Democracy In Albany

I think that commercial development is probably a better deal for Albany then housing for the following reasons:

1. The units would probably be upscale and high end and there is a lot of competition that will be entering that market in the next few years from the tax payer supported projects already proposed for downtown.

2. These projects tend to be supported at tax payer expense. 10 and 20 year property tax abatements usually will cover the entire cost of the projects.  Not only would all of us be paying for the construction but these projectes would devalue the older garden style apartment complexes in the area and lowerer their assessed value- and their tax revenue.  Again, using the "deals" that have been made with other developers as a guide, by the time that these apartment complexes are paying their fair share of property taxes they will already be devalued due to age.

3. Even single family houses uptown would not be economically viable without tax payer support.  

4. More residential will knock the stuffing out of attempts to renovate and improve the downtown sections of Albany.

5. We need more private sector jobs in Albany. The city cannot sustain itself on the government tit.  Already a disproportionate amount of Albany property is either state, church, or not for profit owned.

Reminds me of Corning's ultimately unsuccessful, but very expensive, opposition to student votes years ago.

If housing, rather than office space, is built, development profits could be lower. That's bad news for the developer in the short run, perhaps, but in the long term would increase the city's population and increase the viability of commericial development elsewhere, as these voters would also be consumers.

  The housing stock in our area was mostly middle to upper middle class when it was built, with architectual features and amenities, and at the current price range of $130,000 to $200,000 is is  more affordable than the burbs.  As many of you may know, Delaware Ave ain't perfect, but it seems that our influx of young families belies your pessimistic views of the future of our city and county.

  The above narrative has a point, despite the old saw, oft repeated in this blog, a large number of my long time neighbors, like myself and wife, are not Albanians, but are immigrants to Albany and we have found this a great place to raise our kids.  I think that there are enough folks who are drawn to city living, and with the development of a mix of new housing, such as Harriman apt bldgs, condos on the river, lofts downtown and renovated and revitalized inner city housing, we can offer a great range of housing options, which the burbs can't offer.
   Now of course, taxes are an issue.  The tax rates are too high in the city.  It is mitigated to some degree vis a vis the burbs, due to the higher property values out there.  But also, as we are seeing now, as the burbs continue to grow and mature, they are starting to incur more expenses and higher taxes, it is simply a matter of time until they catch up (see for example, all the run down privately built water systems in Saratoga County that were built to service residential developments, but are allowed to be dumped on the municipalities after 10 (?) years, or the impending costs to Saratoga County residents for their new water system).  

     As to Albany schools, you naysayers always harp on the behviorally challenged students, but never mention the top AHS grads who go to Ivy League and other top schools, as well the many other kids who go on to other 4 year colleges and community colleges.  I was in the minority of my friends in sending my kids to parochial school, and each and every one of my friends whose kids have graduated from the Albany Public Schools K-12 tell me of the great programs and results for their kids, and none have been assaulted, robbed or whatever.

  However, changes need to be made, in a nutshell, neighborhood schools K-8, smaller high schools, SMALLER CLASSES, social workers in the schools, get rid of most of the Charter Schools. The school also needs to separate the chronic troublemakers if the social workers and whomever else cannot get them into a learning mode.  These kids rob many other kids of their opportunity to learn.  Of course, I have no idea if the DOE would allow this... The school taxes are out of control almost a $200 million budget for a city of about 100,000 is way out of wack.  At this point, I have no idea what to do about the budget...

  I won't even touch the city budget, as usual, it is another one shot wonder budget, and the ***t will hit the fan, what, probably next year as there will be no more crumbs to fall to Mayor JJ (or should I say to us...) off the Legislative table with the state's finances in bad shape.  I wonder what he will do next?

  Now to the actual point of this comment, which is actually related to the above.  I believe that many are seriously underestimating the power and long term implications of our morphing into Tech Valley.  A little forward thinking may let you see that along with high paying and factory wage jobs from Sematech and AMD (if and when it is built) that will permeate the capital region, and not just Saratoga, many businesses, big and small, will grow and expand, and we definitely can expect new spin offs and support businesses. These will create jobs and the multiplier effect of these salaries and wages is significant.

  If our high tech plans continue to come together, I am convinced that it will also create a different personna and identity for this area, and we will always be 3 hrs from Boston and NYC, 4 hours to Montreal a couple hours from the Adirondack Park, and the cost of living compared to say Dutchess County or anywhere south of there is a bargain and a half.  

  So, if we use the things that drew many of us to this area, I think that 5-10 years from now, the economics of the Capital region can be totally different, in a good way.  Maybe, since I see the Cap Region with different eyes than some of you because I love living in the city and specifically in the Delaware Ave neighborhood, and but from the vantage point of the county legislature, my focus was on Albany County as a whole since I believe that as they say, a rising tide raises all boats (as long as we each do our part to caulk the seams and make our neighborhood boats watertight, so to speak)

They were going for a mainstreet concept, a grid, along with a parking garage for bigger employers. There also would be expanded bus service to the area.