The town was in the past agricultural, but began experiencing suburban sprawl in the later decades of the 20th century, which continues today. Historically, most of the developments have happened around the town's two major crowded roads: New York Route 7 and New York Route 2, known locally as Hoosick Road and Brunswick Road. Brunswick became a popular place to settle in upon the completion of the local highway system in the Capital District, mostly the fix of Route 7 into a four-lane highway in the 1980s.