Living In Rochester

Located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario in the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York, Rochester is a stimulating and progressive metropolitan community of more than one million people, representing the third largest urban area in New York State.

Rochester also is known as "The World's Image Centre," as it is the corporate home for many leading high-technology manufacturers such as Eastman Kodak Company, Xerox Corporation, and Bausch & Lomb. In addition to these Fortune 500 companies, also located in Rochester are a large number of small, high-technology companies that offer graduate students and spouses many options for research in business and industry and provide Rochester with one of the lowest unemployment rates in New York.

For Cultural Life and Educational Resources; For Sporting and Outdoor Activities Rochester offers some of the best. It's a lively and livable community. You'll feel right at home in Rochester! It's a comfortable place with a pleasing mix of old-fashioned charm and up-to- date sophistication. From gracious mansions to lush gardens and parks, from exhilarating sports to fine art galleries and museums, you'll find that Rochester has a lot to offer.

Climate and Demographics

The city of Rochester is located in upstate New York, on the shores of Lake Ontario. The city's climate is the genuine four-season variety but influenced to a great extent by its proximity to Lake Ontario. This moderates the summer heat and severe winter cold seen in many inland cities. Summers are warm and pleasant; winters can be cold and snowy; and spring and fall are usually extremely pleasant.

The city is an ideal place in which to live and work - and enjoy life. Thanks to the efforts of individuals like lens-grinders Bausch and Lomb, chemist George Eastman (Kodak), and Joseph Wilson, promoter of the dry copying process which developed into the Xerox Corporation. Rochester is known as an international center for research and development and high technology. The population of Rochester is about 240,000; together with the surrounding counties, this makes up a total metropolitan population of about 1,200,000 people.

Cultural Life

Rochester's cultural life is particularly notable, especially for a city its size. The classical music scene is enriched by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Eastman School of Music, while contemporary music and jazz are featured at many downtown clubs. In the summer months, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra performs outside at the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center located on the eastern shore of Canandaigua Lake, just south of Rochester. In addition to classical music, Rochester is home to the sparkling Geva Theatre, the nationally acclaimed Garth Fagan Dance company, and dozens of other theater and musical groups featured at a variety of downtown and suburban clubs. Theater goers annually are treated to the Rochester Broadway Theatre League's productions of major Broadway plays touring the United States. For those who yearn for an international stage, the cosmopolitan city of Toronto is just three hours' drive away around Lake Ontario and is home to the third largest theater district in the world and a rich complement of ethnic restaurants.

Rochester also is a world leader in photography and optics. George Eastman House, on mansion-lined East Avenue, maintains and displays one of the largest still photography collections in the country, and its Dryden Theatre presents a classic film series from the expansive archives of motion pictures in the Eastman collection. George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography and Film are major resources for graduate programs in film studies. The Rochester Museum and Science Center, Seneca Park Zoo, Strasenburgh Planetarium, and the Genesee Country Museum are popular local attractions. Summer festivals abound, including the Lilac Festival, Cornhill Arts Festival (one of the top 25 art festivals in the United States), and the Park Avenue Arts Festival. The Clothesline Festival, at the University's Memorial Art Gallery in September, features superb crafts and works of art from all over the country and attracts thousands of people each year. Numerous ethnic festivals and a wide selection of ethnic restaurants serving African , Caribbean, Chinese, Ethiopian, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Kosher, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Thai, Turkish, and vegetarian cuisine enhance the city's cultural diversity.The arts are an important aspect of life in Rochester. The presence of the Eastman School of Music, a college of the University, helps make Rochester a leading center for fine music. The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the 40 major symphony orchestras in North America. Other musical organizations that perform here regularly are the Eastman Philharmonic, Rochester Chamber Orchestra, Opera Theatre of Rochester, and the Rochester Oratorio Society. National musical and dance groups on tour make frequent appearances in Rochester.

A local professional repertory company, GeVa Theatre, presents stage productions. The University has a summer theatre, and there are several community theatre groups. National companies on tour frequently perform in Rochester theatres. In addition, there are motion picture presentations of unusual interest. The Dryden Theatre at the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House offers a series of film classics rivaled only by a similar collection in Paris.

The Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester has the permanent collection of 40,000 works representing all important periods of art and offers the public many creative workshops in the arts and crafts. The Albright-Knox Gallery, in nearby Buffalo, features contemporary works.

Our outstanding museums are known throughout the world. The Rochester Museum and Science Center is a major attraction, and its Strasenburgh Planetarium is one of the finest facilities of its kind in the world. At the Strong Museum, exhibits of nineteenth century antiques, dolls and toys display the tests of an eccentric local heiress, Margaret Woodbury Strong. The Genesee Country Museum is a restored early American settlement featuring nearly 50 buildings, ranging from a small log cabin to a Victorian mansion; continual live presentations depict everyday activities, arts and crafts from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

City Living

The city itself is a pleasant blend of traditional and contemporary styles, including a large number of historic commercial buildings and residences. There is a strong, ongoing program of neighborhood restoration. Attractive residential suburbs surround the city on the east, west, and south; Lake Ontario is to the north. Beyond the suburbs is rolling farmland and orchard country. Public parks in great numbers, in the city and country, add a pleasant dimension to living all year round. In Rochester's Highland Park, not far from the Medical Center, a 10-day festival in May welcomes spring and features our famous lilacs.

The Rochester area is noted for its high proportion of home ownership. The supply of homes is excellent, and prices are lower than in many similar areas across the country. Available homes are located throughout the area, in the city, suburbs, and beyond. The mix of styles, sizes, and locations makes home ownership practical for most postdoctoral families. Rental housing is less abundant, but there is reasonable opportunity to find attractive apartments at affordable prices. The University of Rochester offers reasonably priced rental units in considerable variety and quantity as well.

Rochester consistently ranks as a premier American city. In 1998, Rochester received the All American City award. We boast the nation's highest rate of volunteerism, prompting magazines such as Reader's Digest and American Demographics to call us "America's kindest city." Rochester's endearing appeal may lie in its small town warmth, accessibility, and friendliness, combined with its big city cultural amenities and resilient economy. The weather in Rochester consists of four distinct seasons, although they are not the extremes that you might expect. Lake Ontario tempers both the cold of winter and the heat of summer giving Rochester one of the most delightful springs, summers, and falls to be found in the Northeast. Our seasons offer unique opportunities to enjoy flowering gardens, rich outdoor activities , fall foliage, and winter wonderlands.

The cost of living in Rochester is moderate. Because of its reasonable size, the Rochester area is easy to negotiate by car or by public transportation. The medical school is located in a nice residential area approximately three miles from the heart of downtown Rochester and is accessible to downtown by University shuttle bus at no cost. Housing surrounding the Medical Center is affordable, generally of high quality, and readily available.

Schools

The Rochester area public schools are among the best in the nation. These, together with the quality and scope of cultural and advanced educational facilities including 14 area colleges and universities, provide Rochester with a rich academic background and a focus on quality education for all our citizens.

Urban and suburban school systems compare favorably with any in the country. Cooperative urban-suburban transfer programs are a feature of the area's educational system; magnet schools in the city attract children interested in such special fields as technology and performing arts. Excellent private and parochial schools are available and there are many nursery schools from which to choose.

In addition to the University, the city is home for several other institutions of higher education, including St. John Fisher, Nazareth, Roberts Wesleyan and Monroe Community colleges, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Units of the State University of New York are located nearby in Brockport and Geneseo.

Transportation

Transportation in and out of Rochester is available by air, rail, and bus. A beautiful new airport served by a number of major airlines is minutes from the University. The New York State Thruway is just a few miles to the south. New York City is less than an hour away by air. The international attractions of Toronto, Canada are within a few hours drive or a short flight across Lake Ontario. There is a ferry service from the Port of Rochester across the Lake to Toronto. Within the Rochester Area, there is a network of good roads and expressways, as well as bus transportation. The Medical Center and its associated hospitals are within minutes of each other.

Sports and Outdoor Activities

The varied climate in the area provides opportunities for a variety of sports and outdoor activities. Lake Ontario and the nearby Finger Lakes offer camping, fishing, water skiing, wind surfing, sailing, and swimming. Excellent downhill and cross-country skiing and ice skating facilities are located in and near the city. Opportunities for bowling, golf, tennis, and other popular sports are readily available.

The nearby Finger Lakes Region is especially well-known for its beautiful rolling hills and valleys, a perfect setting and climate for great grapes and wonderful wineries. South of Rochester, Letchworth Park (often called "the Grand Canyon of the East") is spectacular for deep gorges and thundering waterfalls.

Rochester also is a haven for water lovers and those who enjoy the out of doors. Boaters can take a leisurely cruise on the Erie Canal or summer on Canandaigua Lake. The city boasts more than 11 thousand acres of parklands and includes the largest display of lilacs in the world. Canoeing, hiking, biking, picnicking, and viewing the fall foliage along the Erie Canal Heritage Trail or the Genesee River provide breathtaking views of the gorges of Letchworth Park and the beauty of the wine country of the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.

Sports fans will find something for everyone in Rochester. The Rochester Red Wings, the AAA baseball affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, and the Raging Rhinos A League Soccer team play in Frontier Field located in the heart of downtown Rochester. The Rochester Americans Hockey Club (farm team of the Buffalo Sabres) and the Rochester Nighthawks professional indoor lacrosse team both play downtown in the newly remodeled and expanded Blue Cross Arena. Western New York also is home to the National Football League's Buffalo Bills and the Major League Hockey team the Buffalo Sabres. Widely regarded as a "hot bed of golfing," Monroe County has hosted three U.S. Open Championships, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Senior Open, the 1995 Ryder Cup Matches, and an annual LPGA event. Skiing is popular and convenient, with two large downhill ski centers within 45 minutes of the city and numerous local parks featuring nordic ski trails. The Olympic facilities at Lake Placid lie to the east of Rochester in the Adirondack State Park. Rochester is the gateway to the Finger Lakes region of central upstate New York noted for its beautiful lakes, deep gorges, and numerous small wineries, making New York State one of the largest producers of wine in the country. Rochester also hosts a number of international sailing events on Lake Ontario and is a short distance from the sports car racing mecca of Watkins Glen in the beautiful Finger Lakes region.

There are many websites devoted to the City of Rochester - for more information, please explore these Rochester Links.