Rochester, NY

I've worked in Rochester and a few of the companies I've worked for were Rochester based. As some have stated here there is a different feel, at times, from some of the people. When my coworkers or customers find out I live in the Buffalo area, about 90 miles away, I've been treated like a country bumpkin that fell off the turnip truck. As an example, when I first started working there I naturally mispronounced some of the town names (Leroy instead of "Le-Roy" or Chili rather than "Chi-Li"). You would have thought that I had spoken a vulgarity the way people acted. In my hometown many of the names of areas are old Indian names, Scajaquada Expressway pronounced "Ska-jack-qua-da" for example, and unless you're an old Indian or grew up here you're not going to get it right and it's no big deal. Personally, I think that as the people in Rochester saw cities like Buffalo, which was based on heavy industry, dying years ago they thought they were immune, and perhaps a little better, becau... Read more

I was born and raised in the CITY of Rochester, which is much different from the suburbs of Rochester (where most of the people who say they're from Rochester are really from..trust me). I grew up in the seventies, eighties, and nineties on the city's Northeast side. Growing up, Rochester was great. It was vibrant and exciting, especially around the holidays. Downtown was the biggest attraction. The streets were clean and yes crime was always present. Just do a little research on the murder rates in Rochester during the 70's. Pretty crazy. But yes, it has changed. Largely because the main employers (Kodak, GM, Xerox) became outdated and "behind the times" technology wise. Poverty and an antiquated, undiverse, education system also helped. Many, who planned to work in these failing rust belt companies for life, found themselves out of work. I personally moved to the South for higher education. Racism was an afterthought surprisingly and I began to see Rochester in a different light. Re... Read more

Rochester is pretty terrible. It is not that bad really it would depend. There are only a couple of companies it would seem to work at. My uncle had wanted me to come work there before and I didn't. It is probably just as well. I know I saw some kids that were pretty out of control nasty worse than elsewhere. Other people were pretty nice.

My Husband and I moved to Rochester, N.Y in our late 30's, kids were very young 2 to 7 years old. It is not a bad looking city things to do and easy to live in, however thought the people there were sort of Smug and Unfriendly. It took me so long to find some close friends and finally met them or a few at a Happy Hour then called "Spring House" not there now. We tried so hard there and lived in lovely area of Brighton, great school system but again, found it quite a unfruendly city. Finally could not take it there as we got older as most moved to Warmer Climate cites so we moved to Baltimore, Md. as Daughter lives in Alexandria, Va. No comparison how much friendlier and warmer the people here are. I never lived in visited a city like Rochester so unfriendly and lived there about 32 years. Would like some Feedback on what others though when living there when we did moved here about 5 years ago no comparison people so much Warmer and Friendlier and they talk to you every place even... Read more

Rochester, NY and its surrounding areas provide an impressive combination of all that the U.S. has to offer nicely bundled in a one hour radius. It would be a complete exaggeration to say that it is a great city...that said, there are plenty of fun bars, clubs, and restaurants. For those into a more suburban life, the suburbs are excellent, affordable, kid-friendly, and have renowned public schools. The area is wonderful for those into the outdoors during all seasons, including the beautiful winter. Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes provide a great opportunity for water activities (and, of course, wine drinking.) The area has the Eastman School of Music, two large universities and seventeen other small ones, museums, festivals, a zoo, an airport, big time and small time sports, friendly people, and at least some diversity (at least more than other similar sized areas). Proximity to Canada provides a quasi-European feel of being near another country and a nice interchange of citiz... Read more

Rochester is a flacid wanna be bland whitey kind of area whose residents blindly support it. Its a dead city with zero soul. Spent three long years there...its a minor league city for a REASON.

Rottenchester thinks it's better than Buffalo.

Rochester is a diverse community with a great deal of character. The downtown area is seeing signs of revival in the East End, Corn Hill, St. Paul, and High Falls, while nearby Park Ave has a good number of unique restaurants. Many of the suburban communities have a great deal of character too. The community supports sports very well with the Amerks (AHL), Red Wings (IL), Rhinos (USL DI), Knighthawks (NLL), Rattlers (MLL), Razorsharks (ABA), Raiders (GLIFL) and the recently turned DI RIT Tigers hockey team. The community now has a rectangular stadium in PAETEC Park to go with the Blue Cross Arena and Frontier Field. The Rochester International Jazz Festival, the High Falls Film Festival, the Rochester Music Fest, along with the normal array of events at the Eastman Theatre, Geva Theatre, Little Theatre and Auditorium Theatre make for an active arts community. The Renaissance Square project should further boost Rochester in this area. The mass of Spring and Summer festivals ar... Read more

A lot of people don't really know a lot about this area. Rochester is very diverse and is broken up into several areas. Here's the 411 on them: First off, Greece, my part of town. Greece is NOT inhabited by a bunch of greeks, most of us have italian, irish, or german ancestory, but our three largest high schools all have greek names (olympia, athena, and arcadia) Many streets have greek names too. Greece is the 3rd safest community in america, and has the biggest mall (greece ridge center) on the east coast. Next, the city, the city is frowned upon by many of my fellow suburbanites who think it is all crime ridden run down ghetto. but thats not true, downtown has an a bit of an identity crisis, and the southwestern part of the city is pretty bad, but east of the Genessee river, and up by the lake, it is mostly nice neighborhoods with lots of historical victorian and craftsman style homes. If the city had a better school district, it would be my dream to buy a house on Oxford street. Th... Read more

Rochester...the city that roots for Bills football and Syracuse basketball....and makes fun of these cities in the process??? Rochester have the delusion that somehow their city is better because its more white-collar than their neighboring cities...but their Rochester-centric attitude (they are bascially well dressed townies) and blandness make me feel like Rochester is praised by people who live there...and no one else. Oh yeah...great idea about the ferry; did you REALLY think people from Toronto give two sh*ts about going to Rochester NY? Rochester is a parochial city that basically lives in a bubble and doesnt get it...they still think Kodak is viable!

I grew up in Central NY, came out here to go to undergrad, have spent the last eight and a half years here, and will be moving out to Buffalo soon. I have been everywhere in this state. Rochester is the queer duck of upstate NY. First, the positives. By being the corporate headquarters of E-K, B&L; and the former HQ of Xerox (which is now based in Connecticut), it was the only major upstate city that had a solid industrial base that was native to the area. This led to an infrastructure that has retained its population, and actually has grown slightly, compared to the other upstate cities, which have plummeted in population. The economy is hardly great, but it tends to be more solid than anywhere in UNY other than Albany (which has the state government, obviously). The negatives. Unlike the fun college atmosphere of Syracuse, or the surprising vibrancy of the neighborhoods in Buffalo, Rochester is extremely bland. There are just a few bars (most notably The Old Toad) that are r... Read more

Awful place. Dreadfully dull downtown area which is deserted after 5pm and at weekends when all the city workers have retreated to the suburbs. A city with a homicide rate that is the highest in New York State. A city which has wasted taxpayers money time after time on misguided projects, the latest being the laughable attempt at a fast ferry to Toronto. Total and utter incompetence from start to finish. A population of unfriendly people who seem to baulk at the possibility of any human interaction. City schools that are constantly ran into the ground as their budgets are cut year after year. But... you can always visit Wegmans, which is a supermarket that the residents seem to rave about, they don't seem to realise that supermarkets exist in other parts of the world.

You never know what you have until it's gone, I love New York .

One word: BORING!!

Since Rochester is my hometown, you can say I'm pretty biased towards it. It's a city that you can't really appreciate until you go somewhere else for awhile and realize what you've taken for granted is gone. After living there for over 17 years, I figured it was better for me to move on to other areas to recieve an education. And so I went out west. After coming home, I was pretty happy to be back. It's a relatively modest city with average people. Its suburbs--especially henrietta my former home--are what you expect them to be: white picket fences, large yards, old people and young families as neighbors, decent sized houses, and safe neighborhoods. Not just that, but everything you need is within easy reach. While the city itself isn't exactly the greatest place to be, it has made an attempt at reviving itself. Let's hope the mayor eventually has enough common sense to stop bickering about the loss of jobs and tax dollars and propose tax incentives in bad areas to get Roches... Read more

I like to call Rochester my adopted home town I was born in Phoenix (nuff said) and moved to Rochester to go to The University of Rochester when i was 18. This place is the complete opposite of Phoenix, and in many ways that is a very good thing. People in this area know eachother, there is a comminity feel there unlike any other city its size or larger. Some people will faint when they read this, but i actually liked Rochester's weather as well. I especaily loved the fall and the absolutely perfect upstate ny summers. People tend to harp on rochester's snowy winters. Yes, from late november, to early march, rochester gets a lot of snow. But they also usually have at least a couple of indian summers (days in the middle of winter when the tempurature gets above 60 degrees) and the summers last just as long as the winters, and are as i said, beautiful. I also like how national chains haven't consumed this place like so many other cities. there are countless local franchisements, from fas... Read more

Ok, I guess. Could be better. Home of Eastman Kodak and Kodak house. They should try to promote the place.

Good museums; nice mix of hills and Great Lakes shoreline. >>>Cy

I live in Rochester, and i am a native, my family has been here for generations. I have also traveled the country and lived in Las Vegas for a miserable 2 years. I have to say, something really gets to me; People all around the rest of the country have usually never heard of Rochester, when you say that it is a decent cized city in Upstate NY, people will say, oh like Buffalo and Syracuse..... NO. One thing i just can't get, even people that have heard of Rochester always think that. They think that Rochester is just some city no different from Buffalo or Syracuse, or that Buffalo or Syracuse are better. I don't know why more people know more about Buffalo or Syracuse and there are several reasons; Rochester is better than Buffalo (we aren't a dead steel town, we're a very well educated white collar/blue collar mix town and most of our citizens take pride in our area) and we are bigger AND better than Syracuse. I mean, how can people have heard of these places, but not Rochester? Come... Read more

5 stars for being perfectly normal. The cost of living is good, there is a great family and history feel going on, and the people are great! Lots of nice parks like highland and cobbs hill on the Genesee river and on lake ontario. The older historic neighborhoods like Corn Hill are geting restored and are starting to show the true character of old Rochester. It isn't as cloudy and gray as people are saying, 220 days is bull. We are one of the more cloudy cities on the east coast, but we still do get more sunny days than cloudy days, i believe it is something like 190 days of clear blue sky, and about 175 days of cloudy/sun mix, or precipitation. One more thing, Rochester is the first true American city. In the 1830's with the completion of the Erie Canal (considerd the greatest american engineering feat in the history of the U.S.) Rochester became America's first boomtown; The real reason that people in Greater Rochester think that the economy is so terrible and behind (when in fact i... Read more

My name is nick, i am 16 years old. I was born in suburban Rochester, and when i was 6, my father made a decision to move my family to Raleigh, NC. After being in Raleigh for 10 years now, i have to say. Rochester is better, and i wish more than anything on earth that we could move back there. I can't really explain it, but Rochester has something specail about it. I don't just think it is because it is my home town, but more because it is A home town in general. People there know each other, they have family/community relationship with eachother. Most people think that teenagers don't really care about things like that, i can't speak for all teens; but damn it, i sure care. It really pisses me off to see all of this glorification of the southeast and southwest, and dissing of the northeast and midwest. Down2Earf is wrong. Rochester is ABOVE average, statisticaly speaking, not only my opinion. Here in Raleigh, its really unbelievable, every single family is disfunctional!! I am not say... Read more

Great if you are a hardworking family person who wants a top notch place to raise kids, grow old, and be part of a real community. If you are a party college student, who wants to stay out late and have lights and glamour of a big city, then i will admit, that rochester probably isnt your kind of city. I can agree with most people on here, Rochester is deffinetly a perfect place for family life, but probably not for being a young partier. But seeing as most of us grow out of our young partying state, and then are ready to have a family, what it basicaly comes down to is, If you were born and raised in Rochester, and you feel bored when you get out of highschool, go to college in Boston or Chicago or something, but move home after college when you look to have a family. i know they are both minor league, but... GO AMERKS AND GO RED WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As for the Buffalo bills.... Better luck in the future!

This might be streatching it a little, but Rochester always reminded me of sort of a miniature Chicago. It is on one of the great lakes, it has faired much better than the other cities around it, it has a lot of old historic areas, lots of parks, and very diverse. Just on a smaller scale. It has that family feel like chicago does, where a lot of families have been in the area for a while. One of the unfortunate things about it sort of resembling a miniature chicago, is the crime in some of the seedy areas, and although i hate to say it, there still is a lot of segregation. You dont see too many neighborhoods in the city or suburbs that are evenly white and black. If Rochester's races could unite, we would probably be rated not only ONE of the most livable areas of the country to live like we are now, but likely THE most livable area to live. This could probably happen if people would stop being so afraid of other races. If some white people moved into more of the older nieghborhoods, ... Read more

If you ever watch TV in Rochester,then you have proably seen the corny commercail with the slogan Rochester, Made for Living It is very true! Rochester is an ideal place to live in many ways. It would be quite a challenge to find an area with more a sense of community, culture, history, and family than Rochester. It is a very friendly place, and it is rated one of the least stressfull cities in america. It has unfortunetly come to a time in america where for the most part you either have to choose between a city with a great sense of community, history and family, but that has economic problems; or choose a city that is very well of economicaly, but is a generic, prefabrocated system of interlocking suburbs where everyone is mean. In this sense, unless you can afford to live in a city like New York, Boston, or Chicago, you can't really have a city that is very well off in economics, and has a nice community feel about it. So Greater rochester in this case, is a wonderful medium. Like ... Read more

city on the rise

I moved to Rochester almost 3 years ago and I'm hoping I'll be out of here within another 3 years. Rochester is quite simply one of the most boring places on earth. The only good thing about the place is it's location which means that you can escape to Toronto and NYC relatively easily. Nothing ever thrives in this city, the downtown area is a depressing mess of empty stores and an ugly old shopping mall, it's deserted most of the time. There have been many proposals for new developments to inject some life into the place but these never make it to fruition due to the incompetence of the city officials and the apathy of the cities population (who never seem to get excited or passionate about anything at all). Add to this the fact that it snows for 6 months out of the year and the summers are virtually non existant and you have a place with very little going for it. I feel as though my life has ended since living here and I'm only in my early 30's. Do yourself a favour and stay away!

I'll start with the good. The prices for homes are reasonable and it's nice to have Canada and NYC in a day's drive but the weather is ridiculous and depressing. The unemployment rate is pretty high and the downtown area is completely dead. It must be the only downtown area where parking is never an issue during the holiday season. I grew up in Chicago and moved here shocked at the rate of white flight everyone is terrified of going downtown which only adds to the level of deterioration. In order to get a dent public education you shoold definately be in a suburb like Brighton. My husband and I have already set plans to move on.

lets look at reality here. rochester gets a bad rap, its a great place to live, yes, 220 days of clouds, but if there is one passing cloud the whole day, that counts, the sun comes out most of the time durring those cloudy days. the downtown rochester population, not including greece, gates, and all of those places, has a very high unemployment rate, but what most people dont know, monroe county has the third lowest unemployment rate in the country, and the 4th highest rate of jobe gain in the past year. oh, and metro rochester is growing as well, population went up 4 percent since last census, not a giant boom of people, but definetly not a decrease, so i dont know where you got that whole thing about everyone is leaving. and, it has also been named americas friendliest city 3 years in a row. i left and came down south, and now can't wait to move back to rochester, at least they dont get a damn hurricane every year, and 4 inches of snow doesnt close everything down like it does here.... Read more

Lived there for 7 years and grew up there...good mayor and is really imporoving with maybe a casino and fast ferry and all really nice city..of course we are un welcoming...WE EAT WINGS mmmm wings

I lived there for 16 years. Pluses include overall fairly low cost of living especially resaonable real estate prices. There is a lot to do: museums, parks, festivals, near to Niagra falls and Toronto, the Finger Lakes and dozens of wineries, Minor league soccer, baseball, hockey, NFL in Buffalo, Etc. Great colleges and universities. NEGATIVES include a decling economy (NO JOBS!), horrendously long winters and 220 cloudly days per year. Spring and fall quite short. Many people have had to or decided to move away. Oh and 100 inches of snow per year. Winter esentially is November thru April.

Rochester is below average when compared to most other US cities. Terrible weather, not much to do there, and quite a gloomy place to be.

We lived here for 10 years. Known as a great place to raise a family and I would agree - low crime, beautiful parks, good schools, nice low-cost suburban areas to live, everything is only 20 minute drive away. The city's drawbacks are: people are not very welcoming to outsiders; almost non-existent nightlife; great distance to other major cities (Toronto is the best, a 3-hour-drive); dismally long winter- gray and cold for 6 months, lots of snow.

Other than the weather, It's a great place to raise kids and it is very cultural and diverse.