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Downtown - BHM. Based on pics, I don't see downtown Rochester having anything on the Ham.
Nightlife - Not sure, Rochester may have a huge nightlife scene for all I know, but the Ham isn't wanting by any stretch.
Schools (K-12) - Not sure. Inclined to give BHM the nod, and here I mean suburban BHM. Hard pressed to find better public schools out there than the likes of Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Homewood. Considering only inner city Bham schools? Then probably Rochester.
Schools (College) - BHM. UAB/Samford > U of R
Suburbs - BHM has some of the finest in the country. Don't know if Rochester has anything close to Mountain Brook.
Shopping - Not sure
Dining - BHM handedly
Crime - BHM handedly
Cost of Living - BHM handedly
Sports - Rochester. More minor league action to choose from. BHM has landed some nice exhibition events lately, and first-class college football abounds and dominates.
Downtown - BHM. Based on pics, I don't see downtown Rochester having anything on the Ham.
Nightlife - Not sure, Rochester may have a huge nightlife scene for all I know, but the Ham isn't wanting by any stretch.
Schools (K-12) - Not sure. Inclined to give BHM the nod, and here I mean suburban BHM. Hard pressed to find better public schools out there than the likes of Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Homewood. Considering only inner city Bham schools? Then probably Rochester.
Schools (College) - BHM. UAB/Samford > U of R
Suburbs - BHM has some of the finest in the country. Don't know if Rochester has anything close to Mountain Brook.
Shopping - Not sure
Dining - BHM handedly
Crime - BHM handedly
Cost of Living - BHM handedly
Sports - Rochester. More minor league action to choose from. BHM has landed some nice exhibition events lately, and first-class college football abounds and dominates.
Rochester has suburban school districts that have been nationally acclaimed.
Besides U of R, there's RIT, Roberts Wesleyan, Nazareth, St. John Fisher, SUNY-Brockport, SUNY-Geneseo and Hobart College in terms of 4 year colleges/universities in the metro.
Pittsford is the most affluent area/school district in Upstate NY.
There are several shopping malls in the Rochester area, including the very nice Eastview Mall in the growing Victor area.
Dining will depend on what you like, but you will have plenty of ethnic options in the Rochester area.
May add more later...... Birmingham has a higher crime rate in terms of a city and metro comparison. Birmingham's COL is about 8% lower or so in terms of the metro. Rochester does have minor league/lower level pro Baseball, Basketball, Soccer and Hockey, along with lower level college sports except for RIT Hockey(Division 1). Not sure about nightlife or the Downtown aspect to compare.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 08-17-2015 at 04:25 PM..
Sounds like K-12 education in the metros may be closer to equal footing, but as stated above, city proper Rochester schools are most likely much better than Bhams. I've never heard of any of those universities / colleges listed, but if you're saying Rochester has better higher ed based on sheer quantity, Bham has many more than just UAB and Samford. I know that UAB posts a decent ranking in the U.S. News poll, and its med school is one of the elite in the country. Not sure where U of R places on that list.
Affluent suburbs are probably common to both areas, so call that a wash if you'd like. Both areas share some similarities.
Sounds like K-12 education in the metros may be closer to equal footing, but as stated above, city proper Rochester schools are most likely much better than Bhams. I've never heard of any of those universities / colleges listed, but if you're saying Rochester has better higher ed based on sheer quantity, Bham has many more than just UAB and Samford. I know that UAB posts a decent ranking in the U.S. News poll, and its med school is one of the elite in the country. Not sure where U of R places on that list.
Affluent suburbs are probably common to both areas, so call that a wash if you'd like. Both areas share some similarities.
I wouldn't say Rochester has better higher ed because of quantity, but it does appear, based on admissions data, that the Rochester universities are more selective. Looking at the two universities in each city (UR and RIT in Rochester and Samford and UAB in Birmingham), the admissions requirements are noticeably tougher for the Rochester schools. The four universities are listed below in order of the selectivity/test scores. Source: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/compare-colleges
University of Rochester
Very Selective
36% of applicants admitted
SAT Scores:
Critical Reading 600-700
Math: 640-760
Writing: 610-710
ACT Composite: 29-33
Rochester Institute of Technology
Somewhat Selective
60% of applicants admitted
SAT Scores
Critical Reading 540-640
Math: 570-680
Writing: 520-630
ACT Composite: 26-31
Samford University
Somewhat Selective
60% of applicants admitted
SAT Scores
Critical Reading 510-620
Math: 500-620
Writing: 500-610
ACT Composite: 23-29
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Less Selective
86% of applicants admitted
SAT Scores
Critical Reading N/A
Math: N/A
Writing: N/A
ACT Composite: 21-27
Sounds like K-12 education in the metros may be closer to equal footing, but as stated above, city proper Rochester schools are most likely much better than Bhams. I've never heard of any of those universities / colleges listed, but if you're saying Rochester has better higher ed based on sheer quantity, Bham has many more than just UAB and Samford. I know that UAB posts a decent ranking in the U.S. News poll, and its med school is one of the elite in the country. Not sure where U of R places on that list.
Affluent suburbs are probably common to both areas, so call that a wash if you'd like. Both areas share some similarities.
I'm not sure if K-12 is a wash, as Rochester city schools are in rough shape outside of a select handful of schools. Suburban schools on the other hand are very good, with some consistently being named some of the best in the country like Brighton, Pittsford, Penfield, Fairport, Honeoye Falls-Lima and West Irondequoit.
U of R has a good medical school and there's also its very good music school in the Eastman School of Music. It also has a good optics/photonics program. Rochester Institute of Technology has very good Engineering and Hearing Impaired programs. SUNY Geneseo is consistently viewed as one of the best public/state colleges/universities in the country. So, there are quite a few highly regarded programs between the colleges/universities in the Rochester area.
Mountain Brook has a higher median household income than the Pittsford area/school district by about $29,000 more, but the median home price is about 2 times higher in Mountain Brook. Mountain Brook City School District - USA.comâ„¢
Looking into a bit more, I'm conceding that Rochester has better ed, primary and higher. I didn't realize U of R was that highly thought of / reputed. Stand by BHM having the better cityscape and food scene.
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