Don’t halt Albany’s rise
Albany is experiencing a wave of construction as developers seek to meet the demand for new apartments in the city.
The trend is cause for optimism. After decades during which the region’s urban centers suffered as the suburbs f lourished, the development happening in Albany is a sign of the city’s strength and desirability. The boom is a local version of the rebirth happening in cities around the country.
But the construction is bringing a backlash. Some Albany residents say the new apartment projects are too dense, too big and just too ... urban. A group calling itself “Stop the Stories” is even demanding the city enact a moratorium on new construction.
That’s a terrible idea. Albany can’t afford to halt its momentum.
As residents know, the city has relatively high property taxes and significant fiscal problems. The best way to address both is to grow the tax base. More tax revenue also allows more spending on infrastructure and other improvements to benefit Albany’s quality of life. That’s progress.
Until recently, the city’s number of
housing units was declining — 48,411 in 2010 to 47,732 in 2016, according to the census — a trend that inevitably makes the city less affordable. Today, the number of units is moving upward, as is the city’s overall population. That’s also progress.
All that in turn encourages things like more business and more mass transit. That’s progress, too.
A moratorium might be appropriate if the city hadn’t planned and prepared for the growth. To the contrary, Albany has spent years asking for public input as it developed the Albany 2030 plan and the blueprint known as Rezone Albany, which simplified zoning regulations.
Both plans, approved by the Common Council, call for precisely the kind of development that is now happening — apartments above stores within walking distance of employment clusters. In other words, they called for mixed-use development that can legitimately be called sustainable and will attract those who are seeking a vibrant, walkable city.
Stop the Stories worries about traffic without acknowledging that walkable neighborhoods are an antidote to congestion. On its website, the group says it wants to help define what constitutes progress without acknowledging that all residents were invited to help craft the city’s plans.
Unfortunately, some of what Stop the Stories is saying sounds too much like fear of change and bias toward newcomers. It worries that the city’s goal “is to bring in loads of renters at the expense of those of us who have been here for decades.”
That’s a false choice. Some of the new apartment dwellers, after all, might be longtime homeowners who want to downsize and stay in the city, or perhaps the sons and daughters of longtime residents.
Or maybe they will be newcomers attracted by Albany’s rising quality of life, and a lifestyle that doesn’t involve long commutes and guzzling fossil fuels. And what could be wrong with that?