Love this series, but I do take issue with how you describe the folks who work in those buildings in the plaza. In my experience, state and city government workers are overwhelmingly from working class and immigrant backgrounds, majority non-white, and decidedly not “front row” types. And the reality of government bureaucracy is deeply messy and human and the opposite of the cold technocracy you describe. Honestly most people probably would prefer it was more efficient and rational! I think what you’re describing is more like what think tanks wish local government was like.
Chris, Great article and pictures. Not only have the buildings divided our communities, but the educational options in NY state have destroyed the ability for many to find meaningful jobs. When the education department decided everyone needed a Regents Diploma to graduate, instead of more training for skilled labor, many capable folks did not graduate. Bigger government buildings, take away the character of the neighborhoods. Glad I found your articles, thanks to Chris Churchill's newsletter.
I liked following your capital region walks and photos on Twitter but I don’t agree with this story almost at all.
Yes the Plaza can look soulless when it’s completely empty. Come back when it’s filled with food trucks and a small farmers market. Or during one of the concerts or movies shown there. Or for one of the small festivals held there. Or for the free ice skating in the winter. Or when West Capitol Park is filled with state workers literally every workday when it’s above 60 degrees.
If you absolutely hate the brutalist(? modernist?) architecture, then look instead at the world-class modern art collection outside and inside the plaza. Go to a show inside the Egg and realize that it’s actually a great, comfortable venue.
I feel the plaza was a big influence on the kind of art and architecture I enjoy as an adult. Yes, it’s terrible that it displaced a huge amount of downtown residents and businesses, but that already happened. It’s done- all you can do is try to prevent it from happening again. If your disgust with Rockefeller et al is so great that you can’t see the plaza is now one of Albany’s greatest assets, you’re being willfully blind.
A lot of people have had a lot of amazing times and fun down at the plaza, calling it soulless is low effort. I guess you're never there when people were dancing having the time of their life at the free concerts, or seen the excitement in a child's eye when they finally get to see the fireworks lose up.
Local - As someone who has lived in ALB since 1979,, I agree that there have been great times on the Plaza. 4th of July, concerts, et al. But the effects of the demolition changed the nature of the city for the worse. http://www.98acresinalbany.com/
I hadn't come across your walking-writing pursuits till Paul Graham recommended you on twitter.
I was pleasantly surprised by your long essays and your longer walks. A gentleman's account of observations about life and all the disparity it has to offer. I've been a firm believer that the quality of your observation and experiences in life are inversely proportional to the speed with which you live it. All the experiences you narrate are a poignant reminder of it. It is impossible to experience the disjoint between the part of the city that takes and the part of the city that gives while on a drive. May be because most of your faculties are centred around driving and not absorbing the environs that surround you. A walk frees up your mental bandwidth to feel whatever is going on around you and try to make sense of it.
I look forward to continuing with you on this journey and exploration Chris. Thanks for writing this for us.
One thing I didn't want to address in this piece, but I was hoping someone would shout out. Watervliet, which I talk favorably about, also has a massive public works project that dominates it -- the Arsenal. A massive gated military base that while it provides jobs, also kinda split the town into two.
There is no way around public spaces; just think Empire State Plaza (and the network of highways in Albany) are particularly harsh examples and how not to do it.
Which brings the larger question (not sure I want to make this blog about urban planning, which is outside my knowledge set), but every town is the product of a group playing Sim City, but in my experience, I have felt that the towns that "work" the best for all the various classes, is more self organized rather than planned. Brazilia vs Jakarta comes to my mind as extreme examples
There’s not much I miss about Albany, except for Washington Park. I lived at the far end, on South Lake Ave. I walked through or around the park daily (worked at Rockefeller Institute and for the Assembly). I was very aware of how much different my piece of Albany was compared to others. I found out the first week I lived there as I decided to just walk around (and go to the record shop). I knew which street it was on and could have taken a fairly direct route there, but it was a nice summer day so I meandered a bit. I remember being surprised at how quickly a street changed from well kept brownstones to rundown buildings. (The cities I’d lived in prior were Boston and St Louis.)
One of the highest rated skateparks around is Bluebanks on the south end of Washington Park, an easy one mile walk from Empire Plaza. But that would not further the narrative.
I remember passing through Albany in the early '70s, seeing what Rockefeller had wrought and wanting to vomit. For the last nine years I've been walking both sides of every street in San Francisco (2400 miles, almost done) and learned that I most like the Bayview, Visitacion Valley, the Excelsior, and my own Mission neighborhoods the most. There's life here. http://596-precincts.blogspot.com/
Lord, I loved Albany when I interned there in '88. I was 21 and it was a town jammed with bars and hangout spots. But man, all the things you callout were there then and so much of the city oozed of neglect and abandonment.
Yes, although if you're going to write on this, also worth discussing the construction of highway 787, which did equally (if not more) horrible things to Albany around the same time. And you use a photo of what looks like a post-war concrete building to show what Rockefeller was embarrassed about, but the reality is much more striking: the neighborhood was mostly brownstones and townhouses. It was just filled with the wrong kinds of people. But those same buildings are the ones we fawn over today.
I tried to mention that, in this "The Plaza also made life in the shabby communities it didn’t bulldoze even worse. It made them even more isolated and cut off, now walled in by tall buildings, concrete plazas, and elevated expressways."
And yes, I had a picture of the brownstones directly across from the plaza, but it was not a good photo! My pics are not meant to be exactly following text, but a tad artsy instead!
I follow a travel photography blog entitled, "Dear Susan", named after Susan Sontag (https://www.dearsusan.net/). One of your Substack travelogs would make a fine submission. If interested, send submission to Pascal Jappy (jappy@gmail.com). I enjoy your articles very much.
"The egg, is ugly (sorry), and like all modern performing arts centers, it is a pretty elitist thing. Which at its core is what technocracy is about. Because the idea that you can engineer happiness, contentment, or fun, is about as high brow and detached from humanity as you can get."
It has been pointed out that things like "free symphony admission" are really subsidies to Front Row Kids, because these are the people who at least pretend to care about classical music as a class signal. It's not the price that is keeping the folks who live behind the bodega out - it's that they don't feel that they belong there and probably aren't all that interested, at least not enough to be bored in the service of a higher cause.
Not sure I entirely agree, but possibly worth discussing. And I *like* classical music.
Roosevelt Colvin taking corner kids to Ruth's Chris also comes to mind.
Or "defund the police". To a Front Row Kid, what that slogan means in practice is "take money away from the undeserving (unionized, mostly uneducated blue collar cops who are by and large cringingly unwoke and have poor taste besides) and give that money to the deserving (nonunionized white collar social workers who can be expected to uphold rigorous Front Row standards in taste and decorum)".
Substitute the words "Front Row Kid" for "professional managerial class" and it makes even more sense.
Classical music is great as a backdrop to other entertainment: video games, TV, or films. It's not sufficiently engaging in itself to get the legitimate attention of modern people exposed to state-of-the-art home entertainment. That's also increasingly true for other live musical events.
Love this series, but I do take issue with how you describe the folks who work in those buildings in the plaza. In my experience, state and city government workers are overwhelmingly from working class and immigrant backgrounds, majority non-white, and decidedly not “front row” types. And the reality of government bureaucracy is deeply messy and human and the opposite of the cold technocracy you describe. Honestly most people probably would prefer it was more efficient and rational! I think what you’re describing is more like what think tanks wish local government was like.
Chris, Great article and pictures. Not only have the buildings divided our communities, but the educational options in NY state have destroyed the ability for many to find meaningful jobs. When the education department decided everyone needed a Regents Diploma to graduate, instead of more training for skilled labor, many capable folks did not graduate. Bigger government buildings, take away the character of the neighborhoods. Glad I found your articles, thanks to Chris Churchill's newsletter.
I liked following your capital region walks and photos on Twitter but I don’t agree with this story almost at all.
Yes the Plaza can look soulless when it’s completely empty. Come back when it’s filled with food trucks and a small farmers market. Or during one of the concerts or movies shown there. Or for one of the small festivals held there. Or for the free ice skating in the winter. Or when West Capitol Park is filled with state workers literally every workday when it’s above 60 degrees.
If you absolutely hate the brutalist(? modernist?) architecture, then look instead at the world-class modern art collection outside and inside the plaza. Go to a show inside the Egg and realize that it’s actually a great, comfortable venue.
I feel the plaza was a big influence on the kind of art and architecture I enjoy as an adult. Yes, it’s terrible that it displaced a huge amount of downtown residents and businesses, but that already happened. It’s done- all you can do is try to prevent it from happening again. If your disgust with Rockefeller et al is so great that you can’t see the plaza is now one of Albany’s greatest assets, you’re being willfully blind.
A lot of people have had a lot of amazing times and fun down at the plaza, calling it soulless is low effort. I guess you're never there when people were dancing having the time of their life at the free concerts, or seen the excitement in a child's eye when they finally get to see the fireworks lose up.
Local - As someone who has lived in ALB since 1979,, I agree that there have been great times on the Plaza. 4th of July, concerts, et al. But the effects of the demolition changed the nature of the city for the worse. http://www.98acresinalbany.com/
I hadn't come across your walking-writing pursuits till Paul Graham recommended you on twitter.
I was pleasantly surprised by your long essays and your longer walks. A gentleman's account of observations about life and all the disparity it has to offer. I've been a firm believer that the quality of your observation and experiences in life are inversely proportional to the speed with which you live it. All the experiences you narrate are a poignant reminder of it. It is impossible to experience the disjoint between the part of the city that takes and the part of the city that gives while on a drive. May be because most of your faculties are centred around driving and not absorbing the environs that surround you. A walk frees up your mental bandwidth to feel whatever is going on around you and try to make sense of it.
I look forward to continuing with you on this journey and exploration Chris. Thanks for writing this for us.
One thing I didn't want to address in this piece, but I was hoping someone would shout out. Watervliet, which I talk favorably about, also has a massive public works project that dominates it -- the Arsenal. A massive gated military base that while it provides jobs, also kinda split the town into two.
There is no way around public spaces; just think Empire State Plaza (and the network of highways in Albany) are particularly harsh examples and how not to do it.
Which brings the larger question (not sure I want to make this blog about urban planning, which is outside my knowledge set), but every town is the product of a group playing Sim City, but in my experience, I have felt that the towns that "work" the best for all the various classes, is more self organized rather than planned. Brazilia vs Jakarta comes to my mind as extreme examples
There is much akin to Dorothea Lange in your work—thank you.
There’s not much I miss about Albany, except for Washington Park. I lived at the far end, on South Lake Ave. I walked through or around the park daily (worked at Rockefeller Institute and for the Assembly). I was very aware of how much different my piece of Albany was compared to others. I found out the first week I lived there as I decided to just walk around (and go to the record shop). I knew which street it was on and could have taken a fairly direct route there, but it was a nice summer day so I meandered a bit. I remember being surprised at how quickly a street changed from well kept brownstones to rundown buildings. (The cities I’d lived in prior were Boston and St Louis.)
Oh Washington Park is lovely, and yes how quickly neighborhoods change in Albany is jarring.
The difference between Lark on either side of Central is pretty stunning
I never cared much for skateboarders. I need to reassess that position. Good for them!!!
One of the highest rated skateparks around is Bluebanks on the south end of Washington Park, an easy one mile walk from Empire Plaza. But that would not further the narrative.
"The idea that government, empowered by the best and brightest, wielding “Science!,” can mold humans, cities, and societies into their better selves."
The dictionary definition of communism, in its pure, unwoke, unpossible form.
I remember passing through Albany in the early '70s, seeing what Rockefeller had wrought and wanting to vomit. For the last nine years I've been walking both sides of every street in San Francisco (2400 miles, almost done) and learned that I most like the Bayview, Visitacion Valley, the Excelsior, and my own Mission neighborhoods the most. There's life here. http://596-precincts.blogspot.com/
Lord, I loved Albany when I interned there in '88. I was 21 and it was a town jammed with bars and hangout spots. But man, all the things you callout were there then and so much of the city oozed of neglect and abandonment.
Yes, although if you're going to write on this, also worth discussing the construction of highway 787, which did equally (if not more) horrible things to Albany around the same time. And you use a photo of what looks like a post-war concrete building to show what Rockefeller was embarrassed about, but the reality is much more striking: the neighborhood was mostly brownstones and townhouses. It was just filled with the wrong kinds of people. But those same buildings are the ones we fawn over today.
I tried to mention that, in this "The Plaza also made life in the shabby communities it didn’t bulldoze even worse. It made them even more isolated and cut off, now walled in by tall buildings, concrete plazas, and elevated expressways."
And yes, I had a picture of the brownstones directly across from the plaza, but it was not a good photo! My pics are not meant to be exactly following text, but a tad artsy instead!
Chris:
I follow a travel photography blog entitled, "Dear Susan", named after Susan Sontag (https://www.dearsusan.net/). One of your Substack travelogs would make a fine submission. If interested, send submission to Pascal Jappy (jappy@gmail.com). I enjoy your articles very much.
-Bob Kruger
Preach, Brother Chris!
"The egg, is ugly (sorry), and like all modern performing arts centers, it is a pretty elitist thing. Which at its core is what technocracy is about. Because the idea that you can engineer happiness, contentment, or fun, is about as high brow and detached from humanity as you can get."
It has been pointed out that things like "free symphony admission" are really subsidies to Front Row Kids, because these are the people who at least pretend to care about classical music as a class signal. It's not the price that is keeping the folks who live behind the bodega out - it's that they don't feel that they belong there and probably aren't all that interested, at least not enough to be bored in the service of a higher cause.
Not sure I entirely agree, but possibly worth discussing. And I *like* classical music.
Roosevelt Colvin taking corner kids to Ruth's Chris also comes to mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_Your_Place
Or "defund the police". To a Front Row Kid, what that slogan means in practice is "take money away from the undeserving (unionized, mostly uneducated blue collar cops who are by and large cringingly unwoke and have poor taste besides) and give that money to the deserving (nonunionized white collar social workers who can be expected to uphold rigorous Front Row standards in taste and decorum)".
Substitute the words "Front Row Kid" for "professional managerial class" and it makes even more sense.
Classical music is great as a backdrop to other entertainment: video games, TV, or films. It's not sufficiently engaging in itself to get the legitimate attention of modern people exposed to state-of-the-art home entertainment. That's also increasingly true for other live musical events.