I'm actually from the area.
Troy is a part of a metropolitan, composing of Albany-Schenectady-Troy. The highlights of the area is based mostly in Albany - Wolf Road, Pearl Street, Stuyvesant Plaza, Crossgates Mall and Colonie Center are highly popular and lively here. Besides the metro area, Saratoga Springs is another popular place especially Saratoga Gaming & Raceway and Vapor Nightclub.
Towards downtown along River Street is pretty active and a lot of students of different ages live around. Average rent is about 700-900 for an apartment. To rent a house most likely about 800-1200. Troy is know to have houses/apartments with spacious rooms. Most of the streets is one-way, you'll have to get use to that In this area we use Craiglist to find apartments, the local newspaper are rarely used or referred to http://albany.craigslist.org/apa/
Our newspaper is the TimesUnion timesunion.com which has a special section called Preview published on thrusdays, it will give a rundown on what's hot for the weekend To discover all the places for a young couple read the alternative newspaper Metroland Metroland.net
What helps Troy is thrive is the small businesses and community events. Since is it's near the Hudson River a lot of things may be located towards the waterfront. Many ma and pa restaurants exists. The big deal in Troy is Dinosaur Bar B Que restaurant.