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I’m moving to Rochester (river campus) in August to attend grad school. I’m trying to scout out neighborhoods to live in. Any impressions and suggestions would help a lot.
My requirements/preferences follow. First off, I’m not interested in or able to buy a house. Since I will not have a car, so I will need to either be able to walk in under half an hour (I’m fine with walking in the cold, I’m from Canada!) or take transit. In general, I vastly prefer a busy urban environment where I can wander down the street and see people living their lives rather than being isolated in a quiet neighborhood. Having a social life is important, so I’d like to be within walking distance (1/2 hr walk) to bars, coffeeshops, and restaurants, and I’m willing to spring for a cab ride home if needed. I also need to be able to access groceries easily, since I have a crazy metabolism that means I eat more than anyone else I know. I understand that safety may be an issue in some neighborhoods. I’m a big guy and I pay attention as I walk, so although I know that this doesn’t ensure safety by any means, I think I may feel more comfortable than some others in relatively sketchy neighborhoods. Lastly, I’d love to have access to a yard, porch, or my own balcony, rather than being many floors off the ground with no outside access.
Here are my impression so far, in order of my increasing preferences:
19th: cheap rent but few amenities (food, drink, entertainment, etc).
Southwedge/Strong: close to campus; pleasant; no amenities. I’d love to be so close to campus, so that I could easily go home for an afternoon, and come into do some work in the evening if I felt so inclined.
Soutwedge: cheap rent; ½ hr walk or 10 min bike to campus; food/drink/bars nearby. More likely to have a yard, deck, or porch, it seems. But it seems that there are no groceries near by.
Grove Place/East End: More expensive, but I'm ok with that. The free UR bus leaves Eastman once an hour. and gets to campus in 20min, which would be great in inclement weather. Walking distance to food, drink, movies, entertainment, etc. Busy, urban environment (which I'm very fond of). Walk to the Public Market. More likely to be close to where other grad students live, thus enabling easy socialization. The neighborhood approaching Park Ave would work, as long as I can reasonably walk to the bus at Eastman.
The biggest drawback of the East End is relying on the hourly bus to get to school. Public transit would also work: it’s more frequent, though the ride is a bit longer and I’d have to pay for it.
If there are any UR students reading: Do you know if for any reason I’m mistaken to think that I can plan things around the UR bus? I’ve grown up taking public transit, so 20 minutes on a bus each way doesn’t faze me in the least.
Any thoughts that anyone can offer at all would be very helpful.
I would recommend South wedge I used to live on S Clinton and elmwood there are various apartments around that area from cheap to expensive. In that area there is a Tops (grocery store) with liquor store, chinese, dry cleaners, ect. great area. Walgreens/7eleven/hess on opposite corners. There is a public library a 5 mintue walk away. At the time I didnt have a car and there are 2 busses going down elmwood, one for sclinton (11) and a little walk to the monroe ave bus(7). Personally I would recommend you do get a car even if it is a beater only because other than the stores around you it is hard to get around Rochester without one say if you have to go to another town or whatnot. There are a few places that sell cheap cars.
($500) I think there is a UR bus stop nearby Sclinton and elmwood too.
Southwedge sounds like your best bet. It has restaurants, bars, coffee shops and a grocery store. park ave and the east end are nice, but would be too far to walk to school for you.
Katek and Garmin239, thanks so much for your thoughts on this.
My impression so far is that the atmosphere of Southwedge is distinctly non-urban: more open space, larger lots, less pedestrian traffic, commerce tends to cluster into malls or strip malls, etc. Does that sound right?
I will be visiting very shortly to get a feel for all of this in person. Your thoughts gives me a good starting point. thanks again.
The actual Southwedge is very, very urban (South Street and Alexander, Gregory, Linden, corner of South Goodman and South Clinton, etc.). The area you are thinking of is the suburban area to the south of the true southwedge that ends up becoming Brighton.
Southwedge is definitly not what I would consider "non-urban". It's directly south of downtown with many of its own shops and restaraunts right there; diverse population though it is undergoing some gentrification. It'd say it is decidedly an urban neighborhood.
Katek and Garmin239, thanks so much for your thoughts on this.
My impression so far is that the atmosphere of Southwedge is distinctly non-urban: more open space, larger lots, less pedestrian traffic, commerce tends to cluster into malls or strip malls, etc. Does that sound right?
I will be visiting very shortly to get a feel for all of this in person. Your thoughts gives me a good starting point. thanks again.
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I think you may be confused on where the south wedge is. South Wedge is the area that goes along South ave (starts just outside of dt) and goes until the park. Lots of people walking around, no strip malls, small lots with houses close together.
Ok, so I just got back from a wonderful week in Rochester, walking all over downtown, East End, and Southwedge.
Granted, it's a lovely time of year...but Southwedge was really really pretty. I'd like to live there. And y'all were right...definitely urban. Far more endearing than I thought it'd be. I even have my favorite streets sorted out where I hope to find an apartment.
It really needs a good grocery store, more affordable than Mise En Place or Abundance though, unless I didn't find one that may exist there.
The grocery stores there are organic so they are going to be a little more expensive. But at least you'll eat healthier.
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