Property values are climbing. The College Park Neighborhood Association has been reborn after a long hiatus. The first 13 renovated homes will be ready for students in the fall. Even Marv Cermak, a grizzled Albany Times Union reporter who has been covering Schenectady for 44 years, said he thinks the initiative is changing the city for the better. He doesn't want a ghetto on his doorstep.
People give their girlfriends flowers for selfish reasons.
Hull has hit some disappointments on the road to a renewed Electric City. Schenectady 2000 has support from the Republican mayor, county Democrats and the Republican state senator, but it has battled the independent city manager, county Republicans and the Democratic state assemblyman. But the keys to Hull's plans for Schenectady may lie with his constituents at Union. Now he is floating the idea again, and students seem to be warming to the idea. I mean, we don't care what downtown will look like in 2010.