The City of Rochester, New York
Located in upstate New York, near Lake Ontario, Rochester was one of ten communities in the nation to receive, in 1998, the All America City Award as a great place to live. We’re the third largest urban area in New York State, with a population of just over 1,000,000, including about 240,000 in the city itself. Rochester offers gorgeous scenery, a comfortable, relaxed lifestyle, and everything from sophisticated theater, music, art and museums, to attractions for children and families – plus an world-wide reputation as a center for high technology research and development.
The city itself is a pleasant blend of traditional and contemporary styles. Picturesque Park Avenue has a European flavor in warm weather months when café tables on the sidewalks immediately fill with people. Nestled along tree-lined streets of charming old houses are a variety of boutiques and specialty shops, restaurants, and a park. There are numerous suburban malls and plazas with a variety of department stores. But there’s also the Public Market offering fresh produce, fish and meat, plus ethnic delicacies, dry
goods, crafts and more, year round.
Our outstanding museums include the Strong Museum, one of the top ten children’s museums in the country, with 500,000 objects including the world’s largest collection of historical dolls and toys, plus hands-on activities and a variety of temporary exhibits. The Rochester Museum and Science Center with its Strasenburgh Planetarium lets the entire family explore science and technology, the natural environment, the universe and our region’s cultural heritage. The Genesee Country Museum is a restored early American settlement featuring over 50 buildings, ranging from small log cabins to Victorian mansions; live presentations depict 18th and 19th century arts, crafts, and everyday activities.
Movie theaters, including an IMAX theater, and live theatres such as our local professional repertory company, the Geva Theater, are scattered throughout the area. The Dryden Theater, at the George Eastman House, offers a series of film classics rivaled only by a similar series in Paris.
Rochester is home to an International League baseball team, the Rochester Red Wings, and an American League hockey team, the Rochester Americans (the “Amerks”). Professional soccer, the Rochester Rhinos and lacrosse, the Knighthawks, are the most recent additions to the Rochester sport scene and to
Frontier Field Stadium. Rochester is also a permanent stop on the Ladies’ Professional Golfing Association tour each summer and our superb golf courses periodically host other major tournaments such as the Ryder Cup and the U.S. Open.
We’re famous for our four seasons. Spring is ushered in with the internationally known Lilac Festival, celebrating the area’s famed lilacs in Highland Park, only minutes from the Medical Center. The warm, pleasant summers allow us to enjoy weekend festivals in the city and the breathtaking beauty of the surrounding countryside. Letchworth State Park, often called “the Grand Canyon of the East,” boasts spectacular deep gorges, thundering waterfalls and white water rafting. Fall brings a different kind of
beauty as the foliage becomes a panorama of yellow, red, gold, green and orange, and the area. Lake Ontario temporizes winter’s chill, and, instead of slowing us down, our annual snowfall of over 90 inches provides a beautiful backdrop for the holiday season.
For cultural life and educational resources, for sporting and outdoor activities, Rochester offers some of the best. It’s a lively and livable community.