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| Cold - 9/24/2012
The cold winters are too cold and last too long for me.[read more...]
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| Best of both worlds - 8/31/2011
I recently moved from Dallas, TX to Rochester, MN. It has been quite a shock to say the least. However, the cultural diversity despite the small town feel is great. There is plenty to keep you entertained and best of all it is all so close to you! It only takes a few minutes to get from one side of town to the other and you never have to deal with traffic. You have the best medical care with Mayo and with IBM headquarters here it is also a rising star in the tech field.[read more...]
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| Rochester, Minnesota - 2/26/2011
First off the positive, Rochester is a nice city,with a population of around 100K, its a nice size, easy to get around and a good clean safe palce to live, with Mayo Clinic, World Class Medical Care being its number 1 asset. Its a great place to go when your are in need of medical care, thats for sure. Unfortunately,it is Minnesota, and with that comes a very difficult climate that beats you up with a vengence, and Winter is a season that dosen't seem to want to leave very fast.Winters icy grip takes a toll everything it touches, the roads, buildings,nature,homes,cars, and most brutal to your body, your health both mental and physical. It has no mercy, you feel older than you are, every injury you ever had lets you know when the icy cold touches your body, your skin drys up with the heated homes and you look 10 years older after one winter. It is a hard life in this climate, I have lived in kinder,gentler climates and prefer it and seek to return to that asap.[read more...]
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| Minnesota Nice - 10/27/2010
I've been here for a couple years now for work. Like others have said it's great if you're married with kids. In my experience the people aren't that nice, they just pretend to be. They call it "Minnesota Nice", which I guess is another way of saying fake. Of course some people are incredible, but in general, I've been shocked at the unfriendliness of people here. They claim diversity, which could be true but the mindset and stares of the people make you feel unwelcome if you're not of the majority. You can always tell when someone isn't from around here because they will speak to you out of the blue. It feels like they are stuck in the past and have no intentions on changing. They've had exhibits on cultural diversity and advertisments about it, which to me says a lot about what lacks here. Kudos to the people trying to educate others on how to be more open minded. Don't come here just for a job because the location and the community matter just as much as the employment.[read more...]
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| The Goods and Bads - 5/10/2010
I was born and raised in Rochester. Last year I moved to Clarksville, TN and I saw some differences.
Minnesota in itself is cold. The temperatures are bad for anyone who likes a little warmth. I have heard, however, that the people there are great. I personally, felt that was partially true. Also, they are better drivers. They know to be cautious in bad weather and sometimes you'll have those bad drivers no matter where you go.
If you like alot of diversity, races, and culture. Rochester is the place to be. I personally, don't like the feeling of having to look over my shoulder periodically. I'm sorry, but I feel the town is overrun with Somali people.
The jobs suck. Like another person wrote, unless you are going to work for IBM or the Mayo clinic, you're out of luck. They do have a community college, but the whole town has no feel of community.
After hours, there is nothing to do. You have your bars, and a dirty old club that needs serious updating and sterilization. Other then that, the closest thing that may be of some interest lies in the Twin Cities.
Rochester's schools are terrible. They are too big for anyone to get a proper education.
Not only that, but they used to have a park that was filled with geese. I mean, overpopulated....like a new york population. They were everywhere. Well, this was a popular and a landmark, but now they have shoo'ed away all the geese and any tradition we had before. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I'm glad to have the bike paths cleaner.
I'd say the only good thing that Rochester, MN has to offer, other then family time, is bike trails. We don't have any here in Clarksville, but there is nothing special about the town at all. [read more...]
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| Bad neighbors - 4/30/2009
Have lived here most of my life, however in the last 10-20 years the nice neighborhoods within 5 miles of town have become filled with undesirable people buying these more affordable homes, bringing in low moral values and loud party/motorcycle/monster truck type younger people. To get away from this you have to be able to afford a very expensive home in the very outskirts of town and pay very high taxes, over and above the already high taxes we pay in MN. I don't recommend living here unless you work at Mayo as a doctor or nurse and can afford the nicer neighborhoods and don't want to bike to work. Biking and walking are not easy in this city, either. Not to mention the frigid temps from October through April, and very high humidity from May to September![read more...]
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| Nice Small Town - 4/3/2009
Rochester is a nice small town. Mayo Clinic, 2nd best health care provider in the world is based here. So why move? Winters! It's just plan to cold![read more...]
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| Crime - 3/27/2009
This is a fantastic place to live and work. With that said I believe it sends a message when your area growth since 2000 is 13% yet your Public Safety growth fails in comparison. An even stronger message is when some of the community is trying to organize the "Guardian Angels" to patrol city streets. To me that says, "We need more Police".[read more...]
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| Grew up in Rochester, will never return. - 11/12/2008
Rochester was a great place to grow up. Good quality and fairly diverse schools; the town is small enough to bike anywhere in less than 20 minutes.
That said, I will never move back.
Rochester is somewhat culturally stuck in the early 80's. There are 3 classic rock radio stations for a city the size of almost 100,000. Go to any bar (pretty much only sports bars) in the city and all you hear is classic rock as well. It's almost like going back in time in a way. Even the local television station and newspaper don't yet seem to have technology or advertising capabilities past 1985. It's very strange.
Beyond that, it's a very boring town with limited job opportunities. If you can't get a job at Mayo or IBM, you really have no choice but to work at a low paying retail or hospitality job.
But if you can get a job at one of the two places, and your only plans are raising children- it's the best place to be.[read more...]
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| Great place to raise kids - 9/22/2008
Rochester is a great city to raise kids in. Lots of nice parks and bike trails. Good schools. Friendly people.[read more...]
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| Really Nice - 5/12/2008
Rochester has over 60 miles of milti-use paved paths for bicycling, walking, walking your dog, etc. There are two dog parks and it is very rare to see a dog being walked off lead.
The city is surrounded by wooded hills and many of the houses are backed up against hills with wooded back yards. The first three springs here a doe gave birth in the wooded back yard next to mine even though and I live in a well established area. I've lived here for 5 years and rarely hear a siren and feel safe walking my dogs alone. Public transportation (cab or bus) is accessible. Many people bicycle to work and to run errands, some even year-round.
Snow removal is excellent and people keep their sidewalks clear of snow as well. The air is cool and fresh and often actually sweet smelling, usually with a breeze which keeps you cool in the summer and the insects at bay.
You should know Minnesota is one of the states with higher taxes but you actually get something back from paying them.
I'm very happy to live here.[read more...]
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| Rochester, Minnesota - 4/10/2008
Rochester is a great place to raise a family![read more...]
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| Good city, great healthcare - 2/17/2008
Rochester leave little to be disired for cultural and outdoor activities but access to the Mayo Clinic means access to many of the best physicians in the world. The healthcare at Mayo is the way it should be.[read more...]
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| healthcare - 1/21/2008
The Mayo Clinic is here... does healthcare get any better?[read more...]
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| A good place - If you're married with 2.5 kids - 10/18/2007
I grew up in this area and even spent several years after college in Rochester. Have a family? Great place to be! BUT -- It's really not a great place to be for young singles - especially if you are coming from a large metro area, you will be really bored! There is virtually no night life (unless you consider about 200 sports bars and/or a ghetto 1980s-esque club out of 'Miami Vice' to be nightlife). A lot of people who relocate from warmer climates can't take the winters. Also, if you happen to be gay, just keep moving north to Minneapolis/St. Paul, because Rochester is VERY unwelcoming to the GLBT crowd. The residents themselves are pretty nice, but the city / Mayo Clinic (they're one in the same) won't allow liquor license to anyone planning to open a gay bar - anything that might be considered offensive to the patients is highly frowned upon! The local drag queens perform in a hotel basement conference/ball room (seriously) about once every two months. It's pretty sad.[read more...]
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| Nice town if you are married or a man - 10/7/2007
If you are married with children or a single man, you may like living in Rochester. This is a white, conservative town of predominantly married people with children who go to church every Sunday. There is little diversity since everyone works at Mayo or IBM. The ratio of women to men is very high, maybe 6 or 8 to 1, although overweight middle age women abound. The food is some of the worst I've ever eaten, and good dining is nonexistent like good shopping. Avoid this city like the plaque if you are young, single (especially a single heterosexual female), childless, a democrat, or enjoy fine dining and shopping![read more...]
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| Walking - 8/6/2007
Rochester has excellent recreational paths for walkers, bikers, etc. However, when a path crosses a street or highway, I do not feel safe because drivers in Rochester claim the streets and highways as their own. Yield for pedestrians happens on occasion, but is the exception, not the rule.
Walking as transportation in Rochester is terrible. The paths are nice for recreation, but they are not direct. You compete for sidewalk space with bikers. Most are courteous but the few ruin the feeling of safe walking because one step to the left or right of a straight line, can get you run over by a bicycle.
The street corners downtown and at select other places in the city have pedestrian walk lights but you compete with the right and left turning cars. The news reports frequent pedestrian-car accidents at the corner of 2nd Street SW and Broadway. The city does not work to remove the need for pedestrians to compete with cars at this dangerous intersection.
The walk lights at most intersections are not exclusive. That is, the City permits left and right turning traffic to move when pedestrians have the walk light. Many cars keep moving despite the walk light. Some move in a courteous manner, others pull within a foot or so as I walk across the street. Some rush to make the turn before I reach "their" space. I do not feel safe in a crosswalk. These conflicts occur because traffic can move during the pedestrian walk time and the City allow these conflicts because it does not enforce laws that require a driver to stop at the stop line then continue if safe into the pedestrian’s crosswalk before turning right or left.
Right turning traffic believes that the place to stop is at the corner rather than the stop line before the pedestrian crosswalk. I never feel safe because there is little or no enforcement with respect to stopping at the stop line.
Most intersections out of the downtown area do not have striped crosswalks. The City has left some pedestrian commuter streets without a sidewalk. Homeowners force pedestrians into the street because they water the sidewalk. In the summer, this thoughtless practice forces me to walk into the street when walking to or from shopping or appointments. The City does not enforce clear sidewalks unless there is clearly a continuous hazard on a sidewalk.
Businesses and residents clear snow from sidewalks very well downtown.
The walk lights in the downtown area work without having to push a button. In the rest of the City, you[read more...]
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| Rochester, Mayo or bust - 4/24/2007
Rochester's market is pushed by the Mayo Clinic. This is great for rental home owners, resident doctors are always passing through.
This is bad for the normal population because the hospital employs so many doctors and other higher payed professionals that the cost of living market is artificially high for anybody not employed by the clinic. Do not expect to find a job easily, the job growth is almost entirely the result of clinic expansion.
The increase in the number of retail and hospitality jobs (the bulk of new jobs not Mayo related) is a function of a growth in the clinic by about 10%. The clinic employs over 30,000 people. The populaiton of Rochester is just over 90,000.
Violent and property crime is also above average. The schools are strong though, and Rochester has its own symphony orchestra which is quite fine.[read more...]
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| Good jobs, low crime, nice people, horrible weathe - 3/25/2007
Rochester is a good place to live if you have young children, or like the small town feel. The schools are good, but crowded due to growth, and the town feels safe. The weather is the reason we will leave. It's cold 6 months of the year, and windy 12 months of the year.[read more...]
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| Rochester, Minnesota; A great place to be from. - 3/4/2007
Rochester is a great place to be from. There are three major employers in the city, Mayo Clinic, IBM, and Walmart. The cost of living is rising, just like anywhere else. My property taxes have increased over 35% in the last two years. Minnesota state tax has been among the highest in the country for decades. The culture in Rochester is extremely conservative, with very little regard for creating a more appealing environment that would attract a more diverase cross section of people to the city. Downtown is made up of various Mayo owned properties, and the majority of the other real estate directly or indirectly supports Mayo functions (hotels, office space, and such). There are a few nightspots that I think more people would frequent if there were other reasons to come to downtown. Rochester has not seen a big name rock band since Bon Jovi was here in the early 90's. Things that could be percieved as unhealthy or adverse to the city or it's population are generally not welcomed here. Some of that is bad and some good. I think I've said enough for now.[read more...]
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