A neighborhood’s future
There is much to like about a proposal to build a Hudson Valley Community College satellite campus along Morton Avenue in Albany’s South End.
For one thing, the plan would mean razing 1-2 Lincoln Square, two Albany Housing Authority towers that are a blight on the neighborhood. The subsequent construction of buildings for HVCC, including one containing 120,000 square feet of community educational space, could be a welcome shot in the arm for a section of the city that has suffered from disinvestment. Bringing a student population to the neighborhood could enliven it, perhaps allowing new businesses to flourish.
All good, so far. But it is concerning that at a recent public hearing on a grant application for the demolition, Common Council and community members from the South End expressed frustration over the city’s lack of communication about the plan and its rushed timeline. That suggests the city hasn’t done the groundwork needed before a project of this magnittude goes forward.
The project is dubbed as transformational. But is this a transformation that residents of the neighborhood truly welcome?
Granted, bringing a college campus to the South End has for years been on the city’s wish list. Even the city’s 2007 Capital South plan, which mapped out short- and long-term development goals for the larger South End, envisioned a fully redeveloped Lincoln Square as an educational campus or mixed-use housing. Meanwhile, city leaders have for years sought to demolish the high-rise towers, which divide the Mansion Neighborhood from the rest of the South End and which are oversized for their surroundings.
Yet there are still questions that need to be answered. Does it really make sense for HVCC to build a satellite campus? With declining student population trends, can they justify the expansion? Would expanding into Albany divert resources that could be better used at the school’s main campus in Troy?
Also, is the Morton Avenue locaion, which is served by just one bus line, the best spot? Would it make more sense to build a satellite campus closer to downtown, where bus lines converge? Could the campus be built alongside the transit center being planned by CDTA and the Albany Parking Authority?
But no question is more important than the first one we asked here: Is this a project that residents of the neighborhood welcome?
The Lincoln Square towers were built in the 1960s as part of the larger “urban renewal” movement that typically disregarded neighborhood wishes and desires to impose schemes from on high. It was a movement that did significant harm to the health of cities, in part because it so frequently failed to respect what residents cherished about their communities.
If done well, an HVCC campus on Morton Avenue could begin to heal one of Albany’s wounds from urban renewal. But it would be terribly ironic if the city’s attempt at healing ended up repeating the mistakes of the past. As this plan moves forward, the city needs to communicate with neighbors. And it needs to listen to them.