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I am looking for some information on cities between Buffalo and Rochester. My situation is that I am transferring to Rochester (Pittsford to be exact) within my company, but I will be travelling to Toronto and Buffalo often. I'd like to find a place to possible split my commute to work and my travel to buffalo/Toronto.
While searching I see Batavia come up a lot, but with that a lot of negative comments about this community. Plus it doesn't seem like a whole lot is going on -- correct me if I'm wrong as I've never been!
Are there any other medium sized cities in between Buffalo/Rochester? I'm looking for a place with conveniences of a city/suburb... main chain grocery stores, movie theater, maybe a mall, a few restaurants...etc.
There's really nothing else anything bigger than Batavia and like you said, not a ton going on there. How often will you actually be going to Buffalo and Toronto? I would say just live in Rochester and take advantage of all that city has to offer and deal with the commute. Even if you were to live halfway near Batavia, you'd still be commuting around 45 minutes one way every day to Pittsford, is that really worth it? The occasional drive to Buffalo really isn't that bad, and you could look into taking Amtrak to Toronto to see if that would work better for you over driving.
There's really nothing else anything bigger than Batavia and like you said, not a ton going on there. How often will you actually be going to Buffalo and Toronto? I would say just live in Rochester and take advantage of all that city has to offer and deal with the commute. Even if you were to live halfway near Batavia, you'd still be commuting around 45 minutes one way every day to Pittsford, is that really worth it? The occasional drive to Buffalo really isn't that bad, and you could look into taking Amtrak to Toronto to see if that would work better for you over driving.
^This and perhaps, if you want to lesser the commute to Buffalo, look at communities to the SW of Rochester like the Churchville-Chili area or even the Wheatland-Chili area. This way, you are on the other side of Rochester towards buffalo, but you still can have a reasonable commute to Pittsford.
I worked in Batavia for 25 years before retiring. There is not much to do there at all. I would recommend you settle in the western Rochester suburbs since its only an extra 20-25 minutes to Buffalo tops.
I'll be going to Buffalo/Toronto every other weekend so I was trying to cut down the commute either way. I'm starting to think it might be better to have a short work commute and just deal with the longer travel time on the weekends. I do a 40 minute commute now so that would be about my max daily commute that I'd want to do.
Churchville seems to be a good option. A decent work commute and cuts down the buffalo stretch a little bit. It also looks really nice, but pretty small. Are there any cities nearby with restaurants, malls, theaters, etc?
Are either of you familiar with Churchville? Is it a nice community? I hate to ask, but growing up in a small town I know it's hit and miss depending on the area, but would there be any race issues or is everyone pretty accepting?
What would you say is a realistic drive time from Churchville to Buffalo Niagara Airport? Google maps says 48 minutes, does that sound about right on a typical day?
And Churchville to Toronto on google maps says 2 hours 36 minutes....throw in time for border crossing... Does that sound realistic?
I'll be going to Buffalo/Toronto every other weekend so I was trying to cut down the commute either way. I'm starting to think it might be better to have a short work commute and just deal with the longer travel time on the weekends. I do a 40 minute commute now so that would be about my max daily commute that I'd want to do.
Churchville seems to be a good option. A decent work commute and cuts down the buffalo stretch a little bit. It also looks really nice, but pretty small. Are there any cities nearby with restaurants, malls, theaters, etc?
Are either of you familiar with Churchville? Is it a nice community? I hate to ask, but growing up in a small town I know it's hit and miss depending on the area, but would there be any race issues or is everyone pretty accepting?
What would you say is a realistic drive time from Churchville to Buffalo Niagara Airport? Google maps says 48 minutes, does that sound about right on a typical day?
And Churchville to Toronto on google maps says 2 hours 36 minutes....throw in time for border crossing... Does that sound realistic?
Thanks again.
You could live in the Chili portion of the Churchville-Chili area and that puts you close (enough) to shopping in that town or Henrietta. Here is a map of the school district: Churchville-Chili Central School District - USA.comâ„¢
There are people of color in the district and the drive times sound about right.
I'll be going to Buffalo/Toronto every other weekend so I was trying to cut down the commute either way. I'm starting to think it might be better to have a short work commute and just deal with the longer travel time on the weekends. I do a 40 minute commute now so that would be about my max daily commute that I'd want to do.
Churchville seems to be a good option. A decent work commute and cuts down the buffalo stretch a little bit. It also looks really nice, but pretty small. Are there any cities nearby with restaurants, malls, theaters, etc?
Are either of you familiar with Churchville? Is it a nice community? I hate to ask, but growing up in a small town I know it's hit and miss depending on the area, but would there be any race issues or is everyone pretty accepting?
What would you say is a realistic drive time from Churchville to Buffalo Niagara Airport? Google maps says 48 minutes, does that sound about right on a typical day?
And Churchville to Toronto on google maps says 2 hours 36 minutes....throw in time for border crossing... Does that sound realistic?
Thanks again.
I'd move a little closer to Pittsford personally if you have no particular desire for a place like Churchville other than it being slightly closer to Buffalo. Just do the math(I'll use Henrietta as an example):
So you'd be saving yourself 30 minutes every single day to drive an extra 20 minutes round trip every 2 weeks. That's somewhere in the ball park of 8-10 hours a month if I did my math right. Also keep in mind that Churchville to Pittsford will generally take 490 which will see much more traffic than if you live closer and can stick to main roads, and highways in the winter can get slowed down quite a bit if it's snowing.
Just my opinion, but I've seen people do this "live in the middle" thing before and it never really made sense to me in most situations. Henrietta definitely doesn't have a "town center" that I know of like Churchville and other towns do, but if you don't mind driving to things it has the mall, restaurants, movie theater, etc. And you can easily drive to other towns if you want to do something different.
I will also point out, since you seem pretty unfamiliar with the area, that no matter what suburb of Rochester you pick you'll always be 15-20 minutes away from a bunch of other town/suburbs with stuff to do. So I wouldn't worry too much about being bored if you're up for going out and looking for activities. You also aren't far from downtown, 15-30 minutes depending on where you are, and there are plenty of restaurants and bars down there to visit.
I don't know if someone can move this to the Rochester forum, but it's probably more appropriate over there.
I'd move a little closer to Pittsford personally if you have no particular desire for a place like Churchville other than it being slightly closer to Buffalo. Just do the math(I'll use Henrietta as an example):
So you'd be saving yourself 30 minutes every single day to drive an extra 20 minutes round trip every 2 weeks. That's somewhere in the ball park of 8-10 hours a month if I did my math right. Also keep in mind that Churchville to Pittsford will generally take 490 which will see much more traffic than if you live closer and can stick to main roads, and highways in the winter can get slowed down quite a bit if it's snowing.
Just my opinion, but I've seen people do this "live in the middle" thing before and it never really made sense to me in most situations. Henrietta definitely doesn't have a "town center" that I know of like Churchville and other towns do, but if you don't mind driving to things it has the mall, restaurants, movie theater, etc. And you can easily drive to other towns if you want to do something different.
I will also point out, since you seem pretty unfamiliar with the area, that no matter what suburb of Rochester you pick you'll always be 15-20 minutes away from a bunch of other town/suburbs with stuff to do. So I wouldn't worry too much about being bored if you're up for going out and looking for activities. You also aren't far from downtown, 15-30 minutes depending on where you are, and there are plenty of restaurants and bars down there to visit.
I don't know if someone can move this to the Rochester forum, but it's probably more appropriate over there.
Couldn't the OP take Route 252(Jefferson Rd) from the Chili portion of the Churchville-Chili area to Pittsford?
Also, Henrietta is east of the Churchville area and wouldn't it take longer from there to get to Buffalo's airport?
Couldn't the OP take Route 252(Jefferson Rd) from the Chili portion of the Churchville-Chili area to Pittsford?
Also, Henrietta is east of the Churchville area and wouldn't it take longer from there to get to Buffalo's airport?
You could take Jefferson but it's still 35 minutes on a good day, it might be faster than the highways in bad weather but it's still not a short commute.
Henrietta is more east, but also south and very convenient to get on the thruway there. Like I said, it's a 10-15 minute difference tops and when you add up total commute time, you save time/gas money/car wear and tear living closer to work.
Whatever you do, avoid Buffalo! This is a horrific city that is so annoying. Lots of incompetence with little accountability. What's happened is that the locals are so ashamed of it that they distance themselves from reality and create their own fantasy that Buffalo is a wonderful place. Can't blame them, it's either that or face the horrors of the realities of being here. The problem is, and this is SO important, most people have not seen better to know better. Many delude themselves into thinking Buffalo is better than what it really is because they are stuck here for family or job and don't want to admit that there are so many flaws. Just you don't believe it. Did you know that Buffalo has among the highest murder rates in the US? That it was voted The Rudest City in America a few years ago (search for this online)? That the education and politics here are very poor, and that there hasn't been a major sports team winner here since 1965 (almost as bad as Cleveland's 1964 but that could change soon, at least Cleveland has competitive teams such as the Indians and Cavaliers)? That there is currently an investigation into how the "Buffalo Billion (Dollars)" given by the governor is being spent (or pocketed)? Check the facts and then decide. The average person here is pleasant enough but is very suspicious of outsiders. They often ask where you're from. Don't tell them! Their demeanor (emphasis MEAN) changes as soon as you say you are not from here. You are branded some sort of alien who hates Buffalo and will make fun of it. You'll get this weird vibe. It's not you, it's them! Just know that. Keep in close contact with the people you know best, not the people here. There are a few nice ones, but in general this place is warped. I've met some of the weirdest people ever here who have said and believe some of the stupidest things ever. This is a place you pass through only. Get some chicken wings and be on your way to a better place. I repeat that you should read the objective survey about Buffalo being the rudest city. Google it right after reading this. People here never want to discuss this or are dismissive of it. Another lack of recognizing reality. You be better and smarter. Don't believe that the city is booming. Canalside added a few planks of wood and has some free concerts. Other cities have the same and better. Come back to Buffalo in 50 years and maybe it will really change. The best thing about it then might be that with global warming this will be the opposite of a hot spot and get people coming here for the coolness (that is, weather, not anything else like the art they think is so good here but is terrible). Until then, just about anywhere else is better than this place.
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