Downtown Troy

My inspiration is my hometown.

Thomas Jones


I grew up in downtown Troy. Troy is a historical , rich city of art , music , architecture , education and once a major power of industry that at it's peak had 90,000 people.there's half that much today.it has even boasted it's own major league baseball team , the Troy Haymmakers , which gave birth to the present day San Francisco Giants. to this day Troy is an honorary member of the National League. 

while my memories of my childhood has faded , it is not because I got to an age that I can't remember but much of what was there is gone forever. The buildings , shops , bars and restaurants along Congress street were torn down and replaced with other buildings or parking lots. 

The shopping district was always crowded and an exciting place for kids like myself to spend time , there was always so much to do. then along came the age of the " Malls ". the city politicians , planners and business people all panicked , and decided to place a mall in the middle of downtown and that project due to total stupidity stalled. my last memory before I left for boot camp was a giant crater in the middle of downtown surrounded with orange plastic construction fence that sat there for years. 

Gone were the stores , jobs , along with two more city blocks located at River and 4th street ,as well as many of the people from my generation looking for a better future , I myself left for almost 15 years.  

today as I walk around downtown I see the mall that has turned into state offices , another block that is now a parking lot and hotel and the last one a city park and imagine what the city could of looked like if downtown was kept , repaired and still apart of the landscape. on the same token i have been impressed with the way downtown has made a comeback with wonderful shops and restaurants thanks to the people that stayed and those that have migrated and made Troy their home.I now call it the ' Glass city ' which anyone walking the streets would understand. 

Troy still has it problems and will never be the city it was but there is hope that Troy can always be special.