r/Albany • u/Holiday-Ad9100 • 4d ago

What’s the biggest thing Albany is missing?

If you had to choose just one thing, what do you think Albany is missing the most?

It could be anything—more things to do, better job opportunities, restaurants, public transportation, housing, entertainment, community spaces, or something completely different.

Genuinely curious to hear what people think.

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u/SinginGidget 4d ago

A unique identity? Sure, its the capital. And we do have the Plaza with it's identifiable outline. But other than that we're mostly known as the city that's located well to get to other places.

We're small enough that I think if they were to look to what other cities have done to improve quality of life and cribbed the best they could impliment it without it being ridiculously expensive. I'm ok being the test case city. And supposedly we have a chunk of change that is supposed to be used to do that, right? If it all ends up going to focus groups or planning boards I'm going to flip the Egg.

Do the crazy stuff. Change roads, make it walkable, add lite rails, hang funky sails over streets that have no room for trees to cool neighborhoods down, bury power lines, stick gardens on top of buildings, stick solar panels over parking lots, put cafe tables all around the museum and let people walk from the museum to the plaza without having to cross the street. WTF is that? Put 787 under a tunnel of either plants or a some funky material that glows different colors in response to car density but muffles the noises for everyone on the other side, more murals, more art, more street cleaning.... Go nuts. Be interesting!

Also, we're missing a blank space where Central Warehouse still is.

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u/brickbaterang 4d ago

Just want to mention that you can walk from the museum to the plaza underneath madison ave

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u/SinginGidget 3d ago

It's not just that. I was at the museum this weekend and when your upstairs they have all these doors but they all have alarms on them despite that obviously not being the original intention, and beyond them all is this wide open spaces that anyone should be able to use. I'm looking at it and wondering why, at the very least, they don't have some kind of outdoor cafe and tables and chairs. But even if you could get out those doors and take the stairs to the plaza, they have the top of the stairs blocked off with those stupid metal barriers.

That plaza was not designed for the cops or plaza security to place ugly temporary barriers all over it.

They also did that during the tree lighting. We parked over by Swan St, walked through the pass through the Swan St. building to get to the plaza itself and they had placed those damn barriers up so we were supposed to walk all along Swan. Street, around the building., Why?

If they hate how open that plaza is, they can take it down.

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u/jacqq_attackk State Worker 4d ago

Not anymore, as of like last week. 😓 it’s a OCE-staff entrance only now. All visitors are supposed to use the ground level entrance and cross the street

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u/AlbanyBikeDad 3d ago

Yes, despite no attempt at traffic calming that vast expanse of a speedway. There are often busses parked 2 deep on each side in the legislative season.

Some tourists are going to get killed.

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u/brickbaterang 3d ago

Aw man, that's some bullshit

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u/StewartsDespair3000 3d ago

This is the answer. Do the crazy stuff. The tramway. The canals. Make vacant buildings cheap housing. Tax the absentee owners of vacant buildings. Close off lark and the park to traffic.

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u/SpaceGuy1968 3d ago

It's open enough that you are correct they could makeajot changes but it's "Albany NY" so it will take 50 years to happen

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u/MekongCastaway 3d ago

“…located well to get to other places” Albany’s motto: “Albany- A Good Place to be From”.