Why Schenectady Needs a Trolley System to Truly Reconnect and Grow

Schenectady, once a city of electric ambition, has spent the last ten years trying to spark a revival. Billions have been spent on downtown development projects, from the Rivers Casino and Mohawk Harbor to trendy lofts and glossy branding efforts proclaiming “The New Schenectady.” But the reality on the ground tells a different story.

Talk to residents in Mont Pleasant, Bellevue, or parts of Rotterdam, and you’ll hear the same refrain. Downtown might look shinier, but it doesn’t feel like it belongs to the people who live and work just minutes away. The city remains disconnected. Public transit is limited, and unless you have a car or live near State Street, much of the so-called revival is out of reach.

Yet ironically, the answer to our modern problem may lie in our past.

Schenectady was once a transit powerhouse. At the height of the electric trolley era, streetcars connected every corner of the city and surrounding towns. General Electric wasn’t just headquartered here, it helped power the very infrastructure that made this city move. Neighborhoods thrived because people could get to work, shop locally, and move easily without needing a personal vehicle. That legacy, now buried under decades of car dependency and patchwork development, could be our blueprint forward.

Imagine a modern trolley system that connects downtown Schenectady with Mont Pleasant, Uptown, Scotia, Hamilton Hill, Niskayuna, Bellevue, and Rotterdam. Imagine workers getting to their jobs without paying for parking. Students commuting safely to school. Seniors riding to Central Park or the farmers market. Small businesses finally seeing steady, predictable foot traffic. Not as a luxury but as a lifeline.

Compare that to the last decade’s approach. The city focused on high-end housing and entertainment while public infrastructure remained stuck in the past. We have built islands of development in a sea of economic stagnation. A trolley system could be the bridge between those islands and the communities that feel left behind.

This is not just a call for public transit. It is a call for vision. A city with as much history as Schenectady should not only serve developers or tourists. It should serve its people.

We do not need more slogans or campaigns. We need to reconnect, both literally and figuratively. A trolley system would not only revive our transit past, it would open the door to a more unified, accessible, and thriving future.

It is time to get Schenectady back on track.