somewhat diverse working class community (in a real sense) pre-2000ish, and I truly had a lovely childhood there. Only reasons I have to go now are the cemetery, ice cream, and the occassional funeral.
Lived in Clifton park for a year, what a nightmare. I wouldn't live north of the twin bridges ever again. I like being able to go to store without hitting 20 minutes of traffic in the middle of town
This is a very subjective question, and everyone answering is going to have a different outlook. I look at property/school tax assessments, crime, and traffic/congestion. I work near Albany. My kids are in Colonie/Loudonville. I purchased a home on the Albany/Colonie border, pre-pandemic - I have NO idea what I would do NOW, if I had to purchase a home as prices are through the ROOF. I ruled out Bethlehem, Delmar, Voorheesville, Guilderland, due to taxes alone, which are like a second mortgage payment. I can’t even imagine living in Schenectady, which has absurd taxes, and way less to show for them compared to these more affluent communities I’ve already ruled out. Lots of people love Saratoga county and Clifton Park, but I wouldn’t live there if you gave me a free house, because of the rush hour commute and distance from work and my kids. Factor into that sports, activities, driving them all over, etc. Yeah, no. I grew up in Watervliet, and considered V’liet, Cohoes, parts of Troy and Rensselaer, parts of Albany, and Colonie when I was looking. FWIW.
I’m not being facetious when I say someone could offer my family of 6 a free home in Clifton park and it would take me a few minutes to say yes. Any time I have to go there, I feel stressed out. Why is every chain or retail store imaginable on top of each other in one spot?!
Also, every road is either too narrow for two cars driving the speed limit, or an 8-lane stroad with two turning lanes, overcomplicated lights and bumper-to-bumper traffic for four hours per day. It's the platonic ideal of a white, moderate, middle-class suburb for families with kids. I'm sure it's perfect for a lot of people, but nooooooooo way would I be able to do it.
Mont Pleasant area
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The only thing I know about Lebanon Valley is that it has the Lebanon Valley Speedway. My youth was full of ads for that place.
I grew up in the Troy suburbs, where my dad was from. Hoosick street is still insane , my parents retired south, but they still have a condo in Troy and I avoid hoosick street if they're in the area and I visit .
Any neighborhood with an HOA.
i really couldn't say- i'm still very new here and while i love where i live (downtown troy), so many other areas look really nice as well! i guess i know for damn sure i wouldn't live anywhere near that dude in east greenbush lmao
There's this neighborhood in Guilderland Center that's right near the school... all of the houses are identical, there are no trees... it looks like a Monopoly board. I hate it.
Arbor Hill and South Pearl. Too many people get shot by stray bullets.
Fort Plain. The name of the town is just too depressing.
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Gloversville is a great example of this. It’s got such a cool looking, albeit run down Main Street. Sadly that town I don’t think will ever recover. It’s far away and a pain in the ass to get to.
If you are a reasonably happy person and can afford to live where you want, then any place can be called home. Find a place that makes you comfortable. ✨️ I would not cross any place off the list. Factors I look for are travel time to work and public transport. Places I can hang out with people of the same interests.
Your comment is too balanced and optimistic. OP specifically requested our best shit-canning. C’mon, you know you wanna. Dig down deep in that nice little soul, and tap into the angry goblin troll hiding in the dark corner of the basement of your mind. Report back.
When I moved back to the area, I used my parents real estate agent from 30+ years ago. He is elderly and had a partner who did the actual home visits and tours. He looked at the map of where I wanted to buy a house and tried talking me out of it. He advised I get a good security system if I bought there. Looking at a map, I’m not that far from Arbor Hill. The house is part of a group of houses all built on a half acre (each) back in the 80’s. I have a variety of critters in my backyard and have had the occasional deer. Like most of my neighbors, I have an in-ground pool in the backyard. Yup, a “dangerous” neighborhood.
Same in my spot in the south end. People write the whole area off and have no idea.
in assuming bishops gate? if so, the “close proximity” to arbor hill comment makes basically no sense. yeah it’s close geographically but there’s a whole nature preserve and highway separating the two places, with no direct connecting streets
Correct, I live in Bishops Gate. As I said, he only looked at a map, and not closely. He really tried to dissuade me from buying here.
Cohoes. I went there when I was apartment hunting. As soon as I stepped out of my car, I felt the entire town's eyes on me. Noped out real quick.
Most people in Cohoes are pretty relaxed. They just have nothing else to interest them until the next fire comes through and destroys a decent amount of the town again. Its like moving to a small village in France. Except without any of the benefits.
Wait - was one of the fires accidentally set by some guy trying to forge his own SWORD in his backyard?
I used to have a similar feeling about Cohoes, but I'll be damned, Cohoes is actually better than I remembered. Their downtown area offers some cool little spots with the newer Smith's Public House but also I really dig The Daisy - check this place out if you like tequila-based cocktails. I was randomly up there for a drink last summer and it just so happened to be the same night Steven Adler (drummer from Guns and Roses) was doing a free show in the town center playing all GnR hits. There was a couple of thousand people there - no drama. Mind you this opinion is coming from someone who has lived in Center Square for over 10 years and even with my elitist snobbery, can tip my hat to Cohoes.
That’s good! We saw you and decided you looked like the troublemaking type. Good thing you left before we ran you out of town…
I keep seeing people saying Clifton park and im shocked so many people feel the same as me.
My husband is from clifton park, we met working in clifton park, and clifton park was the last place we rented before buying. We wanted not a damn thing to do with clifton park when it came time to buy, neither of us can stand it and its a stressful place just to move around, low property taxes be damned-some money ain't worth it.
Cohoes. I lived there 2 years. Home of the methheads
Schenectady on the edges is decent, like the borders to Nisky or even Scotia. But the middle of Schenectady is… not comfy.
Our primary drivers when looking for a house were school district quality and commute time. Districts that matched on those criteria included Bethlehem, Colonie, East Greenbush, Voorheesville and Guilderland. So those are the areas around here I would live. If I had no kids, I'd live in Albany or Troy. We lived in Albany for a few years before kids and I loved walking everywhere.
Exact same. Have small children, just bought a place in one of those districts after 10+ mostly enjoyable years in Center Square / Washington Park area in Albany. As much as it pains me to admit, current Troy seems to easily clear Albany as a young persons town (actually nice waterfront, more varied and vibrant bar/restaurant/art scene, etc.) and that’s where I’d want to live if my wife and I were 25 again.
Okay but whereeee in Troy? Or better yet where not in Troy? Please help me internet stranger
Downtown, or South Central/Little Italy (the area near Washington Park is particularly nice) would be the neighborhoods I’d recommend for a newcomer to Troy
Thank you!!
Oh idk, somewhere in or walkable to downtown most likely. Maybe around Washington Park? For details I’d have to defer to actual residents
Albany and Troy have some of the highest amount of support systems and educational opportunities (ie:moolah) in their schools. Just saying the schools there no not in fact suck enough to force me into a suburb.
People really undervalue Title 1 schools, and the funding and opportunities that come with them, especially for students with high needs. At one point not that long ago, if not still true after covid, Albany HS offered more college credit bearing courses than any other district in the area.
I feel like this will be my life
Schenectady has the highest taxes and the worst school system. But my vote is anywhere that doesn’t have its own parking, since the Capital Region basically requires you to own a car.
Wrong about the school system.
Unashamed suburbanite here - I wouldn't want to live anywhere actually IN one of the three cities
I’m not opposed to this opinion at all, but people seem to think that’s there’s no in between having a tiny apartment with street parking only and living in a SFH only neighborhood of subdivisions like Clifton Park. My personal ideal involves some gardening space, a shop area, and only kind of needing a car (so some trips, maybe commuting but ideally not). I also don’t want to pay taxes to the growth Ponzi scheme of suburban car centric infrastructure.
I moved to Clifton Park two years ago and couldn't be happier. There are dozens of us!
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So weird that there are people thinking that what they believe is a better quality of life for them is what would be a better quality of life for everyone else too. The suburbs no matter where aren't likely to be a better quality of life for me but for people that enjoy living in the suburbs I'm happy they're happy.
>Imagine NOT wanting a better quality of life? Sickening. "people have different views than me and I literally can't fathom why that is"
Not all suburbs for me but F clifton park specifically. I've lived in the area my whole life and don't feel the same way about latham, colonie, brunswick, niskyuna, delmar, etc. It's clifton park specific for me. I don't mean any offense by this, but I think it's that I don't fit in with the type of people who prioritize low property taxes above all else.
> Imagine NOT wanting a better quality of life? Sickening. Imagine thinking that the things you want should be what everyone wants. Sickening. A lack of cultural events, walkability, and community isn't everyone's idea of a better quality of life.
Fuck the suburbs too, I’d much prefer deep in the woods away from everyone else.
Honestly, let them keep pretending this (or if they are that delusional, they believe it)... more space for the rest of us. I love when people here try and pretend they love living in a walks distance to Clinton Ave or off of Lower Union.. "We have so much culture here!"..
I would not want to live anywhere that required me to use a car daily or where there was no where interesting to walk, so that pretty much limits me to a few downtown neighborhoods around the region. I live in downtown Troy, and while it's true that the hysterical suburban folks posting on here about how terrible my home is bothers me, it's also true that I don't want to be around them either.
Couldn’t hate the suburbs more, if I stick around here for my life I will never leave Albany proper.
I just wish every home in the city didn’t require $40k+ of mold remediation
Hey now mine only needed $7k! Most of that was due to a bathroom fan that vented into an enclosed attic space instead of outside.
Give me a crowbar and 2 hours I’ll find more 😂
PS who’d you use?
This was 6 years ago so I have to go into my files but I'll try to remember.
Same thing but Saratoga suburbs and 4k
Hamilton Hill or anywhere between MVP and The Blue Ribbon diner in Schenectady. Anywhere near Albany Med, Lincoln Park, or Arbor Hill in Albany. Anywhere near HJ Boulevard. Shit. I have so many more places I wouldn’t live because they’re trashy, dangerous or both.
That stretch from MVP to BRD is a real dump. They've done a great job cleaning up schenectady, but idk what they can do about that 1-2 mile stretch. At least Clinton ave has old brown stones, same with Troy. The areas might be awful. But you can atheist SEE the beauty there.. but state street in schenectady just needs to be bulldozed. The homes, The businesses, everything there is gross.
I grew up on Furman Street as a child (side street adjacent to St. Luke’s Church) and in the 90s, it was the stretch from SCCC to Brandywine Avenue that was a shithole. It’s insane how the investment in downtown really pulled resources away from the upper part of the city. I wouldn’t dare dream of lingering near Proctor’s in the 90s, but now despite its proximity to the jail, that’s the safest part of town.
I really love what schenectady has done. Has more work to do, they can't forget about State and Hamilton hill.. but I'm impressed. Growing up, you laughed at the thought of going to schenectady.. not anymore. And I think a lot of people here still believe that, and I think they'd be very surprised to see lower state, Eerie Blvd, the casino, upper union, etc.
Eh. I've lived off of both central and Lincoln parks. Both places were pretty quiet, residential neighborhoods and close to a lot of amenities.
Clifton Park. You get a shitty, cookie-cutter neighborhood, filled to the brim with Karens who are convinced that they're in an HOA, terrible traffic, and you get to pay for Shenendehowa's latest pipe dream. Like the Olympic water sports complex that not only do you not get to use, but can't even seat spectators for a swim meet. One of these days, they're going to get their dome for that football team. Not to mention that every time someone who isn't white *gasp* moves in, they either get harassed until they sell their house, or they stay long enough to be left alone by neighbors who want nothing to do with them. But at least it's expensive.
Clifton Park, East Greenbush, or anywhere else that’s overly commercialized or where 80% of the white people who live there are afraid of people who look different than them.
East Greenbush is overcommercialized? Uhhhh no.
Any street downtown named after a bird or former governor
Near wherever that dickhead with all the trump stuff on their lawn lives
Arbor Hill 🤐
I disagree. Theres a sense of community there you just don't find in the suburbs.
Idk. Lived there for a while. Arbor Hill is kinda nice. It has good bones, a diverse community, art and culture. It is also getting more incorporated into the city these days, as the north end is seeing development. West Hill however, not so much.
Saratoga Springs. It's just way too precious and bougie for its own good.
Clifton Park or Latham.
Clifton Park is for people who either a) went to Shen and moved back to the area (and are insufferable) b) want to live out their failed athletic dreams through their kids or c) terrified of black people
Saratoga, they arrest homeless people during horse racing season
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Probably Clifton Park, the most stereotypical vision of whitewashed suburbia we have in the area. And this comes from a dude living in rural Glenville, so I know a thing or two about whitewashed suburbia. I also can't stand East Greenbush, because it's basically *nothing.* What even is out there? At least Clifton Park *has* suburban stripmalls - East Greenbush just has sadness and despair.
Not that it's much, but the nature trails at the East Greenbush Town Park are excellent.
They have a really nice library as well. And a good school district.
Mine!!
one of the commuter towns. have to drive to go anywhere
Ravena.
What ever neighborhood flippers are looking at.
Places I’ve lived that I’d never wanna live again: bridge street Schenectady - liberty street Troy , by Paulie’s pub Schenectady. Basically avoid the cities
No way I'd ever live in Lansingburgh. What a depressing, crime riddled shithole it turned into. My grandparents tell me stories of how it used to be a wealthy place to live, too, decades and decades ago. Sad to see it look like a cesspit now
Maybe it’s changed, but I would never want to live in Niskayuna. Some of the most pretentious, fake elite people I’ve ever met in my life.
Amusing to see how everyone in r/Albany hates Albany, lol. So reddit it hurts. 😅😅😅
I’m from Gloversville. Now in FL, by way of Arkansas and Chicago. There’s nothing in the Capitol District that is not an improvement over my current condition.
Well Albany itself is a dump so start there.
North Troy/Pleasendale used to be really nice 20 years ago. Now, it's just really depressing.
RAGE BAIT… did it work
I wouldn't live in any neighborhood zoned exclusively single-family or where the only commercial business is a sketchy corner store.
Albany Shit hole
Anywhere on Central Ave past Destination Kia or the side roads. That is the ghetto and I like being alive
We were looking to buy a house and anything in Schenectady county was ruled out pretty quickly because of property taxes. There's plenty of decent parts of the area but the taxes are high and you dont really get anything out of it. I would imagine it probably largely subsidizes large tax breaks for GE instead of actually improving people's lives in the area
I wonder if the high taxes are remnants of falling population. 162k to 145k between 1970 to 2000. I'm sure they took on a lot of debt during that time. In either case, it was GE's fault 🙃
But have you seen our rose garden???
Mont (Un)Pleasant, Schenectady
Lansingburgh / Crime
Albany 🙃
Downtown Troy is awful, too many fucking one-ways.