Regarding John's post on 11/7/2008. Such blanket statements as listed in your post are uncalled for. No Albany does not have the nightlife or shopping of NYC or Boston, but that is because it is much smaller. The nightlife is not mostly poor or uneducated, maybe it was your choice of venue that led you to believe this but I regularly went out with many college educated professionals to the local establishments. I lived in Albany for 10 years and there are definitely positives and negatives. Winters are very long even compared to the NYC area where I grew up, but summers are very pleasant and much less humid then downstate. If you enjoy the outdoors the Catskills are just south of Albany and the Adirondacks a half hour north. The Lake George region just an hour away is a beautiful place to spend a weekend. The Saratoga race season which is very popular lasts half the summer. As you mentioned Albany is actually centrally located just a few hours away from three world class cities NYC, Boston, and Montreal. In regards to the student ghetto, yes I wish they would clean it up a bit or require the landlords to provide better upkeep (I lived in it for 3 years) but it is one small section of the city. Speaking of colleges there are many fine institutions in the region (UAlbany, St. Rose, Siena, Union, Albany law and Albany Med, Albany College of Pharmacy, RPI, etc...) I left the region several years ago and have lived in the south and southwest since then. Each city and region has had good and bad to talk about, so just listing the negatives is irresponsible. I would actually consider moving back to Albany if the right situation came up. So if your considering moving to Albany research all aspects before making your decision its really a pretty nice place to live.
Kevin | Albany, NY | Report Abuse