Visiting Rochester (New York, Utica, Henrietta: hotel, travel, university)

[Maineah]

Hi NY forum folks,

I will be travelling to the Rochester area next month to visit colleges with my son. Are there any areas in the city I should avoid or make sure we see on our trip?

Thanks

Maineah

[skbs]

Avoid the North side of the city- you can get into bad parts pretty easily if you don't know where you are going. Where is he looking for school? I grew up and went to college here- he might want to see Alexander St/East End/Monroe Ave... that is where the college kids go on weekends- bars and clubs. The old Java Joe's is down on Gibbs Street and tends to be a hang out (I can't remember the new name- but everyone knows it if you say Java Joes). Park Ave is another trendy College area- dining, cafes, some shops- but most college kids live in that area if they are renting off campus.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by skbs

Avoid the North side of the city- you can get into bad parts pretty easily if you don't know where you are going. Where is he looking for school? I grew up and went to college here- he might want to see Alexander St/East End/Monroe Ave... that is where the college kids go on weekends- bars and clubs. The old Java Joe's is down on Gibbs Street and tends to be a hang out (I can't remember the new name- but everyone knows it if you say Java Joes). Park Ave is another trendy College area- dining, cafes, some shops- but most college kids live in that area if they are renting off campus.

He's going to look at Ithaca college and Alfred Collegs. We're staying in Rochester over night and wanted to be sure we didn't stay in a bad part of town. Thanks for the tips!

[MovesAlot]

Originally Posted by Maineah

He's going to look at Ithaca college and Alfred Collegs. We're staying in Rochester over night and wanted to be sure we didn't stay in a bad part of town. Thanks for the tips!

Rochester is a pretty far drive from Alfred and Ithaca.....You should probably stay in a hotel in maybe Henrietta (south of Rochester) just off 390 expressway.

[skbs]

Originally Posted by MovesAlot

Rochester is a pretty far drive from Alfred and Ithaca.....You should probably stay in a hotel in maybe Henrietta (south of Rochester) just off 390 expressway.

I agree. Your son will not get to Rochester often enough to care about East End or Park Ave... They would be more apt to focus any time here in Henrietta.

[moughie]

Originally Posted by Maineah

He's going to look at Ithaca college and Alfred Collegs. We're staying in Rochester over night and wanted to be sure we didn't stay in a bad part of town. Thanks for the tips!

Hey Maineah!
My eldest and I went to upstate New York last Spring to look at colleges in March. We spent a night in Ithaca and another in Utica. Beware of freak late snow showers and storms. We were caught off guard!
I remember ( from 20 years ago) the drive to SUNY Alfred being quite long and rural. SUNY Alfred has a good ceramics engineering program ( or at least used to).
Rochester is lovely- if you have a chance check out the Finger Lakes too- Canandaigua Lake ( outside of Rochester) is quite nice. Ithaca is awesome- alot of tasty restaurants. If you enjoy birds, check out Sapsucker Woods ( part of Cornell University).

[jbertol2]

It's about a 75 minute ride from Henrietta to Alfred, and probably 90 minutes to Ithaca. If you're going to be visiting Alfred College and Ithaca College, I would recommend staying somewhere along 390, such as Dansville, Corning, or Bath, which are all right in between Alfred and Ithaca. Or maybe even stay in Ithaca itself--it's quite a nice little city.

Is your son interested in any schools in Rochester? I'm a junior (chemistry major, economics minor) at the University of Rochester, and have friends at Alfred, Ithaca, Nazareth, RIT, Fisher, Geneseo, Brockport, etc. I've also been to pretty much all of the schools in the area at one time or another (including Alfred and Ithaca), so if you have any questions feel free to ask!

[Maineah]

Thank you to everyone for responding to my inquiry about staying in Rochester. We were going to fly to Rochester out of Portland so that is why I was wondering about staying there. We have decided to drive now and stay closer to Alfred College. He was accepted to Ithaca and Alfred so these two schools were going to be our first visits and about all we can fit in to a single weekend.