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The Capital District is an imprecise regional definition (much like Upstate New York) that generally refers to the four counties surrounding Albany, the capital of New York: Schenectady County, Albany County, Saratoga County and Rensselaer County.

Origin of the name

The term Capital District was originated in the 1920s in an effort between the Albany Chamber of Commerce (now known as the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce) and the Albany Times Union. Other nicknames have included Tri-Cities, Capitaland, and Metroland, while Capital Region is most popular of all."Region rich in business history" by Alan Wechsler, Albany (NY) Times Union, April 21, 2006, retrieved April 22, 2006.

Ambiguity and overlap

The Capital District is a large component of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) which, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, also includes Montgomery County and Schoharie County. The Albany-Schenectady-Troy MSA was ranked the 56th most populous in the United States of America in the 2000 Census, with a total population of 825,875.Census 2000 PHC-T-29: Ranking Tables for Population of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, Combined Statistical Areas, New England City and Town Areas, and Combined New England City and Town Areas: 1990 and 2000 (Areas defined by the Office of Management and Budget as of June 6, 2003.)

Capital Region and Northeastern New York (NENY) are terms sometimes used to refer to the Capital District in combination with counties surrounding the area (usually those to the north, and to a lesser degree west of the four core counties of the District). The Capital District has also been given the marketing moniker "Tech Valley," in recognition of the technology companies who have moved to the region, or are being wooed by governmental or educational institutions. Economic definitions of the Capital District, Capital Region, NENY and Tech Valley may sometimes be expanded to include the extreme northern portions of the Mid-Hudson Valley, usually Columbia County and Greene County.

As far back as 1998, there has been another term used to describe the area: Tech Valley. That term first appeared in January of that year during a meeting of the ACRCOC. However, there is some question whether or not the name has lived up to expectations. When Microsoft chairman Bill Gates visited Cornell University in 2004, he was asked his opinion of Tech Valley. He replied by saying that "he had no idea where it was."

Colleges and universities

Selected attractions

Cities and communities in the Capital District

Primary cities

Communities with greater than 20,000 inhabitants

Communities with between 10,000 and 20,000 inhabitants

Communities with between 5,000 and 10,000 inhabitants

Communities with less than 5,000 inhabitants

References

External links

Capital District, New York | Geography of New York | Metropolitan areas of the United States

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Capital District".

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