Imagine waking up each day and not remembering anything that has transpired before it - permanent amnesia. You simply have no recollections of the past. Each day is like being born again. Scary, isn't it? It's our ability to remember things, memories, that gives us a sense of history.

Two kinds of memories exist. One is collective memory. Everyone has a sense of an event that has affected society in some way. For example, every American has some knowledge of the Civil War although no one alive today served in it.

The second memory is personal. These are recollections of events in your life that you may or not share with people. Each one of us has a unique personal memory.

Combine these memories with genetics, environmental, cultural, and social influences, and you have the two legged species called Humans. What an interesting lot.

I think about this constantly. I love talking about Troy's history with anyone. Over the years, I've found that the reactions I get come from this combination of traits outlined above.

When I talk to anyone younger than 40, who grew up here, two things may happen. First, the poor soul's eyes start to glaze over revealing that they have no clue (nor interest) in the subject. Or, secondly, their eyes open wide and they become fascinated to learn that the city they live in has such an important and glorious past.

When these same discussion take place with anyone over 40, I get two different reactions. The first is anger over what has happened to the city, followed by choice epithets directed at a few local names. The second emotion is sadness because this is the last generation of Trojans that have any memory of when Troy was a booming city.

They immediately begin telling me of their stories of Troy - their personal memories.

Troy definitely is the tale of two cities.

Trojans recall how downtown was a bustling commercial center where people around the Capital District came to shop. You couldn't walk on the streets without bumping into folks from Thursday to Saturday.

On a Friday and Saturday night, our youth (and not so young) would find their way to "The Strip." Located on River Street from Fulton to Congress, many of the storefronts had names like The Question Mark or Riviera, hometown watering holes for the masses. This area was so full on the weekends, you had to walk in the street to pass.

For the high school crowd, busses would dump them at the corner of Fulton and River and they'd walk down to "The Boat," the Mayflower restaurant. It was the only establishment in the 60's that let "long hair's" (boys with Beatle cuts) in. It was owned by the Cholakis boys, one who is in politics, I hear. You could also go to "Paul's," (now Music Shack), but they had a sign in the window: "No Dogs or Long Hair's Allowed." Ouch.

Weekends also meant going to the Movies. Yes, Virginia, there was a movie house in Troy, several of them in fact: Proctor's, the Troy (next to the Boat), Lincoln, American (before they went natural), State, Palace, and others.

There were also 20,000 more people calling Troy home, many living above the storefronts. Troy is remarkable in that it had people living right in the heart of downtown. There were always people walking the streets, shopping, talking, going to meetings, working, or sitting on their stoop. Troy was a very busy place.

Sadly, today, where you see acres of green space once stood hundreds of homes or businesses. During the 70's, someone in Washington thought it would be great to knock them down. And what local politician would say no to receiving thousands of Washington dollars to do the deed. For eight years, Troy looked like a meteorite hit with a huge hole in the ground.

It has been filled in and grass grown but it still is a huge hole for many old time Trojans and is symbolic of the hole in their heart they still feel for the loss of old Troy.

Now all of this happened before the era of the Internet and empowerment. There were no historic preservation commissions, or environmental management councils. No laws in place that gave you - the citizen - a voice to stop it all. There were a few lone wolves crying out but who could hear them. Certainly, no one was going to let them get in the way of progress?

Fortunately, Washington and those in power here simply ran out of money and much of our history and infrastructure was saved. Yet, the city still has a hunger for knocking things down. The Chamber of Commerce has reported that most buildings knocked down last year were done by the city!

With that said, the younger generation, and those moving to Troy, need to hear all of this. It's our collective memory. Our hopes are that they will incorporate it into their personal memory, and not allow it to happen ever again.