The New Scotland Corridor that runs through Slingerlands has seen drastic changes over recent years, and the idea of further development has local residents concerned. In Colonie, the scene looks altogether different on the surface. Scores of automobile dealerships have earned Central Avenue the nickname “Million Dollar Row.” The roadway between Albany and Schenectady stopped resembling a residential neighborhood decades ago, yet you can find plenty of families who live just off Central Avenue sharing similar concerns with the Colonie Planning Board about plans for another dealership in the works.
Slingerlands’ past is still visible on the landscape today. From one of the four roundabouts motorists drive through to reach I-90 or Crossgates Mall, the Sager family farm still stands as it did more than a century ago, a stone’s throw away from the Price Chopper Plaza. Twenty years ago, however, there was no Price Chopper, and there were no roundabouts. All of which were proposed ideas themselves. Including the housing development between McCormack and New Scotland Roads, in which one road is named after Henry David Thoreau, he himself a modern-day environmentalist. Ironic in that, despite the scenic trees that surround the houses that stand there today, residents of the past did not care to see the woods disappear twenty years ago. They, too, said there was going to be an increase in traffic, a disruption in lives.
Billy Fuccillo is looking to convert three separate lots into a huge automobile dealership on a busy road already saturated with dealerships, shopping plazas and various businesses that serve the community. That doesn’t take away from the scores of family homes just off Central Avenue, behind those businesses. They all have a voice too, and they spoke out last week with concerns over prospective car buyers speeding through their roads. Not to mention the run-off of rainwater potentially polluting their property.
It seems development is going to continue despite the wishes of others who desire to maintain how our neighborhoods appeared when we were all younger. That does not, however, keep us from voicing out and making sure steps are made to maintain our safety and well being. In both cases, it’s clear local government is taking the necessary steps. In Colonie, through the obligatory steps of an environmental review; in Bethlehem, the call for town hall meetings designed to provide local residents with a formal forum to allow them to speak out now. Perhaps such town hall meetings can help save our old neighborhoods and maintain the charm that encouraged us all to live here in the first place.