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Interesting, Rochester is Ranked #1 in quality of life in the article you mentioned, yet Rochester also Ranks as #20 on Census Population for fastest losing cities. Not to knock Rochester, but these two rankings seem at odds with each other. If the quality of life is so high, I would at least expect the population to hold steady and not be on a top 25 list of cities losing population the fastest!
I agree and it makes me a bit leery of these reports overall....I do believe there is a hangtime of facts catching up with what's going on most recently and there is an economical resurgence going on after the late 80s - 90s huge job loss due to Kodak, Xerox and B & L restructuring. And that rebuilding will not be reflected in population growth as quickly as the exiting years were reflected in the population loss.
Also, there is a huge transitional stage going on country wide as a record number of boomers hit the retiring years and are not content with staying put combined with the working class moving due to employment issues.....hand in hand, they wreck havoc with northeast communities like Rochester.....
Interesting, Rochester is Ranked #1 in quality of life in the article you mentioned, yet Rochester also Ranks as #20 on Census Population for fastest losing cities. Not to knock Rochester, but these two rankings seem at odds with each other. If the quality of life is so high, I would at least expect the population to hold steady and not be on a top 25 list of cities losing population the fastest!
The Rochester REGION was ranked #1. Not just the city. The region includes the city and surrounding areas. Like many northeastern cities, people are leaving the city for the burbs.
Interesting, Rochester is Ranked #1 in quality of life in the article you mentioned, yet Rochester also Ranks as #20 on Census Population for fastest losing cities. Not to knock Rochester, but these two rankings seem at odds with each other. If the quality of life is so high, I would at least expect the population to hold steady and not be on a top 25 list of cities losing population the fastest!
Simple question simple answer......the quality of life ranking is for The Rochester metro area....and the losing population ranking is for the city limits. The City of Rochester is losing population, mostly the the area's excellent suburban towns with affordable housing on large yards, great schools, and safe neighborhoods. With the exception of some very nice nieghborhoods in the eastern and Northwestern area of the city of Rochester, I wouldn't consider it a nice place to live at all....BUT, after 12 years in NC, I've just put an offer in on a great house in my hometown of Greece, Rochester's largest suburb, ranked one of the safest cities in America for the past several years.
Interesting, Rochester is Ranked #1 in quality of life in the article you mentioned, yet Rochester also Ranks as #20 on Census Population for fastest losing cities. Not to knock Rochester, but these two rankings seem at odds with each other. If the quality of life is so high, I would at least expect the population to hold steady and not be on a top 25 list of cities losing population the fastest!
I think that when they say Rochester, they mean the metro area of Rochester, not just the city. The city is plauged with crime issues in some areas and is losing population although there are some great areas in the city like the southeast and Charlotte areas. The metro is growing though and the suburbs of Rochester are among the best in America so I agree that Rochester metro offers a superior quality of life to most of the country!
This is really a joke. I have lived in upstate ny all my life. Rochester is ranked number 1 for middle class because it is cheap for houses. The economy is a joke.The people that are leaving are not the old people like most people say. It is mostly brain drain. It is my age group 23-34 years old that just finished college and want to start a good career that are leaving. I lived in rochester and surrounding area's from 1978 to 1997 which then moved near syracuse for college. Then moved to albany in the end of 1998. Which I then moved back to rochester in 2004 and have been here since. I have found that rochester is a place that has some major challenges that will hinder the city and suburbs for the next 50 to 100 years. Looking back on the history of rochester it was a amazing city that was very political and was a leader in a lot of industries. Today it is a decline. There are no jobs. It is a cheap place to live because the poverty rate is very high in most areas of the city and suburbs. Education and enterainment is not even compared to a typical city.Rochester like the rest of New York is in a decline and most of the youth is leaving. so the articles like the one that this post is about should not be a suprise. It is a sale. Think about this does anyone have to tell you if you have a great thing. Some times things are too good to be true.
This is really a joke. I have lived in upstate ny all my life. Rochester is ranked number 1 for middle class because it is cheap for houses. The economy is a joke.The people that are leaving are not the old people like most people say. It is mostly brain drain. It is my age group 23-34 years old that just finished college and want to start a good career that are leaving. I lived in rochester and surrounding area's from 1978 to 1997 which then moved near syracuse for college. Then moved to albany in the end of 1998. Which I then moved back to rochester in 2004 and have been here since. I have found that rochester is a place that has some major challenges that will hinder the city and suburbs for the next 50 to 100 years. Looking back on the history of rochester it was a amazing city that was very political and was a leader in a lot of industries. Today it is a decline. There are no jobs. It is a cheap place to live because the poverty rate is very high in most areas of the city and suburbs. Education and enterainment is not even compared to a typical city.Rochester like the rest of New York is in a decline and most of the youth is leaving. so the articles like the one that this post is about should not be a suprise. It is a sale. Think about this does anyone have to tell you if you have a great thing. Some times things are too good to be true.
I greatly agree with you. It seems like there are like 4 people on these boards that say "oh, there are jobs, rochester is great" when everyone else on here says, "um, no there isn't". I'll agree with the latter after having spent my undergrad years at UR, then not being able to get anything in this area, along with every single person I knew in college....then having my pick of jobs out of state, deciding to return for a Master's, and then working for peanuts for a year waiting for a job in rochester....well sorry, but I am out. People cannot sit around and wait for change that isn't going to come.
I think the more education you have, the more you are hindered in this city. People I know that went to Ivy League schools can't return to Rochester due to never being able to get a job, but if you went to Brockport or Geneseo or Fredonia, you could. I don't get it.
I find it funny that most people that complain about not being able to get jobs are random people on internet message boards. In real life most people I know were able to find jobs around here. Were they able to find jobs right away? No in some cases. After a few months of looking most people I know have found jobs, more so now than a couple years ago.
if you don't get it....you must not be as educated and superior or "above Rochester" as you think.....the ranking is for MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES....not wealthy ivy league elites...it's talking about people who went to community college, or state schools (such as those you mentioned above), which is the majority of people in Upstate NY and accross the country. ...as for the person who posted above her...shibainu...it's obvious you just don't have a clue (high poverty rates in the suburbs? which ones? Gates has a poverty rate WELL below the national level....let alone Pittsford or Mendon). I really love how you know the future 50-100 years in advance. Chew on this for a minute.....50-100 years AGO...a person in Rochester could likely have forcasted a future with Rochester being an alpha world class city...that certainly didn't happen did it? You, nor me, nor anyone else on this planet can say what the state of Rochester's economy (or that of any city or town in the world) will be that far into the future. But again, you really don't know what you're talking about so its ok. I was you back in the mid 90's....I graduated from Olympia in '81...went to Brockport and graduated and married my wife in '85, had my first 2 kids by 1992....by the end of 1994; I was ready to leave Rochester and its winters and kodak dominated economy behind and move to where "the grass was greener"....which at that time (and to an even greater degree now) was the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. Been here done this......fastforward almost 13 years...and i'm moving back to Rochester (Greece) August 16th. Why? Because it's true that it's a DAMN good place to raise a family, job situation really sin't as bad (not a good job situation, let me say that now, NOT a good economy right now...but I can say without much hesitation that in the past year or so..it has shown definite signs of improvement) as it is made out to be. It's an affordable area, with EXCELLENT suburban school systems (even the best school systems in the south are terribly overcrowded, underfunded, and unorganzied), and a family friendly, local, close knit community feel.....something that VERY few metros the size of Rochester still have. The ranking was based on MANY factores, not just affordability. Does Rochester's ranking as the number one area for middle-class families to live mean that it's ideal for everyone? Or every middle class family? OF COURSE NOT...that's not what the article, myself, or anyone else on this forum is saying.
Or every middle class family? OF COURSE NOT...that's not what the article, myself, or anyone else on this forum is saying.
The big problem in Upstate NY is that people are underemployed, they work jobs at lower levels that maybe they should be at. But like I said in the other thread on here, its pretty funny how people split for 'greener pastures' and basically live the exact same lifestyles they had previously. They'll be making tons more cash from thier jobs only to pay tons more for housing and every other possible expense. That or they will be living in a 'fishbowl' -- they work for the biggest company in town, and live in the same community with all the other employees. Yeah you can have a nice house and fill it with flashy consumer garbage, but at the end of the day, you just left your college dorm for a suburban/corporate one.
There are three groups of people that will never say anything bad about where there are from (I'm totally serious about this):
Rochesterians
Buckeyes
Texans
I should add that I am on the fence about this issue. I think if you make $50k+ and live in the 'burbs, you're good. Everything else is a waste of time. I read an interview with Greg Graffin (Greg is the lead singer of Bad Religion, and he lives in Ithaca. Bad Religion has a lot of politically charged songs) and the interviewer asked him about the new record being less political, and he said, "it's hard to get worked up when you live in Ithaca because life is good here." The whole upstate region ain't bad if you have meaningful employment.
There are days when I want to move back to Rochester and there are days that I am glad I don't live there.
Last edited by Muggy; 07-28-2007 at 06:23 AM..
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