#361 The 13 Cities of the Greater Capital Region, Part 7 of 7
While it might seem that there are a lot of cities in the Greater Capital Region, since they outnumber counties 13 to 11, this ratio is a bit on the high side insofar as there are only as many cities in the state as there are counties: 62. Therefore, on average, each county has its own city. Of course, in the case of New York City, that particular city has five counties (Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), New York (Manhattan), Richmond (Staten Island), and Queens; called boroughs of the city itself). As a result, you'll find that the counties of the far northern and western reaches of the state have very few cities.
And like New York City's boroughs, most cities have similar divisions, though mostly for political purposes, called wards. Some (especially the larger cities) are also broken down into historic neighborhoods or ethnic enclaves. In the future, when I devote significantly more time to each particular city, these wards, neighborhoods, and enclaves will be showcased as well.
Continue reading "#361 The 13 Cities of the Greater Capital Region, Part 7 of 7" »
Early in the development of Upstate New York, the extensive network of rivers and streams were of the utmost importance in developing forts along the early frontier, some of which grew into cities. However, those cities situated by or near canals (the Erie and the Champlain) experienced even greater growth as key trans-shipment points into the vast interior of Upstate. Later, those cities that sat astride railroads grew astronomically compared to those areas bereft of train service. In the mid-1900s, air travel loomed large, but with few Upstate cities taking advantage of it. However, 
Some cities are so small, it makes you wonder why they became cities in the first place. In fact, many of the cities of Upstate New York would probably only qualify as villages by Downstate standards, based on population alone. In the case of the City of Mechanicville, it happens to be the smallest city in the entire state (though not the least populous). Of course, just because a city is not so populous today doesn't mean it was always that way. This is especially the case when a city becomes overly dependent on one industry. If and when that industry leaves the city, the city is effectively gutted and the population diminishes greatly, in search of greener pastures.
Cities in the northeast, especially those of Upstate New York, have taken a beating since the 1960s. Industries left or went bankrupt, urban renewal decimated downtowns, interstates bypassed congested areas within and surrounding cities, and population itself shifted towards the south and the west, well away from the north and the east. As industries left cities, tax bases eroded and urban blight grew in once prosperous areas. Almost all of the thirteen cities of the Greater Capital Region are mere shadows of their former glories, possibly with the exceptions of Albany and Saratoga Springs. With every new census, most of the cities have fewer and fewer residents.
Water is the lifeblood of cities. Look even to the three counties in the Greater Capital Region without cities in them: Greene, Schoharie, and Washington. Yet, Catskill could easily be a city, but for its being a village, situated as it is on a prominent piece of ground between the Hudson River and the mouth of the Catskill Creek. And the villages of Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, situated as they are on prominent bends in the Hudson River, could also just as easily be cities.
Most cities grow from hamlet into village into city; a group of people that just keeps getting bigger and bigger, with more and more industry. And, usually, cities grow in distinct areas, and in distinct ways, often sprawling along the shores of major rivers or important streams, acting as trans-shipment points from land to water. That's certainly the case with most of the cities in the Greater Capital Region. The cities of Albany, Glens Falls, Hudson, Mechanicville, Rensselaer, Troy, and Watervliet, all sit along the shores of the Hudson River. The cities of Amsterdam and Schenectady sit along the shores of the Mohawk River. The city of Cohoes is lucky enough to sit beside both rivers. So, what gives with the cities of Gloversville, Johnstown, and Saratoga Springs? Well, both Gloversville and Johnstown sit astride the Cayadutta Creek, along which the 
This series is an introduction to the thirteen (13) cities of the 
On to the far northern reaches of the Greater Capital Region. Both Warren and Washington counties are large though quite dissimilar. Washington County is all premium farmland settled amidst the Taconic foothills while Warren County is largely forested with scattered lakes amidst the southeastern Adirondacks. And but for its northern tip, you will find within Warren County the always cold Lake George.
And now on to the smallest county and the least populated county. Schenectady County is the epitome of the Greater Capital Region in that it encompasses within it almost everything you will find everywhere else in the region, from the gritty urban to the bedroom community suburban to the remote rural. Schoharie County is picturesque with probably the friendliest people in the entire region. Take a walk down the Main Streets of the various villages and it's like stepping back into the 1950s; it feels like home. Better yet, take a day off and go exploring over its rolling hills. Check out Howe Caverns and, just down the road, Secret Caverns.
While people often view Upstate New York as this sort of monolithic entity, it really is a meaningless term as so few people can agree on what precisely is encompassed by "Upstate New York". Some people consider any part of the state north of New York City to be Upstate New York. Some think it's north of Westchester or Putnam. Others draw a line from the Southern Tier east across the Delaware and Hudson Valleys and consider anything north of it to be Upstate New York. Still others would consider Central New York and Western New York to be a part of Upstate New York.
Another thing to note about the Greater Capital Region is that is overwhelmingly rural and heavily forested. While there are large swaths of the urban-suburban continuum in abundance in the area between and around the Albany-Schenectady-Troy hubs - places like the towns of Bethlehem, Brunswick, Clifton Park, Colonie, East Greenbush, Glenville, Guilderland, Halfmoon, Niskayuna, North Greenbush, Rotterdam, and Waterford - most of the area is sparsely populated and relatively empty. Even most of the villages have a rustic and rural flavor to them. This is especially the case with all of the outlying counties and most of their municipalities.
There are 11 counties, 13 cities, 62 villages, and 144 towns in the Greater Capital Region; 230 municipal entities, most of which have their own individual judicial systems. The only exceptions to this general rule are those villages (and, perhaps, a few towns of which I am currently unaware) that are too small to have their own separate judicial systems or those villages (almost always villages) that their surrounding town has absorbed the administration of, usually in the name of budgetary fiscal restraint.
This series is merely an introduction to the eleven (11) counties of the Greater Capital Region, all of which are found within the Third Department. There is a wide range in both the areas and populations of the eleven counties.
Another question that I get a lot is this: "What sort of geographical area do you cover?" Well, the answer would probably amaze you. If you remember from a 
