You'll Be Pleasantly Surprised
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2/22/2008
First let me say this is coming from someone who's lived elsewhere. Including larger, more cosmopolitan cities (i.e. Miami). Rochester is great. One thing I've realized is that the natives dont seem to appreciate what they have. Generally the naysayers havent lived anywhere else or dont travel much. I'm not saying Roc is perfect, but the pros outweigh the cons by a mile. A little research backed up my feelings. the 2007 Places Rated Almanac had Roc in the top 10 places to live in the country. US News & World Report had 4 local high schools in the top 100 and 2 universities in the top 50. Thats pretty good for a medium size city. (the metro area has a little over 1 million people). There is plenty of things to do here, culturally rich, museums, theatre, live music, an amazing yearly jazz festival, ect. A number of great downtown restaurants and decent nightlife. A lot of parks, golf courses, and you're right on Lake Ontario and a short drive to the Finger Lakes. Which by the way is packed with wineries. Its easy to get around, cost of living is ridiculously low, you get so much bang for your buck here. Plus, the best supermarkets in the country (Wegmans). And its only getting better, downtown is in the midst of a rebirth. A lot of very nice, very affordable lofts, townhomes, apts are sprouting up. Many of which are in beautiful, older buildings that have been rehabbed. Roc has its cons also: high property taxes, a couple of bad city neighborhoods (like any other city), winter lasts a month too long, but overall, its a great place to live. If you want warm and sun year round, you shouldnt be in the northeast anyway.
Joe | Rochester, NY