Albany's Shallow Hologram of Technological Success: The Importance of Investing in Culture and the Everyday for Germinating
an Entrepreneurial, Technological City
This paper claims that Albany is pursuing faulty policy initiatives in an attempt to make the city a technological hub. Albany’s plan has been to recruit larger, well-established
technology firms to the city by promising generous tax incentives rather than investing this money into the city, people and
culture itself. It will be argued, however, that cities that have proven themselves as technology hubs, such as San Francisco, Austin TX, and Boston Massachusetts, have something that is not being addressed by Albany^Òs current agenda; namely, a strong entrepreneurial culture that emerges from a vibrant, multidimensional street life, which, I will argue, is greatly lacking in Albany. In short, Albany should be making the city people friendly instead of corporate friendly. Technology businesses locate where there are creative, innovative people. Against certainly hypotheses that claim place simply doesn’t have any resonance in a digital or virtual age, or that people will simply follow corporations as they relocate, it will be claimed that people are still attracted, or stick, to certain spaces and cities. People in technology, as well as any other industry in which creativity is central, desire to live in places that nourish this creativity and allow them to live a quasi-anonymous lifestyle in a stimulating, diverse, tolerant city with plenty of cultural and outdoor amenities. For a truly organic, local culture to emerge, cities need to encourage smaller, independent stores (which are sometimes called third spaces, or spaces between home and work), venues that are open most hours of the night, as well as other initiatives to encourage a vibrant, rich street life filled with diverse artists, musicians, etc. Albany’s attempt to target graffiti artists, the homeless, even musicians, as well as Crossgates mall’s recent controversies over allegedly controversial clothing, represents a larger crackdown on the open, heterogeneous city in all of its spontaneity. This paper also elaborates on this point with reference to Antonio Negri’s discussion of constituent power and the multitudes. This culture that spurs chance encounters between diverse people helps develop an entrepreneurial culture in which ideas are exchanged and inspiration is built. No amount of money can buy this culture; it requires a larger attitudinal change among Albany’s policy personnel. In short, Albany is pissing large amounts of money away that will never be recovered unless larger cultural issues are addressed immediately.