Madison and Albany

Here in Madison, we’ve been noticing many similarities to Albany. First level: both capital cities for the respective states. First level, pt2: Both cities with a large university presence: in Madison, the major state university, in Albany, SUNY and all the other multitude of colleges in the area. These similarities that you can see lead to some similarities that you can feel, like the sensation of being in a small town and a big city at the same time, or the atmosphere of the large number of sports bars that cater to the college student population, just like in Albany.

This is Madison, which has a strong liberal community (though could be true in the political sense, I am referring more to the intellectual sense, i.e. liberal arts), that I know is there and saw elements of, but I certainly didn’t see when we were out last night. Maybe this is because we didn’t go to the right places – very possible and quite likely. Nonetheless though, this is another similarity that I noticed between our two cities – a solid mindless party scene. Anyway I may be too critical of both areas now. To know this situation is shared in Madison, a place renowned for being a beacon of intellectualism, gives me some more hope for Albany and the rest of the capital region, that we too can develop a strong, broadbased reputation as leaders in thought.