Where would commuters drive? Two lane main roads!? You all are clueless. South Pearl, Broadway, State, & Henry Johnson Blvd would be massively inundated with hours of traffic. Catch a clue. I was born and raised in Albany my entire life! This idea just wouldn't work. That or move these state departments buildings somewhere where else, away from the river (downtown). We're the Capitol, we need to work around the existing infrastructure we have now. If Albany wants to make money like it did under Mayor Jennings, it should bring back it's Night Life on South Pearl st., Lark st., Central ave., and Western ave. Schenectady has done it, we used to do it. Yet people complained about youth of color and college students partying too much. Sound like a bunch of cry babies asking for something that doesn't make sense in the long run. "DDT is a wonderful idea, it'll take care of our problems." "Oh no, where did thr eagles go? 😢 "
I live on Clinton Ave, Arbor Hill area. I just bought a house here and it is BEAUTIFUL! The architecture is amazing. This house was built in 1888. Albany needs to hold landlords (which I am) accountable to keep their properties up to code. I agree, they need to make this city more walkable and give more opportunities/grants more available and easier to obtain for small business owners.
Clinton Avenue historic project is coming along pretty nice. I almost settled there when I moved here years ago but I chose pine hills instead. There are some amazingly renovated historic homes in a convenient location with very cheap rent. They just happen to be in a “iffy” neighborhood, but it’s on a bus line, it’s newer people moving in. Happy for you. I’m in an 1890s brownstone near Washington Park. Love it, only problem is half the block is connected and a fire would be horrible. I think some of Clinton Ave is all connected to each building also. Ten Broeck Park at the bottom of the hill is nice and Palace Theatre is great too. Technically, you would be able to walk to the bottom of your hill and right over the skyway to the waterfront
I am from Rochester, and removing the Inner Loop East was one of the best decisions the city has ever made. Now it is Union St, with bikelanes, tree's and medium-sized apartments buildings with much more being finished within the next 3, 4 months along with construction of the "Neighborhood of Play" around the Strong Museum along with a new Hampton Inn. Many of the buildings wll be affordable aswell. I really see a resurgence in Rochester over the next 10 years and I'm excited to see it grow.
I don't live in Albany but I have visited it and I really love the charm of it. NYS capitol, cool local stores, brownstone apartments and turn of the century architecture is really cool. But I never like the highway that took me there. Standing by the USS Slater next to this highway was saddening and I'm glad you along with many locals want this replaced with a park. I would definitely come up here more often!
@@TheDCShow0 Especially since you see those ‘I Love NY’ commercials on TV showing off our state’s beauty. I could definitely imagine Albany appearing on there with this project!
@@zoibydalobster22 They stopped the "I love NY" campaign. And went with "We love NYC" campaign instead. The Governor tends to like NYC more. More like Governor of NYC instead of Governor of all of NY.
@@89playstation65wrong, we made Cuomo take down every single tourism sign he put up on the thruway. There were thousands of signs put up, act like you know…… Albany-Rensselaer is a Top 10 Amtrak Station in the country (9.) for daily riders. People definitely come here from all over including Montreal, Boston, Chicago, Ohio, Indiana, Niagara Falls, NYC and all parts in between, on one single bus/train without a transfer. Everywhere I go outside of NYC has LOCAL or STATE tourism. The concourse at the Plaza has a dedicated tourism section for each region. We are the Hard Cider capital of America, that’s a start lol
@@TheDCShow0I’ve lived here 8 years, first 4 were great, last 4 were anything but…… I’m not sure we have officially recovered from pandemic yet……. They are just barely starting festivals and parades again. I just found out today Crossgates Mall is up for auction over $240Million default…… Everything CDTA is doing right now to improve infrastructure will be for nought if Crossgates Mall goes under
Incredible drone shots. Truly content rich and professional quality videography. I recently visited Albany and was shocked by this eyesore of a highway. Great video!
Been going to UA since 2018, moved into Albs earlier this year and been invested in this issue for a while now. Really excited to see a lot more talk around removing this eyesore and reconnecting the city, hopefully we’ll get there some day. Awesome video!
Put 787 underground between the two bridges and open up access to the river for Albany. leaving the road there and adding crossways for pedestrians still leaves little land for river front development.
Great video! Very informative, possibly your best work yet. Awesome to see more people talking about and getting involved in the riverfront reclamation project.
Even getting rid of the West Side Highway in NYC and the Embarcadero Freeway in San Francisco didn't solve the problem. It only made the congestion worse.
Love the riverfront, love access to the river, love the idea of reconnecting the city to the river, but the discussion in this beautiful video papers over the huge mass of seriously important complexities and complications -- if you think the poverty of the South End comes from the tngled web of highway below the Plaza, you must not be familiar with the north end, or Clinton Ave, or most of Albany. The city -- and the region overall -- suffers from too much division in too many ways, whether economic, political or social, and I don't see any firm relationship between improving the optics by making pretty roadways and actually overcoming these divisions and the ills that come from them. And don't even think about how nasty traffic will be without the capacity of a functional highway without enormous improvements in how people who live elsewhere get to work... things that are positive, attractive alternatives to how people get around now... and that don't result in the gentry displacing the urban poor so you can pretend the neighborhoods are benefitting. Not simple, not easy, and certainly not feasible without serious involvement of folks outside the choir. All that said, though, nothing will get better without someone making some noise and stirring things up by pitching ideas -- many thanks, good luck, and keep pitching!!
Good points, so I was gonna say, the south end of Albany is a food desert, but now that I think about it, the north end of Albany is also a food desert. The closest grocery to downtown is Price chopper on Madison in Delaware, and the next one is way up in Pine Hills at the point on Western and Madison. Otherwise, you have to go all the way out to a Walmart or colony to get groceries or you’re shopping at family dollar Rite Aid
This video was wonderful, I really hope it comes to fruition. I think a pier or something along the waterfront for people to enjoy the river, get food, and enjoy nature would be a nice addition too : )
Co-sign, I stated above, unless you’re shopping at a family dollar or a CVS you MUST go uphill to Lark/Madison Price Chopper, or Western/N Allen or Price Chopper or the ShopRite on Central/N Main. Otherwise you’re going outside of Albany to a Walmart or Hannaford or Whole Foods……. They’re all conveniently located on bus routes though, that’s something at least
Lived in Albany all my 41 years in the village of Colonie about a 10-15 minute ride to downtown its definitely declined recently especially the crime has skyrocketed in the last few years but still love my hometown. Sweet video!
I am a resident of Albany and I am neither here nor there with the demolishing of 787. My main concern is what was only briefly discussed the poverty levels. How will it benefit those who are living by the area? because gentrification of the underprivileged areas have been a thing for the last few years. So, this access to the river will increase property value make it more desirable; but at what cost? What programs will be implemented so that the land can be affordable for the people who live there and have lived there for many years so they can remain there? Not just remain there but actually own some of that land? What programs will be placed so undeserved communities will not be driven from their homes and pushed further out because rent is too high? It will create a more desirable location but who benefits from it? You stated about the poverty level, besides temporary jobs what benefit does it serve the predominantly black communities that are currently there? Albany has been being built up but only white people are profiting from it. This will be yet another thing that white people will benefit from. Frankly as a resident of Albany unless I see programs for the new available land to be purchased by the residents in the communities (and I mean a significant amount of land at least 65%) and good portion of the tax revenue going into local programs reforms and schools that serve the black and underprivileged communities with in that area you can keep your gentrification in the making.
That’s the point. Those in the impoverished neighborhoods will see their property values skyrocket with the new waterfront proximity value. This is good for them and will help them get out of poverty if anything.
I often work at Cornell Park, out of my truck on my laptop, because I think that Hudson area is so special. I often look at the river, and think about how most Albany residents don't even get to appreciate it. I am all for this. My only suggestion is to highlights the negatives too. If your idea is strong enough, the positives will outweigh the negatives.
I’m a proud Albany resident, I’m 100000000% for this. I moved here from WI 5 years ago and it immediately struck me what an eyesore those ramps are. Then after speaking to Albany lifetime residents, no one loves them either. It’s sad that all the historic waterfront buildings are gone but this project can certainly bring renewal to this great city im proud to call my home. Let’s do this!!!!
Yeah let's do heavier traffic on the ground level... You're not from Albany so you probably don't really understand the magnitude of what's being proposed here. We should be happy we have 787 and wish they built it in Rensselaer because it is an eyesore Albany...not get rid of part of it 🤣. Simple as that. If they want revenue, bring back the nightlife we had under Mayor Jennings.
@@Animalhouser I’m from Albany now and am on the roads everyday as a delivery guy. I agree, it definitely should’ve been built on the eastern shore, however what is there now requires constant maintenance and is in fact, a complete eyesore. Quite honestly, in my years driving it in the morning I’ve never seen it congested unless there is construction. Nightlife is something different to everybody. If we have a beautiful waterfront, folks will return to that area. It’s a win win win.
What do you think about Albany compared to Madison Wisconsin? I really enjoyed Madison when I visited recently. I know they have 250,000 compared to 100,000 but they were the number one city to live in America three of the last five years. Just curious for your perspective . I’ve been to Milwaukee twice and I really love the beaches on Lake Michigan. I spent a day in Green Bay and did all the packer stuff and toured the stadium and I walked all around the town in Madison and toured the state capital checked out both of the lakes and the college. My brother is looking at Oshkosh right now, so I’m just reaching out for feedback
Took the train there once and it doesn’t even stop in town..the station is on the other side of the river..across that web of highways..the plaza was weird too.
I live and work in Albany, you need 787 there. the traffic volume during rush hour is already ridiculous. And the placement is not that bad it runs along the river so it stays out of everybody's way. There are parks and boat launches that go into the river underneath many of the ramps. But most of the river is fenced off, for multiple reasons. Safety reasons, illegal dumping of waste, and they're can be quite a bit of boat traffic. Very large boats, so it's not exactly safe to go out and fish in that part of the river either. If that's what you're looking for you might as well travel up to Saratoga. My point being is you need 787 there to handle of the traffic volume, and it's not that bad having it run along the river.
It definitely doesn’t stay out of everyone’s way. If you live in low-income neighborhoods like the pastures and south end, this highway is very much in your way. It’s not a bad placement assuming that the city needs this highway. I believe that if you took a scientific approach to studying the traffic in Albany, you would find that the highway could have its capacity reduced by 25% and congestion would not increase. it’s counter-intuitive but there is a lot of research already out there documenting this in other cities.
A non-limited-access road will handle the traffic with less maintenance cost than the current elevated freeway. Maintaining 2 seconds between each vehicle means that a high speed road of x lanes passes the same vehicles per time as a slower speed road same lane count. The elevated freeway's underside encourages the dumping by being an unpleasant place to hang out, a good place to hide. The non-freeway opens more areas for land development, getting more people closer in to town, getting more use of valuable central land. A better transit system would densify people traffic so each person takes less road space too. Your view of how a riverfront should be used seems limited
You should do a comparison about the west side Highway and FDR in NYC. Or they should just compare Manhattan river parks. They basically did the same thing. Much more larger portions of the west side Highway used to be elevated b4 they turned it into a boulevard. I mean i don’t care for the traffic lights on that portion but the park on the west side Highway Is larger than on the east river. Even though the east river parks are expanding and they have improved the portions under the elevated part of the Fdr.The parts on the fdr that aren’t elevated around the UN they are building the park to continue via a bridge park over east river. So i guess I’m saying it can be done both ways. They are both nice. They can both have equal access if done right. Elevated or at ground level.
Where are you driving from. If it were your town would you want a highway on your river? We really have to learn how to do things differently in this country, always the car centric same old same old.
Totally agree with you Mark. I've lived my entire life in both the South End and North Albany. Most commuters are from outside the city. Those same commuters are people who work in all of our state buildings. We're the freaking Capitol! We're not Cohoes or Saratoga! It's just the reality of things. This video is a beautiful pipe dream. If it were to be implemented, all the money spent would pay for a bigger headache.
I'm an Albany native & I never lived anywhere else. Making the river more accessible may sound good in an imaginary world, but I think spending tens of millions of dollars to revamp 787 would be a waste of that money. Waterfront usage would not be used in a widely eventful way to justify using all the monies it would take to make that happen. Waterfront use would span roughly 4 months out of the year & the population of the city is not nearly large enough to proceed with a project that large. It would take years & years to recoup any, even small, level of financial benefit. I remember hearing what the south mall (empire state plaza) would do for the city and what major benefits did it provide? It is tax exempt & not providing any tax income benefit to the city of Albany
Albany needs to focus on their nightlife scene. From downtown Albany to the UA area... 94,000 people in Albany, not 1.2 million. These ppl behind this project are out their fucking minds. Best off not giving 10-20 year tax breaks to developers building apartments building throughout the city. Which isn't bring in anyone new. The population is decreasing people have nothing tethering them to this city worth staying for. A bigger riverfront park aint going to do shit for anyone right now 🤣🤣🤣 but make traffic worse within the city itself.
It would be nice as in Plymouth MA. The original Fort at Albany was recreated along the River in unused land. It would be a excellent tourist attraction and historical learning site.
This is my favorite suggestion and I agree .they believe they discovered the site of the fort when they built Dunn Memorial bridge beams in (1970s?) There’s actually a marker on one of the beams you can walk under . So if they do knock all of it down, building an actual fort, like fort, William Henry in Lake George would be a great idea and great for tourism. We have Quackenbush Square, and Clinton Square where the original north borders of Albany were. And stretch down Pearl and Broadway to the Fort area (Pastures-ish) for a nice historic district which include the oldest house in Albany (near the Greyhound station) and the Schuyler Mansion, maybe even Ten Broeck Mansion near The Palace Theatre. And if we’re eliminating foursquare city blocks worth of parking lots for a harbor, that’s gonna be prime real estate, and will be reminiscing of the harbor town we were for the first 300 years we were here. It would include the DNH building in a lot of historic buildings on Broadway and you can make the historic district go up to the State Capitol. It’s already where we start Tulip Festival….
Just look at Portland Oregon. The riverfront highway was removed and turned into a park. No traffic lock up and downtown has a lovely area for residents to visit.
The Empire Plaza is hideous. Albany could be such a beautiful city but its been ruined. Great location. Such a shame. Upstate NY should be so much better than what it is.
The problem is there is absolutely no public transit in this city besides the useless bus so removing this highway won't get people out of their cars they will just go clog up 87 and 90 instead. The reason this idea works in large cities like NYC and San Francisco is because they have good transit options people can use that we don't have
There isn’t really a way to use 87 or 90 as an alternative to 787 as far as I’m aware. What I do believe would happen is that commuters would start using city streets to commit into work instead of solely limited access highways. Albany’s streets have the capacity to accommodate more traffic. To address the transit point, I think that public transit in the US thrives when people live in patterns that simply make transit easier than driving. The capital region has suburbanized to a disastrous level in my opinion. It’s going to take a long time for that to improve, and until people decide they want to live in cities again, I don’t think transit will get much better.
Albany faces a unique challenge in that such a high proportion of its workers live outside the city and don’t pay properly taxes to the city of Albany. Albany’s fiscal situation is pretty bad thanks to this. Luckily this project would most likely receive state and federal funding.
Yes Wonderful Video ! Please make a "Part II" with solutions, Ideas, positive thoughts to get this off the Ground. Let's not make Gov't more IMportant than Us, the People.
If there was a national high speed rail network you'd be able to travel swifter, safer, and cheaper than the highway system we built. This is also the reason Albany is half vacant because with a national railway network it would be able to build a vast urban rail mass transit system and it would be an hour or less from Boston/NYC/Cleveland/Buffalo so it would be more intregrated in teh regional economy!!
I don’t know how familiar you are with Albany but we are the number nine most frequented passenger train station in the country………….per Amtrak. More people a day come through the Albany, Rensselaer train station than LA, Denver and Atlanta combined …….. Tell me more about how national rail network is the answer lmao We have one of the best rail stations in the country, over 40 trains per day bro…..
Getting from Buffalo-Albany in an hour isn’t an option man They have high-speed rail in Florida and Orlando to Miami is 235 miles and takes 2 1/2 hours by high speed rail or 3 1/2 by car. We’re talking half the time not a quarter of the time. Albany to New York in an hour on high speed rail is probably your best bet. I’ve thought several times about daily commuting to New York from Albany. It’s just too much time commuting. I just don’t want to spend 5 to 7 hours a day in a train or bus but two hours a day I would . I’m a restaurant worker and I am definitely interested in better quicker access to New York City
I'm very interested in this concept. I've been following along and not sure where I stand yet. What would happen to all the waste that will come from destruction of the roads/arterial and what kind of ecological impact would disposing of that waste cause?
I left after living there for 61 years. I was there when they built the existing roadways. The problem Albany and New York face is that they have absolutely no interest in maintaining the existing infrastructure. Bridges and roadway supports crumble right before your eyes and are only dealt with when a crisis occurs. If they want longevity, they need to actually build the structures with careful attention to detail on the materials, contracts and contractors. Of course, the theft at the mall when it was complete was breath taking so they will need some oversight there as well.
This video stirred much thought in me. I grew up in the South End and still remember what a remember a vibrant , bustling community which was lost to the Empire PlazA. The absence of community benefits is glaring. The South End is highlighted and North Albany and the Warehouse district along the River is grossly neglected. The highway has damaged and contributed to the deterioration of housing in North Albany. The neglect by the State to maintain the trash and noise pollution from 787 is
The trash and environmental pollution from I-90 has caused so much damage and should not be excluded from plans of a waterfront that also extends North.
I'm glad you found this video inspirational! It's amazing that you remember a time before the empire state plaza, those memories are valuable and I hope you're able to pass them on to future generations so your experiences aren't forgotten. I hope that the plan that the city implements will take into account the i-90/787 junction, but anything would be a victory. One thing at a time perhaps.
People are beginning to live under those bridges...Clinton ave exit. Albany should address that. Maybe turn those abandoned buildings into homeless shelters?
I live in the mansion area. This neighborhood and the pastures are completely cut off from the rest of the city, and you can tell it's hurt the community over the years. I think this is a great idea BUT ONLY if they inact rent control to these neighborhoods. A program to help those who who have historically lived here buy homes here would help too. Otherwise this will just lead to overwhelming gentrification, where rent prices will increase by hundreds of dollars. Thinking about just the economic impact to a poor area won't help if everyone just gets priced out
As someone who grew up in Albany I assure you the vibe is literally just get paid and get high the drug problem is staggering at least that what I’ve seen in the inner city were I lived unless you live outside the city and come to work in the office/government buildings but then you don’t know the real goings on in the streets with the people and the culture the city try’s to play like it’s got big stuff going on but it’s the crime and drugs that make Albany move. nobody wants to live in Albany if you can afford to get out but most can’t and get stuck. Changing 787 won’t change anything this city will still be the dump it’s always been but hey good luck 👍. And hey at least it’s not troy 🤣.
You are 100% correct. There is 0 reasons to live in down town Albany. They need to make it a place worth living. Over 100 shooting last year does not sound like a place I want to live.
Bro, you can’t be serious where do you work that everybody spends their paycheck on drugs, get a different job? If you’re talking marijuana, it’s totally legal now. That’s why everybody smoking in public. We actually don’t have that bad of a drug problem compared to most state capitals. But yes, in a city of hundred thousand people shockingly not all 100,000 have their priorities straight
While I think removing I-787 is a novel idea, it is not bringing people to downtown. There are already parks down there that have access either via parking lots that are next to the park or within walking distance. Unfortunately Albany is a city that goes to sleep after 6:00 PM most week nights unless the weather is good. During good weather there is opportunities to enjoy riverside events, or events on some of the lawns of the local buildings with movie screenings. Removing i-787 isn't going to revitalize a sleepy city, it is just going to cause even more traffic when the people who commute from the surrounding areas into and out of the city at peek travel times. Then, if they get tired of the traffic issues, they will seek employment elsewhere, and Albany starts to loose funds from the daily commuters. If you want to revitalize downtown Albany, improve the streets themselves, improve mass transit, work on making neighborhoods a place someone wants to visit. If those things were to improve first, there might be a reason to consider bringing Albany closer to a very busy waterway that offers no recreational purposes.
Sounds great if the Hudson wasn't a toxic waste field. No need to show off such a scum filled river. 787 is vital for transportation in upstate NY. We aren't in NYC.
Growth is always good for a city. It seems like a nice idea to replace the interstate with a boulevard. The problem is the same number of workers need to get to and from their jobs. Slowing the traffic down and installing traffic lights will make them all take longer to commute every day and contribute to pollution. Every solution breeds new problems. If we are going to do this, it is vitally important that people are given a choice to leave their cars at home and use another mode of transportation, especially during the harsh winters we have. As it is, over the last bunch of decades we paved paradise to put up more and more parking garages. Albany is not just one city. It is at least three, and if you want to think regionally we could have up to eight or nine if you want to include Pittsfield and Bennington. It is sprawled out. Our bus system is nice, but we could do more. We should have a metro linking and bringing all of our communities together. Too expensive? Such a system can serve two purposes. One is public transportation, of course. The other is that we have so many colleges here and the "Tech Valley" business environment that such a metro system could serve as a living laboratory for developing mass transit technology for the world. So many aspects of those two purposes could result in exponential increase in the growth and investment of this region. People, businesses, and investors will be attracted to this area and will want to stay here. If we do this, then there will be no pain, no hardship, and no negative consequences for turning 787 into walkable streets.
I live here I’m excited. We don’t need these out of towners opinions on whether they are inconvenienced with 5 minutes of traffic on the way to work, I live here, screw you and your work commute. Sincerely, a daily public transportation passenger. I’m equally excited for this Albany waterway project with the harbor and canal. But to be fair, the completion date was June 2023, aka NOW and hasn’t even STARTED yet……..
A great video on this subject with excellent points by everyone interviewed. Wonderful cinematography, good information, all I'd add is that some of the audio points felt a little rushed when switching between your voice and one of your interviewees, but even with that it was great and a helpful video on this subject! I work in Albany so this is definitely something I'm interested in looking into and seeing what I can do to help!
@@89playstation65 hmm... unless there would be a Drainage System because I've seen cities with Tunnels near Waterways and even Underwater so that may be a possibility
South pearl street would be a lot nicer with this plan. The part of it that passes underneath the south mall arterial would open up to new development, and more car traffic would make businesses on that street more prosperous
I've spent 18 years of my life in NY, never have been to Albany. Holy fuck that's a bad highway. If it was more like the west side highway or SF Great Hwy people could live much better lives in a city and not a suburb. It would attract more people and money to the region. Good luck!
Im from Cap District and whenever I visit another city I definitely feel like we are stagnant affff like we aren’t experiencing anything new. As a matter of fact they keep cutting or removing the og stuff. We need to act like a capital for pete’s sake.
Why would that “save” the city? Curious because it is a little hike to get to Crossgates Mall but it is a great location and we don’t want all that mall traffic downtown on the riverfront, do we?
@@IkeOkerekeNews US numbered highways guided motorists across state lines without demolishing city centers or neighborhoods. They didn't encourage the monstrous urban sprawl we see today and are more fun to drive than interstates.
I just wanna point out that its interesting that many people are worried this is going to lower property values and make the region less livable in general. You actually seem to believe in the vision to some extent, at least in that you believe that it will raise property values. I think that a comprehensive plan would include affordable housing, especially in reclaimed areas along what is currently the south mall arterial. I do think that we have to remember that rising property values are in many ways a positive sign at the city level. I don't think we should be fighting all progress that risks making the demand for housing go up.
I live outside of Albany and drive 787 frequently. There are really only two good things about 787: great views of the fireworks on the 4th and the revenue when studios come in to film it. Other than that, it's pointlessly overdone. I'd love to be able to show my kids a beautiful waterfront some day. Hopefully this take off.
Nice idea. So let me guess with this move if it were to happen . I'd have to leave my house if I live north of the twin bridges at 1 am . Because the traffic will be backed up to Lake placid on the Northway.
You may not need to leave any earlier! decreasing highways car capacity does not directly correspond to a an increase in congestion. There’s a lot of research on this. I’m going to be making a video in the future explaining it.
@@TheDCShow0 That's where people have other options. Albany doesn't, it's either car or a crappy bus. If we really want to pull this off the city needs to invest in more public transit
Ummmm has anyone ever walked around in down town Albany ? It’s disgusting. The area they want to “re-due “ is in the middle of the worst crime area in most of upstate NY and surrounded by public housing. Down town is dead after 5 and on the weekends. You can’t walk around without being asked for money. Starbucks left, CVS left... there is not s grocery store within walking distance. How about stop all the shootings and lower taxes and maybe people would like to live in Albany. As of right now there is no reason to live in Albany.
I’m with the plan but the editing of this video pandered too a certain toe of point of view. From the sound effects to the dictation of the narrator. They put a harrowing tone over it.
I don't live in Albany or have business in Albany and unfortunately this would make me avoid Albany altogether if I was not able to get through it quickly.
Why would you need to pass through 787 on a long-haul journey? The northway and thruway make that pretty unnecessary. And if this does happen, I guarantee Albany will be more scenic. If you don’t enter during rush hour (assuming you’re a tourist), there’s no way there will be any slowdowns from this.
@@TheDCShow0 There's not much to do in Albany. Albany isn't a tourist destination. And neither is my town that I live in either. Except the reality of things.
@@89playstation65you’re wrong. We have the Number 9 most frequented daily Amtrak passengers in the entire country. There are dozens of TH-cam blogger is coming here and doing videos. It’s the New York state capital there’s 100,000 people here and it’s on a lot of top five small cities lists. It has a very unique skyline that people wanna visit when they see it. Just the people coming up here from New York City for dayTrips are shocking.
Do we live in the same town? I've never had an issue with how the highways are maintained here they actually do a pretty good job considering our roads constantly get destroyed by the freeze thaw cycle
Blatant Pro-Albany/anti-Troy/Rensselaer-ism. Never once does it occur to these people that the interests of the peoples of surrounding communities who depend upon 787 every day. Imagine living in Troy and watching this. Why do Albanian interests matter and those of Rensselaer and so on with our own nice places to walk down to the river please come visit if that's what you want but Albany's job is to run the state and be a hub and there is plenty of riverside property on the Mohawk and Hudson if that's what you want more here.
This is just more state funded gentrification. What's next you build housing that nobody that lives here can afford. Further raising rents from the slum lords and pushing more people out. Guarantee that all further housing will be affordable and rent controlled maybe then it would be okay. But this is going to be just like the issue around albany med more development of overpriced apartments that push working class people out and raise our taxes for some ill thought out city planning. This will just be another central ave. If you have lived in albany for any period of time you would know this is a bad idea. To be honest I am only scratching the surface. So many problems with this idea. Removing 787 is not going to solve the socioeconomic issues albany has.
@@TheDCShow0 That question shows your utter lack of education on this issue. Lets start with income in albany. When your median family income in a city is only around four thousand dollars then a living wage you begin to have an issue. Rent has been steadily climbing in albany at about an average of 5-6% a year. With the pastures currently being the least expensive neighborhood to live in albany. Your project is aimed to improve the marketability of that neighborhood. This means that it will inevitably marginalize the residents of that community by essentially pricing them out (hence my comments on gentrification). Doing exactly the same thing your video states the plaza construction did.
@@erikmidboe146 I think the big problem with rent control is that it causes landlords to take property off the market, turning it into a condo or something like that, which reduces the amount of affordable housing and drives up rents for any non-rent controlled properties. Implementing rent control has been known to hurt the people it tries to help according to many studies. Here's a good source on this: news.stanford.edu/2020/12/01/gentrification-disproportionately-affects-minorities/. I'm just asking why you still support rent control despite these findings.
@@TheDCShow0 Nothing in that article supports your argument. In fact this only bolsters everything I was saying. Albany is running out of affordable housing. All this project will lead to is developers buying up the"valuable" land in those neighborhoods and pushing low income people out. I stated that it should be either affordable housing or rent controlled. Maybe if you ensure that all the undeveloped land in those neighborhoods be zoned for low income housing only... But this scheme would never capitulate because this is contrary to your true agenda. You want to make the south end more marketable to upper middle-class white people from the suburbs.
@@erikmidboe146 agree as a small landlord in the Mansion district all of the new housing being development down town have insanely high rents. All I see is the project increasing taxes.
there are pros and cons to every utopian vision. i'm guessing there were plenty of abandoned warehouses and lots from the time that the waterfront shipping activity declined and people weren't thinking about the waterfront as a beautiful natural playground when they built 787. one potential downside of putting more cars trying to get from A to B at street level with redlight intersections bringing more people to the waterfront for pleasure will be pedestrian and biker injuries/fatalities. there's certainly a lot that can be improved but where is the discussion about making albany a more financially equitable and crime free environment so that more people aren't displaced and further destabilized by these glorious plans? and why are we still complaining about what rockefeller did for downtown albany? he created something unique and architecturally signficant that makes albany stand out. i think it will take a couple more years of rigorous planning and avaluation to avoid making serious and costly mistakes.
I think it’s important that people know that the state government forced over 1000 families out of their homes to build the Empire State plaza. It was immoral and we should all hope it doesn’t happen again. Today, we’re living with the plaza, and I will agree that the architecture provides a wonderful flavor to the city of Albany. Unfortunately it was designed in a very car-centric way. If the architects who designed it had considered how to minimize the impact of the car, redesigning 787 would be a lot easier. This project will certainly take many years to implement. No one wants it to be rushed. We just want to get the conversation going.
Would this all be built on NY state property? Or would the state have to take away land from private property owners? They do it every today when they put in sidewalks, utilities, bike paths etc. I know most people don’t care because it doesn’t personally affect them. Also do you travel every day to work on this highway during rush hour?
I dont care what we do with the highway. But if you reduce the price of a parking ticket from $50(!!!!) to something like $25 I'll vote for it guaranteed.
one great thing about roads entering down town is they are rarely congested for long throughout the day and I for one love the design as is this video selling point that of aesthetic is a weak attempt. Are the good people of Albany in an uproar over the limited access to the waterfront which is in disarray and for the most part foliage block the view of the river again who on either side of the river is concern for lack of visibility or accessibility no one.
I will say that I don’t think it’s a redundant highway. As was said in the video “the traffic needs to be there”. It’s about redesign rather than complete destruction. But I totally agree with the sentiment of your comment!
The highways are overpowering. I think what is missing from this documentary is the volume of traffic that uses the highway daily. It’s far more than shaving “three minutes” off travel time. For many people using the highway they are likely saving more than three minutes of travel time. Reimagining 787 will not automatically decrease the volume of traffic. It reminds me of when businesses want to open in a community in the first thing residents complain about is the volume of traffic. While I can see some benefits, a documentary should be open and explore what increased traffic congestion would mean to the city and it’s residents .
I think that you’d be surprised how well the city’s existing streets have capacity for extra traffic. Broadway and south pearl are incredibly underutilized. If 787 lost 25/35% of its capacity, other streets would be able to pick up some of the slack. I hope to publish more about traffic patterns in the future. Moreover, keep in mind that most of 787 will remain as is, the redesigned portion would probably be no more than a mile. Most of the time, when 787 doesn’t have any congestion, you might only be slowed down by 65% for that mile boulevard stretch anyway, even if no traffic is diverted.
@The DC Show, are you kidding? Are you even from Albany? What you're going to do is lock up traffic all along North & South Pearl Street, Broadway, etc....those Streets are standard 2 lane roads for blocks. We cant even have decent parking options because we don't have space to redesign the roads to make em' bigger... like honestly this is a horrendous idea and the fact Mayor is ridiculous for co-signing it. If you fed this bullshit to me and I was from outta of town lol I can see me being for this without knowledge of Albany. We got 787 and Rensselaer got Amtrack. We need to learn to design with what we have. This just sounds like a Traffic nightmare whose idea came from an out of town hipster. Its a bad idea.
@@Animalhouser I'm from Albany! Check out other videos on my channel and you'll see that the clues are there. This paper should help explain why the "traffic nightmare" you're imagining might not be so bad: opencommons.uconn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1103&context=gs_theses. Another thing I always think about is that Albany's been around for 400 years and this highway's only been around for 60 years. Its a bit weird to feel as though it has to be there for eternity when its only even existed in Albany for 1/8 of its history. Also, did the mayor cosign on this?
@@TheDCShow0 I think it was probably the heartbeat but the tone of the music I'd describe as "anticipation" and in some parts "unease" in the first half. I personally found the music a bit too loud throughout such that it was distracting. Great content though!
If you want to fix Albany move the capitol back to NYC . Then you can tear it all down and start from scratch. building roads under the traffic to the waterfront is a great idea! putting traffic at ground level and making a bumper to bumper nightmare are you kidding? are you talking about traffic lights and walking across traffic to get to the river? Oh I can see it now mom and two kids run down by tractor trailer truck trying to make the light crossing 787. That would probably happen at least twice a year. So a ten year average of 60 lives lost crossing 787 yeah I guess that would work after all it is for the greater good of us all. At this time there is two panhandlers at the corner when I get off 787. I think this idea should support at least 300 panhandlers but on the brite side we might be able to get our wlndshields washed while we wait in traffic!
787 should have been built in Rensselaer... simple as that. We'll live with what we have. Bring back the City's Nightlife. Quit giving tax breaks to developers. This idea is a liberal Utopia 🤣
The interstate was put there because of the traffic!Anyone with COMMONSENSE would realize that there is more traffic today,then the 1960's?Unless you plan on flying in, on your hoverboard electric car!
By commerce do you meaning shipping? If so I would point out that this proposal doesn’t want to do anything with the 787 corridor between the thruway and the port of Albany
No
Why not?
are you a car?
And here’s why things are the way they are in the Capital Region- idiocy.
yes!
Where would commuters drive? Two lane main roads!? You all are clueless.
South Pearl, Broadway, State, & Henry Johnson Blvd would be massively inundated with hours of traffic.
Catch a clue. I was born and raised in Albany my entire life! This idea just wouldn't work. That or move these state departments buildings somewhere where else, away from the river (downtown).
We're the Capitol, we need to work around the existing infrastructure we have now. If Albany wants to make money like it did under Mayor Jennings, it should bring back it's Night Life on South Pearl st., Lark st., Central ave., and Western ave. Schenectady has done it, we used to do it. Yet people complained about youth of color and college students partying too much.
Sound like a bunch of cry babies asking for something that doesn't make sense in the long run.
"DDT is a wonderful idea, it'll take care of our problems."
"Oh no, where did thr eagles go? 😢 "
I live on Clinton Ave, Arbor Hill area. I just bought a house here and it is BEAUTIFUL! The architecture is amazing. This house was built in 1888. Albany needs to hold landlords (which I am) accountable to keep their properties up to code. I agree, they need to make this city more walkable and give more opportunities/grants more available and easier to obtain for small business owners.
Clinton Avenue historic project is coming along pretty nice. I almost settled there when I moved here years ago but I chose pine hills instead.
There are some amazingly renovated historic homes in a convenient location with very cheap rent. They just happen to be in a “iffy” neighborhood, but it’s on a bus line, it’s newer people moving in. Happy for you.
I’m in an 1890s brownstone near Washington Park. Love it, only problem is half the block is connected and a fire would be horrible. I think some of Clinton Ave is all connected to each building also. Ten Broeck Park at the bottom of the hill is nice and Palace Theatre is great too.
Technically, you would be able to walk to the bottom of your hill and right over the skyway to the waterfront
I am from Rochester, and removing the Inner Loop East was one of the best decisions the city has ever made. Now it is Union St, with bikelanes, tree's and medium-sized apartments buildings with much more being finished within the next 3, 4 months along with construction of the "Neighborhood of Play" around the Strong Museum along with a new Hampton Inn. Many of the buildings wll be affordable aswell. I really see a resurgence in Rochester over the next 10 years and I'm excited to see it grow.
I’m from ALB, only visited Roch twice for day trips. I loved Strong Museum of Play! There’s a whole play neighborhood now?
I don't live in Albany but I have visited it and I really love the charm of it. NYS capitol, cool local stores, brownstone apartments and turn of the century architecture is really cool. But I never like the highway that took me there. Standing by the USS Slater next to this highway was saddening and I'm glad you along with many locals want this replaced with a park. I would definitely come up here more often!
I think that tourism in Albany right now is pretty non-existent, but I would like that to change. This redesign could be a good step towards that.
@@TheDCShow0 Especially since you see those ‘I Love NY’ commercials on TV showing off our state’s beauty. I could definitely imagine Albany appearing on there with this project!
@@zoibydalobster22
They stopped the "I love NY" campaign. And went with "We love NYC" campaign instead. The Governor tends to like NYC more. More like Governor of NYC instead of Governor of all of NY.
@@89playstation65wrong, we made Cuomo take down every single tourism sign he put up on the thruway. There were thousands of signs put up, act like you know……
Albany-Rensselaer is a Top 10 Amtrak Station in the country (9.) for daily riders.
People definitely come here from all over including Montreal, Boston, Chicago, Ohio, Indiana, Niagara Falls, NYC and all parts in between, on one single bus/train without a transfer.
Everywhere I go outside of NYC has LOCAL or STATE tourism.
The concourse at the Plaza has a dedicated tourism section for each region.
We are the Hard Cider capital of America, that’s a start lol
@@TheDCShow0I’ve lived here 8 years, first 4 were great, last 4 were anything but……
I’m not sure we have officially recovered from pandemic yet…….
They are just barely starting festivals and parades again.
I just found out today Crossgates Mall is up for auction over $240Million default……
Everything CDTA is doing right now to improve infrastructure will be for nought if Crossgates Mall goes under
Incredible drone shots. Truly content rich and professional quality videography. I recently visited Albany and was shocked by this eyesore of a highway. Great video!
Thanks Dan! That means a lot. Hopefully there will be more videos like this to come.
@@TheDCShow0 Looking forward to it!
Been going to UA since 2018, moved into Albs earlier this year and been invested in this issue for a while now. Really excited to see a lot more talk around removing this eyesore and reconnecting the city, hopefully we’ll get there some day. Awesome video!
Glad you've moved into Albany! There are so many people in Albany who are striving to improve the city.
Put 787 underground between the two bridges and open up access to the river for Albany. leaving the road there and adding crossways for pedestrians still leaves little land for river front development.
Great video! Very informative, possibly your best work yet. Awesome to see more people talking about and getting involved in the riverfront reclamation project.
Thanks James! I'm excited for what the future holds for Albany.
Even getting rid of the West Side Highway in NYC and the Embarcadero Freeway in San Francisco didn't solve the problem. It only made the congestion worse.
Love the riverfront, love access to the river, love the idea of reconnecting the city to the river, but the discussion in this beautiful video papers over the huge mass of seriously important complexities and complications -- if you think the poverty of the South End comes from the tngled web of highway below the Plaza, you must not be familiar with the north end, or Clinton Ave, or most of Albany. The city -- and the region overall -- suffers from too much division in too many ways, whether economic, political or social, and I don't see any firm relationship between improving the optics by making pretty roadways and actually overcoming these divisions and the ills that come from them. And don't even think about how nasty traffic will be without the capacity of a functional highway without enormous improvements in how people who live elsewhere get to work... things that are positive, attractive alternatives to how people get around now... and that don't result in the gentry displacing the urban poor so you can pretend the neighborhoods are benefitting. Not simple, not easy, and certainly not feasible without serious involvement of folks outside the choir. All that said, though, nothing will get better without someone making some noise and stirring things up by pitching ideas -- many thanks, good luck, and keep pitching!!
Can you elaborate on "divisions"?
@@luigib7311 "economic, political or social" division is what gets people elected and/or rich.
Good points, so I was gonna say, the south end of Albany is a food desert, but now that I think about it, the north end of Albany is also a food desert.
The closest grocery to downtown is Price chopper on Madison in Delaware, and the next one is way up in Pine Hills at the point on Western and Madison.
Otherwise, you have to go all the way out to a Walmart or colony to get groceries or you’re shopping at family dollar Rite Aid
This is such a necessary discussion the community needs to have and you killed it on the video. Awesome work!
Thanks Justin! Glad you liked it!
This video was wonderful, I really hope it comes to fruition. I think a pier or something along the waterfront for people to enjoy the river, get food, and enjoy nature would be a nice addition too : )
Yes that would be so awesome..!
No matter what, you have to make sure there is a grocery store. Eastern Albany is literally a fresh food desert.
I agree! I hope that more grocery stores spring up in Albany regardless of the execution of this plan.
Co-sign, I stated above, unless you’re shopping at a family dollar or a CVS you MUST go uphill to Lark/Madison Price Chopper, or Western/N Allen or Price Chopper or the ShopRite on Central/N Main.
Otherwise you’re going outside of Albany to a Walmart or Hannaford or Whole Foods…….
They’re all conveniently located on bus routes though, that’s something at least
Lived in Albany all my 41 years in the village of Colonie about a 10-15 minute ride to downtown its definitely declined recently especially the crime has skyrocketed in the last few years but still love my hometown. Sweet video!
Thanks! I love it too!
I go to college here and honestly the highways is such an eyesore, there should be a way to sit on a bench and enjoy the view
I am a resident of Albany and I am neither here nor there with the demolishing of 787. My main concern is what was only briefly discussed the poverty levels. How will it benefit those who are living by the area? because gentrification of the underprivileged areas have been a thing for the last few years. So, this access to the river will increase property value make it more desirable; but at what cost? What programs will be implemented so that the land can be affordable for the people who live there and have lived there for many years so they can remain there? Not just remain there but actually own some of that land? What programs will be placed so undeserved communities will not be driven from their homes and pushed further out because rent is too high? It will create a more desirable location but who benefits from it? You stated about the poverty level, besides temporary jobs what benefit does it serve the predominantly black communities that are currently there? Albany has been being built up but only white people are profiting from it. This will be yet another thing that white people will benefit from. Frankly as a resident of Albany unless I see programs for the new available land to be purchased by the residents in the communities (and I mean a significant amount of land at least 65%) and good portion of the tax revenue going into local programs reforms and schools that serve the black and underprivileged communities with in that area you can keep your gentrification in the making.
That’s the point. Those in the impoverished neighborhoods will see their property values skyrocket with the new waterfront proximity value. This is good for them and will help them get out of poverty if anything.
I often work at Cornell Park, out of my truck on my laptop, because I think that Hudson area is so special. I often look at the river, and think about how most Albany residents don't even get to appreciate it. I am all for this. My only suggestion is to highlights the negatives too. If your idea is strong enough, the positives will outweigh the negatives.
I’m a proud Albany resident, I’m 100000000% for this. I moved here from WI 5 years ago and it immediately struck me what an eyesore those ramps are. Then after speaking to Albany lifetime residents, no one loves them either. It’s sad that all the historic waterfront buildings are gone but this project can certainly bring renewal to this great city im proud to call my home. Let’s do this!!!!
Yeah let's do heavier traffic on the ground level...
You're not from Albany so you probably don't really understand the magnitude of what's being proposed here.
We should be happy we have 787 and wish they built it in Rensselaer because it is an eyesore Albany...not get rid of part of it 🤣. Simple as that.
If they want revenue, bring back the nightlife we had under Mayor Jennings.
@@Animalhouser I’m from Albany now and am on the roads everyday as a delivery guy. I agree, it definitely should’ve been built on the eastern shore, however what is there now requires constant maintenance and is in fact, a complete eyesore. Quite honestly, in my years driving it in the morning I’ve never seen it congested unless there is construction. Nightlife is something different to everybody. If we have a beautiful waterfront, folks will return to that area. It’s a win win win.
What do you think about Albany compared to Madison Wisconsin?
I really enjoyed Madison when I visited recently. I know they have 250,000 compared to 100,000 but they were the number one city to live in America three of the last five years.
Just curious for your perspective .
I’ve been to Milwaukee twice and I really love the beaches on Lake Michigan. I spent a day in Green Bay and did all the packer stuff and toured the stadium and I walked all around the town in Madison and toured the state capital checked out both of the lakes and the college.
My brother is looking at Oshkosh right now, so I’m just reaching out for feedback
Very good video, have loved seeing your production quality increase over the past year
Took the train there once and it doesn’t even stop in town..the station is on the other side of the river..across that web of highways..the plaza was weird too.
Yeah it stops in Rensselaer lol
I live and work in Albany, you need 787 there. the traffic volume during rush hour is already ridiculous. And the placement is not that bad it runs along the river so it stays out of everybody's way. There are parks and boat launches that go into the river underneath many of the ramps. But most of the river is fenced off, for multiple reasons. Safety reasons, illegal dumping of waste, and they're can be quite a bit of boat traffic. Very large boats, so it's not exactly safe to go out and fish in that part of the river either. If that's what you're looking for you might as well travel up to Saratoga. My point being is you need 787 there to handle of the traffic volume, and it's not that bad having it run along the river.
It definitely doesn’t stay out of everyone’s way. If you live in low-income neighborhoods like the pastures and south end, this highway is very much in your way. It’s not a bad placement assuming that the city needs this highway. I believe that if you took a scientific approach to studying the traffic in Albany, you would find that the highway could have its capacity reduced by 25% and congestion would not increase. it’s counter-intuitive but there is a lot of research already out there documenting this in other cities.
A non-limited-access road will handle the traffic with less maintenance cost than the current elevated freeway. Maintaining 2 seconds between each vehicle means that a high speed road of x lanes passes the same vehicles per time as a slower speed road same lane count. The elevated freeway's underside encourages the dumping by being an unpleasant place to hang out, a good place to hide. The non-freeway opens more areas for land development, getting more people closer in to town, getting more use of valuable central land. A better transit system would densify people traffic so each person takes less road space too. Your view of how a riverfront should be used seems limited
You should do a comparison about the west side Highway and FDR in NYC. Or they should just compare Manhattan river parks. They basically did the same thing. Much more larger portions of the west side Highway used to be elevated b4 they turned it into a boulevard. I mean i don’t care for the traffic lights on that portion but the park on the west side Highway Is larger than on the east river. Even though the east river parks are expanding and they have improved the portions under the elevated part of the Fdr.The parts on the fdr that aren’t elevated around the UN they are building the park to continue via a bridge park over east river. So i guess I’m saying it can be done both ways. They are both nice. They can both have equal access if done right. Elevated or at ground level.
Where are you driving from. If it were your town would you want a highway on your river? We really have to learn how to do things differently in this country, always the car centric
same old same old.
Totally agree with you Mark. I've lived my entire life in both the South End and North Albany.
Most commuters are from outside the city. Those same commuters are people who work in all of our state buildings. We're the freaking Capitol! We're not Cohoes or Saratoga!
It's just the reality of things. This video is a beautiful pipe dream. If it were to be implemented, all the money spent would pay for a bigger headache.
Great video. Thank you very much!!
I'm an Albany native & I never lived anywhere else. Making the river more accessible may sound good in an imaginary world, but I think spending tens of millions of dollars to revamp 787 would be a waste of that money. Waterfront usage would not be used in a widely eventful way to justify using all the monies it would take to make that happen. Waterfront use would span roughly 4 months out of the year & the population of the city is not nearly large enough to proceed with a project that large. It would take years & years to recoup any, even small, level of financial benefit. I remember hearing what the south mall (empire state plaza) would do for the city and what major benefits did it provide? It is tax exempt & not providing any tax income benefit to the city of Albany
Albany needs to focus on their nightlife scene. From downtown Albany to the UA area...
94,000 people in Albany, not 1.2 million. These ppl behind this project are out their fucking minds.
Best off not giving 10-20 year tax breaks to developers building apartments building throughout the city. Which isn't bring in anyone new. The population is decreasing people have nothing tethering them to this city worth staying for.
A bigger riverfront park aint going to do shit for anyone right now 🤣🤣🤣 but make traffic worse within the city itself.
It would be nice as in Plymouth MA. The original Fort at Albany was recreated along the River in unused land. It would be a excellent tourist attraction and historical learning site.
This is my favorite suggestion and I agree .they believe they discovered the site of the fort when they built Dunn Memorial bridge beams in (1970s?)
There’s actually a marker on one of the beams you can walk under .
So if they do knock all of it down, building an actual fort, like fort, William Henry in Lake George would be a great idea and great for tourism.
We have Quackenbush Square, and Clinton Square where the original north borders of Albany were.
And stretch down Pearl and Broadway to the Fort area (Pastures-ish) for a nice historic district which include the oldest house in Albany (near the Greyhound station) and the Schuyler Mansion, maybe even Ten Broeck Mansion near The Palace Theatre.
And if we’re eliminating foursquare city blocks worth of parking lots for a harbor, that’s gonna be prime real estate, and will be reminiscing of the harbor town we were for the first 300 years we were here.
It would include the DNH building in a lot of historic buildings on Broadway and you can make the historic district go up to the State Capitol.
It’s already where we start Tulip Festival….
Dan the production quality of this is great. I only wish this vid were longer. Keep it up 💯
Thanks Fonz! There will be more videos to come for sure!
Just look at Portland Oregon. The riverfront highway was removed and turned into a park. No traffic lock up and downtown has a lovely area for residents to visit.
Yes it’s important to look at case studies to get a better idea of what might be possible. Portland is a good example.
We aren't Portland... 787 should have been built in Rensselaer. We just need better designs and this one sound bad.
Sounds great, what happens in Menands and Watervliet?
Right now the ARC isn’t proposing any changes in watervliet and menands. 787 would exist as it is under their plan
You get a million more cars a year
Another Altro-Park Amusement park!
The Empire Plaza is hideous. Albany could be such a beautiful city but its been ruined. Great location. Such a shame. Upstate NY should be so much better than what it is.
The history of the plaza is really awful....and embarrassing....
NY in general is awful
The problem is there is absolutely no public transit in this city besides the useless bus so removing this highway won't get people out of their cars they will just go clog up 87 and 90 instead. The reason this idea works in large cities like NYC and San Francisco is because they have good transit options people can use that we don't have
There isn’t really a way to use 87 or 90 as an alternative to 787 as far as I’m aware. What I do believe would happen is that commuters would start using city streets to commit into work instead of solely limited access highways. Albany’s streets have the capacity to accommodate more traffic.
To address the transit point, I think that public transit in the US thrives when people live in patterns that simply make transit easier than driving. The capital region has suburbanized to a disastrous level in my opinion. It’s going to take a long time for that to improve, and until people decide they want to live in cities again, I don’t think transit will get much better.
Why don't we start by getting the brick out from underneath some of the road ways and redoing the streets in general first.
Albany faces a unique challenge in that such a high proportion of its workers live outside the city and don’t pay properly taxes to the city of Albany. Albany’s fiscal situation is pretty bad thanks to this. Luckily this project would most likely receive state and federal funding.
Yes Wonderful Video ! Please make a "Part II" with solutions, Ideas, positive thoughts to get this off the Ground.
Let's not make Gov't more IMportant than Us, the People.
If there was a national high speed rail network you'd be able to travel swifter, safer, and cheaper than the highway system we built. This is also the reason Albany is half vacant because with a national railway network it would be able to build a vast urban rail mass transit system and it would be an hour or less from Boston/NYC/Cleveland/Buffalo so it would be more intregrated in teh regional economy!!
I don’t know how familiar you are with Albany but we are the number nine most frequented passenger train station in the country………….per Amtrak.
More people a day come through the Albany, Rensselaer train station than LA, Denver and Atlanta combined ……..
Tell me more about how national rail network is the answer lmao
We have one of the best rail stations in the country, over 40 trains per day bro…..
Getting from Buffalo-Albany in an hour isn’t an option man
They have high-speed rail in Florida and Orlando to Miami is 235 miles and takes 2 1/2 hours by high speed rail or 3 1/2 by car.
We’re talking half the time not a quarter of the time.
Albany to New York in an hour on high speed rail is probably your best bet.
I’ve thought several times about daily commuting to New York from Albany. It’s just too much time commuting.
I just don’t want to spend 5 to 7 hours a day in a train or bus but two hours a day I would .
I’m a restaurant worker and I am definitely interested in better quicker access to New York City
Love this! Will share the petition with my friends & family. Albany is in need of some better design!
Bring back trolley cars.
I'm very interested in this concept. I've been following along and not sure where I stand yet. What would happen to all the waste that will come from destruction of the roads/arterial and what kind of ecological impact would disposing of that waste cause?
Depending on state regulations, most concrete is recycled into the new project. Steel can be recycled as well.
There’s been millions of concrete building knocked down in history there isn’t one giant concrete scrapyard, so I’m assuming it all gets re used.
The Empire State Plaza is one of the best looking strucutres i have ever seen - pimped out!!!!
Yea it does look pretty sick
There should be a rapid bus line and lane, or a even light rail line implemented in this plan too that connects with Troy and Saratoga Springs.
That would be awesome! I think that change is best implemented incrementally, but I hope I someday live in a future with all these things in place.
I left after living there for 61 years. I was there when they built the existing roadways. The problem Albany and New York face is that they have absolutely no interest in maintaining the existing infrastructure. Bridges and roadway supports crumble right before your eyes and are only dealt with when a crisis occurs. If they want longevity, they need to actually build the structures with careful attention to detail on the materials, contracts and contractors. Of course, the theft at the mall when it was complete was breath taking so they will need some oversight there as well.
If “the mall” is Crossgates, it just went up for auction today for $240M default
Shocked
This video stirred much thought in me. I grew up in the South End and still remember what a remember a vibrant , bustling community which was lost to the Empire PlazA. The absence of community benefits is glaring. The South End is highlighted and North Albany and the Warehouse district along the River is grossly neglected. The highway has damaged and contributed to the deterioration of housing in North Albany. The neglect by the State to maintain the trash and noise pollution from 787 is
The trash and environmental pollution from I-90 has caused so much damage and should not be excluded from plans of a waterfront that also extends North.
I'm glad you found this video inspirational! It's amazing that you remember a time before the empire state plaza, those memories are valuable and I hope you're able to pass them on to future generations so your experiences aren't forgotten. I hope that the plan that the city implements will take into account the i-90/787 junction, but anything would be a victory. One thing at a time perhaps.
Yes! Yes! And can we talk about reparations to those families displaced for the building of Empire Plaza!!!
People are beginning to live under those bridges...Clinton ave exit. Albany should address that. Maybe turn those abandoned buildings into homeless shelters?
I saw the title and said out loud "What waterfront?"
You know they can have the Albany section of I 787 become a Tunnel just like how they did with I 93 in Boston
I live in the mansion area. This neighborhood and the pastures are completely cut off from the rest of the city, and you can tell it's hurt the community over the years. I think this is a great idea BUT ONLY if they inact rent control to these neighborhoods. A program to help those who who have historically lived here buy homes here would help too. Otherwise this will just lead to overwhelming gentrification, where rent prices will increase by hundreds of dollars. Thinking about just the economic impact to a poor area won't help if everyone just gets priced out
As someone who grew up in Albany I assure you the vibe is literally just get paid and get high the drug problem is staggering at least that what I’ve seen in the inner city were I lived unless you live outside the city and come to work in the office/government buildings but then you don’t know the real goings on in the streets with the people and the culture the city try’s to play like it’s got big stuff going on but it’s the crime and drugs that make Albany move. nobody wants to live in Albany if you can afford to get out but most can’t and get stuck. Changing 787 won’t change anything this city will still be the dump it’s always been but hey good luck 👍. And hey at least it’s not troy 🤣.
Seriously, like let’s get the crime
Under control first .
You are 100% correct. There is 0 reasons to live in down town Albany. They need to make it a place worth living. Over 100 shooting last year does not sound like a place I want to live.
@@cberg9480 that’s literally every American city
Bro, you can’t be serious where do you work that everybody spends their paycheck on drugs, get a different job?
If you’re talking marijuana, it’s totally legal now. That’s why everybody smoking in public.
We actually don’t have that bad of a drug problem compared to most state capitals.
But yes, in a city of hundred thousand people shockingly not all 100,000 have their priorities straight
While I think removing I-787 is a novel idea, it is not bringing people to downtown. There are already parks down there that have access either via parking lots that are next to the park or within walking distance. Unfortunately Albany is a city that goes to sleep after 6:00 PM most week nights unless the weather is good. During good weather there is opportunities to enjoy riverside events, or events on some of the lawns of the local buildings with movie screenings. Removing i-787 isn't going to revitalize a sleepy city, it is just going to cause even more traffic when the people who commute from the surrounding areas into and out of the city at peek travel times. Then, if they get tired of the traffic issues, they will seek employment elsewhere, and Albany starts to loose funds from the daily commuters. If you want to revitalize downtown Albany, improve the streets themselves, improve mass transit, work on making neighborhoods a place someone wants to visit. If those things were to improve first, there might be a reason to consider bringing Albany closer to a very busy waterway that offers no recreational purposes.
Well said 👏👌👍
Sounds great if the Hudson wasn't a toxic waste field. No need to show off such a scum filled river. 787 is vital for transportation in upstate NY. We aren't in NYC.
Growth is always good for a city. It seems like a nice idea to replace the interstate with a boulevard. The problem is the same number of workers need to get to and from their jobs. Slowing the traffic down and installing traffic lights will make them all take longer to commute every day and contribute to pollution. Every solution breeds new problems. If we are going to do this, it is vitally important that people are given a choice to leave their cars at home and use another mode of transportation, especially during the harsh winters we have. As it is, over the last bunch of decades we paved paradise to put up more and more parking garages.
Albany is not just one city. It is at least three, and if you want to think regionally we could have up to eight or nine if you want to include Pittsfield and Bennington. It is sprawled out. Our bus system is nice, but we could do more. We should have a metro linking and bringing all of our communities together. Too expensive? Such a system can serve two purposes. One is public transportation, of course. The other is that we have so many colleges here and the "Tech Valley" business environment that such a metro system could serve as a living laboratory for developing mass transit technology for the world.
So many aspects of those two purposes could result in exponential increase in the growth and investment of this region. People, businesses, and investors will be attracted to this area and will want to stay here.
If we do this, then there will be no pain, no hardship, and no negative consequences for turning 787 into walkable streets.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment! A metro going between Troy and Albany would be amazing. I hope I live to see the day when that happens.
I live here I’m excited. We don’t need these out of towners opinions on whether they are inconvenienced with 5 minutes of traffic on the way to work, I live here, screw you and your work commute.
Sincerely, a daily public transportation passenger.
I’m equally excited for this Albany waterway project with the harbor and canal.
But to be fair, the completion date was June 2023, aka NOW and hasn’t even STARTED yet……..
A great video on this subject with excellent points by everyone interviewed.
Wonderful cinematography, good information, all I'd add is that some of the audio points felt a little rushed when switching between your voice and one of your interviewees, but even with that it was great and a helpful video on this subject! I work in Albany so this is definitely something I'm interested in looking into and seeing what I can do to help!
Just give me the monorail dammit!
18 yards of topsoil to Corning Preserve --->
iLived In Albany All my life n iNever knew that people were put out there house for the plaza that’s crazy 😮 🤯
-please take advantage. we promise it will work hahah
I would put a Tunnel for I 787 under the Park and Boulevard so I 787 can still exist and people can have the option of bypassing the boulevard
Sounds good...............One problem however, 787 is built on area that tends to flood. So if you put it underground, the tunnels will flood.
@@89playstation65 hmm... unless there would be a Drainage System because I've seen cities with Tunnels near Waterways and even Underwater so that may be a possibility
Just gotta figure out a way to keep it nice. Your leaving out the fact that South Pearl St is nasty.....
South pearl street would be a lot nicer with this plan. The part of it that passes underneath the south mall arterial would open up to new development, and more car traffic would make businesses on that street more prosperous
@@TheDCShow0 I hope so but it won't make the not pleasant things just disappear.
I've spent 18 years of my life in NY, never have been to Albany. Holy fuck that's a bad highway. If it was more like the west side highway or SF Great Hwy people could live much better lives in a city and not a suburb. It would attract more people and money to the region. Good luck!
Subscribed !
Awesome thank you!
Im from Cap District and whenever I visit another city I definitely feel like we are stagnant affff like we aren’t experiencing anything new. As a matter of fact they keep cutting or removing the og stuff. We need to act like a capital for pete’s sake.
This is true, I think there are positive signs of growth but we have to keep pushing to live up to our legacy
Bad idea. No need to eliminate I-787.
Too little too late.... years ago albany had a chance to build crossgates mall along the waterside... it declined
Why would that “save” the city?
Curious because it is a little hike to get to Crossgates Mall but it is a great location and we don’t want all that mall traffic downtown on the riverfront, do we?
Sounds like a terrible idea in reality... sounds cool on paper.
We're going to regret this even more.
Hey Shawn Hamlin 👏
We were so happy we were able to interview him.
The interstats highways were a mistake. We should've stuck with US numbered highways.
Why?
@@IkeOkerekeNews US numbered highways guided motorists across state lines without demolishing city centers or neighborhoods. They didn't encourage the monstrous urban sprawl we see today and are more fun to drive than interstates.
And how do you control against displacing existing people and against raising costs of living?
I just wanna point out that its interesting that many people are worried this is going to lower property values and make the region less livable in general. You actually seem to believe in the vision to some extent, at least in that you believe that it will raise property values. I think that a comprehensive plan would include affordable housing, especially in reclaimed areas along what is currently the south mall arterial. I do think that we have to remember that rising property values are in many ways a positive sign at the city level. I don't think we should be fighting all progress that risks making the demand for housing go up.
@@TheDCShow0 Spoken like a true gentrifyer.
Give us back our city!
There would be a conversation to be had here if it weren't for the hyperbolic language.
I live outside of Albany and drive 787 frequently. There are really only two good things about 787: great views of the fireworks on the 4th and the revenue when studios come in to film it. Other than that, it's pointlessly overdone. I'd love to be able to show my kids a beautiful waterfront some day. Hopefully this take off.
I really enjoyed my time in Albany, but yeah. That river-side highway was garbage. Gut that & replace it with people, business, parks & life.
Nice idea. So let me guess with this move if it were to happen . I'd have to leave my house if I live north of the twin bridges at 1 am . Because the traffic will be backed up to Lake placid on the Northway.
You may not need to leave any earlier! decreasing highways car capacity does not directly correspond to a an increase in congestion. There’s a lot of research on this. I’m going to be making a video in the future explaining it.
th-cam.com/video/2z7o3sRxA5g/w-d-xo.html this video is pretty helpful in understanding this concept.
@@TheDCShow0 That's where people have other options. Albany doesn't, it's either car or a crappy bus. If we really want to pull this off the city needs to invest in more public transit
Ummmm has anyone ever walked around in down town Albany ? It’s disgusting. The area they want to “re-due “ is in the middle of the worst crime area in most of upstate NY and surrounded by public housing.
Down town is dead after 5 and on the weekends. You can’t walk around without being asked for money.
Starbucks left, CVS left... there is not s grocery store within walking distance.
How about stop all the shootings and lower taxes and maybe people would like to live in Albany. As of right now there is no reason to live in Albany.
Automobiles have ruined our country. Not just Albany, but everywhere. I feel sorry for the children who grow up downwind of freeways
Loved it
Thank you!!
9:21 looks so much better, it’s amazing how destructive that highway is on the city all to save a couple minutes on commute
Yes 100% it would be such an improvement.
yeah don't think this will ever happen
I’m with the plan but the editing of this video pandered too a certain toe of point of view. From the sound effects to the dictation of the narrator. They put a harrowing tone over it.
I don't live in Albany or have business in Albany and unfortunately this would make me avoid Albany altogether if I was not able to get through it quickly.
Why would you need to pass through 787 on a long-haul journey? The northway and thruway make that pretty unnecessary. And if this does happen, I guarantee Albany will be more scenic. If you don’t enter during rush hour (assuming you’re a tourist), there’s no way there will be any slowdowns from this.
@@TheDCShow0
There's not much to do in Albany. Albany isn't a tourist destination. And neither is my town that I live in either.
Except the reality of things.
Good, we don’t need you fucking up our roads so you can skip through town quicker, drive around it……
@@89playstation65you’re wrong. We have the Number 9 most frequented daily Amtrak passengers in the entire country.
There are dozens of TH-cam blogger is coming here and doing videos. It’s the New York state capital there’s 100,000 people here and it’s on a lot of top five small cities lists.
It has a very unique skyline that people wanna visit when they see it.
Just the people coming up here from New York City for dayTrips are shocking.
787 is the WORST in NYS. The potholes, the constant construction everywhere. Ughhh
Do we live in the same town? I've never had an issue with how the highways are maintained here they actually do a pretty good job considering our roads constantly get destroyed by the freeze thaw cycle
@@AdamSmith-gs2dv I am talking about the area in Albany, right around the Dunn memorial bridge
Just imagine the tourism and recreation businesses that can succeed here. If done carefully.
Who s gonna foot the bill
All my homies HATE 787😤💯🤬
I like highways. I hate rivers. I say we need more highways. Screw waterways that people claim to bring life.
Blatant Pro-Albany/anti-Troy/Rensselaer-ism.
Never once does it occur to these people that the interests of the peoples of surrounding communities who depend upon 787 every day.
Imagine living in Troy and watching this. Why do Albanian interests matter and those of Rensselaer and so on with our own nice places to walk down to the river please come visit if that's what you want but Albany's job is to run the state and be a hub and there is plenty of riverside property on the Mohawk and Hudson if that's what you want more here.
This is just more state funded gentrification. What's next you build housing that nobody that lives here can afford. Further raising rents from the slum lords and pushing more people out. Guarantee that all further housing will be affordable and rent controlled maybe then it would be okay. But this is going to be just like the issue around albany med more development of overpriced apartments that push working class people out and raise our taxes for some ill thought out city planning. This will just be another central ave. If you have lived in albany for any period of time you would know this is a bad idea. To be honest I am only scratching the surface. So many problems with this idea. Removing 787 is not going to solve the socioeconomic issues albany has.
You’re one of the only people I’ve ever heard advocate for rent control? What makes you confident that’s a good idea?
@@TheDCShow0 That question shows your utter lack of education on this issue. Lets start with income in albany. When your median family income in a city is only around four thousand dollars then a living wage you begin to have an issue. Rent has been steadily climbing in albany at about an average of 5-6% a year. With the pastures currently being the least expensive neighborhood to live in albany. Your project is aimed to improve the marketability of that neighborhood. This means that it will inevitably marginalize the residents of that community by essentially pricing them out (hence my comments on gentrification). Doing exactly the same thing your video states the plaza construction did.
@@erikmidboe146 I think the big problem with rent control is that it causes landlords to take property off the market, turning it into a condo or something like that, which reduces the amount of affordable housing and drives up rents for any non-rent controlled properties. Implementing rent control has been known to hurt the people it tries to help according to many studies. Here's a good source on this: news.stanford.edu/2020/12/01/gentrification-disproportionately-affects-minorities/. I'm just asking why you still support rent control despite these findings.
@@TheDCShow0 Nothing in that article supports your argument. In fact this only bolsters everything I was saying. Albany is running out of affordable housing. All this project will lead to is developers buying up the"valuable" land in those neighborhoods and pushing low income people out. I stated that it should be either affordable housing or rent controlled. Maybe if you ensure that all the undeveloped land in those neighborhoods be zoned for low income housing only... But this scheme would never capitulate because this is contrary to your true agenda. You want to make the south end more marketable to upper middle-class white people from the suburbs.
@@erikmidboe146 agree as a small landlord in the Mansion district all of the new housing being development down town have insanely high rents. All I see is the project increasing taxes.
there are pros and cons to every utopian vision. i'm guessing there were plenty of abandoned warehouses and lots from the time that the waterfront shipping activity declined and people weren't thinking about the waterfront as a beautiful natural playground when they built 787. one potential downside of putting more cars trying to get from A to B at street level with redlight intersections bringing more people to the waterfront for pleasure will be pedestrian and biker injuries/fatalities. there's certainly a lot that can be improved but where is the discussion about making albany a more financially equitable and crime free environment so that more people aren't displaced and further destabilized by these glorious plans? and why are we still complaining about what rockefeller did for downtown albany? he created something unique and architecturally signficant that makes albany stand out. i think it will take a couple more years of rigorous planning and avaluation to avoid making serious and costly mistakes.
I think it’s important that people know that the state government forced over 1000 families out of their homes to build the Empire State plaza. It was immoral and we should all hope it doesn’t happen again. Today, we’re living with the plaza, and I will agree that the architecture provides a wonderful flavor to the city of Albany. Unfortunately it was designed in a very car-centric way. If the architects who designed it had considered how to minimize the impact of the car, redesigning 787 would be a lot easier. This project will certainly take many years to implement. No one wants it to be rushed. We just want to get the conversation going.
Would this all be built on NY state property? Or would the state have to take away land from private property owners? They do it every today when they put in sidewalks, utilities, bike paths etc. I know most people don’t care because it doesn’t personally affect them. Also do you travel every day to work on this highway during rush hour?
They really should remove it I go up there a lot and would probably go there more if it just looked more alive
I dont care what we do with the highway. But if you reduce the price of a parking ticket from $50(!!!!) to something like $25 I'll vote for it guaranteed.
albany is a river town. 787 needs to go. it is a blight on my hometown. as is the south mall.
one great thing about roads entering down town is they are rarely congested for long throughout the day and I for one love the design as is this video selling point that of aesthetic is a weak attempt. Are the good people of Albany in an uproar over the limited access to the waterfront which is in disarray and for the most part foliage block the view of the river again who on either side of the river is concern for lack of visibility or accessibility no one.
Research Altro-Park...Menands.
I mean it would be nice if they removed that ugly highway that goes under the plaza like it dosent look good for albany.
Yes the south mall arterial is certainly one of the problems that the city must reconcile in the coming years.
And, subscribed
better let state workers telecommute 100% if this happens or else your pretty boulevard is going to be a parking lot
Omg, it's like y'all read my mind the highway needs to go. It's a redundant highway and it lowers property values.
I will say that I don’t think it’s a redundant highway. As was said in the video “the traffic needs to be there”. It’s about redesign rather than complete destruction. But I totally agree with the sentiment of your comment!
The highways are overpowering. I think what is missing from this documentary is the volume of traffic that uses the highway daily. It’s far more than shaving “three minutes” off travel time. For many people using the highway they are likely saving more than three minutes of travel time. Reimagining 787 will not automatically decrease the volume of traffic. It reminds me of when businesses want to open in a community in the first thing residents complain about is the volume of traffic. While I can see some benefits, a documentary should be open and explore what increased traffic congestion would mean to the city and it’s residents .
I think that you’d be surprised how well the city’s existing streets have capacity for extra traffic. Broadway and south pearl are incredibly underutilized. If 787 lost 25/35% of its capacity, other streets would be able to pick up some of the slack. I hope to publish more about traffic patterns in the future. Moreover, keep in mind that most of 787 will remain as is, the redesigned portion would probably be no more than a mile. Most of the time, when 787 doesn’t have any congestion, you might only be slowed down by 65% for that mile boulevard stretch anyway, even if no traffic is diverted.
@The DC Show, are you kidding?
Are you even from Albany?
What you're going to do is lock up traffic all along North & South Pearl Street, Broadway, etc....those Streets are standard 2 lane roads for blocks. We cant even have decent parking options because we don't have space to redesign the roads to make em' bigger... like honestly this is a horrendous idea and the fact Mayor is ridiculous for co-signing it.
If you fed this bullshit to me and I was from outta of town lol I can see me being for this without knowledge of Albany.
We got 787 and Rensselaer got Amtrack.
We need to learn to design with what we have. This just sounds like a Traffic nightmare whose idea came from an out of town hipster.
Its a bad idea.
@@Animalhouser I'm from Albany! Check out other videos on my channel and you'll see that the clues are there. This paper should help explain why the "traffic nightmare" you're imagining might not be so bad: opencommons.uconn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1103&context=gs_theses. Another thing I always think about is that Albany's been around for 400 years and this highway's only been around for 60 years. Its a bit weird to feel as though it has to be there for eternity when its only even existed in Albany for 1/8 of its history. Also, did the mayor cosign on this?
Pleasseee get rid of 787, it's absolutely the worst.
I gotchu
The Hudson River is toxic bro
Very informative. Was this music necessary? I was waiting for a "jump scare".
Hahahaha which music is scary??
@@TheDCShow0 I think it was probably the heartbeat but the tone of the music I'd describe as "anticipation" and in some parts "unease" in the first half. I personally found the music a bit too loud throughout such that it was distracting. Great content though!
@@TheDCShow0 Agreed. The music was distracting but incredible content and footage.
If you want to fix Albany move the capitol back to NYC . Then you can tear it all down and start from scratch. building roads under the traffic to the waterfront is a great idea! putting traffic at ground level and making a bumper to bumper nightmare are you kidding? are you talking about traffic lights and walking across traffic to get to the river? Oh I can see it now mom and two kids run down by tractor trailer truck trying to make the light crossing 787. That would probably happen at least twice a year. So a ten year average of 60 lives lost crossing 787 yeah I guess that would work after all it is for the greater good of us all. At this time there is two panhandlers at the corner when I get off 787. I think this idea should support at least 300 panhandlers but on the brite side we might be able to get our wlndshields washed while we wait in traffic!
No need to move the capital.
787 should have been built in Rensselaer... simple as that. We'll live with what we have. Bring back the City's Nightlife. Quit giving tax breaks to developers.
This idea is a liberal Utopia 🤣
...cue Chicken Little....
The interstate was put there because of the traffic!Anyone with COMMONSENSE would realize that there is more traffic today,then the 1960's?Unless you plan on flying in, on your hoverboard electric car!
Look up induced demand :)
787 is the most vital highway for commerce in the capitol region. NO.
By commerce do you meaning shipping? If so I would point out that this proposal doesn’t want to do anything with the 787 corridor between the thruway and the port of Albany