This is hilarious. I grew up right across the border in Massachusetts and to me growing up, Albany was the big city. Crossgates was the nice, clean, well-maintained mall with the better movie theater, (our rural one was literally decaying in front of our eyes), and I was always so jealous of the teenagers who were able to hang out there and the skateboarders dodging cops in the parking lot.
The region is doing really nicely these days. I could easily imagine living in the area again, the people are very friendly, and Dinosaur BBQ is surprisingly delicious for upstate new york. (I hope I didn't just cop to liking a tourist trap.)
