Memories of Rochester.... (Gates, Fairport, Champion: apartment, university, tax)

[GT350]

Well, with all the bad news topics on here, I thought I'd post a topic of good times/memories from Rochester while I lived there years ago. I was a Gates Chili 1976 grad, I left right after that. My parents still live there along with a bunch a friends.

Things I remember:

Genesee Cream Ale
White Hots
Lakeshore Rinks Skate n Shoot
The Varsity Inn
Abbotts
The Wine Cellar
Parking at the Airport
Amerk Games
Kodak bonus checks
Wegmans
Ackermans
Watkins Glen State Park
Champion Outlet store
Shakeys Pizza

[12buttons]

Originally Posted by GT350

Well, with all the bad news topics on here, I thought I'd post a topic of good times/memories from Rochester while I lived there years ago. I was a Gates Chili 1976 grad, I left right after that. My parents still live there along with a bunch a friends.

Things I remember:

Genesee Cream Ale
White Hots
Lakeshore Rinks Skate n Shoot
The Varsity Inn
Abbotts
The Wine Cellar
Parking at the Airport
Amerk Games
Kodak bonus checks
Wegmans
Ackermans
Watkins Glen State Park
Champion Outlet store
Shakeys Pizza

The Shakespeare
The Greasy Spoon next to Eastman
the old practice rooms at same
touch football on University Avenue in the Fall!
old apartment on Meigs
driving thru 30 feet of snow in my old Volvo..NOT!
shopping at Sibley's
picnics in Letchworth

[Muggy]

The monorail at midtown during the holidays!

[I'minformed2]

midtown is full of memores...but they are memories....they're tearing to down to move the headquarters of a booming high tech telecommunications firm to a brand new skyscraper that will stand in midtowns place. All of us that were kids in Rochester in the 60's and 70's will always have fond memores of Midtown, especially around Christmas time; and I'm definitely just as seintimental as the next guy; but its time to move on and look towards the brighter future of downtown that comes with the leveling of midtown.

[Ghanley]

Originally Posted by I'minformed2

midtown is full of memores...but they are memories....they're tearing to down to move the headquarters of a booming high tech telecommunications firm to a brand new skyscraper that will stand in midtowns place. All of us that were kids in Rochester in the 60's and 70's will always have fond memores of Midtown, especially around Christmas time; and I'm definitely just as seintimental as the next guy; but its time to move on and look towards the brighter future of downtown that comes with the leveling of midtown.

What is the high tech telecommunications firm?

[I'minformed2]

PAETEC.....its moving its headquarters from Fairport/Perinton to downtown Rochester...it was the biggest news this fall. They expect to add 600 more employees when they move to the new headquarters as well...

PAETEC to move its HQ downtown, bringing along hundreds of jobs


Matthew Daneman, Mary Chao and Steve Orr
Staff writers

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October 17, 2007 4:17 am — Midtown Plaza — six buildings in the heart of Rochester marked by empty storefronts and vacant offices — will be demolished to make way for a new headquarters for the growing telecommunications company PAETEC.
PAETEC Holding Corp. founder and Chief Executive Arunas Chesonis, who during the summer initiated the idea of moving his company from Perinton to downtown, said he hopes to have the new building up and occupied in as little as four years. PAETEC has about 600 workers in a Route 96 office park and has been growing by about 100 people a year. By the time the company moves downtown, it could be bringing 1,000 to 1,200 jobs, Chesonis said.



here's the full article...
http://http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/NEWS01/710170351 (broken link)

[shibainu]

At what price is it worth to add a supposed 400-600 jobs.(you can never forecast accurately 4 or 5 years.) So far it is suggested that the state will pay 50 million dollars to demo the building. And that is not including tax breaks. Oh does any one know what these new jobs pay. My guess is $12 dollars an hr Call center job.
Rochester Business Journal
Paetec is only growing by acquiring companies. In the last 4 years they have merged with 1 company and acquired 2 others. They are going to acquire 2 more this year. This looks like they can not grow by themselves. I think this is another bad attempt by the city to save itself. Sad thing is that they did not go after a new company that is not from the area.
It is like asking wegmans to move its operations from brooks ave to downtown. Again this just shows how desperate the cities is to find companies to stay.

[IfULivedHere]

That's great GT. My old buddies and I (most of whom have moved away) have the same thing going, except we're a little younger, not much has changed though:

Nick and the Nice Guys
Pontillos
"All roads, all roads lead to Marketplace Mall"
"Eastview mall just around the corner"
The Can-of-Worms
House of Guitars
"For service, selection, and price so low - the record achrive is the place to go."
Empire Hots
Nick Tahou's

[garmin239]

Originally Posted by shibainu

At what price is it worth to add a supposed 400-600 jobs.(you can never forecast accurately 4 or 5 years.) So far it is suggested that the state will pay 50 million dollars to demo the building. And that is not including tax breaks. Oh does any one know what these new jobs pay. My guess is $12 dollars an hr Call center job.
Rochester Business Journal
Paetec is only growing by acquiring companies. In the last 4 years they have merged with 1 company and acquired 2 others. They are going to acquire 2 more this year. This looks like they can not grow by themselves. I think this is another bad attempt by the city to save itself. Sad thing is that they did not go after a new company that is not from the area.
It is like asking wegmans to move its operations from brooks ave to downtown. Again this just shows how desperate the cities is to find companies to stay.

How do you know these will be call center jobs? You put a negative spin on everything.
This will be their corporate headquarters. They will most likely be corporate type jobs, not low level call center jobs. 400-600 jobs is a great boost. So what if they offer tax breaks? Thats how other cities do it. And how do you know that their only growth is from acquiring other companies?

[I'minformed2]

The project will bring several thousand more people downtown everyday....and with that, the demand for more shops, earteries, and housing. PAETEC has a majority of younger employees in their 20's/early 30's, many of which would probably choose to live downtown when their offices are moved there. So lets see a decaying empty (and ugly) mall that is generating no revenue and helping downtown not at all....or a thriving business in a nice new skyscraper (certain plans for the new hq building would be 30-35 stories..making it the new tallest building in Rochester, a major addition to the skyline) with a young workforce who will spend their money and likely live downtown?...tough choice.