History UsefulNotes / Rochester

In addition to the above, the city also supported the Western New York Flash in several top-level women's football/soccer leagues during the current century.[[note]]If you're wondering why Rochester would get a top-level women's soccer team when a ''boatload'' of much larger cities didn't, two words: Abby Wambach. The US women's legend is a Rochester-area native, and played for the team for much of the last part of her career.[[/note]] However, the organization sold the rights to its franchise in the National Women's Soccer League to interests in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, which relaunched the team as the North Carolina Courage. This came immediately after the Flash won the 2016 NWSL championship. The organization still fields a team in the second-level United Women's Soccer, but the current version of the Flash now plays in Buffalo.

* DidntThinkThisThrough/ItWillNeverCatchOn: Not the city's fault, but the Eastman Kodak Company's senior managers outright refused to believe that digital cameras would ever overtake Kodak's admittedly world's-greatest film and cameras in terms of cost and practical use. Then cell phone cameras became a thing, and suddenly the market for film dropped by ninety percent in only a few years. The bones of Kodak Park, their centralized and gargantuan industrial center, are larger than some of the city's suburbs, and have dozens of buildings that are nearly or completely empty.

* Nick Tahou's garbage plate. Nick's is the original; YMMV whether it's the best. This is a local dish consisting of a couple burger patties on mac salad and fries, optionally with toast or buns, covered in meaty hot sauce. Gross-looking but amazing.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Not the city's fault, but the Eastman Kodak Company's senior managers outright refused to believe that digital cameras would ever overtake Kodak's admittedly world's-greatest film and cameras in terms of cost and practical use. Then cell phone cameras became a thing, and suddenly the market for film dropped by ninety percent in only a few years. The bones of Kodak Park, their centralized and gargantuan industrial center, are larger than some of the city's suburbs, and have dozens of buildings that are nearly or completely empty.

The city and its surrounding suburbs took a big hit financially in the last twenty years, as Kodak (among other major employers) has downsized significantly. Kodak shed almost eighty thousand employees there, in only fifteen years. Bausch and Lomb, Xerox, and other manufacturing companies followed suit. This has, however, led to a local glut of unemployed, highly trained specialists, which is leading to a surge in high-tech startups. Rochester is still one of the two national centers for specialized optics, and has no fewer than ''eight'' significant local colleges (U of R, RIT, Nazareth, St. John Fisher, MCC, a few SUNY branches) who also snatched up many expatriated Kodak employees.

* Webster/irondequoit is a sprawl of '50s suburbia

* The Rhinos, men's football (soccer), playing in the third-level United Soccer League

In addition to the above, the city also supported the Western New York Flash in several top-level women's football/soccer leagues during the current century.[[note]]If you're wondering why Rochester would get a top-level women's soccer team when a ''boatload'' of much larger cities didn't, two words: Abby Wambach. The US women's legend is a Rochester-area native, and played for the team for much of the last part of her career.[[/note]] However, the team moved to the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, becoming the North Carolina Courage... on the heels of winning the championship of the National Women's Soccer League in 2016.

[[caption-width-right:340:Downtown Rochester at night, looking north along the Genesee.]]Rochester, NY is a medium-sized city located in northwest NY between the better-known Buffalo and Syracuse, where the Genesee River meets Lake Ontario. The city is notable for its high poverty and murder rates, as well as being the Upstate haven of the arts; Rochester has its own Philharmonic Orchestra, music college (Eastman), and musical academy (Hochstein). Much of Rochester's arts background is due to philanthropy from bygone industrialists such as George Eastman, who reinvested in the city even after his death, leaving the Eastman House among the many local museums and art galleries. The Strong Museum is noted for the National Museum of Play, as well as its butterfly conservatory. Rochester is among the more wired cities, as the local heritage of high industry has created a local lean towards acceptance and use of the high-tech.

* Wegmans. Full stop. If you've never been to one, picture a grocery store the size of a flagship car dealer, complete with pharmacy, deli, sub shop, etc. Pretty much all of a household's consumables can be found here. It's pretty much the Northern equivalent to Florida's Publix; Wegmans stores can be found as far south as Virginia- and both Wegmans and Publix been recently opening stores in the southern half of VA, so expect a swordfight between the two chains any day now. Rochester is fierce regarding Wegmans, as well; ConsumerReports awards grocery stores for outstanding traits annually and Wegmans consistently ''sweeps'' them. [[https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/wegmans-grocery-stores-super-fans Wegmans has a following of loyal, dedicated fans]]- there's even a [[http://fuckyeahwegmans.tumblr.com/ Tumblr dedicated to them]].

The city and its surrounding suburbs took a big hit financially in the last twenty years, as Kodak (among other major employers) has downsized significantly. Kodak shed almost eighty thousand employees there, in only fifteen years. Baush and Lomb, Xerox, and other manufacturing companies followed suit. This has, however, led to a local glut of unemployed, highly trained specialists, which is leading to a surge in high-tech startups. Rochester is still one of the two national centers for specialized optics, and has no fewer than ''eight'' significant local colleges (U of R, RIT, Nazareth, St. John Fisher, MCC, a few SUNY branches) who also snatched up many expatriated Kodak employees.

* Wegmans. Full stop. If you've never been to one, picture a grocery store the size of a flagship car dealer, complete with pharmacy, deli, sub shop, etc. Pretty much all of a household's consumables can be found here. It's pretty much the Northern equivalent to Florida's Publix; Wegmans stores can be found as far south as Virginia. Rochester is fierce regarding Wegmans, as well; ConsumerReports awards grocery stores for outstanding traits annually and Wegmans consistently ''sweeps'' them.

Rochester is home to terrible roads because of the repeated freeze/thaw induced by the Great Lakes' thermal moderation in the winter, which also make it common for there to be several foot+ snowstorms in a given year (one of pur sports teams should be called the Lake Effect). Bitching about such is a Rochesterian pastime. When someone from the south moves here, they learn how to drive in low-traction situations.

* The Western New York Flash, women's football/soccer[[note]]If you're wondering why Rochester would get a top-level women's soccer team when a ''boatload'' of much larger cities didn't, two words: Abby Wambach. The US women's legend is a Rochester-area native, and played for the team for much of the last part of her career.[[/note]]

* Nick Tahou's garbage plate. Nick's is the original; YMMV whether it's the best. This is a local dish consisting of a couple burger patties on mac salad, optionally with toast or buns, covered in meaty hot sauce. Gross-looking but amazing.

* The Western New York Flash, women's football/soccer

* The Americans/Amerks, a farm hockey team for the Sabres

* NoPronunciationGuide: Neighborhood pronunciations are ''notoriously'' unconventional, for example Chili is pronounced "Chai-Lai." In addition, the town is named after a person, not a place in Europe as was so common at the time, so it's pronounced RAH-chester. There are also an extraordinary number of places nearby named after Italian and Greek cities, like Syracuse, Utica, Ithica, Greece, Olympia, Rome, and more; all are to be pronounced with English vowels instead of Greek ones.

The city and its surrounding suburbs took a big hit financially in the last twenty years, as Kodak (among other major employers) has downsized significantly. Kodak shed almost eight thousand employees there, in only fifteen years. Baush and Lomb, Xerox, and other manufacturing companies followed suit. This has, however, led to a local glut of unemployed, highly trained specialists, which is leading to a surge in high-tech startups. Rochester is still one of the two national centers for specialized optics, and has no fewer than ''eight'' significant local colleges (U of R, RIT, Nazareth, St. John Fisher, MCC, a few SUNY branches) who also snatched up many expatriated Kodak employees.

* Wegmans. Full stop. If you've never been to one, picture a grocery store the size of a flagship car dealer, complete with pharmacy, deli, sub shop, etc. Pretty much all of a household's consumables can be found here. It's pretty much the Northern equivalent to Florida's Publix; Wegmans stores can be found as far south as Virginia.

The city and its surrounding suburbs took a big hit financially in the last twenty years, as Kodak (among other major employers) has downsized significantly. This has, however, led to a local glut of unemployed, highly trained specialists, which is leading to a surge in high-tech startups. Rochester is still one of the two national centers for specialized optics.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Neighborhood pronunciations are ''notoriously'' unconventional, for example Chili is pronounced "Chai-Lai." In addition, the town is named after a person, not a place in Europe as was so common at the time, so it's pronounced RAH-chester. There are also an extraordinary of places nearby named after Italian and Greek cities, like Syracuse, Utica, Ithica, Greece, Olympia, Rome, and more; all are to be pronounced with English vowels instead of Greek ones.

* NoPronunciationGuide: Neighborhood pronunciations are ''notoriously'' unconventional, for example Chili is pronounced "Chai-Lai."

* Genesee beer. The local brewery puts out a superior replacement to big-brand light beers.

* Wegmans. Full stop. If you've never been to one, picture a grocery store the size of a flagship car dealer, complete with pharmacy, deli, sub shop, etc. Pretty much all of a household's consumables can be found here.

* The Nighthawks, indoor lacrosse

* The Red Wings, baseball
* The Nighthawks, lacrosse
* The Rhinos, football(soccer)
* The Raptors, basketball(?)

* Wegman's. Full stop. If you've never been to one, picture a grocery store the size of a flagship car dealer, complete with pharmacy, deli, sub shop, etc. Pretty much all of a household's consumables can be found here.

When using maps of the area, don't assume the Inner Loop highway will be of any use; it's been closed.

Rochester is said to have an accent associated with it; pronunciations of certain vowel sounds and how you read "the town of chili" are shibboleths for natives.

* Gates/chili is empty
* Greece is declined and home to more used car dealerships than gas stations
* The 19th ward is where you go to get randomly shot

Rochester is home to terrible roads because of the repeated freeze/thaw induced by the Great Lakes' thermal moderation in the winter, which also make it common for there to be several foot+ snowstorms in a given year (one of pur sports teams should be called the Lake Effect). Bitching about such is a Rochesterian pastime. When someone from the south moves here, they learn how to drive in low-traction situations.

Rochester, NY is a medium-sized city located in northwest NY between the better-known Buffalo and Syracuse, where the Genesee River meets Lake Ontario. The city is notable for its high poverty and murder rates, as well as being the Upstate haven of the arts; Rochester has its own Philharmonic Orchestra, music college (Eastman), and musical academy (Hochstein). Much of Rochester's arts background is due to philanthropy from bygone industrialists such as George Eastman, who reinvested in the city even after his death, leaving the Eastman House among the many local museums and art galleries. The Strong Museum is noted for the National Museum of Play, as well as its butterfly conservatory. Rochester is among the more wired cities, as the local heritage of high industry has created a local lean towards acceptance and use of the high-tech.

-The Americans/Amerks, a farm hockey team for the Sabres
-The Red Wings, baseball
-The Nighthawks, lacrosse
-The Rhinos, football(soccer)
-The Raptors, basketball(?)

-Brighton is wealthy and Jewish/Happyologist, more so than Pittsford
-Fairport is also wealthy but declining
-Victor is rapidly gentrifying
-Webster/irondequoit is a sprawl of '50s suburbia
-Gates/chili is empty
-Greece is declined and home to more used car dealerships than gas stations
-The 19th ward is where you go to get randomly shot
-Avenue D is where you go for drugs, hookers, and to get randomly shot

-Wegman's. Full stop. If you've never been to one, picture a grocery store the size of a flagship car dealer, complete with pharmacy, deli, sub shop, etc. Pretty much all of a household's consumables can be found here.
-Nick Tahou's garbage plate. Nick's is the original; YMMV whether it's the best. This is a local dish consisting of a couple burger patties on mac salad, optionally with toast or buns, covered in meaty hot sauce. Gross-looking but amazing.
-Genesee beer. The local brewery puts out a superior replacement to big-brand light beers.