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I do wish we would get a bigger bump in population. The slow growth has contributed to sprawl. We need to build UP, not out.
Weirdly, late in that article, it's mentioned that Rochester ranks 26th in US News' 'best places to live' list. That list has almost an identical title to this one, so it's not immediately apparent what the difference is between the two
Weirdly, late in that article, it's mentioned that Rochester ranks 26th in US News' 'best places to live' list. That list has almost an identical title to this one, so it's not immediately apparent what the difference is between the two
I don't know where you're getting that from. It clearly says #9 through out the article.
I don't know where you're getting that from. It clearly says #9 through out the article.
It says 9 throughout, then mentions that there are two related lists from USNWR, one of which places Rochester as the 26th best place to live, the other of which ranks it as the 21st best place to retire. There was no clarification as to how the list that placed it 9th in quality of life differed criteria-wise from the list that placed it 26th. It's mentioned at the very end of the article. Maybe you didn't read that far
ETA this write-up mentioned the 26/21 rankings as well, right before a top 15 list from the qol rankings:
I do wish we would get a bigger bump in population. The slow growth has contributed to sprawl. We need to build UP, not out.
I understand your point, but as we all have noticed, the growth has been more "outward", but you have to consider why. As I mentioned earlier, my family came here at the end of 1957. My father accepted a job change, which brought us here, and we initially rented half a duplex house, on the east side of the city, near my dad's job.
When it looked like the job was stable, and we were going to "grow some roots", after being here for 2 years, or so, and my parents started to look for a house to purchase. At the time, Henrietta was beginning to expand, as industry, too, was growing in the area, and there was a lot of open land available on the southern fringe of the city. We almost settled there, except with my mother not being a driver, limited her ability to shop, so we moved into a home on the east side of the city, but just over the boundary between the city and East Irondequoit. Wegman and Star Markets (remember them?) were within walking distance.
At this point, the city was still pretty well populated, but as Kodak, Xerox, GM, B&L, etc, began to grow, they hired more people, and these people needed places to live. Keep in mind, the CITY, at this point, still had over 300,000 residents, therefore it was pretty well "built out", therefore, what else could they do? And sadly, seeing the increase in crime, which has caused the city to deteriorate, who's going to want to live there?
It says 9 throughout, then mentions that there are two related lists from USNWR, one of which places Rochester as the 26th best place to live, the other of which ranks it as the 21st best place to retire. There was no clarification as to how the list that placed it 9th in quality of life differed criteria-wise from the list that placed it 26th. It's mentioned at the very end of the article. Maybe you didn't read that far
ETA this write-up mentioned the 26/21 rankings as well, right before a top 15 list from the qol rankings:
Again, I don't know where you are getting this. I tried the links and even the sight you provided. All say #9.
Do you see the top 15 in the D&C article? The one where Ann Arbor is listed as 1 (and Rochester is 9)? The mentions of 26 and 21 are directly above that. Hiding in plain sight
Do you see the top 15 in the D&C article? The one where Ann Arbor is listed as 1 (and Rochester is 9)? The mentions of 26 and 21 are directly above that. Hiding in plain sight
#21 is best place to retire, which would be different from "living" due to fixed income for most.
The other one, I don't Know. One says "best place to live", and the other said "best place to live for quality of life". Maybe slightly different data.
Either way, a pretty good result, and better than most, if not all in NYS.
This thread was a fun trip down memory lane. I do feel as if there was a greater sense of optimism for the future of Rochester at the beginning of the 2010s. Midtown redevelopment was in its infancy, therefore some large scale ideas were being thrown around by developers, such as high rise condos on Parcel 5, or a movie theater and Tops supermarket on the ground floors of Tower280. None of these came into fruition. Parcel 5 went from an empty gravel pit to an empty field of grass that sometimes gets used for concerts. Such a waste. The majority of Tower280's ground floor tenants are commercial offices, simply due to the fact Buckingham could not find interested retailers. The rest of the parcels remain pretty sterile and dead, with the exception of the Butler/Till building. My position is that the Midtown Rising dream turned out to be an utter letdown of a reality.
Another disappointment was the concept of "critical mass" facilitating a downtown renaissance. Early last decade, the RDDC was often throwing around a benchmark population of 5,000 to spur retail investment. Downtown has since crossed 10,000 residents and still cannot even support a grocery store (DGX does not count). Harts was a respectable venture. I loved shopping there when I lived in the East End, but it failed. Virtually everything except housing fails.
That being said, Rochester has some bright spots. The Inner Loop project was a resounding success. Driving down Union Street and Adventure Place is breathtaking, they actually pulled off building an entirely new neighborhood and it looks amazing. Constellation's move into the Aqueduct Building finally gives the city a Fortune 500 presence, which has been lacking since the downfall of Kodak. If the High Falls State Park ends up becoming a reality, it will be truly transformative for the Flour City's historic epicenter.
I think Rochester has the potential to prosper, however, much to my dismay, the formula for such a future is tampering expectations. Gone are the days where Rochester is a nationally recognized hub for innovation. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the city will continue to decline in national relevance and probably lose economic ground to Buffalo and Albany, the state's favored children. However that doesn't mean Rochester cannot reinvent itself as a wonderful place to live. The region remains among my favorite nationwide. I still believe Rochester's suburbs are already the best in Upstate New York. The quality of life, pace of life and cost of living offer a bang for your buck few other cities can. I just think Rochester is destined to drop out of the Buffalo/Richmond/Louisville tier, and into the Worcester/Allentown/Dayton tier of cities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Marcinkiewicz
There are some classic Rochester threads on here from 10+ years ago, featuring the likes of Garmin, just sayin', rorytmeadows, and OvertaxedInNY. Every so often I'll sort by replies and read through one of them. The most anti-Rochester of the bunch do tend to be the most entertaining, hah. The Buffalo forum was never quite as entertaining, from what I've seen
Well those are some throwback names LOL. Sometimes I wonder what happened to OvertaxedInNY. Good guy, but he hated Rochester. I wonder if he stuck around. Meanwhile I know some of the city's cheerleaders on the forum (like myself) ended up moving away. Funny how life works.
I sometimes wonder if Rochester is a “victim” of its own success. Meaning, it has been a long time innovation center and even when the major companies downsized, a lot of that talent stayed and formed smaller companies. The metro area has an above average educational attainment in terms of those 25 and older with at least a Bachelor’s degree and is relatively high in terms of patents per capita. So, the building blocks are still there and may be a matter of one big announcement.
This thread was a fun trip down memory lane. I do feel as if there was a greater sense of optimism for the future of Rochester at the beginning of the 2010s. Midtown redevelopment was in its infancy, therefore some large scale ideas were being thrown around by developers, such as high rise condos on Parcel 5, or a movie theater and Tops supermarket on the ground floors of Tower280. None of these came into fruition. Parcel 5 went from an empty gravel pit to an empty field of grass that sometimes gets used for concerts. Such a waste. The majority of Tower280's ground floor tenants are commercial offices, simply due to the fact Buckingham could not find interested retailers. The rest of the parcels remain pretty sterile and dead, with the exception of the Butler/Till building. My position is that the Midtown Rising dream turned out to be an utter letdown of a reality.
Another disappointment was the concept of "critical mass" facilitating a downtown renaissance. Early last decade, the RDDC was often throwing around a benchmark population of 5,000 to spur retail investment. Downtown has since crossed 10,000 residents and still cannot even support a grocery store (DGX does not count). Harts was a respectable venture. I loved shopping there when I lived in the East End, but it failed. Virtually everything except housing fails.
That being said, Rochester has some bright spots. The Inner Loop project was a resounding success. Driving down Union Street and Adventure Place is breathtaking, they actually pulled off building an entirely new neighborhood and it looks amazing. Constellation's move into the Aqueduct Building finally gives the city a Fortune 500 presence, which has been lacking since the downfall of Kodak. If the High Falls State Park ends up becoming a reality, it will be truly transformative for the Flour City's historic epicenter.
I think Rochester has the potential to prosper, however, much to my dismay, the formula for such a future is tampering expectations. Gone are the days where Rochester is a nationally recognized hub for innovation. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the city will continue to decline in national relevance and probably lose economic ground to Buffalo and Albany, the state's favored children. However that doesn't mean Rochester cannot reinvent itself as a wonderful place to live. The region remains among my favorite nationwide. I still believe Rochester's suburbs are already the best in Upstate New York. The quality of life, pace of life and cost of living offer a bang for your buck few other cities can. I just think Rochester is destined to drop out of the Buffalo/Richmond/Louisville tier, and into the Worcester/Allentown/Dayton tier of cities.
Well those are some throwback names LOL. Sometimes I wonder what happened to OvertaxedInNY. Good guy, but he hated Rochester. I wonder if he stuck around. Meanwhile I know some of the city's cheerleaders on the forum (like myself) ended up moving away. Funny how life works.
I agree that it appears there is a huge push to develop Buffalo, at Rochester's expense. There are too many signs of that, from the STAMP place that was brought into life by the Finger Lakes Economic Commision, which then handed it to Buffalo, to the TWO Buffalo Billions, Duffy's firing and Hochel brought in.
Hey, just look at what Hochel has proposed the Finger Lakes region. Lots of money for Medina, Perry and Geneseo. All on the far west side of the Finger Lakes. She is so partison for Buffalo.
Where are the big projects in Rochester?
The state should have been helping 40-50 years ago, when Kodak and Xerox were having problems, to keep the intelligent people here. Instead, they wait for rock bottom. I'm still waiting. Building "affordable" housing doesn't pay the bills, but it creates bills.
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