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Hi,
Can anyone provide me with just some general information and opinions about the Rochester area and if you think we would fit in well there? We have never been to New York outside of one trip to NYC so this is a very unfamiliar area to us. My husband and I currently live in Seattle and we are in our mid 20's. My husband is looking to apply to RIT for game design and development. How is the gaming industry in Rochester? Seattle has a huge hub for it but we are hoping to move back east to be closer to our families as long as the job prospects don't fall completely flat. This is our biggest worry by far. My career as a social worker is very portable but it's crucial to live in a place where he can find game development jobs.
Once we arrive, we are hoping to buy a house and start a family. I've been reading that the housing market is phenomal and it is a great place to raise a family. Opinions on this? Houses here start at almost 400k and shoot up dramatically and there is a massive housing shortage - one main reason for leaving. Also how is traffic? Right now it takes me 1.5 hours to go about 45 miles to work so I hope it's not the same there.
No worries about the weather - we both spent 20+ years in west Michigan, so we are used to the snow! We love the climate in Michigan and it looks like Rochester may be very similar but a bit colder and snowier. We are somewhat concerned about outdoor activities - the Seattle area has so many more national and state parks than other states. We do a lot of hiking, camping, kayaking, snowboarding, and love going into the mountains. Are there many opportunities for this nearby? I also love going to wineries and the PNW is wine country galore - are there many in NY?
Hi Emily. I am a life long Rochesterian so I'm biased, but I think it is a great community. I've had many friends move away and come back so there must be something to it. It is not as large as NYC or Seattle, but the metro population is about 1.1 million and growing, although slowly.
As I understand, RIT is THE place for gaming education although there are not a lot of game development companies here. Some, but not a lot. I am suspicious that the teachers are telling people to move to the west coast for jobs, hindering the growth here, but Rochester is a high tech type city with some of the largest per capita patents granted so you should fit in well here.
Housing is very reasonable, although taxes are high. Very family friendly with some school districts in the top 100 in the nation. (Pittsford, Brighton). Traffic is pretty reasonable I'm sure compared to Seattle.
It is great for outdoorsy people. There are quite a few mountains for skiing and boarding, one within about a half an hour away, depending on where you settle (Bristle Mountain). South of Rochester it is very hilly, not mountains, but great for hiking. South and southeast of Rochester there is the Finger Lakes. Very scenic and loaded with wineries. There about 110 now and growing. There are also dozens and dozens of microbreweries in the area.
There's also the Adirondack Park and Catskill Park a few hours away which are large and more mountainous. I'm sure others can add to this list too.
Best of luck and feel free to ask any specific questions.
I'll post more later too, but here is another interesting article talking about how Rochester's game development community is starting to grow. One of the companies in the article "Darkwind Media" that started at RIT and then debated leaving Rochester. But ultimately decided to stay here because they felt the talent pool would be hard to match, especially with RIT right there:
RIT pretty much put game design development as a degree program on the map too. They innovated the program that other schools copy now.
This is the next endeavor of what RIT is now developing with their "Magic Studio". It's going to be an awesome asset for education and innovation. And it's not just game programming, but it's new media, film, animation and graphic design. With games crossing over into those new territories, having all these tools available in your husband's education will be invaluable.
i think you'll like it. the weather in terms of clouds and overcast is similar to seattle but definitely colder. This is a good area to buy decent houses for cheap (yes taxes are higher on them). Most suburbs are safe/good schools but I am partial to Victor, Fairport, Penfield, Pittsford.
and another huge positive, commutes are EASY from anywhere. seriously, you can go from any side of the city to the complete opposite side in 30 mins. i go from north greece to victor back and forth a lot and its not bad at all.
i think you'll like it. the weather in terms of clouds and overcast is similar to seattle but definitely colder. This is a good area to buy decent houses for cheap (yes taxes are higher on them). Most suburbs are safe/good schools but I am partial to Victor, Fairport, Penfield, Pittsford.
and another huge positive, commutes are EASY from anywhere. seriously, you can go from any side of the city to the complete opposite side in 30 mins. i go from north greece to victor back and forth a lot and its not bad at all.
I live in north Greece too and I've never been able to make it to Victor in 30 minutes on the best of days. More like 35-40 and that's just to the Eastview area.
Once we arrive, we are hoping to buy a house and start a family. I've been reading that the housing market is phenomal and it is a great place to raise a family. Opinions on this? Houses here start at almost 400k and shoot up dramatically and there is a massive housing shortage - one main reason for leaving.
You may find homesteadnet.com to be helpful. It links the MLS from each area into one map. I don't think it's a competitor to City Data, so it should be alright to post here. I find it's the best of all and it's local.
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Also how is traffic? Right now it takes me 1.5 hours to go about 45 miles to work so I hope it's not the same there.
Traffic is almost non-existent, especially near RIT. The only time I've seen bad traffic is around 4-6 p.m. heading on 590 North to 104 East toward Webster on weekdays.
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We do a lot of hiking, camping, kayaking, snowboarding, and love going into the mountains. Are there many opportunities for this nearby?
Although it's about 1 hour away, I find a lot of this at Letchworth State Park.
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I also love going to wineries and the PNW is wine country galore - are there many in NY?
I live in north Greece too and I've never been able to make it to Victor in 30 minutes on the best of days. More like 35-40 and that's just to the Eastview area.
That's unfortunate.
And Victor is in a different county, so it doesn't count as the "city".
Rochester might be a very good fit for you. There are many opportunities to be a social worker here, and there is a lot of startup activity in the web/UI area that well might extend to gaming beyond what's already here. Compared to most metros, the traffic here is minimal. To an extent this is about perception, but the daily commute experience you cited would be most unusual here.
Access to healthcare is excellent and the housing market is great, but, yes, the property taxes are high. From what I understand, houses in the southeast part of the city -- a cluster of neighborhoods generally the safest and trendiest -- are usually quite affordable, but don't correspond to the best area schools. If you intend to buy and stay for years, it may be advisable to select a house with its school district in mind, which may mean a higher purchase price, but still remarkably affordable compared to the area from which you're coming.
From what I understand, houses in the southeast part of the city -- a cluster of neighborhoods generally the safest and trendiest -- are usually quite affordable, but don't correspond to the best area schools. If you intend to buy and stay for years, it may be advisable to select a house with its school district in mind, which may mean a higher purchase price, but still remarkably affordable compared to the area from which you're coming.
This is accurate, unfortunately city schools in general are not that great and drive many families out of the city. If I were to suggest anything, it's that if you still want to be by these neighborhoods but want a good school district, check out Brighton. Nice houses and neighborhoods, right over the border from the nice parts of the city so you have plenty to do within a short drive. Houses are still affordable, and will certainly be less than anything you're used to in Seattle. You also have easy access to 590 from there, and to a lesser extent 490, so getting anywhere by car should be relatively easy. As others have said, your commute should be much easier in Rochester.
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