Day 41 - Albany Downtown

From our hotel we walked along Clinton Avenue a couple of blocks across from Washington Avenue. This is an area of urban decay were some renovation work is underway, but most buildings are abandoned. We couldn't see a way across to Washington because of Sheridan Hollow, a ravine running parallel between the two roads.

There are 700 historic buildings along Clinton Avenue, most requiring significant restoration. Very few people were around and little traffic. A friendly Black workman in a City Works vehicle told us we were in a "rough" area and pointed out the best rout to get downtown.

Once we were walking along Sheridan Avenue we passed occupied homes and other buildings. There are hardly any stores in the downtown area, only restaurants and cafes, and lots of unoccupied buildings. We turned into State Street and walked up the steep hill to the New York State Capitol building.

There is an amazing difference between the area around the Capitol building and downtown. This is where hundreds of government employees are based in tall office buildings, surrounded by some magnificent new and historic buildings.

We had lunch at Jack's Diner on Washington then wandered around these wonderful old buildings.

Albany City Hall