Saturday, June 23, 2012

Townhouses

We're getting toward the end of our trip photos. I keep asking myself. "Self," I say, "how many more pictures of Albany can your readers stand?" After all, I live in France and my blog is ostensibly about my life in France. But part of my life in France is a trip home now and then, isn't it?

Townhouses in the historic district along lower Clinton Avenue. Clinton as in DeWitt Clinton, 6th Governor of New York.

I took these pictures from up in the observation deck of the Corning Tower, the tallest building in Albany at 44 floors (589 feet, 180 meters). Not all that tall, but still. The old neighborhoods downtown have withered a bit over the years. Suburbanization and white flight took many people away, leaving the old townhouses to the poor and mostly black population.

These well-maintained townhouses face the capitol and include the headquarters of the New York State Bar Association.

A lot of the building stock is gone, but enough of it remains. Many of the old townhouses, especially those closest to the capitol, have been renovated. Some have been converted into offices, others into nice residences. Most are doing duty, as they always have, as homes to the people who live downtown. I'm struck by how green the city looks in these pictures.

The church on the lower right is Sweet Pilgrim Baptist Church. The big church on the upper left is St. Joseph's.

So I offer you a few views of townhouses. I have a bunch more photographs to share from downtown. After those, I have some photos of our evening in Provincetown, Massachusetts, followed by a few shots from Plymouth in the same state. That was the last day of our trip before coming home to France.

12 comments:

  1. I've quite enjoyed seeing the photos of America. I only follow a couple of American blogs and neither of those people are local travellers.

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  2. Your photos today are terrific- wish we could have gone up in the tower. I think I need to go back. Get the US photos coming, there will always be France! Love the new banner.

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  3. Stretch it out, Walt. Your photos are so interesting that it doesn't matter where you go, there we are.

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  4. I'm not at all tired of pictures of Albany, especially sort of bird's-eye-view ones like these. I know you'll be blogging about France again soon...But really it's always interesting.

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  5. Your new banner is stunning!!! Where did you stand to get this good a shot? And is that the Cher river on the left? Martine

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  6. Ditto what everyone else said! :))

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  7. Too bad it's in the northland. Albany looks like a very nice city. Like the new header pic.

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  8. LOVE YOUR PICTURES OF ALBANY, Walt! No need for apologies to me!

    Perhaps the very green picture of Albany might be of interest to your brother - for a painting! I would be interested. Very nice.

    Mary in Oregon

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  9. I was referring to the third photo (!)
    Mary

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  10. I saw your name on one of the post from My Life in the Charente and came for a visit. I was surprised to find myself in Albany instead of France though. Your pictures are lovely. I don’t know that area of the US – it does look very pretty.

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  11. andrew, thanks. Have you traveled in the US before?

    evelyn, I'm sorry we missed the closing when you were there. By 5 minutes! Such luck.

    carolyn, ok, you got it!

    kristi, I like the shots from above as well. The problem that I've always had with this observation deck as that you can't look west (the elevator core is in the way). I think they could have done something to give visitors a 360ยบ view.

    martine, thanks! No, the Cher is quite a distance from the castle, like 10-15 kms.

    judy, :)

    starman, I know: winter.

    mary, we'll see if he takes the bait...

    vagabonde, thank you. I appreciate your stopping by. I see you were married in San Francisco. Did you know that Ken and I lived there for over 17 years?

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  12. I haven't. France is higher on my list as I have only had a brief vistit to Paris.

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