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This is a great video interviewing developers and residents liviing downtown. Notice the age of a good portion if not most of the residents interviewed. It's a myth that only millennials are moving downtown. Empty nesters and seniors are equally moving there as well. I've noticed this just going to restaurants in the city. The patrons are usually split right in half between older adults and younger adults.
I love the video! And I really do see a ton of momentum downtown...I hope the current rate of revitalization continues. If the region could somehow lure and/or help create more desirable mid-sized employers, we'd be all set (easier said than done, of course.)
I agree 100%! We do need those midsize businesses. We have no issues with startups and innovation, but we just need a few more new midsize businesses. But it is great to see the resurgence where people enjoy being downtown.
I assume companies just don't want to pay for it, it has to be much more expensive renting/owning space downtown. There is also the "parking issue" which I hear groans about every time I mention in my office that I wish we would relocate downtown. "BUT WHERE WOULD WE ALL PARK?". I don't know, a garage? They act like parking downtown is all negatives, but wouldn't it be nicer to park in a covered garage in the winter and never have to brush your car off again? Almost everyone I work with lives in the burbs and I'm pretty sure they'd all have a heart attack if they had to drive "all the way" downtown to work every day.
But I do agree the city should at least be trying to get companies back down there. We just bought another decently sized company and now employ thousands of engineers in the Rochester area. We should be exactly who the city wants downtown, but I can almost guarantee that 3-5 years down the road when management decides they want to co-locate everyone in the same building, for engineering at least, we'll be building something out in Henrietta instead of putting all these jobs in the city, and that's sad.
I assume companies just don't want to pay for it, it has to be much more expensive renting/owning space downtown. There is also the "parking issue" which I hear groans about every time I mention in my office that I wish we would relocate downtown. "BUT WHERE WOULD WE ALL PARK?". I don't know, a garage? They act like parking downtown is all negatives, but wouldn't it be nicer to park in a covered garage in the winter and never have to brush your car off again? Almost everyone I work with lives in the burbs and I'm pretty sure they'd all have a heart attack if they had to drive "all the way" downtown to work every day.
But I do agree the city should at least be trying to get companies back down there. We just bought another decently sized company and now employ thousands of engineers in the Rochester area. We should be exactly who the city wants downtown, but I can almost guarantee that 3-5 years down the road when management decides they want to co-locate everyone in the same building, for engineering at least, we'll be building something out in Henrietta instead of putting all these jobs in the city, and that's sad.
This is interesting, as in Syracuse, there have been companies that have relocated from the suburbs into the city like O'Brien and Gere, King and King Architects, SubCat Studios and WCNY(the local PBS affiliate). So, I think it may be possible for companies to do the same thing in Rochester as well.
I would love to see it happen, that's just the feeling I get from most of the people I work with. The city still has a negative connotation associated with it, of course from people who never actually step foot in the city.
I would love to see it happen, that's just the feeling I get from most of the people I work with. The city still has a negative connotation associated with it, of course from people who never actually step foot in the city.
It may come down to what companies want to do, as you hear the same/similar sentiments from some people in the Syracuse area as well from similar types of people.
It may come down to what companies want to do, as you hear the same/similar sentiments from some people in the Syracuse area as well from similar types of people.
There's definitely a perception problem in Rochester. Most who work in the suburbs think they wouldn't want to work downtown, but then when they actually have the opportunity, they realize it's actually a great atmosphere working downtown. I really wish my job was downtown. I work in a large building which has the great scenery of a field, a couple of industrial buildings and a large parking lot. Nothing I can walk to during lunch and no stimulation whatsoever. And the parking lot is massive enough that it would be the equivalent of a few city blocks. We just need to get the suburbanites into the city and not afraid of city parking. The funny thing is that I actually find parking downtown much easier than parking at the mall. I think we'll eventually start to see more of these suburban businesses move back to the city. Especially as more millennials start taking on jobs.
Quite a few companies have moved downtown, Windstream being one of them.
Yes, I used to work downtown. I loved it.
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