page_title: Clinton Avenue Historic District (Albany, New York)
section_title: Clinton Avenue today
hierarchical_section_title: Clinton Avenue Historic District (Albany, New York) / Clinton Avenue today
caption_attribution_description: English: Urban blight (rowhouse with boarded windows and no stoop) at 65 Clinton Avenue in Albany, New York, United States, part of the Clinton Avenue Historic District
context_page_description: The Clinton Avenue Historic District in Albany, New York, United States, is a 70-acre area along that street between North Pearl and Quail streets. It also includes some blocks along neighboring streets such as Lark and Lexington.
  It originated with the city's creation of Clinton Square at its east end, shortly after the opening of the Erie Canal. Herman Melville lived for a year in one of the early rowhouses on the square. The rowhouse became the standard form as development continued to the west in later decades as the city industrialized. Today 92% of its nearly 600 buildings are 19th-century rowhouses in different architectural styles, predominantly Italianate, many built as speculative housing for the city's middle class. This is the greatest concentration of such houses in the city of Albany. All but 20 buildings are contributing properties.
  Many remain intact both outside and in, and in 1981 it was recognized as a historic district by the city, and seven years later, in 1988, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Urban decay still affects the district, and the city has spent federal grant money on revitalization and stabilization efforts.
context_section_description: New construction or expansion within the district is reviewed by the city's Historic Resources Commission (HRC), a group of nine citizens with an interest in architecture, history or historic preservation appointed by the mayor. The HRC also considers new city landmark designations. The area also comes under the purview of several of Albany's neighborhood associations.
  The neighborhood stabilization efforts have not yet affected the entire district. In some blocks, particularly west of Northern, houses continue to deteriorate and storefronts remain vacant. The city's Community Development Agency continues to seek CDBG monies to rehabilitate abandoned rowhouses along Clinton Avenue and continue to keep them affordable.
  Clinton Ave at Ontario Street is also the location of the oldest firehouse in the city of Albany, built in 1874, refurbished in the 1930s and in 1998.
  In 2011 the Preservation League of New York State loaned $100,000 to a local developer, Orion Enterprises, to restabilize the former police station at 222 North Pearl. The work would allow planning and architectural work to proceed so Orion could convert the building into apartments.
caption: Abandoned rowhouse showing signs of urban blight
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