Pavers and power poles: A waterfront update
Bike rides take me past the west end of Water Avenue in Albany several times a week. So I see the transformation of this former industrial street into the “plaza street” envisioned by the city’s...
View ArticleAlbany hydro: No power since April 2024
Albany’s small hydropower plant has been shut down for more than a year, which I didn’t discover until I asked about it this week. And I doubt it will ever operate again. The historic plant, more than...
View ArticlePlanning panel nixes treatment center request
The historic Albany house at 506 Ferry St. S.W., should not be converted as a commercial treatment center for people trying to overcome substance abuse, the city’s planning commission has decided. The...
View ArticleGoing to bat in this former warehouse
At the corner of Santiam Road and Main Street, Baldwin General Contracting is remodeling an old warehouse and getting it ready for a new Albany business, an indoor space where baseball and softball...
View ArticleWhen you see a beautiful classic car…
On bike rides along the Albany riverfront, now and then I see something special. Like, for instance, this classic car that was parked near the north end of Oak Street Friday. To me, this car is an...
View ArticleA good idea, but vandals destroyed it
Last year I noticed that the Albany Parks Department had carried out a nice new idea at Sunrise Park. But like so many good things in public spaces, it did not last because vandals ruined it. When I...
View ArticlePoll says an Albany gas tax might pass
If it’s necessary to raise more money for street repairs, pollsters report that voters in the city prefer a local gas tax to a monthly street maintenance fee on their water bills. Their conclusion is...
View ArticleConstruction under way in Riverwood Crossing
As you will have noticed if you have driven on Gibson Hill Road in North Albany, vertical construction started this month on Riverwood Crossing, the 80-lot “middle housing” development approved last...
View ArticleBoaters, take note of obstructions in the river
Now that warm weather is likely to lure more boaters out on the Willamette River, allow me to point out a couple of new hazards in the water off Albany’s Dave Clark Riverfront Path. Only a couple of...
View ArticleAlbany budget calls for city fee to jump
If you tried to follow the meetings of the City of Albany budget committee, one thing you learned is that the city intends to raise the monthly surcharge known as the “city services fee” in the 2025-27...
View ArticleTraffic cameras: And the money winner is …
Albany’s expanded venture into photo enforcement of traffic laws is intended to keep people safe, but it also has a money angle. And so far, the money winner seems to be Verra Mobility, the Arizona...
View ArticleHow old are those piers? Now we know
In case you were wondering about this, as unlikely as that is, the piers of the Albany railroad bridge on the Willamette River are even older than the bridge itself, but only by one year. In a story...
View ArticleChecking up on the Simpson Park Trail
Three years ago I took the bike down the trail in Albany’s Simpson Park and made a video of the experience. Not many people saw it, but just yesterday somebody left this comment: “This park today is...
View ArticleAn Albany addition: dinosaurs on Pacific
Pacific Boulevard in west Albany, not known for visual curiosities, now has at least one: a pair of green baby dinosaurs looking out at traffic on the highway. The fiberglass creations appeared one day...
View ArticleNice corner job: Remembering a builder
A bit of Albany history has been preserved in the city’s paving project along Washington Street. It’s the name of the contractor, the son of Oregon pioneers, who built part of the street more than a...
View ArticleCode violations: How the fines got so large
On a dead-end section of Pine Street in Albany’s Willamette Neighborhood, a dilapidated dwelling boarded up since 2022 managed to accumulate a jaw-dropping $768,500 in city fines for code violations....
View ArticleEast Albany Town Center proposal unveiled
Albany city officials have unveiled drawings of a concept for a development that may create about a thousand more dwelling units east of Interstate 5. The project is outlined in the agenda for the...
View ArticleEncountering wildlife while on the bike
On Albany sidewalks and bikeways, you sometimes meet unexpected wildlife. Which happened to me Friday near the Salem Avenue bridge over Cox Creek. So I got off the bike and took a closer look: At first...
View ArticleDry and drier at Talking Water Gardens
Albany’s Talking Water Gardens has been out of operation since last December, and this dry spring it really shows. The water level in the lower pond is way down, and the upper ponds are completely dry....
View ArticleA grand sidewalk, as CARA winds down
Contractors have been working on Albany’s new “plaza street” at the west end of Water Avenue while the CARA urban renewal program is preparing for what may be its final budget. On Wednesday the city...
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