Rochester

Rochester is a city on the southern shore of Lake Ontario in the western portion of the U.S. state of New York, and the seat of Monroe County.

The city's population (210,565) was the state's third largest — after New York City and Buffalo — at the time of the 2010 census. Rochester is the center of a larger metropolitan area that encompasses and extends beyond Monroe County, and comprises Genesee County, Livingston County, Ontario County, Orleans County and Wayne County. This area, which is part of the Western New York region, had a population of 1,079,671 at the time of the 2010 Census. A Census estimate of July 1, 2012, raised that number to 1,082,284.

Rochester was one of America's first boomtowns, and rose to prominence as the site of many flour mills along the Genesee River, and then as a major hub of manufacturing. Several of the region's universities (notably the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology) have renowned research programs. In addition, Rochester is the site of many important inventions and innovations in consumer products. The Rochester area has been the birthplace to such corporations as Kodak, Bausch & Lomb, and Xerox that conduct extensive research and manufacturing in the fields of industrial and consumer products. Until 2010, the Rochester metropolitan area was the second largest regional economy in New York State according to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, after the New York City metropolitan area. Rochester's GMP has since ranked just below that of Buffalo, New York, while still exceeding it in per-capita income.

The 25th edition of the Places Rated Almanac rated Rochester as the "most livable city" in 2007, among three hundred seventy nine U.S. metropolitan areas. In 2010 Forbes rated Rochester as the third best place to raise a family. In 2012 Kiplinger rated Rochester as the fifth best city for families, citing low cost of living, top public schools, and a low jobless rate.

History

The Seneca tribe of Native Americans lived in and around Rochester until they lost their claim to most of this land in the Treaty of Big Tree in 1797. Settlement before the Seneca tribe is unknown.

Development of modern Rochester followed the American Revolution, and forced cession of their territory by the Iroquois after the defeat of Great Britain. Allied with the British, four major Iroquois tribes were essentially forced from New York. As a reward for their loyalty to the British Crown, they were given a large land grant on the Grand River in Canada.

Rochester was founded shortly after the American Revolution by a wave of English-Puritan descended immigrants from New England who were looking for new agricultural land. They would be the dominant cultural group in Rochester for over a century. On November 8, 1803, Col. Nathaniel Rochester (1752–1831), Maj. Charles Carroll, and Col. William Fitzhugh, Jr. (1761–1839), all of Hagerstown, Maryland, purchased a 100-acre (ca. 40 ha) tract from the state in Western New York along the Genesee River. They chose the site because its three cataracts on the Genesee offered great potential for water power. Beginning in 1811, and with a population of 15, the three founders surveyed the land and laid out streets and tracts. In 1817, the Brown brothers and other landowners joined their lands with the Hundred Acre Tract to form the village of Rochesterville.

By 1821, Rochesterville was the seat of Monroe County. In 1823, Rochesterville consisted of 1,012 acres (4 km2) and 2,500 residents, and the Village of Rochesterville became known as Rochester. Also in 1823, the Erie Canal aqueduct over the Genesee River was completed, and the Erie Canal east to the Hudson River was opened. (In the early 20th century, after the advent of railroads, the presence of the canal in the center city was an obstacle; it was re-routed south of Rochester.) By 1830, Rochester's population was 9,200 and in 1834, it was re-chartered as a city.

Rochester was first known as "the Young Lion of the West", and then as the "Flour City". By 1838, Rochester was the largest flour-producing city in the United States. Having doubled its population in only ten years, Rochester became America's first "boomtown". Rochester experienced one of the nation's biggest revivalist movements, led by Charles Finney.

By the mid-19th century, as the center of the wheat-processing industry moved west with population and agriculture, the city became home to an expanding nursery business, giving rise to the city's second nickname, the "Flower City." Large and small nurseries ringed the city, the most famous of which was started in 1840 by immigrants Georg Ellwanger from Germany and Patrick Barry from Ireland.

In 1847, Frederick Douglass founded the abolitionist newspaper The North Star in Rochester. Douglass, a former slave and an antislavery speaker and writer, gained a circulation of over 4,000 readers in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. The North Star served as a forum for abolitionist views. The Douglass home burnt down in 1872, but a marker for it can be found in Highland Park off South Avenue. The city was also home to Susan B. Anthony, an abolitionist who became active in the women's rights movement. At the end of the 19th century, anarchist Emma Goldman lived and worked in Rochester for several years, where she championed the cause of labor in Rochester sweatshops. Rochester was also home to significant unrest in labor, race, and antiwar protests.

After the Civil War, Rochester had an expansion of new industries in the late 19th century, founded by migrants to the city, such as inventor and entrepreneur George Eastman, who founded Eastman Kodak; and German immigrants John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb, who combined technical and financial expertise to launch Bausch & Lomb in 1861. Not only did they create new industries and thousands of jobs, but Eastman became a major philanthropist, developing and endowing the University of Rochester, its Eastman School of Music and other local institutions.

In the early 20th century, Rochester became a center of the garment industry, particularly men's fashions. It was the base of enterprises such as Bond Clothing Stores, Fashion Park Clothes, Hickey Freeman, and Stein-Bloch & Co. The carriage maker James Cunningham and Sons founded a pioneer automobile company – Cunningham.

The population reached 62,386 in 1870, 162,608 in 1900 and 295,750 in 1920. By 1950, the population had reached a high of 332,488. In 1950, the Census Bureau reported Rochester's population as 97.6% white and 2.3% black. With industrial restructuring in the later 20th century, and the decline of industry and jobs in the area, by 2010, the city's population had declined to 210,565, although the metropolitan area was considerably larger.

Geography and climate

Rochester is at 43°9′56″N 77°36′41″W / 43.16556°N 77.61139°W / 43.16556; -77.61139 (43.165496, −77.611504). The city is about 65 miles (100 km) east-northeast of Buffalo and about 75 miles (120 km) west of Syracuse; it sits on Lake Ontario's southern shore. The Genesee River bisects the city. New York City is about 250 miles (400 km) to the southeast.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.1 square miles (96 km2), of which 35.8 square miles (93 km2) of it is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2) of it (3.42%) is water.

Rochester's geography was formed by the ice sheets during the Pleistocene epoch. The retreating ice sheets reached a standstill at what is now the southern border of the city, melting at the same rate as they were advancing, depositing sediment along the southern edge of the ice mass. This created a line of hills, including (from west to east) Mt. Hope, the hills of Highland Park, Pinnacle Hill, and Cobb's Hill. Because the sediment of these hills was deposited into a proglacial lake, they are stratified and classified as a "kame delta". A brief retreat and readvance of the ice sheet onto the delta deposited unstratified material there, creating a rare hybrid structure called a "kame moraine".

The ice sheets also created Lake Ontario (one of the five fresh-water Great Lakes), the Genesee River with its waterfalls and gorges, Irondequoit Bay, Sodus Bay, Braddock Bay, Mendon Ponds, numerous local streams and ponds, the Ridge, and the nearby Finger Lakes.

According to the City of Rochester, the city has 537 miles (864 km) of public streets, 585 miles (941 km) of water mains, 44 vehicular and eight pedestrian bridges, 11 public libraries, two police stations (one for the east side, one for the west), and 15 firehouses. The principal source of water is Hemlock Lake, which, with its watershed, is owned by the state of New York. Other water sources include Canadice Lake and Lake Ontario. The 30-year annual average snowfall is just above 100 in (2.5 m). The monthly daily average ranges from 24.7 °F (−4.1 °C) in January to 70.8 °F (21.6 °C) in July. The high amount of snow that Rochester receives can be accounted for by the city's proximity to Lake Ontario (see lake effect).

Rochester lies in the humid continental climate zone (Köppen Dfb) and has four distinct seasons, with cold and snowy winters; temperatures drop to 0 °F (−18 °C) on 4.2 nights annually. Autumn features brilliant foliage colors, and summer sees generally comfortable temperatures that usually stay in the range of 80 to 85 °F (27 to 29 °C) accompanied by moderate to high humidity; there are only 6.9 days annually of highs more than 90 °F (32 °C). Precipitation is plentiful year round.

Fire department

The city of Rochester is protected by approximately 500 professional firefighters in the Rochester Fire Department (RFD). The RFD is the third largest fire department in the state of New York. It operates from 14 fire stations, located throughout the city, under the command of 2 Battalion Chiefs and a Deputy Chief per shift. The RFD operates 13 engines, 6 trucks, 1 heavy rescue, 2 hazardous material units, 1 salvage unit (Rochester Protectives), as well as many other special and support units. There are 87 line division members working each shift, including chief officers & fire investigation (not including staff divisions such as Fire Safety, the Training Academy and Supply Depot). The RFD responds to around 40,000 emergency calls annually. Approximately 90% of RFD personnel are certified NY State EMTs and approximately 50% of the calls each year are for EMS. The RFD also operates its own apparatus repair division located at the Public Safety Training Facility. The current Chief of Department is John P. Schreiber.

Culture and recreation

The city of Rochester is home to numerous cultural institutions. These include the Garth Fagan Dance, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester Museum & Science Center, the Rochester Broadway Theater League, Strong National Museum of Play, the Strasenburgh Planetarium, Hochstein School of Music & Dance, the Auditorium Theater, and numerous arts organizations. Geva Theatre Center is the city's largest professional theater.

The East End Theater is located on East Main Street in the theater district. The Rochester Association of Performing Arts is a non-profit organization that provides educational theater classes to the community.

Nightlife

Rochester's East End district, located downtown, is well known as the center of the city's nightlife. It is the stopping point for East Avenue, which along with the surrounding streets is crowded with nightclubs, lounges, coffee shops, bars, and high-end restaurants. The Eastman School of Music, one of the top musical institutes in the nation, and its auditorium are also located within the neighborhood. The Eastman Theatre now plays host to the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and other musical/drama events.

There are other, smaller enclaves of after-hours activity scattered across the city. Southeast is the heart of Rochester's thriving arts scene, particularly in and around the Park Avenue neighborhood (which is known for its many coffee shops, cafes, bistros and boutique shops). Nearby on University Avenue can be found several plazas, like the Village Gate, which give space to trendy bars, restaurants and art galleries that stay open late into the night. Monroe Avenue, several streets over, is packed with pubs, small restaurants, smoke shops, theaters and several clubs as well as cigar bars and hookah lounges. All of these neighborhoods are home to many artists, musicians, students and Rochester's large LGBT community.

The South Wedge district, located directly below downtown, has seen significant gentrification in recent years and now is the site of many trendy cafes and bars that serve the student community attending the University of Rochester several blocks away from the heart of the neighborhoods. The "Wedge" is quickly becoming one of the most vibrant areas within the city limits, its numerous nightspots keeping the streets busy with college students and young professionals (many of whom live there due to the abundance of affordable housing, thriving nightlife and proximity to many of the region's major hospitals, parks and colleges)

Park lands

Rochester's parks include Highland, Cobb's Hill, Durand Eastman, Genesee Valley, Maplewood, Edgerton, Seneca, and Ontario Beach; four of these were designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. The city's Victorian-era Mt. Hope Cemetery includes the final resting places of Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass, George B. Selden, and many others. Other scenic sites are Holy Sepulchre and neighboring Riverside Cemetery.

Throughout its history, Rochester has acquired several nicknames; it has been known as "the World's Image Center", "the Flour City", "the Flower City". As a legacy of its time as "The Flower City", Rochester hosts a Lilac Festival for ten days every May, when nearly 400 varieties of lilacs bloom, and 100,000 visitors arrive.

Festivals

Rochester hosts a number of cultural festivals every year, including:

• The Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, which was established in 2002 and is now one of the largest Jazz Festivals in America. The festival is held in late June at dozens of clubs, concert halls and free outdoor stages throughout Downtown Rochester; past performers have included Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea, and Wynton Marsalis. A record 196,000 people attended the event in 2014
• The 360 365 Film Festival (formerly the Rochester High-Falls International Film Festival) held at the George Eastman House's Dryden Theatre and the Little Theatre downtown. Several Films screened at 360/365 have been honored at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards
• Rochester International Film Festival, the world's oldest continuously held short-film festival
• The Lilac Festival at Highland Park, which is the oldest and most popular festival in Rochester and the largest event of its kind in North America, attended by over 500,000 people annually. Established in 1898, it includes multiple attractions aside from the Lilacs themselves These musical acts include the Wailers who attended in 2012 and 2014

Points of interest

• Asbury First United Methodist Church, a Richardsonian Romanesque style edifice
• Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial
• Cinema Theater
• Cobbs Hill Park and Reservoir
• Eastman Business Park
• Ellwanger Garden
• First Unitarian Church of Rochester, described by a Pulitzer-Prize-winning architectural critic as one of "the most significant works of religious architecture of the century".
• Frederick Douglass Monument
• Frontier Field
• George Eastman House
• Geva Theatre Center
• High Falls and the High Falls Entertainment District
• Highland Park
• Liberty Pole
• Little Theatre, one of the oldest art-house movie theaters in the country
• Maplewood Park Rose Garden
• Midtown Plaza, the nation's first downtown shopping mall (partially demolished – Tower and Seneca Building still stand).
• Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, the nation's first Victorian cemetery
• Nick Tahou Hots featuring the Garbage Plate and a charity run in its name
• Ontario Beach Park and the Port of Rochester at Charlotte
• Rochester Broadway Theatre League at the Auditorium Theatre
• Rochester Contemporary Art Center
• Rochester's Public Market
• Rochester Riverside Convention Center
• St. Joseph's Church and Rectory (Rochester, New York)
• Seneca Park Zoo, one of the top three family attractions in the area
• Strong National Museum of Play, nation's second-largest children's museum housing the National Toy Hall of Fame
• Strasenburgh Planetarium, part of the Rochester Museum & Science Center
• Susan B. Anthony House
• Times Square Building, noted for its 42' tall "Wings of Progress" sculpture.
• University Avenue and Park Avenue Artistic Districts
• University of Rochester
• University of Rochester Arboretum
• University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music and Eastman Theatre
• Water Street Music Hall

Transportation

Maritime transport

There is marine freight service at the Port of Rochester on Lake Ontario, which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

A short-lived, high-speed passenger/vehicle ferry Spirit of Ontario I built in Australia, nicknamed The Breeze or The Fast Ferry, linked Rochester to Toronto across Lake Ontario. Canadian American Transportation Systems (CATS) was the company in charge of the Fast Ferry operations. The Spirit of Ontario I had a delayed arrival on April 29, 2004 as a result of hitting a pier in New York City on April 5, 2004 and was finally officially christened on June 16, 2004 at the Port of Rochester. The Fast Ferry was bought by the City of Rochester in an attempt to save the project. The Fast Ferry operated between June 17, 2004, and December 12, 2005, and cost the city $42.5 million. The project was initially well received by inhabitants of Rochester. Considerable effort was spent by inhabitants of Rochester to build up the waterfront to embrace the idea as well as to capitalize on potential tourism which was estimated to be an additional 75,000 tourists per month. In the first three months of operation the fast ferry had carried about 140,000 people between Rochester and Toronto. A second Fast Ferry was proposed by CATS on August 27, 2004 which would have cost an additional $100 Million. Due to a number of problems concerning the ship's engine (June 6, 2004 blown gasket and September 2004 to June 2005) requiring costly repairs, the lack of mutual building up of waterfronts in Toronto and the inability of the city to put pressure on the company responsible for the production of the Fast Ferry yielded in the failure of the project. It was sold to Förde Reederei Seetouristik, a German company, for $30 million. The mayor at the time was William A. Johnson, Jr. and was succeeded by Robert Duffy on January 1, 2006.

Air transport

Rochester is served by the Greater Rochester International Airport (GRIA). Daily scheduled air service is provided by Air Canada, American, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and United. Many of these airlines do not operate mainline service to Rochester; rather, they contract regional airlines to operate flights on their own, smaller aircraft.

In 2010, the GRIA was ranked the 14th-least expensive airport in the United States by Cheapflights. This was considered a major achievement for the county and the airport authority; as recently as 2003, Rochester's ticket prices were among the highest in the country, ranking as high as fourth in 1999.

FedEx founder Fred Smith has stated in numerous articles that Xerox's development of the copier, and its need to quickly get parts to customers, was one of the economic issues that led him to pioneer the overnight delivery business in 1971. Because Xerox manufactured its copiers in Rochester, the city was one of the original 25 cities that FedEx served on its first night of operations on April 17, 1973.

Rails and mass transit

Prior to the Amtrak Station, Rochester had a smaller version of New York City's "Grand Central Station." It was among Claude Fayette Bragdon's best works in Rochester, New York.

Rochester used to be a major stop on several railroad lines. It was served by the New York Central Railroad which served Chicago and Buffalo to the west and Albany and New York City to the east and southeast. The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway (absorbed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) served Buffalo and Pittsburgh until 1955. A rail route to Salamanca in southern New York State afforded connections in Salamanca to southwestern and southeastern New York State. The last long-distance train in a southern direction was the Northern Express/Southern Express that went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania via Canandaigua, Elmira and Williamsport; service ended in 1971.

Amtrak (passenger) and freight lines provide rail service to Rochester. Rochester has intercity and transcontinental bus service via Greyhound and Trailways.

Local bus service in Rochester and its county suburbs is provided by the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) via its Regional Transit Service (RTS) subsidiary. RTS also provides suburban service outside the immediate Rochester area and runs smaller transportation systems in outlying counties, such as WATS (Wayne Area Transportation System).

From 1927 to 1957, Rochester had a light rail underground transit system called the Rochester Subway. It was the smallest city in the world to have one. Over the years there have been privately sponsored proposals put forth that encourage the region to support a new system, possibly using some of the old tunnels. One includes converting the Broad Street bridge tunnel—the former canal aqueduct—into an enhanced pedestrian corridor, which would also include a Rochester Transportation Museum, and a tram system.

The former canal and subway tunnels have become a frequent source of debate. Several city homeless use the tunnels for shelter, and a few areas near tunnel entrances have gained the reputation as being dangerous. The city has considered multiple solutions for the space including recreating a canal way, putting the subway system back in or filling the tunnels entirely. The plan to fill the tunnels in completely has generated criticism as the cost of filling would not generate nor leverage economic development.

Public support continues to grow for re-watering the original Erie Canal through downtown Rochester. In support of the re-watering efforts, the city released a master plan in 2009 calling for the creation of Rochester's Historic Canal District. A subsequent environmental review document is set to be released in the near future, seeking additional public input. This district includes both private and public investment that builds upon the rich heritage of the district, educational opportunities, historic interpretation, architectural significant building and recreational amenities. The city is currently seeking public funds for implementing the first of three major phases of the Canal District.

Major highways and roads

There are three exits off the New York State Thruway (Interstate 90) that serve Rochester. Rochester has an extensive system of limited-access highways (called 'freeways' and 'expressways') which connects all parts of the city and the Thruway. During the Thruway's construction, a disagreement between the governor of New York and mayor of Rochester resulted in a bypass of downtown Rochester, leaving the city struggling for growth.

Rochester's expressway system, conceived in the 1950s, was designed as two concentric circles with feeder expressways from the west, south and east. The system allows for quick travel within the metropolitan area and a lack of the traffic gridlock typically found in cities of comparable size; in part this is because the system was designed to accommodate an anticipated year-2000 metro population of 5 million, whereas the present-day population is just over one million.

The Outer Loop circles just outside the city limits while the former Inner Loop once circled around the immediate downtown area within the city (the easternmost third was closed in 2015). From the west are Lake Ontario State Parkway, NY-531 and I-490; Interstate 390 feeds from the south; and NY-104, NY-441, and I-490 approach from the east.

Later expressway proposals

In the early 1970s, the Genesee Expressway Task Force, City leaders, and NYSDOT studied the feasibility of connecting the outer and inner Loops with a new southern expressway. The proposed route extended north from the I-390 and I-590 interchange in Brighton, cutting through Rochester's Swillburg neighborhood. In 1972, consultants Berger Lehman Associates recommended a new 'Busway', an expressway with dedicated bus lanes, similar to Bus Rapid Transit. The expressway extension was never built.

Three Interstate Highways run through the City of Rochester:

Interstate 390 (Genesee Expressway)

• I-390 runs south-north, crossing I-90 (exit 46) and routing north through Rochester's western suburbs. Its northern end is at I-490, however it continues north as NY-390 until it merges into the Lake Ontario State Parkway. South of I-90, I-390 runs to Avoca, New York, where it meets up with U.S. Route 15 and the Southern Tier Expressway, I-86.

Interstate 490 (Western/Eastern Expressway)

• I-490 runs west-east through Rochester, starting at Le Roy, New York and ending in Victor, New York. It interchanges with the two other Interstates in Rochester: I-390 at the western city limit and I-590 at the eastern limit, as well as connecting at both ends with the Thruway, I-90 (exits 47 and 45). In July 2007, a new bridge over the Genesee River was completed and named the Frederick Douglass–Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge.

Interstate 590

• I-590 runs south-north through Rochester's eastern suburbs. Its southern end is at I-390, while the northern end is at I-490; the highway continues north to the shore of Lake Ontario as NY-590.
• In decreasing usage is the term "Can of Worms", referring to the previously dangerous at-grade intersection of Interstate 490 and expressway NY-590 on the eastern edge of the Rochester city limits, bordering the suburb of Brighton. In the 1980s, a multimillion-dollar project created a system of overpasses and ramps that reduced the danger but resulted in the loss of certain exits.

New York State Route Expressways:

New York State Route 104 (Irondequoit-Wayne County Expressway, West Ridge Road)

• NY 104 – Just east of the NY 590 interchange, NY 104 becomes the Irondequoit-Wayne County Expressway and crosses the Irondequoit Bay Bridge. On the other side of the Bay Bridge, in the town of Webster, NY 104 has exits before returning to an at-grade highway at Basket Road.

New York State Route 390

• NY 390 is an extension of Interstate 390 from the I-390/I-490 interchange in Gates. The northern terminus is at the Lake Ontario State Parkway in Greece, less than a mile from the Lake Ontario shoreline.

New York State Route 590

• NY 590 is a limited-access extension of Interstate 590 at runs from an interchange between Interstate 490 and I-590 on the Brighton/Rochester border. The northern terminus is at Culver Road in Irondequoit, near Sea Breeze (the western shore of Irondequoit Bay at Lake Ontario).

Inner Loop

• The Inner Loop encircles the downtown Rochester area. Unsigned reference New York State Route 940T begins and ends at Interstate 490, and the rest of the Loop is part of I-490 between exits 13 and 15, including the Frederick Douglass – Susan B. Anthony Memorial Bridge. This expressway is commonly used to define the borders of downtown Rochester.

New York State Parkways:

Lake Ontario State Parkway

• Lake Ontario State Parkway travels from Lakeside Beach State Park in Carlton, Orleans County. The eastern end is at Lake Avenue in the city of Rochester in Monroe County.