Outdoor Advertising Billboards for Rent in Albany, NY

Albany is the capital of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles (219 km) north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson River and has a major port. The Hudson River has been deepened so that ocean-going ships can reach the city. As of July 2007, the city had an estimated population of 94,172.

Albany has close ties with the nearby cities of Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs, forming a region called the Capital District, a historic area of the United States. The bulk of this area is made up of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which has a population of 850,957; this MSA is the fourth largest urban area in New York and the 56th largest MSA in the United States.

Albany was built on the site of the Dutch Fort Orange and its surrounding community of Beverwyck. The English acquired the site from the Dutch in 1664 and renamed it Albany, in honor of James II, Duke of Albany. A 1686 document issued by Thomas Dongan granted Albany its official charter. After New Amsterdam, Albany is the second oldest city in the state in terms of its date of incorporation.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	3,498		—
1800	5,289		51.2%
1810	10,762		103.5%
1820	12,630		17.4%
1830	24,209		91.7%
1840	33,721		39.3%
1850	50,763		50.5%
1860	62,367		22.9%
1870	69,422		11.3%
1880	90,758		30.7%
1890	94,923		4.6%
1900	94,151		−0.8%
1910	100,253		6.5%
1920	113,344		13.1%
1930	127,412		12.4%
1940	130,577		2.5%
1950	134,995		3.4%
1960	129,726		−3.9%
1970	115,781		−10.7%
1980	101,727		−12.1%
1990	101,082		−0.6%
2000	95,658		−5.4%
Est. 2007	98,687		3.2%

As of the census of 2000, there were 95,658 people, 40,709 households, and 18,400 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,474.6/sq mi (1,727.5/km²). There were 45,288 housing units at an average density of 2,118.4/sq mi (817.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 63.12% White, 28.14% Black or African American, 0.31% Native American, 3.26% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.15% from other races, and 2.98% from two or more races. 5.59% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Ancestries include: Irish (18.1%), Italian (12.4%), German (10.4%), English (5.2%), and Polish (4.3%).[2]

There were 40,709 households out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.3% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.8% were non-families. 41.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.95. The median home value in Albany, NY, is $175,800. Home appreciation is 12.70% over the last year. The median age of Albany, NY, real estate is 63 years.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.0% under the age of 18, 19.3% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,375, and the median income for a family was $39,932. Males had a median income of $31,535 versus $27,112 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,340. About 16.0% of families and 21.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.8% of those under age 18 and 12.5% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

[[File:Albany Int'l Airport.JPG|thumb|Albany International Airport [[File:RensselaerRailStation.JPG|thumb|The Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak Station]]

• Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) provides bus service throughout Albany and surrounding areas (including Schenectady and Troy) and provides management for the local rail station (see below) and those in Schenectady and Saratoga Springs.
• Albany International Airport, located in nearby Colonie, serves Albany and the greater Capital Region with air service across the country. It is one of the first commercial airports in the world, and the first municipal airport in the United States.
• Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station (located right across the Hudson river in Rensselaer, hence the station's name) was Amtrak's tenth busiest station and the second busiest in the state behind New York Penn Station with a ridership of over 730,000 passengers, as of 2006 and serves as a connection point for many Amtrak trains.
• Greyhound Lines, Trailways, and Peter Pan/Bonanza buses are all served by a downtown terminal which is not far from most state office buildings and is convenient to most CDTA lines. There is also a Chinatown bus service that leaves from Central Ave and goes to Chinatown in Manhattan.
• The New York State Thruway travels as Interstate 87 into Albany from the city of New York, curving west through Albany, becoming Interstate 90 at Exit 24, then travelling through Guilderland, Schenectady, and Rotterdam, finally heading west towards Syracuse and Buffalo.
• Interstate 787 runs from the Thruway at Exit 23 through downtown Albany, intersecting Interstate 90 and finally ending in Cohoes.
• Interstate 90 before meeting the Thruway, runs through the north side of the city of Albany, making this portion of the highway the only non-tolled section in New York State outside the small non tolled portion in Buffalo. I-90 runs from the Thruway at Exit 24, loops around Albany, intersects I-787, runs through the western suburbs of Rennselaer County, and finally meets back up with the Thruway on the Berkshire Spur.
• Interstate 87, after leaving the Thruway system, runs north to Saratoga Springs, Glens Falls, through the Adirondack Mountains, forming a vital link between Albany and Montreal.
• Other nearby interstates include Interstate 890 running through Schenectady, and Interstate 88 which runs from the Thruway towards Binghamton. A cancelled extension would have had I-88 running through the Capital District to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
• The city was once served by both an urban streetcar service maintained by the United Traction Company as well as an interurban commuter service maintained by the Schenectady Railway Company, which also offered weekend recreational tours of the Mohawk Valley via rail. As in many American cities after the advent of the automobile, light rail services declined in popularity in Albany and were replaced by autobus and taxi services.
• The Port of Albany-Rensselaer located in Albany as well as across the Hudson River in Rensselaer handles domestic and international ships and barges. Major cargo includes turbines and grain. When first built in 1932 the grain elevator on site, now owned by Cargill, was the largest in the world and is believed to still be the largest in the United States east of the Mississippi River.