For all the city’s bluster and efforts, claiming that downtown is essential for Albany to thrive, we find that two more businesses are closing their doors permanently. Al’s Super Subs and Two Scoops Gellato will soon be gone for good. Lack of foot traffic and a down economy seem to be the root causes.
Meanwhile, the city still believes that reshaping downtown into something it’s not is somehow even possible. On top of that, it thinks it’s essential. Personally, I want some of what they’ve been smoking.
I’ve advocated for downtown to be a center of government and not sweat a lack of evening and weekend traffic in downtown. There are businesses which can and have made it work downtown basically be being open when the folks downtown are working. Riverfront BBQ is one example as best I can tell. While I haven’t looked at their financial info, I have been inside that place at lunch time. I don’t see them hurting.
Yesterday, Old Times Country Buffet was mentioned as being interested in moving downtown. While this sounds like someone doesn’t agree with me, it’s important to understand that the new restaurant’s focus will be lunch. Guess who’s downtown at lunch time? That’s right, the same type of folks who flock to Riverfront, the Cookie Shoppe, and other downtown eateries.
While I can accept that downtown needs to maintain a certain appearance, no one has been able to show me that downtown simply must be something more than it currently is for Albany to prosper. It can prosper in ways that don’t involve what’s been called a nightlife. Northwest Albany has all of that. I’ve even joked with one city commissioner that if it’s essential that downtown meet their definition of thriving, then maybe it’ll be cheaper to move downtown to the northwestern part of the city.
It doesn’t sound like a half bad idea, and would probably be cheaper.
The fact of the matter is that Albany’s downfall didn’t start when people quit going downtown. That started when Firestone shut down, many moons ago. That was the beginning of the end. We have never recovered from that body blow. Cooper coming to town was a big move in that direction, but then they hit the road too. Recovering jobs like these is what Albany needs, not more money being spent on a part of town that no one goes to.
Perhaps someday the folks from City Hall will figure that out.
When are they closing their doors?
Actually, downtown’s demise began well before Firestone’s. This was happening around the country as the “burbs” became the home of businesses that wanted to stay in business. Our leaders at the time were dozing at the switch and slept on.
After a freight train picks up speed, it is hard to slow down even if the brakes are on–and we are running to ruin at “warp speed”. But our problem is well beyond just downtown.
Forbes.com puts Albany and Macon in the top 10 poorest cities in the US. People can’t spend money they don’t have. So, perhaps the “Dollar Square” concept was fitting for a downtown “theme” or “niche market”.
There are only “X number” of folks that either work or visit downtown
to eat lunch. Can we support another one in the old Belk’s building?
I like Ole Times which is 6 miles from my house. Do I want to drive another 4 miles to eat something similar? I wish them the best but this is going to be a “dogfight” for the same lunch crowd and there will be casulties.
Winch, closing is October 30.
Now. if there is a “hotter spot” for non-worker foot traffic (there isn’t a “hot spot”), it is near the RQ. In my book, this means things ain’t boding well for downtown.
Peter, can you put a positive spin on this one? I am not in the “Optomist Club” these days.
Bobby,
Just a correction, but I never claimed that downtowns demise was the result of Firestone closing. Firestone’s closing resulted in Albany’s downfall in general, not the downtown necessarily (though it didn’t help either).
I realize that Tom. Firestone certainly did not cause the downtown problem. What I was saying is the downtown exodus began l-o-n-g before 1986. If Firestone had stayed, it would not have made any difference with downtown–the best view of downtown was already in the rear view mirror.
A look at historic census demographics puts the general “collapse” of Albany in perspective. And, if you want to get informed and depressed at the same time, read the “bafflegab” supporting the attempt to get a $16 million grant for the Heritage House soon-to-be “fiasco”.
No arguments. My point though was a response to the arguments from those who think that downtown is essential for Albany recovery. It’s not. Albany was plodding along just fine without a booming downtown…until Firestone closed. I think we’re on the same page though.
Hey Bobby Ray,
Sorry for the delay on your issue. I was out beating a dead horse most of the day.
I’m not sure I can add much to the discussion that hasn’t been out there before. I do know that my take will tick off a few folks, but what the hey, I’m already deep in ticks…
There is no positive spin on any of this subject EXCEPT maybe we are at a bottom and things can’t get worse. Except, I don’t think we are necessarily at any kind of bottom. And they will NOT get better on their own, but will take “leaders” to realize that the old assumptions are in the toilet. But all I hear is the same tired responses.
How about the chief mufti responding to Albany being in the list of 10 poorest by saying, “I’m not surprised.” Does he get a gold star for not being surprised. Look, I think with this crowd in control of the city, this is a very dead horse. there are only 3-5 people that really run this city.
The stats of the market speak for themselves and they are dismal. The Forbes report puts a nice bow around what many of us on the frontlines have already known anecdotally vis a vis the local situation…there are not enough customers with money to fuel all the areas that are clamoring – downtown or otherwise.
There is always a bright spot (professions, Riverfront BBQ, the Catch) that shows that something can work, but overall this is becomming a moribund market, and my friends on the frontlines of the force say the season for crime is just starting.
The downtown and other extensions from the old core (Broad, Oglethorpe) are just the beginning of the decay (no optimist here).
To achieve a relatively full downtown that has economic vitality above a dollar store, title pawn, marginal clothing level, there are ONLY one or two approaches that will work. Simple. Period. Unless a plan really focuses on an even narrower market or topic,
This will cause me some heartburn later, but the biggest problem in Albany is leadership…a person or persons at the helm that have what it takes. Yes there are systemic problems to be sure, but all that even more points to the need for a sting focused smart visionary leader. There is NO ONE in the wheelhouse that has the skills or experience or the desire or the vision to take this city to a higher level…. It is a clueless beaurocracy. The former downtown manager, sadly, was one of them.
The bold philanthropists and business and city leaders have left the market, if more than a handful have been here anyway. ATI with all its issues at least tried to address some of the problems. The last round of “leaders” only knew how to throw it under the bus.
There is powerful pull to drag good stuff down in this city. It is like a whirlpool that just won’t let go. Or quicksand.
A visiting business leader commented to me, “I’ve never seen a town so unwilling to help itself” referring mostly to the “leadership with whom he spoke.
Downtown could be finer, but that will require a real understanding of the market and market dynamics.
So here’s an answer…with the current crew (not all of course), you can kiss this city on the cheek(s).
Tom…As to your post on the downtown, you are almost ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! But it’s a BIG almost.
How is that from a fella that still has about 200,000 square feet of property or so down there? … and now the commercial bubble is starting to really pop nationally. There isn’t a nickel of bank money available for private financing for these projects…and we thought it was tough already in development. So I would love some moolah to get a project going. But not if it is not done right.
BUT, your analysis is also INCOMPLETE and therefore is also ABSOLUTELY WRONG. First, for the time being, government is shrinking and downtowners trying to attract government office to the downtown just takes tenants from other properties in Albany. Net gain – zero.
When you take away overhead, wasted studies, salaries and junkets, professional fees, project waste, errors and avoidable overruns, and public improvements that are considered needed no matter what, except for a project or two, LITTLE MONEY HAS GONE INTO THE REAL CORE DOWNTOWN…particularly local dollars. NOT ENOUGH HAS BEEN SPENT.
“WHAT????,” you ask. “U nuts or sometin’?”
The riverfront needed to get cleaned up no matter what and the kids park is a public amenity that is not focused on downtown redevelopment. Government buildings could go anywhere, but need to be clustered so that’s downtown. The civil rights museum is NOT in the core downtown. To a lesser extent, the same applies to Thronateeska. The pol’s sand dunes housing project is as connected to the downtown as is Muncie, Indiana. Same for Lujanna Wood’s restaurant on Radium Springs Road and the old Downtowner hotel (Heritage House).
The Buie facade grant fiasco was an obvious waste ESPECIALLY after the way it was all resolved recently.
Pretty much the ONLY money that I can think of that went into the core downtown that was in the redevelopment model was the River Q complex, the pulsating fountain, the bridge house, the Ray Charles statue, the arch and the Hilton. Maybe the Georgia Tech occupied building at 125 W. Pine where ATI officed (Bob’s Candy building?)
Generally, the Bob’s Candy Building and the Hilton deals are working financially as far as I know and look nice. They were private development deals, I’m not sure about Bob’s Candy, but likely both got public money support in some way to leverage their private equity investments and bank debt.
The local public money in the Hilton deal was leveraged with tons of federal program money and bank debt. The RiverQ building construction was funded by the state (DNR) and primarily provides a nice educational amenity to the community and is heavily used by school groups. The construction overruns were taken from the privately funded endowment. A lack of tourism visitors accounts for the operating deficiencies (besides the high locked-in operating cost of an aquarium) and that is a result of the downtown redevelopment platfor being INCOMPLETE.
(btw…The RiverQ and Thronateeska organizations are to be commended for moving toward a combined adminstration to cut costs.)
Frankly, the fountain and the arch and the Ray Charles are RELATIVELY low cost improvements. Most cities have a visitors center and the bridge house was a two-fer deal.
As much as Tommy Chatmon is maligned, and he and I had our moments, he did have a vision to take the downtown to a new level that was moving even more toward the platform of attracting new revenues to the communities. I have no knowledge of some of the particulars of how it was done, but the vision blows away what I am hearing these days.
When Chatmon left, the “public” effort in that more solid direction died. People in the know can tell you that Chatmon and I butted heads, but in retrospect, the way this has turned out and the way it is being run, as the alternative choice, I would take him back in a heartbeat.
What is now critically missing is putting the private sector package together. Maybe some money for a lowcost public attraction or two might add value to the sense of place, but it’s time too crank the private side.
For that to work, there needs to be a blockbuster plan and effort to take the downtown to market. The last 7 years have shown that the onesie drib n’ drabs approach WILL NOT WORK and the local market alone CANNOT keep the engine running.
And the government guys cannot run the deal. Gov money IS needed to act as a prudent friendly investor, but that does not mean that it acts as developer, especially with no one experienced or focused enough to keep on it and pull it off and there are such political and personal and ugly and self-dealing undertones to it.
So yes, do it right or shut it down. I absolutely agree.
And if it gets shut down, kiss Albany goodbye.
Peter,
Despite going on about a pile of stuff that had nothing to do with what I said, you repeat the mantra of so many proponents of downtown redevelopment. The idea that downtown is so vital is something that has yet to be explained. If other areas of Albany are thriving, then what difference does it make if that one area rolls up the sidewalks at 5:00 PM? It doesn’t. So long as the same dollar amounts are being spent within the same municipality, there’s not a damn thing that’s different except where that transaction is pinpointed on a GPS.
Government shrinking is a good thing, and at no point did I say a blasted THING to the contrary. I merely said that there’s nothing wrong with the focus on downtown being government.
As for government money, I’ve told you before that I will oppose any and all government expenditures on private ventures. Government has no business being involved in any private enterprise. Period. Especially this government who is documented to have a reverse midas touch. Anything they touch turns to crap instead of gold.
Tom….
Here’s a major issue and only time will really prove this out one way or the other.
Northwest Albany being vibrant or not, does Albany need new revenues and new jobs coming into the market? And how does that happen.
No matter what it looks like to you today:
1. NW Albany is not that relevant to MOST of Albany. Simply because that is YOUR world, there is all the rest of Albany that may not connect with that place and deserve a better city.
2. While it still looks good today, just like an early stage cancer victim who is starting lose weight, commercial NW Albany is already on the skids and is deeply threatened by the continued commercial and population migration to Lee County. The Albany Mall WILL lose national retailers. It would be underway today, if the national real estate market and consumer market had not stalled. But in 2010 or 2011, just hang on…the FIRST 500,000 sf of commercial will start to come out of the ground. You have to be blind to not know what will happen in a low to no population growth and exodus market.
3. Your notions of not seeing a financial collaboration between the public and private sector are very primitive. It happens all the time with public projects like roads or buildings. The private sectors provides products and services and the public pays for it. There is a return to the people as quality of life and safety AND increase of tax base as in roads to commercial areas and improvements. Downtown development can even be structured to fit into your neat little model, but it is a form ove substance approach.
Luv ya, man.
OOPS as to 2. above, the 500,000 sf will come out of the ground at Lee County’s Oakland Plantation project.
Plus the new Publix going in on 19 will also draw people.
It’s happening and while NW Albany will hold up to some level, there are already too many vacancies that are very hard to fill with up-market uses.
Ask the real estate folks.
Peter,
This isn’t about Northwest Albany. This is about downtown. If that vibrant area was East Albany, I’d be saying the same thing. In fact, East Albany redevelopment makes a hell of a lot more sense to me than downtown. While you may well be right about Northwest Albany struggling, it’s a symptom of a greater wrong. Again, downtown Albany’s success or failure has yet to be demonstrated as having a systemic impact on the entire city. My point still stands as it is. Albany’s success yet to be demonstrated to be tied to downtown, it’s tied to economics. If that growth is in East Albany (which I really think is ripe for that growth), then so much the better.
Truth be told, East Albany needs the growth more than downtown anyways. The jobs it can handle are higher paying jobs…those elusive manufacturing jobs after all.
in other words, do nothing
For government? Absolutely. For private parties like the Chamber of Commerce? No. There’s plenty that can be done by them.
“in other words, do nothing”
Yes, Peter, in English, that translates into “stop the bleeding.”
On a prior thread, Peter suggested a “get together” of folks working in development related organizations to see if we can’t get something going. Although it basically concerned downtown, it was one of the Studelmeister’s better ideas.
Well, the kimshee is getting deeper for Albany now that we are on the very visible list of 10 poorest cities. We knew it but othere may not have known.
We have got to come up with a way to improve Albany’s lot and an “economic and development summit” is ceratinly worth pursuing.
We pay a lot of folks in a bunch of organizations to cultivate business and development. Well, damnit, let’s put them to work.
Lock ‘em in a room at Chehaw with some folks from local industry, bankers. private developers, et al, and let’s “duke it out” to come up with some ideas on how we might salvage this place. What do we have to lose?
However, don’t bother to invite elected officials or similar folks who seem to have absolutely no interest in anything except hindering the process. Tell them about it later. We need real folks with real savy from the real world.
Basically your idea, Peter, I just put it on “roids”.
You want Chatmon back? The ringmaster who burdened us with the white elephant RiverFront projects?
I agree that “Do nothing” is not the appropriate plan. The appropriate plan is to reduce or cut funding to some of the taxpayer drains like the RiverQuarium and quit dumping money into the commercial abyss known as “downtown”. Defund ADICA completely and hope the board members will simply go home out of embarrassment. Are the members dishonest or incompetent? The correct answer is: it doesn’t matter, don’t continue to fund them either way.
If you haven’t heard, we are one of the 10 poorest cities in the nation. Apparently the strategy of dumping massive amounts of taxpayer funds into downtown didn’t work. So let’s stop it now.
But I agree. We shouldn’t “do nothing”.
Bobby Ray…ya …you go…lotsa roids is what this town needs. and it needs to come from the private side. ONLY! THEY WILL MAKE THIS WORK. IT MAY NEED SOME PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP, BUT THE PLAN AND DIRECTION AND PUSH NEED TO BE FROM THE PIRVATE SIDE. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the gov people lament how many other things they had to do besides crank up albany. Not the pols, not the admin types are wired to make this happen. THIS IS A MOTHER OF A TOUGH JOB.
Cartman, your mantra is getting weary. Get in touch with the realities of what will happen to this city if it is left to drift. If public money is not to be used, great!!! But tell us how to improve the lot(t) of this city. Give us the plan. Do you have any idea what happens to a city with a trend and a demo like this if there is not some serious and effective intervention mighty quick? And if you just don’t care and have your retirement funded, great. happy for you. enjoy the beach. luv u too.
Look, it is a very unlikely that this town CAN turn around. But it still has a REMOTE chance. But this moronic dribble will make no difference. This is a CRISIS intervention type situation, if anyone really cares. I don’t think many people really care.
But if you do and you want to make a difference or it is a great problem to solve or you want a chance to make some serious money, then it might be worth the gamble to play hard here.
So much of the mentality is such a pathetic resignation.
I’m not sure what each person’s motivation trigger is—idealism or just to make a boatload of money or whatever…this is a platform and most of you/us in our lifetimes will not have this opportunity to take a community and take it to a new level of prosperity. And you can go along with it. Otherwise wallow in the comfort zone of mediocrity and malaise.
I’m going to have a great pizza at mama gina’s on slappey right now. If you want to chew on this some more, come on by.
I’m gonna send this without rereading cuz i might change something…
Peter: I think you need to keep on thing in mind. Economic development does not necessarily equal downtown development. You continue to argue like opposition to one is necessarily opposition to both, and it’s not. Once again, no one has ever shown me any evidence that downtown has to meet some definition of “prosperous” or else the town will die a slow and painful death.
Frankly, redevelopment efforts in East Albany is something I’m far more likely to get behind (though I still oppose public money being spent on it on principle). That’s a far cry from “wallowing in the comfort zone of mediocrity and malaise”. It’s just a disagreement on where the efforts should be placed.
Tom…you are hiding in the world of the theoretical. Explain specifically how you will create sustainable economic development in East Albany that improves Albany as a whole. Tell us exactly what the plan would be and the jobs that would be created and how the private sector and banks will be motivated to invest. Paint the very precise picture and I may agree with you. You raise a very good point…so have at it. You’re up.
Nope. I’m not. Because I still haven’t gotten the first bit of evidence that downtown MUST be redeveloped or else Albany will fail. I’ve asked for it repeatedly and I still haven’t seen jack. I’m not a dancing monkey who will hop too just because I simply said I would be far more likely to support redeveloping East Albany.
The FACT, Peter, is that downtown has been facing redevelopment my my whole damn life. What escapes people’s notice is that no one wants to go down there. Lots of people say they want to see downtown redevelop, but they didn’t go down to eat at Harvest Moon, or shop the cool shops that opened up down there a few years ago. So what happened? Those shops left. They went to other parts of town.
You can talk about plans all you like, but without people who actually want to go down there, it’s a lost cause. I don’t pretend to have the answers. But the REALITY is that nothing has worked and no one seems to be able to show why it must work for this city to have a prayer in hell. East Albany, however, has been ignored despite it being the place where industrial jobs would be most likely locating.
tom…please listen closely. I will repeat this again.
For downtown to work or add value to Albany, it really isn’t primarliy about YOU going downtown …or anybody like you.
Tom…please focus. Even if downtown could take your business from another part of town, it does not add value to the overall market.
NOW HERE’S THE POINT. DOWNTOWN ALBANY CANNOT BE SUSTAINED BY THE LOCAL MARKET. Your criticism is from your perspective as a local customer. You (in the plural) as a target will never make the downtown work. EVER. This is not a typical urban center.
FOR THE DOWNTOWN TO WORK OR ADD VALUE TO THE WHOLE MARKET, IT MUST FOCUS FIRST (I WISH I COULD MAKE THE WORD FIRST BIGGER) ON THE OUTSIDE WORLD…WHETHER IT BE CONSUMER DOLLARS OR TECH OR INTERNET. THE GROUND LEVEL COMMERCIAL WITH ITS ASSORTMENT OF STOREFRONTS MUST FOCUS ON TOURIST REATAIL AND SIMILAR. VERTICAL ELEVATIONS NEEDS TO BE BIZ’S AND OPS THAT DERIVE INCOME FROM OUTSIDE THE MARKET AND MUST PROVIDE GROWTH AND WEALTH SHARING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCAL BRAINS AND TALENTS.
AGAIN, YOU AND THE LOCAL MARKET ARE NOT THE PRIMARY MARKET. IF STUFF IS HAPPENING, ENOUGH OF YOU WILL COME TO ADD COME VALUE, BUT YOU WILL NOT AS IN N-O-T BLAZE THE TRAIL.
SO, YOU HAVE NOTHING ON EAST ALBANY. WHY?? BECAUSE ON ANY SCALE TO ACHIEVE THE GOALS I STATED, THERE IS NOT ENOUGH MONEY ON THE PLANET TO GET TO THAT LEVEL. IF I AM WRONG…PLEASE GIVE ME THE PLAN FOR EAST ALBANY. COME ON ….DO IT.
Also, forget the argument that as goes a downtown, so goes a city. I can give you plenty of annecdotal examples, but do not have a real study or list of examples and cause and effect analysis. I think there is a correlation but cannot defend causality.
But that is not even necessary. If you believe Albany and Dougherty are in economic decline and I think you do, then one must ask where and how can that be reversed. You are right to try to bring in other parts of town into the discussion, because the “reverse the trend” argument is not location specific.
BUT I KNOW OF NO OTHER PLATFORM OR NEIGHBORHOOD IN ALBANY THAT HAS THE SAME POTENTIAL TO BRING IN NEW JOBS AND NEW REVENUES. N-E-W. And only NEW market revenues will stem the tide.
I do believe that some parts of Albany may be already lost, by the standards implied in this discusson. They will never be restored unless new market wealth is generated somewhere else.
Peter,
To start with, I sincerely hope your use of caps was simply for emphasis, but you should know that in internet parlance, use of all caps is considered yelling. I truly hope you were not yelling at me on this site. That would just be a bad way to make anything approaching a point. Especially considering your post reeks of a condescending attitude. Please tell me that wasn’t intentional, because I’d hate to think that it is.
Next, I understand your argument. You’ve made it more than once, and I’m not an idiot. However, your argument is contingent on income from outside of Albany coming into the local market, based on past discussions I’m assuming you’re still talking about tourism. However, there’s nothing in Albany to draw these kinds of numbers. Earlier, you said I was going into the theoretical. Unfortunately, you’re whole plan is in there too. Yes, tourism would indeed boost the local economy, and I have no problem with that being pursued. However, I lack confidence that it will ever become anything besides theoretical.
Frankly, the idea of tech jobs in Albany is laughable though. The only way to staff those jobs would be to bring in talent, which goes nothing for the large segment of our population living in poverty, and would be expensive for those companies wishing to relocate to Albany. I’d wager it would be prohibitively so. People tend to locate those businesses where people who can work those jobs already are. We have far to many uneducated people for that to fly. As for internet, I’m not entirely sure what you’re classifying as an “internet” business. Consumer business is, once again, contingent on new dollars entering the market. That would mean tourism, absent anything else introducing new dollars into the market. I’ve already stated my feeling on that one.
As for your comments regarding East Albany, and how there’s “not enough money to get to that level”, how much do you think it’ll take? Seriously. Just a couple of new industries of substantial size would do wonders for Albany’s economy. And yes, those jobs are around. New car manufacturing jobs recently showed up in other Georgia cities, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility for those to come here. What’s more, with our current per capita income, they could probably get labor for less than most anywhere in the US.
But I suppose there’s not enough money in the world for that? Yeah, there actually is. It just doesn’t go downtown.
As I’ve said though, my problem is the focus on downtown when we are an entire city. Growth is growth, so why focus it on one small section of town when there are other areas that could also use the redevelopment and wouldn’t suffer from 20+ years of failed efforts and wasted tax dollars.
As for “forgetting the argument that as goes a downtown, so goes a city,” I just want to point out that absent that argument, this simply becomes an argument for economic redevelopment for growth in one part of town over another. Since you seem to agree that it doesn’t really matter where growth happens, just that it does, there’s not really much up for discussion then, is there?
emphasis, yes, but with a louder voice…
condescending? well, yes it was intended so much that i didn’t think anyone would take it seriously. and as i was writing, i thought that a little bit of theatre would be good for your readership. to spice it up a little.
i guess it didn’t float that way….and cartman hasn’t even weighed in yet.
notice that there is not one cap in this comment. i feel like e.e. cummings.
as to your arguments…..um….as to your arguments…. tom, as to your arguments, i say nothing.
For those with hard heads, let’s define the issues:
1. Everyone agrees the Albany area needs new businesses for real growth/recovery.
2. We disagree that the new growth must be located downtown.
Peter, I am not against the notions of growth, recovery, prosperity, or job creation. I confess to be ignorant of downtown development and grossly inexperienced compared to yourself. I do not have the solution. But, what is wrong with locating new businesses outside of downtown? The land is generally cheaper; larger tracts are available; crime is lower; less congestion; and many other reasons. The free market dictates where businesses will locate – not ADICA or Tommy Chatmon. As an example, you have previously mentioned a Bible-themed attraction. Why must it be downtown? Wouldn’t it be more economically feasible where land is cheaper and more appropriate on Philma Road? Or on a farm on Five Mile Road? Or in a number of other locations in Dougherty, Lee, Worth, Terrell, Mitchell, or Calhoun Counties? Walt Disney didn’t build DisneyWorld in downtown Orlando, but that city prospered enormously by the success of DW. Six Flags is not in downtown Atlanta. Wild Adventures is not in downtown Valdosta. I know its apples and oranges, but these are examples of how you can build outside of downtown and still benefit the entire area.
Our strategy so far has been to concentrate tax dollars on downtown to the detriment of other areas. It has failed. For example, we wondered how to exploit the resources at Chehaw as an area draw. Someone had the idea of water park or amusement park at Chehaw. We delayed. We fumbled. Then Wild Adventures appeared at Valdosta, stopping all discussion. Then someone came up with the idea of an aquarium. Did it go to Chehaw to compliment the animal park and draw more folks to Chehaw? No. It went downtown, just so Chatmon could credit it as a “RiverFront” project. Chehaw is still the same size. RiverQuarium is trying their best to survive in the commercial desolation called downtown. And Carver Pool is our cost-efficient water park.
If you can get private investors to buy up downtown and develop it – I will be the first to applaud. But what’s the current plan? Using TAD, we will funnel even more tax money into downtown to the detriment of the rest of Albany. Taxpayers are tired. That is why I say we cut off downtown bleeding and come up with ideas for other sections of our area. That’s all the “weary mantra” for now.
Cartman…glad you’re hear. We’re gonna get to the bottom of this, but I will need to beg off for a few days and tend to some dire domestic matters. I’ll get back and hopefully shed some light…and then we can perhaps reach and accord and chew on some pizza together.
btw, I must mention that I have been spending some time at Mama Gina’s on Slappey and 10th and this is a sleeper establishment. Sicilian family owned, great food, great prices on the specials and other things. Super pizza…no I don’t own it, but I am trying to get them some biz, because this is a NON-DOWNTOWN establishment we DO NOT want to lose.
For those of you who know it, it is TOTALLY non-smoking now. And it will be going through a little face lift soon.
Support locally owned, right?
here
Vinnie makes excellent pizza. I’ve been a fan since he started in the Albany Mall almost 30 years ago. Sorry to hear that it is going “totally non-smoking”. I despise conformance to the politically-correct nanny-state health-care I-know-better-than-you government do-gooders.
And yes. I am a non-smoker.
Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, and jobs. Until we have leadership and policies in place that have job creation as their purpose, noithng else matters.
Albany needs to reverse itself. Instead of being a city where people come to get on government handout programs, Albany needs to be a place where people come to work, and all others are shunned.
We have to offer tough love to the thousands of non-workers, and either put them to work, or on the bus.