Albany, Oregon
—  City  —
First Avenue west in downtown
Nickname(s): Hub of the Valley[1][2][3] Grass Seed Capital[4] Rare Metals Capital[5]
Motto: The center of the Willamette Valley; the heart of Oregon [6]
Location in Oregon
Coordinates: 44°37′49″N 123°5′46″W / 44.63028°N 123.09611°W / 44.63028; -123.09611Coordinates: 44°37′49″N 123°5′46″W / 44.63028°N 123.09611°W / 44.63028; -123.09611
Country	United States
State	Oregon
Counties	Linn, Benton
Incorporated	1864
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
• Mayor	Sharon Konopa
Area
• City	16.1 sq mi (41.6 km2)
• Land	15.9 sq mi (41.1 km2)
• Water	0.2 sq mi (0.5 km2)
• Urban	21.7 sq mi (56 km2)
Elevation	210 ft (64.1 m)
Population (2010)
• City	50,158
• Density	3,115.4/sq mi (1,205.7/km2)
	U.S. Census
Time zone	Pacific (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	Pacific (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	97321-97322
Area code(s)	541, 458
FIPS code	41-01000[7]
GNIS feature ID	1116796[8]
Website	www.cityofalbany.net

Albany is the 11th largest city ^[9] in the U.S. state of Oregon, and is the county seat of Linn County.^[10] It is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, just east of Corvallis and south of Salem. It is largely a farming and manufacturing city. Settlers founded the community in 1848.^[11] As of the 2010 United States Census, the population of Albany was 50,158.^[12]

Albany has a home rule charter, a council–manager government, and a full-time unelected city manager.^[11] The city provides the population with access to over 30 parks and trails, a senior center, and many cultural events such as River Rhythms and Mondays at Monteith. In addition to farming and manufacturing, the city's economy depends on retail trade, health care, and social assistance.^[13] In recent years the city has worked to revive the downtown shopping area, with help from The Central Albany Revitalization Area (CARA).^[14][15]

History[link]

Prior to the arrival of the first European settlers to the area of the Willamette Valley that makes up modern day Albany was inhabited by one of the tribes of the Kalapuya,^[16][17] a Penutian-speaking,^[18] Native American people.^[19] The Kalapuya had named the area Takenah.^[1] a Kalapuyan word used to describe the deep pool where the Calapooia River meets the Willamette River.^[1][20] A variation of the place name can also be written as Tekenah.

The Kalapuya population was between 4,000 and 20,000 individuals throughout the Valley before contact with whites, but shortly after contact was made and new diseases were introduced, the tribes suffered from a smallpox epidemic that raged through the Pacific Northwest in 1782–83. This was followed by malaria sweeping through the region between 1830 and 1833. It is estimated that as many as 90 percent of the Kalapuya population died during this period.^[21] That coupled with the treaties signed during the 1850s the area was nearly free for Europeans to move on to the land.^[16]

In 1845, the first European settler to come to the area was a farmer from Iowa by the name of Abner Hackleman. Mr. Hackleman took up a land claim for himself and Hiram N. Smead to hold another land claim for him until his son arrived for the claim from Iowa, but in 1846 only a year after arriving in Oregon, Abner died while returning to Iowa to fetch his family.^[22] Shortly after in 1847 a pair of brother Walter and Thomas Monteith, who had traveled by ox team over the Oregon Trail^[23] from their native New York State . They were a family of early prominence in the area, in 1848,^[11] when they bought the claim of 320 acres (1.3 km²), plotting out 60 acres (240,000 m²) for the townsite^[23] from Hiram Smead for $400 and a horse.^[1][20] They founded named the city "Albany", after their hometown the state capitol of New York in 1848.^[24] During the same period Abner Hackleman's son Abram Hackleman returned to his fathers original land claim and built a log house in an oak grove still known as Hackleman's Grove. He later built the house that still stands at the corner of Fifth and Jackson. The small community that had formed on the Hackleman land formed the community of Takenah.^[22]

Albany, Oregon, 1887

During the early period in Albany's history in mid-19th century, the Monteith family and the Hackleman family were literally and politically on opposite sides of the fence. Residents in the Monteith's portion of town were mainly merchants and professionals consisting mostly of Republican. They tended to sympathies with Union during the civil war. The residents from the Hackleman's portion of town to the east were made up mostly of working class Democrats who sided with the Confederacy. They even went so far as to plant a hedge separating the sides of town near Baker Street.^[25]

The Monteiths with help from Samuel Althouse.^[23] built the first frame house in Albany the following year in 1849.^[20] The Monteith House was considered the finest house in Oregon at the time.^[20] That same year with the start of the California Gold Rush that had caught the attention of the Monteith brothers and lead to a successful venture to the Goldfields by the brothers provided them with the needed recourses to inter in to several business ventures .^[23] Such as the general store they opened their parlor the same year.^[20][24] It was the establishment of their businesses that lead to Albany becoming a major Hub City in the Willamette valley. Also within 1849 the community of Takenah was established near Albany.^[20]

Albany's first school was established in 1851 by the town's first Physician R. C. Hill with the first school teacher being Eleanor B. Hackleman, the wife of Abram Hackleman,^[26] but it was not until 1855 that a building was specifically erected for use as a school.^[1] In 1852, the first steamboat, the Multnomah^[25] arrived and the first flour mill was built.^[20]

Linn County courthouse in Albany

A directorate was issued on January 8, 1850, to establish a post office in Albany. Upon the post office being established, John Burkhart was assigned as the first Postmaster.^[1][27] It was eventually renamed to "New Albany" on November 4, 1850.^[20] The name was changed back to Albany in 1853. In 1851, Albany was designated as the county seat replacing Calapooia (near modern day Brownsville and Sweet Home)^[28] and all court meetings were held there. The first Albany courthouse was built in 1852 on 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land donated by the Monteiths to assure Albany would remain the seat of the county. The new two-story octagonal courthouse was completed on April 26, 1853. The courthouse has since been replaced but the new courthouse stands in the same place.^[1]

During 1853–1854, residents of the east side of Albany persuaded the Oregon Legislative Assembly to name both town Takenah.^[1] Though Takenah meant deep pool in reference to where the Calapooia River meets the Willamette River, it was commonly translated to mean Hole in the Ground.^[20] Partly due to this translation Albany was restored by the legislature in 1855.^[20] Finally in 1864, 16 years after the Monteiths founded the town and 19 years after the first European to arrive, it became an incorporated city.^[20][29]

Sidewheel steamboat Occident, at Albany, near Red Crown Mills

In 1871, the first locomotive whistle was heard in Albany. The arrival of the first train was celebrated as the greatest event in Albany's history. Albany businessmen raised $50,000 to ensure that the rails would come through their city, instead of bypassing it a few miles eastward. The train brought the farmers' markets close as stagecoaches and steamboats gave way to the railroad. The world's longest wooden railroad drawbridge was built in 1888 for the Albany-Corvallis run. By 1910, 28 passenger trains departed daily from Albany going in five directions.^[1]

In 1872, the Santiam Ditch and Canal Company was organized and a canal running from the Santiam near Lebanon and completed that autumn. The canal was 18 miles (29 km)^[30][31] to the south side of Albany. It divides at the corner of Vine and Eight Streets, one branch running down Vine Street and emptying into Calapooia Creek, with a drop of 32 feet (9.8 m). The other runs down Eighth to Thurston Street.^[32] In 1924 Pacific Power installed a turbine where the canal meets the river. In 1984 The city bought the water system from Pacific Power and the plant was shut down in 1991. By 2003 the city had approved a plan to restart the four megawatt-hour hydroelectric plant and in February 2009 the plant opened again.^[33]

Albany was the headquarters for the Mountain States Power Company from its establishment in 1918 until its merger into Pacific Power & Light (now PacifiCorp) in 1954.

In the 1940s, the city started the Albany World Championship Timber Carnival which drew in competitors from all over the world to participate in logging skills contests. The event took place over the four days of the Fourth of July weekend, men and women would compete in climbing, chopping, bucking, and burling contests. Though in 2001 it was canceled because of smaller crowds and the state’s declining timber economy.^[34] An attempt was made to revive it in 2008 but not since.

In 1942, the U.S. Bureau of Mines established a research center on the former Albany College campus, focusing on the development of new metallurgical processes. First known as the Northwest Electro-development Facility, the site produced titanium and zirconium and fostered the growth of a new rare metals industry in Albany led by internationally recognized companies like the Oregon Metallurgical Company, Oremet and Wah Chang.^[35]

In the 1970s, Albany attempted to extend its city limits to cover the land to include a zirconium processing plant of Wah Chang Corporation. Wah Chang responded in 1974 by sponsoring a vote to incorporate the desired properties as Millersburg.^[36]

Geography[link]

Calapooia River at Albany

Albany is located in the central part of Oregon's most populated region, the Willamette Valley. It rests along the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River and though most of Albany falls within Linn County a smaller portion of it rests to the north of downtown on the west bank of the Willamette River in Benton County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.1 square miles (42 km²). 15.9 sq mi (41 km²) of it is land and 0.2 sq mi (0.52 km²) of it (1.18%) is water. Albany has 21.7 square miles (56 km²) within the Urban Growth Boundary.^[11] throughout the city limits and urban growth area there is limited hills and the city is one of the lower points along the Willamette Valley with elevations ranging 180 to 430 feet (55 to 130 m) above sea level.^[11] The North Albany District makes up the most varied area in elevation in the city while the down town and southern end of town having little elevation change throughout.

Climate[link]

Albany's weather is, like most of the rest of Oregon, considered mild.^[37] Albany has generally warm and dry summers during which precipitation drops to 0.4 inches (10 mm) in July and temperatures peak at an average of 80.8 °F (27 °C) in August.^[38] The record high temperature in Albany was 108 °F (42 °C) in 1981.^[39] Winters in Albany are cool and wet. The wettest month is December with 6.8 inches (170 mm) of precipitation.^[38] The coldest month is January with an average low just above freezing at 33.6 °F (1 °C). The record low temperature was recorded in 1972 at −7 °F (−22 °C).^[39]

Demographics[link]

2000 Census data[link]

As of the census^[7] of 2000, there were 40,852 people, 16,108 households, and 10,808 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,571.8/sq mi. There were 17,374 housing units at an average density of 1,093.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 91.68% White, 0.53% African American, 1.22% Native American, 1.14% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 2.65% from other races, and 2.56% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.09% of the population.

There were 16,108 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city the population was 26.4% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $39,409, and the median income for a family was $46,094. Males had a median income of $36,457 versus $24,480 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,570. About 9.3% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.1% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government[link]

City Hall

Albany has a home rule charter and a council–manager government.^[42] A full-time unelected city manager administers the day-to-day operations of the city for the council. The city manager in 2012 is Wes Hare.^[43] The mayor is elected at large every two years. The six council members represent the three geographic wards of the city and have overlapping four-year terms. The city charter was first adopted in 1891,^[42] and the most recent version of the city charter became effective on January 1, 1957, modified since then by ordinances adopted by the council.^[42] In 2012, the mayor is Sharon Konopa, and the council members are Dick Olsen and Floyd Collins from Ward I, Ray Kopczynski and Bill Coburn from Ward II, and Bessie Johnson and Jeff Christman from Ward III.^[44]

Albany City Hall is located on Broadalbin Street in the downtown section of the city and was built in 1995. The city hall houses the city managers officer, Finance office, Community development office, public works-engineering office, parks and recreation department officer, and the fire administration office.^[45] The city provides its own fire department, police department, library system, and also provides both their own water supply and wastewater treatment through the Albany Public Works.^[46] and the current wastewater treatment plant was completed in 2009.^[47] In total the local government employs about 370 people with law enforcement and fire services being the leading aspects.^[4]

The Albany city government was nationally recognized in 2009 and 2010 with the Certificate of Distinction and in 2011 with the Certificate of Excellence from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) for its dedication to improving governmental performance.^[48] In 2010 the Sunshine Review awarded Albany an A+ perfect score for government transparency and online accessibility with its website along with other government agencies from around the country.^[49] Also in September 2010 the League of Oregon Cities awarded Albany the Good Governamce Award for the "Where Does My Money Go? and Albany Dashboard" web applications and featured Albany for governmental transparency.^[50] In January 2011 Government Computer News cited Albany as one of ten "Top Public Sector Websites" in the nation for government transparency.^[51]

Albany is also home to the county government and the Linn County Courthouse.

Economy[link]

Albany Research Center

Albany calls itself the "rare metals capital of the world", producing zirconium, hafnium and titanium.^[52] One of the major producers of theses metals in Albany is Wah Chang Corporation which has a 110-acre (0.45 km²) site that primarily focuses on the production of zirconium.^[53]

Albany and the surrounding communities are major exporters of grass seed. Other crops produced include corn, beans, mint, strawberries, and hazelnuts. The city is also referred to as the “Grass Seed Capital of the World”.^[4]

The decline of the timber industry and the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs has left Linn County with a relatively high unemployment rate. The Oregon Employment Department does not maintain unemployment statistics for cities.^[54][55] The losses in the timber industry in around Albany have led the city to a more diverse economic base for the city, led by retail trade, health care and social assistance, and manufacturing as the three leading aspects of the economy.^[13] Oregon Freeze Dry is a leading employer in the manufacturing sector of the Albany economy with its headquarters located in the city. The company employs over 300 people and was incorporated in 1963. The Albany facility is the company's main research and development site in the industry,^[56] and has recently partnered with EnerG2 to produce carbon electrode material, in a 74,000-square-foot (6,900 m²) former distribution center of Oregon Freeze Dry by 2011 bringing a new green technology industry to Albany.^[57]

Albany is also home to The Albany Research Center, which is part of National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). They employ a staff of 120. Albany Research Center was founded in 1943, the laboratory specializes in life cycle research starting with the formulation, characterization, and/or melting of most metals, alloys, and ceramics; casting and fabrication, prototype development; and the recycle and remediation of waste streams associated with these processes.^[58]

Albany has a per capita income of $18,570 putting it ranked at 81st in the state.

Arts and culture[link]

Annual cultural events[link]

The annual events in Albany include the Northwest Art and Air Festival,^[59] River Rhythms, Mondays at Monteith, Veteran's Day Parade, Albany Nosh Tour,^[60] Albany Wine Walk,^[61] Willamette River Festival,^[62] and Albany Timber Carnival which ended in 2000 with an attempt to revive it in 2008.^[63]

Museums and other points of interest[link]

Albany Regional Museum

Thomas and Walter Monteith House

Areas of interest include the Thomas and Walter Monteith House. Originally constructed near the Calapooia River, the Monteith house is one of the oldest buildings in Albany. It has been relocated twice, most recently to downtown Albany where is serves as the Monteith House Museum and is on the National Register of Historic Places, Whitespires Church (another historically registered building) is the tallest building in town, The Albany Regional Museum (which has exhibits about Albany history housed in a historic building originally built by S.E. Young in 1887^[64]), Historic Downtown Albany (which has antique stores, restaurants, Albany Civic Theater, and one of the oldest Carnegie libraries still being used as a library. As of December 2006, a carousel was under construction.^[65] It is due to be finished by 2012 and is housed at the Historic Carousel Art Studio and Museum.^[66] Downtown Albany is a National Historic District), and the Albany Civic Theater (one of the oldest civic theaters in Oregon, has operated continuously since the opening of its first production on March 2, 1951).^[67]

Albany has four historic districts including the Albany Municipal Airport, Monteith Historic District, Hackleman Historic District, and the Albany Downtown Commercial Historic District.^[4] Albany's historic districts include most of the housing styles built between 1840 and 1920, including Federal, Gothic Revival, American Farmhouse, Second Empire, Eastlake, Italianate, and Colonial Revival. Those historic districts were recognized as one of the best places to buy a historic home in the nation by This Old House online.^[68] In total there are over 700 historic buildings within the 4 historic districts.^[69]

Recreation[link]

Albany has two golf courses, both in North Albany. The Golf Club of Oregon^[70] is public, and Spring Hill Country Club^[71] is private. Albany also has two bowling alleys, AMF Albany Lanes^[72] and Lake Shore Lanes,^[73] which also has a miniature golf course outside the bowling alley.^[74]

Parks and recreation[link]

The Albany Parks and Recreation Department is the agency responsible for the Senior Center,^[75] the Periwinkle Creek Bike Path,^[76] and the other 8 trails that are within Albany. The Parks Department is also responsible for all 30 of the listed local city parks in the city,^[77] along with the city organized events that occur at theses parks. Such as River Rhythms,^[78] Mondays at Monteith,^[79] and many others.The Parks department is incharge of running and maintaining the Albany community pool^[80] and the Swanson Park Action Center which houses the Albany Cool Pool.^[81] Albanys Parks and Recreation Department aims to make it where everyone within the city limits lives within 2 miles (3.2 km) of a park. The Parks department is also in the process of adding an additional park to the city, to be named Teloh Calapooia Park.^[82]

Albany's Timber Linn Memorial Park house the 63rd Blue Star veterans memorial in the state of Oregon.^[83] The memorial is dedicated to Linn County servicemen who lost their lives during all of the 20th century wars.^[84] The memorial lists the names of those from Linn county killed in action for each war fought throughout the 20th century.^[84] The memorial was sponsored by the Santiam District Garden Club and the Linn County Veterans Memorial Association. Albany's Timber-Linn Memorial Park also hosted the American Veterans Traveling Tribute, a replica of the Vietnam Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. in July 2009.^[85]

The department also has a urban forestry program which involves the Legacy Forest at Lexington Park, that consists of commemorative tree planting designed to perpetuate the memory or work of individuals and organizations.^[86] Also the Heritage Tree Program which was established to recognize trees having historic significance in the community.^[87] The city has also been involved with the Tree City USA program that is sponsored by The National Arbor Day Foundation since 1993.^[88] The city and Parks Department also take part in Arbor Week.^[89]

Education[link]

Memorial Middle School, which is located due east of West Albany High School.

South Albany High School viewed from the south west corner of campus

Albany is the home to a two year junior college called Linn-Benton Community College, which was established in 1966.^[90] The college offers certificates and associates degrees and has many transfer and dual enrollment programs with OSU (through a degree partnership program )totaling over 60 programs of study. LBCC serves over 24,000 full and part time students in and around Albany^[91] and is supported financially through tuition, property taxes and the State of Oregon.

The Albany area has also been served since 1979 by the Greater Albany Public School District, including West Albany High School, and South Albany High School Which combine server to educate about 2,700 students.^[92][93] Albany is also served by Albany Options School as an alternative to traditional school for grades 6 through 12.^[94] In total Greater Albany Public School District serves roughly 8,900 students throughout its 23^[95] different schools. Along with the K-12 schools Albany also offers student services at the Maple Lawn Preschool.^[96]

The Albany Collegiate Institute was founded in 1867 and served as Albany's higher education institute for 70 years before it was moved to Portland, Oregon, and renamed Lewis & Clark College.^[99]

Media[link]

Newspaper[link]

Democrat-Herald offices on Lyon Street

The primary media outlet is the daily newspaper Albany Democrat-Herald^[100] which is owned and published by Lee Enterprises. The Democrat-Herald started as a political tool for one of Oregon's first senators.^[101] The Democrat-Herald traces its origin to the Albany Democrat newspaper, founded by Delazon Smith in 1859. Lee Enterprises also publishes the Mid-Valley Times, the Sunday version of the paper.

Radio[link]

Albany has 8 different radio stations that are either broadcast or have offices within Albany and many others that serve the area. the FM stations are, 107.9FM KHPE that uses the tagline (HOPE-FM) which is a Christian contemporary music radio station,^[102] and 99.9FM KRKT-FM,^[103] a country radio station that both broadcast from Albany. There is also 101.5FM KFLY, which is based out of Eugene, Oregon but maintains an office is the Albany area.^[104]

Along with the FM stations there are 5 AM stations. 790 AM KWIL,^[105] is the AM version of KHPE (107.9FM). The others range from adult standard such as KSHO (920 AM),^[106] comedy radio and Seattle Mariner's baseball games KTHH (990 AM),^[107] to sports KEJO (1240 AM),^[108] and KGAL (1580 AM)^[109] the local news and talk radio station.

Infrastructure[link]

Amtrak Station

Albany Municipal Airport

Ellsworth Street Bridge

Samaritan Albany General Hospital

Transportation[link]

Highway[link]

Albany is adjacent to Interstate 5, while Oregon Route 99E runs through it in a north and south direction and U.S. Route 20 runs through it in an east and west direction. Just outside the south end of Albany Oregon Route 34 runs from east to west.

Train[link]

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides service to Albany from its Albany Station at 10th Avenue SW on two routes. Long-haul train route the Coast Starlight^[110] (with service from Los Angeles to Seattle) stops in Albany daily in both directions. Amtrak Cascades commuter trains operate between Vancouver, British Columbia and Eugene, Oregon, and serve Albany several times daily in each direction. The Amtrak Cascade line is the proposed path of the Pacific Northwest Corridor high-speed rail line. The Albany station would be one of many stops along the proposed 466-mile (750 km), 110-mile-per-hour (180 km/h) passenger line.

The station itself was constructed in 1909 for the Southern Pacific Railroad and is built of masonry. It is one of the oldest continuously operating passenger rail stations in the U.S.^[111] and has one of the best equipped engine shops in the northwest – Southern Pacific 4449, which lives at the Brooklyn Roundhouse in Portland, occasionally visits the shop for repairs, as do several other locomotives stored at the roundhouse. The Albany Train Yard was also used to store a pair of ALCO PA diesel-electric locomotives from the mid-1990s to early-first decade of the 21st century. One was shipped to the Brooklyn Roundhouse for restoration, and the other shipped to the east coast to be restored for static display (no engine) in the Smithsonian. Beginning in 2004, the station and the surrounding area underwent an $11.3 million restoration that was funded with a combination of federal, state, local, and Amtrak money.^[111][112] In 2006 the city received the Award in Downtown Excellence from the Oregon Downtown Development Association for the renovation of the station.

Bus[link]

Public transportation within Albany is provided by Albany Transit System (ATS).^[113] Connections to Corvallis, Oregon are provided by bus service via the Linn-Benton Loop^[114] and the Valley Retriever Thruway inter-county bus systems.^[115] ATS, the Linn-Benton Loop, and the Valley Retriever all provide bus service to and from the Amtrak station.

Air[link]

Albany Municipal Airport^[116] is a general aviation airport on the eastern edge of Albany and has been open since 1920 and is believed to be the oldest operating airfield in Oregon.In 1998, the airport became the first airport in Oregon to be named to the National Register of Historic Places, and was the City of Albany's fourth National Historic District,^[116] And has been home to parts of the Northwest Art & Air Festival since its first air show in 1931.^[59][116] It has a single runway with the specs of 16-34 3,004 X 75, and is an asphalt runway. The closest airports with commercial air service available is the Eugene Airport^[117] to the south and at Portland International Airport^[118] to the north.

Bridges[link]

Albany has both the Ellsworth Street Bridge which was constructed in 1926^[119] and the Lyon Street Bridge bridge that was constructed in 1973. They are both two-lane bridges that make up part of U.S. Route 20. The two bridges connect Linn to the south with Benton county in the north as they pass across the Willamette River. this makes up the major connection of downtown Albany with the north end of town and to Corvallis.

Paths and trails[link]

Albany has many paths and trails open to both pedestrian and bicyclists. Simpson Park Trail is a dirt pedestrian trail with a round trip distance of 2.36 miles (3.80 km). The dirt trail starts at the parking lot of Simpson Park and continuing until the path ends in a grassy area with one very narrow path heading back toward the river. Periwinkle Creek Trail though is the longest of all the paved trails. It is a flat bicycle and pedestrian path that runs along Periwinkle Creek from the northwest corner of Grand Prairie Park to the Albany Boys and Girls Club, and travels a round trip distance of 3.61 miles (5.81 km). There are many other trails throughout the city to include, Cox Creek Loop and Waverly Lake Loop, Dave Clark Trail, Oak Creek Greenbelt Trail, Takena Landing Trail, Timber Linn Park Trails, and a proposed Swanson Park Connector a paved path on the north side of highway 99 that connects Swanson Park with the nearby Amtrak/Transit Center.^[120]

Albany has made a growing effort to increase itself as a bicyclist friendly town through increasing the number of paths and trails that are open to them. The city was recently recognised as a Bicycle-Friendly Community for 2010 by the League of American Bicyclists for its efforts.^[121]

Health care[link]