downtown Albany

Downtown signs: Which way to turn

Written August 10th, 2018 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 11 responses.

Strangers wandering around downtown Albany on foot now have handsome signs to tell them where to go. If they can see the signs, that is.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: CARA wayfinding project, downtown Albany, wayfinding signs

Bright lights blazing on Third

Written December 9th, 2017 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 9 responses.

The new lights being installed downtown are certainly bright, even if they illuminate only an empty street as, in this case, three blocks of Third Avenue. Named for the shape of the fixtures, the new “double acorn” street lights are part of the $8.5 million downtown streetscape improvement project funded by CARA, the Central Albany […]

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: CARA, catenary lights, double acorn lights, downtown Albany, streetscape

Downtown car store: My memories

Written August 19th, 2017 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 5 responses.

Posted in: News, Uncategorized
Tags: downtown Albany, Ellsworth Street, GMC Buick, GMC Sierra, MTM Motors

‘East anchor’: A councilman’s idea

Written August 23rd, 2016 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 12 responses.

The city-owned parking lot on the south side of Water Avenue between Albany’s Willamette River bridges has about 65 spaces, give or take one or two. City Councilman Rich Kellum has an idea of how to double the number of spaces and develop the site as the “east anchor” of the downtown district’s commercial revival at […]

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: CARA, downtown Albany, east anchor, refinement plan, Rich Kellum

Housing upgrade coming on E. First

Written August 4th, 2016 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 6 responses.

We drive by this place on Albany’s First Avenue S.E. all the time. But I had not noticed it was vacant until I rode it past it, slowly, on my bike last month.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: 222 East First, downtown Albany, Glorietta Bay LLC, Scott D. Lepman

Waiting for ‘augmented reality’

Written July 26th, 2016 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 4 responses.

Something was going on in downtown Albany Tuesday night. Dozens of people converged on the corner of Ellsworth and First, staring at their phones. I figured it had something to do with Pokémon Go.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: augmented reality, downtown Albany, Pokemon Go

Not a little park, but a parklet

Written April 28th, 2016 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 10 responses.

Thirty-six years ago the First Interstate Bank in Albany furnished this wide spot in the sidewalk in front of its parking lot on First Avenue in case any downtown pedestrian wanted to pause and take a load off. Now, with the consent of Wells Fargo, the Albany Downtown Association plans to turn the space into […]

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany Downtown Association, Christina Larson, downtown Albany, parklets Varitone Architecture, Peggy Burris

Parking structures? Let’s hope not

Written October 30th, 2015 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 16 responses.

The adjectives that come to my mind for parking structures all start with d: Dark, dirty, drafty and dank. And possibly dangerous as well, especially late at night. That’s why I hope all this talk about a parking structure in downtown Albany is just that and nothing more.

Posted in: Commentary
Tags: CARA, downtown Albany, parking structures, Two Rivers Market

Lost downtown? Help is coming

Written September 16th, 2015 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 27 responses.

If people have gotten lost and turned up missing in search for the sights of downtown Albany, I’m not aware of it. But just in case, the downtown urban renewal program is going to put up “wayfinding” signs.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: Albany urban renewal, Ambrosini Design, CARA, downtown Albany, wayfinding signs

Downtown revival: Another project

Written June 7th, 2015 by Hasso Hering

Comments: 11 responses.

Another building in downtown Albany would get a complete renovation and facelift under a proposal pending before the Central Albany Revitalization Area.

Posted in: Commentary, News
Tags: CARA, Century Building, downtown Albany, Rick Mikesell