Is Rochester Gloomy and Boring? (Brighton, Monroe: 2010, college, live in)

[gernthefish]

I grew up in Rochester and moved to NC 17 years ago. People down here still call me a yankee. I continuously make comparisions between the 2 areas:

Weather - The nod goes to NC. There are many days in the winter that I play golf or wear shorts, but summers down here definitely suck! I really miss cooler, more comfortable summer temperatures. If you don't have AC, you're in a world of hurt. On weak moments, I even miss snow.
Food - A slight edge to the south. I miss white hots, Wegmans and Nick Tahou's, but now I have biscuits, grits, sweet tea and barbecue (here it's a noun - not a verb). I'll trade you a Wegmans for a Biscuitville (you won't be sorry).
People - I have lots of southern friends, but I prefer notherners in general. People down here are more outwardly friendly to strangers, but they also can be a little fake at times. They don't like to rock the boat and that gets a little annoying. You don't know what people are really thinking.
Entertainment - Edge to Rochester. Museums, lakes, rivers, wineries, day trips, and night life all slightly better up there (especially night life). In my area (the Piedmont Triad), everything is "family oriented". So it's probably not the place to be if your single. This is probably not the case in bigger cities like Charlotte or Atlanta.

[Handsome Stranger]

I was back in Rochester for a visit last month. Yep, it was still cloudy, snowing and cold, but the people are friendly and the way the people drive is exceptional. They use turn signals, stop at stop lights, let you cut in...not like other places in the US. Great shopping at Wegmans...I miss that place..

[cheese9988]

Originally Posted by barb38

I have lived in Rochester all my life 41 years and I hate it. the weather sucks you may get 3 months of nice summer weather if your lucky. don't live in the city to many killings,drugs lots of people with BAD attitudes and the kids have no respect for adults. I live in the suburb of Greece which isn't bad nice neighborhoods and schools. but Rochester is boring inless its summer time than you have festivals, carnivals,park ave fest. I would not move here and I am glad I am finally getting out of here!!

I moved here a couple years ago and unless you park yourself in front of the tv all day, there is still alot to do even in the middle of winter.

Crime might not be bad everywhere, but name one place that doesn't have crime and drugs? My wife grew up in a small town and drugs ran rampid there.

Last spring it went directly from 40deg to 80deg in April (a little to dramatic for me). Summer for me lasts from May until Sept up here. I was camping in the 1000 Islands last May, so it was definetely warm enough. So thats five months of warm weather and then you get into fall which is my favorite season. Its cool and you get the foliage before heading into the holidays.

[notasmoker]

Originally Posted by waveroks

If you really love Alabama, maybe Rochester will be gloomy and boring from what ol' granpappy told you about the Yankees as a child.

It is cloudy way more days out of the year than anywhere I experienced in the south. This is probably the reason why everyone is very pastey and casper the freindly ghost like. But we love it, and it makes you appreciate the days you do see the sun.

Here are some other points you might want to think about being a southern loving type:
1. The town is filled with Yankees, and the worst kind, the ones that don't care about the civil war or have much understanding of its history. In fact, our city was pretty much the last stop on the underground railroad and home of Fredrick Douglass, so we were a huge proponent in sparking anti-succession and abolition of slavery (oh and the civil war was not a war for "states rights" like I kept hearing down there).
2. People will talk to you. If you don't want to spark a complete conversation with a random person in a grocery store for no apparent reason what so ever, then this town is not the feel you'd like. Southerners are still into that whole "segregation, but not segregation" feel. I mean up in Rochester, people of all paths in life will just be-friend you for no reason and they do it in a friendly no strings attached way <gasp my heavens>.
3. People are not as interested in Sports as reading books and politics. You don't just find the tail-gating drink fests in this town as you do in the south. Nobody gives a hoot about college sports either... its NFL, but since the Buffalo Bills are the closest team... the feel is dwindling and it shows. People get much more fired up about civil-social issues than they do about what the score was last sunday.
4. The town is clean. This may sound GREAT but you may miss seeing the trash along the highway and car free garbage throwing-aways as you did in the south. I mean, we get fined if we don't recycle good enough for our garbage needs. We also get 5cents back for our "pop" (not Coke) cans... it brings your dad to grumble and moan at the sight of you forgetting and putting the can in the garbage (example "John, dammit, where is your head, you just put that W-PoP can in the garbage... put it in the pop can garbage you twit"). The plus side to all of this is that when your walking . down the street, you don't walk through others waste.
5. We Sin, and we don't care!!! The city is prominently Italian/German/Irish Catholic and it shows. We drink and we don't care, nor think about, how God may be frowning on us. Everyone puts their family's skeletons on the table and nobody judges eachother about it... GASP MY HEAVENS. Its like no big deal that your cousin came home with a random child with an unknown race mix at christmas... oh that is just how cousin Betty rolls. Furthermore, you just don't see Baptist church signs on the road stating "Davinci, should have read Da Bible" or "Pray now, or DEATH!!!" anywhere.

well I hope you get a better understanding of the differences and enjoy.

Great response...rep!

[I'minformed2]

Originally Posted by lovebrentwood

I moved 16 years ago from Rochester to Raleigh, and I've never seen a piece of writing (quoted below) that has captured so well the differences between living in the north and the south. Great job!

I've always said that people in Rochester are VERY friendly, and they are.

If Rochester had just a few more days of sun (sadly, impossible), a few more job opportunities, and the real estate taxes of Raleigh (VERY low in comparison to Rochester), I think Rochester would be BOOMING. A lot of people wouldn't even think about moving if the taxes weren't so high.

I miss so much about it and enjoy coming back to visit, especially in the surrounding areas.

It's tiresome to read about so many people (on the NC side of this board) talk about moving to Raleigh. North Carolina's unemployment rate, at 9.7 percent, is now SIXTH highest in the COUNTRY. So it's certainly NOT the place to be anymore.

I miss Rochester. It has a lot going for it. I wish everyone was moving there.

Lovesbrentwood I appreciate your sentiment really I do...except for that last part, I DO NOT want Rochester to be the place everyone was moving (like Raleigh is now) it would break my heart to see this community go through the same kind of transformation into an overcrowded transient place like many parts of the triangle have had happen.

[NYGirl1216]

Originally Posted by I'minformed2

Lovesbrentwood I appreciate your sentiment really I do...except for that last part, I DO NOT want Rochester to be the place everyone was moving (like Raleigh is now) it would break my heart to see this community go through the same kind of transformation into an overcrowded transient place like many parts of the triangle have had happen.

I think that applies to most of the south. The area is quickly becoming overpopulated. In GA, it is estimated that 500 people per day relocate here - it may be less now with our soaring unemployment rate. I feel bad for the natives that have watched their hometowns be destroyed (higher cost of living, traffic, higher taxes, loss of small town feel, etc.) I live in a rural community where there are trailer parks surrounded by $500,000 new subdivisions (where most transplants reside).

I'minformed2 - I love that description "transient". A transplant here in GA said that he believed that most transplants "pimp" the city for what they can get and then move on to what's next. I never thought about it that way, but it makes sense.

[I'minformed2]

yep...pretty much exactly I'd sum up what I notice as well. Its really sad for BOTH regions actually. The north is getting the image of the "unlivable" place that everyone should leave and is facing shrinking tax bases and abandoned neighborhoods; while the south is getting overcrowded, more expensive, and losing all sense of community and familiarity in many of its towns.

[COUNTRYFRIED]

Originally Posted by NYGirl1216

I think that applies to most of the south. The area is quickly becoming overpopulated. In GA, it is estimated that 500 people per day relocate here - it may be less now with our soaring unemployment rate. I feel bad for the natives that have watched their hometowns be destroyed (higher cost of living, traffic, higher taxes, loss of small town feel, etc.) I live in a rural community where there are trailer parks surrounded by $500,000 new subdivisions (where most transplants reside).

I'minformed2 - I love that description "transient". A transplant here in GA said that he believed that most transplants "pimp" the city for what they can get and then move on to what's next. I never thought about it that way, but it makes sense.

NYGIRL what part in Georgia do you live if ya don't mind me asking. You described whats happening to Georgia very well and I hope and I doubt it ever will happen to Rochester especially in the rural Western New York towns. My girlfriends from Alabama and Im in Georgia and we actually are considering moving to some small country town Up North. Whats happening to Georgia and other southern states just sucks.

[NYGirl1216]

Originally Posted by COUNTRYFRIED

NYGIRL what part in Georgia do you live if ya don't mind me asking. You described whats happening to Georgia very well and I hope and I doubt it ever will happen to Rochester especially in the rural Western New York towns. My girlfriends from Alabama and Im in Georgia and we actually are considering moving to some small country town Up North. Whats happening to Georgia and other southern states just sucks.

We live in Paulding County about 1 hour from downtown Atlanta. It's a semi-rural area that's suffering the consequences of rapid growth. I've noticed more wooded areas are being demolished for the sake of additional strip malls & cookie cutter subdivisions (many are vacant due to the economy). The local & state governments do nothing to stop the endless development. When is it too much? I've only lived in Georgia for 2 years and the changes are palpable. I'm concerned that GA & NC are becoming the next Florida. I'm surprised that transplants move here for a lower cost of living, but I'd like to warn them that "low cost of living" is becoming increasingly unaffordable.

I've learned a few lessons from my relocation to the south. The first is that not everyone will have the same experience. Some people rave about how much they love it here...traffic, ooc crime, overcrowding, poor air quality, drought, etc., it doesn't bother them. But, I'm at my breaking point. Also, "low cost of living", doesn't necessarily guarantee "quality of life". I'm ready to pay higher taxes & endure long winters just to have "peace of mind".

[COUNTRYFRIED]

Originally Posted by NYGirl1216

We live in Paulding County about 1 hour from downtown Atlanta. It's a semi-rural area that's suffering the consequences of rapid growth. I've noticed more wooded areas are being demolished for the sake of additional strip malls & cookie cutter subdivisions (many are vacant due to the economy). The local & state governments do nothing to stop the endless development. When is it too much? I've only lived in Georgia for 2 years and the changes are palpable. I'm concerned that GA & NC are becoming the next Florida. I'm surprised that transplants move here for a lower cost of living, but I'd like to warn them that "low cost of living" is becoming increasingly unaffordable.

I've learned a few lessons from my relocation to the south. The first is that not everyone will have the same experience. Some people rave about how much they love it here...traffic, ooc crime, overcrowding, poor air quality, drought, etc., it doesn't bother them. But, I'm at my breaking point. Also, "low cost of living", doesn't necessarily guarantee "quality of life". I'm ready to pay higher taxes & endure long winters just to have "peace of mind".

Thanks for the answer and I agree with ya. I live North of you and its even worse here. What were once farms are now awful subdivisions that are full of people who came for a so called lower cost of living. I have some friends that moved down here from Western New York and are moving back. They said its preety much what you said at the end of your post.