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.
Bright lights blazing on Third
Written December 9th, 2017 by Hasso Hering
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
Tags: CARA, catenary lights, double acorn lights, downtown Albany, streetscape
Downtown car store: My memories
Written August 19th, 2017 by Hasso Hering
Posted in: News, Uncategorized
Tags: downtown Albany, Ellsworth Street, GMC Buick, GMC Sierra, MTM Motors
Tags: downtown Albany, Ellsworth Street, GMC Buick, GMC Sierra, MTM Motors
‘East anchor’: A councilman’s idea
Written August 23rd, 2016 by Hasso Hering
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 […]
Housing upgrade coming on E. First
Written August 4th, 2016 by Hasso Hering
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
Tags: 222 East First, downtown Albany, Glorietta Bay LLC, Scott D. Lepman
Waiting for ‘augmented reality’
Written July 26th, 2016 by Hasso Hering
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.
Not a little park, but a parklet
Written April 28th, 2016 by Hasso Hering
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
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
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.
Lost downtown? Help is coming
Written September 16th, 2015 by Hasso Hering
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
Tags: Albany urban renewal, Ambrosini Design, CARA, downtown Albany, wayfinding signs
‘Cheese grater’? That project’s off
The fabled “cheese grater” on Albany’s First Avenue — a sign of progress in the 1960s and now considered an architectural atrocity — is staying up there, at least for now.
Tags: 415 W. First Avenue, CARA, cheese grater, downtown Albany, Mercy House