What's Albany, NY Like?

And why did I choose it for this trip?

Why Albany?

Why did I come to Albany, NY this summer?

I had been coming up to Vermont every year to stay with my elderly father. It was so nice helping him around the house, getting his groceries, and being close to my siblings and mother (who was in a nursing home there).

Both of my parents passed in 2021, and my father’s house was sold.

I didn’t go up in 2022 because I didn’t have a place to stay.

Then, this year, I decided to look around to see where I could stay. If I was going to pay to stay, I thought I would make it someplace I would like to explore but still close to family and friends.

I chose Albany because 1) I’d never spent any time there, 2) I had friends who’d moved there from Sarasota, and 3) because it’s central to places I wanted to go. A part of me thinks I might move back north, and I like the size of Albany (100k people) and the fact that it has an airport and an Amtrak station.

What do I think so far?

I’ll say that Albany takes a while to grow on you. It has a lot of different personalities. It’s got a mash of highways surrounding it. It’s got some hideous brutalist architecture mixed with some amazingly ornate architecture, including some lovely Dutch and Dutch-inspired buildings. Parts of it are clean and new, while others are historic, and some are downright dirty and neglected. There’s a lot of trash on the streets here.

The downtown doesn’t feel like a downtown, probably because it’s the capital and hosts the legislators. But also because parts of it are very rundown.

Albany does not feel “loved” in many places.

While there are some “neighborly” feeling areas, they don’t seem to be the norm.

Honestly, it reminds me a lot of Tampa. There are some cool areas, but they’re all disconnected from each other. It’s a very disjointed experience. And if Albany is Tampa, then downtown Troy is St. Pete. A much friendlier, unified feel.

Having said that, if you look hard enough, you find the quaint and quirky here in Albany. I found great coffee shops and restaurants. I visited a very cool museum. I found the closest community and private gardens where I could take my compost. I have visited three different farmers markets since I’ve been here. I found a cool Italian market.

Scenes around Albany, NY

One thing I don’t feel in Albany is support for entrepreneurs. I think the reason for that, though, is that most people here have good state jobs that pay well. Albany doesn’t have its own Chamber of Commerce but instead belongs to a regional chamber.

And then there’s the housing.

I’ll be honest… the reason I don’t already live in the northeast is the housing. That is the single biggest issue for me in moving north. The housing stock is almost entirely old. Because it’s old, it’s often inexpensive to buy but very expensive to own. Buildings here are 100-200 years old.

Many landlords do not bring these apartments up to date and freshen them up for rental tenants.

The space I’m currently staying in was rehabbed in a very modern way with exposed brick and mini-split air conditioners. There are a few minor blemishes, but I could live here happily if I had my own furniture and off-street parking. Except, of course, for the fact that he's asking $3000/mo in rent.

I saw another apartment listed on Facebook marketplace on this same street for $2250. The photos looked great, so I decided to go look at it to see if my host had this place overpriced.

An apartment in Albany, NY

Well… let me tell you. If there's a comparison to be made, then my current AirBNB is worlds away. You can just tell when someone does something with love and when they just do it for money. But also, there are literally no functioning windows in the other apartment except for the bathroom. There are doors on either end with static windows around them. Because there are no windows (and no mini-splits), there can be no air conditioning. Period. Unless it's in the bathroom! Also, the doors and windows were given zero love and looked terribly depressing. The kitchen floor was not finished (no matter what they think!) and had huge cracks in it and a couple of large drilled holes.

I couldn't even figure out where the heat came from because there was not a single register or vent in the entire place!

And for THAT they are asking $2250.

And, to boot, all the housing here (just like everywhere else) is being bought in bulk by investors who pay cash. It's infuriating and discouraging and should be illegal. Housing is not a commodity. It is homes for hardworking Americans. But, the way things are going, average Americans will henceforth be forced to rent. As it is, statistics show that 62% of households here are renters. That's terrible for a community and invites bad behavior if landlords are absentee or out of state.

Something to share

The other thing about the prospect of moving virtually anywhere is that I want something to share. My current apartment in St. Petersburg worked great for me when I had chronic migraines and a very small life. But it doesn’t work well for me now that I’m ready to be a hostess and invite community into my home. (I’m still grateful for it and will stay as long as it’s economically advantageous, but I’m craving more.)

I want something big enough to have people visit from out of town, host gatherings for my neighbors, or invite people in for celebrations and brainstorming sessions.

Short of a miracle, I don't know how I could comfortably afford to live in Albany in anything other than a shithole (or something very tiny). And I can't… won't… live in a shithole. I continue to look for the miracle that’s out there.

Traveling with a cat

I definitely never pictured myself as someone who travels with a cat. But I also can't imagine being away from Libby for too long, and I never expected that. She really is a tremendous comfort in my life, and we've never spent more than two weeks apart. She's been there throughout the last seven years and is my companion and family.

🌻 One Positive Thing

One of the few things I love as much as farmers markets is Mass MoCA! It’s one of my favorite museums in the world! I drove over on Sunday (only an hour away!) to see this larger-than-life puppet. It was a truly magical experience… the way her hair blew in the wind and her eyes blinked. Contemporary art and fresh veggies feed my soul!

crazysexyelsie

A post shared by @crazysexyelsie

⏰️ Currently

🖼 Slogging through drawing storyboards for my class. Not my strength!

💧 Working on the never-ending job of staying hydrated.

🗽 I was supposed to be boarding a bus this morning to head to NYC for a huge climate march. Because of other important obligations, I decided to give my seat to someone else, though. If you'd like to help them achieve their goal, contact your federal representatives and urge them to demand that Biden declare a climate emergency.