Thursday 15 May 2008

Ending Albany


Now that it's been five months, it's time to pass on some observations of Albany. New York's capital isn't what you might initially expect, but the sights fit it well.

This city has a stark contrast between ideal and reality. Sit across the Hudson River at night, and the Empire State Plaza is lit up in marbleous splendor. Stand at one end of the plaza and look down to see the ornate Capitol framed by four jutting agency buildings and the imposing height of the Corning Tower. Look at pictures, and the splendor of the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception or the Old D&H Railroad building stand out along with the green hills and tulips of Washington Park.

Then try to walk the streets or drive the roads. The disaster of the South Mall Arterial or the collisions of Washington Avenue, Western Avenue and Central Avenue will leave your head spinning while possibly crumpling your car the first time you drive here. Illogical urban planning has smeared the Capital Region with confusing roundabouts, bizarrely curving roads and a raised highway that blights the banks of the Hudson.

Those mystifying roads need repaved, too. Potholes and cracks look more like unattended sinkholes or giant canyons. Parking spots are so rare that they might as well be paved in gold to accentuate their value.

Different neighborhoods in Albany continue the contrasts. Like any city there are rich and poor areas, many of which are within a few blocks of each other. There is no rhyme or reason to their layouts. Above the mash of urban blight and renewal the concrete steeple of the corning tower stretches toward heaven.

That's the message of Albany: the importance of detail. So much of this city comes from great concepts. But for every terrific idea that has been realized in a building or business, there are streets and areas that blemish them.

The old saying goes "The Devil is in the details." And that's Albany. Every great idea and well-executed aspect is handicapped by technical demons in the fine print.

Sunday 13 April 2008

Boston

The URL says "ricks2007travels" but let's not be picky about the year. I've visited another city, and if you're reading this, you must want to read about it. So enough chit-chat about continuing this blog whenever necessary, its time to talk about Boston.

Friday Deb had a job interview in Boston, which was rather convenient since I've been wanting to go there since coming to Albany. New York's capital is only about two and a half hours away from the capital city in Massachusetts, which I figure might be about as close to Boston as I'll ever live. A quick plan and Friday morning off work later, we were in the car on the Massachusetts turnpike heading for a "T" stop where the train would take us into the city. Along the way I got to make fun of the pilgrim hat that is the symbol for the Massachusetts Turnpike and make note of the wonderfully named town of "Wilbraham."

We got in around 12:30 and poked our heads up from the Subway stop onto Boston Common. It was an overcast day, but fortunately only a few rain drops fell. After looking around the common for a few minutes, we made our way through the financial district to find the building where Deb's interview was scheduled for 3:00. After locating that without much trouble, we just wandered around the East side of the city and Fan Pier, which used to be a big railroad/shipping junction. Then Deb had her interview, which lasted until 5:00 PM, during which time I walked around the financial district and read a book. Following that, we were both too tired to do much more exploring.

The next day started out with much better weather. It was sunny and clear, and we walked around the Boston Common and Public Garden for awhile. No swan boats were out yet, but we did see a statue in the Public Garden modeled after Make Way for Ducklings. After lunch at the bar the television show "Cheers" was set in, we walked the Freedom Trail, which is about three miles of historical landmarks. It includes things like the Massachusetts State House, the Church where the famous lanterns were hung, and the Bunker Hill memorial. Despite the fact that it was sunny and near 70 degrees when we arrived in the morning, a squall blew up and it was teeming rain by the time we finished at 5:00.

I'm not sure where the days went. We didn't get to go to the aquarium or any museums. There were plenty of things on the Freedom Trail we did see, but the time just flew by. We didn't even go down to walk past Fenway Park where the Red Sox were playing the Yankees.

I'll leave you with my impression of Boston. For being such a heralded city that tries to compete with New York City, the two places couldn't be farther apart. When we were there, Boston was fairly quiet for a city of its size. I was surprised at how light he traffic was, which is not to say it was anything approaching desirable. I was also surprised at how walkable Boston was.

And just like that it was time to head back to Albany. Thinking back, we didn't get to do much, but that's okay. We'll just have to go back sometime.