Need positive reminders about Rochester area (Niagara Falls, Lancaster: house, neighborhood, theater)

[kitty71]

Hey there - I am starting to have a slow, steady panic about our upcoming move to Webster (suburb of Rochester).

We moved to Lancaster County 6 years ago from Western Canada - and now we are moving again, I'm feeling very worried.

All of a sudden I'm looking around me thinking that I'm going to miss so much - even things I might initially have complained about. The weather here is definitely much better - but also the vegetation is so rich and lush compared to what I'm used to and likely compared to where I'm going. This area of PA has more mid-atlantic weather, very mild, humid etc. - nothing like northern PA.

Are there cherry and pear blossoms blooming in upstate NY right now? It is green? Are things starting to fill out and look beautiful?

Up until now I have been nothing but excited - we are moving into a great home, more upscale than we have here, but the neighborhood is extremely suburban whereas where I live now would be called rural - we back on to Amish farmland.

I'm scared! Any POSITIVE comments would be helpful, particularly if you have been in the same situation - moving from somewhere quite different! Remind me why, again, of the positive reasons to move to the Rochester area!! PLEASE !

[warm heatherette]

Well, I'm not overly familiar with the Rochester area, but we own a weekend home in Medina, NY, which is half way between Rochester and Niagara Falls, and the weather is similar. Fruit tree blossoms aren't out yet, but it's just a matter of a week or two. Most trees are budding, ready to pop. Tulips, daffies, hyacinths and other spring bulbs are in full bloom right now - lovely. Everything is green, and spring is definitely in the air. Garden centres are open and stocking up. Many people are already out puttering in their gardens, getting ready for planting.

There hasn't been a lot of rain, so it's been pretty good conditions for walking and hiking. Nice times for quiet walks along the beaches of Lake Ontario. There's many state parks to explore along the shoreline within close proximity of Rochester.

The Erie Canal was filled with water last week - that's a definite sign of the area gearing up for summer, with the pleasures of cruising & boating.

You couldn't pick a better time than May to be moving to Rochester. The Lilac Festival is scheduled for May 11 & 19, and I understand that the city parks come alive with pinks, purples and whites and the heady scent of thousands of lilacs. There's a great entertainment line up this year for the Festival, with kid's activities, art and craft shows, etc.

And just as the lilac celebrations fade, get ready for the International Jazz Festival week in June. The entertainment line-up for that is absolutely spectactular - free and paid events - non-stop jazz and blues, morning to night for a week, in venues all over town, paired with an international food extravaganza. Definitely something to plan and look forward to.

You can check on-line for details about both festivals.

There now...does that make you feel a bit better?

Happy Move!

[I'minformed2]

althought it doesn't have much to do with the wather.....this article from Rochester's newspaper today (the Democrat & Chronicle) might be a little reassuring. Rochester was just ranked one of the top 10 metro areas (out of over 370) in the country to live in....

http://democratandchronicle.com/apps...EWS01/70426001

Rochester rated 6th-most livable U.S. city


Staff report


Post Comment
April 26, 2007 11:42 am — Has Rochester's generally miserable weather over the past month left you feeling a bit depressed? Well, it doesn't matter now, because one certain travel publisher LIKES our town, no matter how gray the skies might be.

Rochester will be ranked as America's sixth-most livable city in the upcoming 25th anniversary edition of Places Rated Almanac, according to its Web site, www.placesrated.com.

There are 379 officially-defined metropolitan areas. Four out of five of us live in one of them.

Each of those metro areas is rated and ranked using nine factors that influence the quality of a place: ambience, housing, the local economy, transportation, education, health care, crime, recreation, and climate.

For example, the “ambience” category includes such factors as good restaurants and bookstores, historic districts, cultural and artistic assets, and “people” features like diversity and politics that contribute to a place’s look and feel.

The “transportation” category assesses commuting time, public transit and how easy it is to get into and out of each metro area by air, rail and Interstate highway.

Here are the Top 10 rankings:

1. Pittsburgh, PA
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Seattle, WA
4. Portland, OR
5. Philadelphia, PA
6. Rochester, NY
7. Washington, DC
8. San Jose-Sunnyvale, CA
9. Boston, MA
10. Madison, WI

Granted, you live relatively close to Philadelphia PA right now, which is ranked one above Rochester.....but 6th place is still nothing to shake a stick at.

[xamsx]

I was in the Rochester area yesterday - spring has sprung and things seem to be greening up.

[kitty71]

Well, thanks very much, folks It does help to hear these things. I'm sure that you have all moved, and as the moving date approaches you start to question whether or not you are doing the right thing (well, unless you are someone who never questions your own decisions )

The festivals sound great - I'm particularly excited by the Jazz festival. We aren't actually going to be there quite yet for the Lilac festival (see, I'm spazzing about all this and we still have another 2 months or so before the "official" move). And what we miss this year, well, we'll be around for next year.

That is very cool that Rochester is #6 of places to live. Although we do live relatively close to Philly, that 1.5 hour drive doesn't happen for us nearly as much as we'd like it to, especially with two little kids. So, we are MUCH closer to the city of Rochester where we are going to be moving.

Thanks again - and anyone else with more, feel free to post away!

[Prevarications]

I have lived in Rochester (actually a suburb called Chili), for close to 7 years now. I moved here from a very small town in Maine of about maybe 3000 people. It was a huge change for me. At first I was very frightened of the highway system out here (the 390, 490, 590, 104, and the I90) all run through, and nearby the city.

I love the Rochester area. It is a great place to raise a family. First of all we have the 2nd largest children's museum in the country right now. Strong children's museum just re-opened its doors after a massive expansion last summer. Check out the link for the museum here: http://www.strongmuseum.org/. We also have a great science museum for the older children: http://www.rmsc.org/. And we also have a great zoo (in fact I was there this morning on a feild trip for my 5 year old's pre-school): http://senecaparkzoo.org/. Also check out: http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/ this is a great resource for local parks, and restaraunts that are very kid friendly!!!

We have an awesome cultural community as well with the Geva theatre downtown (every Christmas they put on a great show with a Christmas Carol.) And this was the first year that my children were old enough to enjoy the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra/ Rochester City Ballet's Nutcracker performance! We have also had a lot of big name musicians come to the Blue Cross arena for concerts (Cher, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, etc...)

It seems like there is always something to do out here.


And yes, I was just out in my yard this morning, and my tulips are about to bloom any day now. My lilac tree is showing buds, and my apple tree has leaves on it.

In fact my 7, and 5 year old were out in the backyard on a slip and slide last weekend. Our temps were in the 80's on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!!!

Good luck with your move.

[pmd1117]

I lived in Rochester for 15 years and my family still lives there. The economy
isn't thriving due to the downturn of Xerox and Kodak (thus low home prices) but there are a lot of influential and wealthy people in Rochester so the culture scene is alive and well. The finger Lakes and wineries are amazing and it's a beautiful area. It's an amazing place to raise a family as there are tons of kids programs, friendly people, and outdoors stuff to do. The Children's Museum- at Strong, is one of the best in the country and they are adding to it as well. You'll be happy there as long as you like snow, cross country skiing at the golf courses are great.

[kitty71]

Thanks again for the posts. I am feeling a bit better - I think some of my unhappiness is also due to the fact that I hate the actual moving PROCESS - the packing etc. and we are just getting ready to list our house here - kinda makes you a little nuts.

Prevarications: I notice you have kids of 5 and 7 - so do I so I definitely find your info valuable! I do keep consistently hearing that families really enjoy and in fact, thrive in Rochester, so that is very uplifting. We did actually visit the Strong museum last summer when we went to Rochester for the first time to "check it out" to see if a move might pan out. I know that is what my kids always get excited about - I don't think they realize we won't be going there EVERY day , LOL I'm also interested to see the zoo.

Looking forward to the theater etc. very much too.

Hey, while I'm at it - we will be very close to Irondeqoit (sp) Bay - about 2 minutes from the marina. We were hoping to get a canoe and/or a smaller boat. Any suggestions of specialty stores for boats and gear?

[garmin239]

There are actually a couple of shops by the bay that sell canoes and kyaks. Don't know what the names of the shops are even though I drive past them all the time, but you can't miss them. They are right on empire blvd as your are going through the bay.

[woofenstein]

I haven't really been to rural PA, but having driven to Philly I remember the scenery being kind of drab (but that was probably more suburban, huh). And then there are those weird blue laws.

ANYway.. you're lucky to be moving to Western NY, is my point. It is so beautiful there in the spring, summer, and fall. I mean, the Rochester area gets swamped by snow in the winter because of the lake effect, but they're also pretty good about plowing roads and people don't drive like maniacs to boot. In fact, people are very friendly up there.

From the looks of it, you'll have a lot more to do in the Rochester area than in rural PA.