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I was one of those "grass is greener" people until I left and now I see how wonderful the city of Rochester is. Western NY is blessed with so much culture that other cities (even big ones lack). Rochester is also blessed with an active music scene (for pretty much all types of music), awesome food*, and a beautiful surrounding environment. The city has been on the upswing for many years now, but for some reason people from Rochester enjoy quoting the fact that Rochester is the murder capital (even though it was only the murder capital of NY and crime rates have since decreased).
*The food in larger cities can also be good but because there is so many people, many horrible establishments stay in business, where as in Rochester, most places that stay open actually deserve to be open.
But you are wrong about how important your attitude is. Like it or not, Rochester is your team now. Just like your pitching days. Time to help the team do some winning.
There's nothing I can do to help the city, so I'm not going to waste my time pretending there is. At least in my baseball days the coach wanted to listen to me and I could contribute my abilities for a positive outcome. With the city, since there's no way I could possibly sit on any sort of committe/board/etc (not that it'd matter since there's no money in the city budget to actually do anything), there's nothing I can do. So until city leadership actually shows an iota of proof that they give a rats ass about something other than their own level of power and the lobbying hands that feed them, I really just don't care.
I think these two news stories about Rochester in the last few days are both very interesting. One is from TheStreet.com and the other from the New York Times:
These stories confirm an opinion that I've been developing over the last 3 years that I've lived here since moving from Washington, D.C. which is:
Rochester has a severe self-esteem problem.
I've come to this opinion based on the number of people who are willing, or even enjoy, bad-mouthing their home town. I'm not claiming that there are not problems here - there certainly are. But face it folks, there are problems in every urban environment in America. What amazes me is the lack of home-town pride that you see in even some of the worst places in America. What further amazes me is the complaints that come from people who have never lived anywhere else. My guess is that they are suffering from the typical "grass is greener" phenomenon.
Give these reports an honest read and fight your urge to go all "Bah Humbug!"
(you know who you are) There is some great news and national press for Rochester here.
Mmm...Genny Cream Ale and a rack of ribs from Dinosaur. Seriously though, the author had no business placing Rochester in that list alongside such places as Chicago and London, though I respect his effort to prop up his home town.
With the second article, all I heard was "Kodak this" or "Kodak that." Shut up and stop crying about Kodak, they don't really employ anyone anymore anyway.
One of the major positives trumpeted by Rochester supporters is stable housing prices. Well how low do you want them to drop? Could they possibly get any lower? And there's certainly not enough positive economic news to drive them up. So stable they shall remain.
Is the grass greener? Maybe. It depends what you want out of life. If you dislike lake effect snow, 20 minute commutes, good pizza, having no hurricanes or tornadoes, not dealing with illegal Mexicans flooding your community, stable and relatively low housing prices, decent schools, Strong Museum of Play, and cheap Amerks tickets (compared to Sabres), then Rochester isn't for you.
For jobs, lower taxes, outrageous housing prices, and hellish traffic, look elsewhere.
You mean the 12,500 jobs added this year weren't enough? Same for the just below average overall cost of living? Places with pros and cons. Say it ain't so.
There's nothing I can do to help the city, so I'm not going to waste my time pretending there is. At least in my baseball days the coach wanted to listen to me and I could contribute my abilities for a positive outcome. With the city, since there's no way I could possibly sit on any sort of committe/board/etc (not that it'd matter since there's no money in the city budget to actually do anything), there's nothing I can do. So until city leadership actually shows an iota of proof that they give a rats ass about something other than their own level of power and the lobbying hands that feed them, I really just don't care.
Hummm.... That's a very convenient argument.
A) We know you care based the amount of time you spend typing words into this forum.
B) If everyone in the country had this attitude, democracy would fail. Luckily, they don't.
C) As I've said MANY MANY times before, there is a ton you could do to help this city. You've just decided not to.
You should be careful with your arguments, lest you become those who you abhor.
What could I do exactly? You constantly bring up this idea that anyone and their mother has the power to change things and overcome the corrupt bureaucracy that we live under, yet never have you once ever told me what exactly it is I can do to help change Rochester.
And democracy has failed us, not sure where you're living, but in the country I live in we owe China billions of dollars, millions are unemployed, jobs keep getting outsourced due to corporate greed, nobody in our government can be trusted and the general population has lost much of its faith in government to actually do anything, the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer with the middle class footing the bill for everyone, etc.
But yeah, I guess it hasn't failed us because we're still "free"
^^ Please don't start with that BS. Sorry, not complete BS, all those things are true. But guess what? Poverty in the US is nothing compared to other countries and I as a women have never been refused anything for being a women. And if I was, I could then turn around and sue that person senseless.
Also, I can wear whatever the **** I want, I can walk around by myself, and I can have premarital sex, and all my lady parts are still intact.
I can also read whatever I want, and FOR NOW can look at whatever I want on the internet. I can also say whatever I want.
So yeah, America has problems but next time you say we're free, don't put quotation marks around it. I feel pretty free. In short, there are few places I would rather live in the world then here.
What could I do exactly? You constantly bring up this idea that anyone and their mother has the power to change things and overcome the corrupt bureaucracy that we live under, yet never have you once ever told me what exactly it is I can do to help change Rochester.
And democracy has failed us, not sure where you're living, but in the country I live in we owe China billions of dollars, millions are unemployed, jobs keep getting outsourced due to corporate greed, nobody in our government can be trusted and the general population has lost much of its faith in government to actually do anything, the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer with the middle class footing the bill for everyone, etc.
But yeah, I guess it hasn't failed us because we're still "free"
Call me, email me, or PM me. I'll give you 1,000 specific tasks you could do that would all make a positive contribution to the city. Just look around, there are people doing them every day. These are un-selfish people who donate, work, lobby, advocate and otherwise find it in their hearts to put the city above their own needs (i.e., community first).
But you know all this. You are smart. And you were a big star on your baseball team. This all makes sense in the context of your baseball team, I'm sure. In fact, I'll bet your baseball team did community service out of the goodness of your hearts to show support for the community (most do). For whatever reason, you've just decided to not be apart of the Rochester team... Too bad because Rochester needs your help.
Well I'm too selfish and uncaring to really put any effort in to the city anyways, so I'll leave it up to everyone else that thinks they can enact change. Good luck to them, hope it works out. If I lived in the city maybe I'd feel different, but since I'm in Greece I really don't.
^^ Please don't start with that BS. Sorry, not complete BS, all those things are true. But guess what? Poverty in the US is nothing compared to other countries and I as a women have never been refused anything for being a women. And if I was, I could then turn around and sue that person senseless.
Also, I can wear whatever the **** I want, I can walk around by myself, and I can have premarital sex, and all my lady parts are still intact.
I can also read whatever I want, and FOR NOW can look at whatever I want on the internet. I can also say whatever I want.
So yeah, America has problems but next time you say we're free, don't put quotation marks around it. I feel pretty free. In short, there are few places I would rather live in the world then here.
NY is close to being one of the least-free states in the country.
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There is some great news and national press for Rochester here.
