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Rochester, MN is known for its vibrant downtown area, which features a variety of shops, restaurants and events. From the annual Mayo Clinic visit to the outstanding parks and trails, Rochester offers something for everyone. In addition to these attractions, Rochester also boasts a wide range of cultural and historical sites, including Plummer House and Quarry Hill Nature Center. The city is also home to numerous performing arts venues such as Mayo Civic Center, Chateau Theater, and Rochester Art Center. For those looking for outdoor activities, visitors can enjoy biking or walking along the Zumbro River Trail or take advantage of the nearby Silver Lake boat launches.
Overall reviews of Rochester are positive; many people comment on how friendly the locals are and how easy it is to find things to do in the city. Tourists also appreciate that despite its large size there are still plenty of quaint small towns in the surrounding area where they can escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Visitors are also impressed with Rochester's active nightlife scene with a variety of bars and clubs offering different live music every night. With so much to offer, it’s no wonder why Rochester has become such an attractive destination for tourists from all over the world.
based on 31 ReviewsGet to know Rochester with the latest comments and reviews from people who live in or have visited Rochester
Not a city for the self sufficient law abiders - 11/1/2021
Roch (and Minnesota) is a great place IF you live off the govt dole; subsidize undesirable things (through generous welfare benefits, lax law enforcement and sentences, sanctuary cities, low income housing, social promotion in schools, etc.) while punishing desirable things like making things, obeying the law, earning money, having personal responsibility, starting businesses, being thrifty, living conservative values, and being self-reliant. There is so much "other" stuff to support in this town, add in Mayo wanting tax payers to subsidize all the stuff they
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Bad for progressive thinkers and diversity - 10/30/2020
Rochester is very vanilla. As a progressive, this place is not good. The area leans conservative and you'll see Trump signs everywhere... so that tells you the type of mentality that dominates here. The drivers are the worst I've seen since living in Georgia/ Florida. I'm going to invest in a dash cam and make a YouTube channel about it. Not only will you get mowed down in a crosswalk or have someone constantly riding your bumper in icy conditions or honking at you if you go the speed limit, but at least three times a week people, I get stuck behind a driver that stops in the middle of the road or blocks traffic for no visible reason. Folks are very inconsiderate and it's maddening. They're most often old, white people in expensive cars or country bunkins in oversized trucks. I don't mind the cold winters, but it's frequently -15F or below December through March. Then you get hit with hot, humid summers that are unbearable if you don't have forced air conditioning. Because of the two
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Too cold for too long - 1/26/2020
I moved here over 20 years ago from California and I was in shock for the first couple of years that people actually lived in such a cold climate! Winter starts around October and ends around May. It's just ridiculous. On the upside, it's been a good safe place to raise my sons and affordable. That's all changing now that Mayo has decided to become a destination medical center. A studio rents for about 900.00 a month now. There's not a lot to do here either, not that I leave my house in the Winter unless I have to. I'm about ready to retire now and am thinking of moving somewhere warmer where I can actually enjoy life instead of being stuck inside watching tv for 6 months out of the year. I've lived a lot of places and one thing I will say is there are plenty of jobs here. The problem now is you'll need 2 or 3 of them just to afford rent. I still work part-time and most of the people I work with have a ful-time job and a part-time job or work overtime to make ends meet. Even then it's
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F*** You, Rochester, and F*** Minnesota. - 5/21/2019
Rochester's kind of like one of those little chocolates with the bright, cheery candy shell. Except the insides aren't chocolate.
Living costs are creeping up and up and up as we start to feel the full effects of the Destination Medical Center project. Housing costs are getting ridiculous. 500 a month for an efficiency apartment that didn't even have a kitchen sink - it had a hot plate and a microwave on a wire cart, parked on carpet. The realtor suggested I wash dishes in the constrictive shower or the bathroom sink. The apartment itself was claustrophobic as all get out. This isn't even out of the ordinary. (Best part, SOMEONE TOOK THAT APARTMENT.) Lots of new apartments going up. Can you guess what kind? That's right, LUXURY apartments! Oh yeah. None for you, filthy lower-class plebeians! Go live in one of the exurbs, like Byron or Kasson or Stewartville, we don't want your service-industry-working non-doctor self here! Can't commute? Too bad, sucker.
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Rochester, MN is a Midwest Gem - 4/23/2019
I lived in Rochester for over 2 decades. It's quite a gem in the Midwest. A metropolitan up and coming city. Home to the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. It is easy to get around and extremely safe with one of the lowest crime rates in the country. It's also a great place to raise kids. Shopping and dining choices are abundant. I found the business community to be dynamic for people of all ages. Rochester is a great place for medical care. The Mayo Clinic performs miracles every day that don't happen anywhere else in the world. Cost of living is reasonable. Yes - winters can be rough (duh-it's in the Midwest) but there are festivals and activities that embrace the season like Social Ice. If you're not a winter person, like I'm not, the city is designed for indoor people. I used the skyway and subway systems for my winter walks. Summers in Rochester, MN are the best! Beauty abounds with abundant trees, parks and gardens. There's always something to do. Destination Medical Center is
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Why does winter have to last so long? - 9/7/2018
First off, I will start with the good.
Rochester is small enough not to have the problems of bigger cities, not yet at least. Traffic is pretty decent, though it does seem to be getting worse. The crime rate is pretty low for a city it's size and the overall infrastructure seems to be fairly well maintained. I have lived here almost 8 years and never had a power outage.
Rochester is also big enough to have many of the things that big cities offer. There are many excellent restaurants, especially downtown and many more seem to be arriving all the time. In fact the city seems to be growing very fast, but not too fast. There are plenty of shopping options and there are some concerts once and a while at the civic center, but I wish there were more. However, it is close enough to the twin cities, an hour and a half, that one could head there for a concert or sporting event every now and then.
Now the bad, and the absolute number one bad thing
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Med City - 2/14/2016
Looks like I have to write something here prior to commenting on other people's posts, so here goes. Outside of climate, Rochester, MN is a great place to live. With a population nearing 115,000, it's MN's 3rd largest city and home of the original Mayo Clinic. The city is large enough to have an appreciation of the Arts, but not so large that it has lost all of its "small town" feel. The crime rate is very low here and there are recreational/biking trails all over the city. How bad can it be? The Dalai Lama comes here all the time ;-)
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From the view of a Midwesterner - 6/10/2013
I am an upper 20-something, young married individual with no children and 2 small dogs. I grew up in a town of about 13,000 people in Iowa, went to college in a town of 5,000 for 4 years, lived in Bangor, Wales, UK for a semester, and lived in Bloomington, IN for 3 years before I moved here.
Here is my honest and as thorough of a review that I can give of Rochester, MN:
We moved here in the fall of 2011 and 'endured' a very mild winter by Minnesota standards (meaning, only 1 week of temperatures consistently below 0 degrees Fahrenheit). We have found the town of Rochester to be big enough to have a decent amount of things to do (we're more outdoorsy people, so night clubs were not high on our priority list of things to do). There are a ton of movie theaters, a few bowling alleys, quite a few parks with trails to hike, 2 dog parks, several fitness centers, lots of BIKE trails (more on this later), decent restaurants (more are coming into town all the time
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Cold - 9/24/2012
The cold winters are too cold and last too long for
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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
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