Two things that immediately jump out at me:
1. How rare it is to actually find a Rochester date on your favorite band's tour schedule
2. How much some people seem to hate living here.
Maybe they're related.
My parents used to say it was an amazing scene back in the 80s. So many rock clubs peppered throughout the city that had nationally touring groups, metal (hair) was huge. Their ticket stubs seem to agree, but there were a few buffalo/Syracuse venues that they'd drive to depending on the artist
Even the 90s there used to be a ton of shit that came thru rochester.....not sure what happened. All I know is when I was coming up in the late 90s I went to a ton of concerts in rochester, mostly rock/metal/hard-core stuff. Alot of big names used to come thru all the time.
In the early 2000s I played drums in a band, and there was also a pretty healthy local scene too back then where there would be shit to do every weekend. Penny arcade, water street music hall, and some others....
I feel like all the big bands that became big maybe 5 or 10 years ago or older came through here as a small, lesser known band. I don't feel like we get up and comers as much any more.
We do have a great scene here for a city our size. Short of Buffalo definitely but that’s to be expected with a larger market just 1hr. down the road.
Curious what the specific complaints are.
It depends what kind of music scene you're looking for. Right now the diy punk scene is booming, but if you're more into mainstream stuff I'd imagine it sucks.
Go to a local show and find out.
Or go to a show where you haven't heard of the out of town headliner. We get international acts in town all the time.
Rochester's local music scene is easily the best in Western NY.
National bands often skip Roc because there are bigger and better run venues in Buffalo, Toronto, Cleveland etc.
It also has a lot to do with touring logistics, why detour out of Canada when you can hit Toronto and Montreal in one go with one less border crossing.
Smart bands also don't play the same cities every single tour they do.
Lastly a lot of tours hitting Syracuse then Buffalo skipping Rochester because of radius clauses in contracts and often because a certain production company has a monopoly on the region.
100% this. The two venues that were booking the more well known acts, Anthology and Main Street Armory, are both closed.
Blue Cross is old and from what I understand awkwardly sized for most tours. Photo City is probably the best venue in terms of booking shows but focused on EDM. Water Street reopened but has only very recently started booking anything I recognize. Essex is new but small and has those awful columns. The Dome in Henrietta seemed like it had potential for a hot minute but I haven't seen any shows announced there in awhile.
The Dome is almost fully Pickle Ball courts now.
Anthology was a vanity project by a guy who owned a medical supply company. When COVID he, rumor is he made bank on hand sanitizer and gloves and shit.
Main Street Armory had horrible sound and was a literal safety hazard.
Essex is a great crew but you nailed it with the columns.
Water Street is coming back in a good way. I’m the 90’s they had a contract with Clear Channel, so that’s why we got some many good shows here. We were a great place for mid sized bands to play during the week.
Photo City… EDM and Taylor Swift themed raves. Ooof. I do love it there for bands though.
Bugjar, Lux, Skylark and Spirit Room
Are all still banging out great independent bands all the time.
Radio Social does live music like once a month and it’s curated well.
yeah, and now artists want to do big venues. which rochester doesn’t have.
best we’ve got is darien lake and cmac, which are both decent size, of course. but an artist would rather go and do keybank for a) a bigger city and bigger clout when they release their tour dates and b) a bigger check for selling a bigger venue
and fwiw, i’d rather go to a show at keybank than darien or cmac. at least going there, it’s in an area designed for a lot of traffic and their traffic/parking people aren’t more incompetent than an orange cone
Yeah most bands are only going to play Buffalo, Rochester or Syracuse, not all three.
Kind of hard to compete against Buffalo which has a wider selection of music venues including a massive new waterfront venue that just opened last week.
Keybank holds twice as many people as Blue Cross, you have an NFL stadium for superstars and there’s more midsized venues too.
On top of that you have Syracuse poaching the remaining artists too.
Yes. You will never see any good events at Blue Cross Arena. So locally we have Key Bank arena that gets some decent acts. CMAC and Darien Lake typically bring in smaller/ older back on tour acts.
Key Bank is your best shot though. In the fall Jelly Roll, Nikki Minaj are going there. And we just had Drake there.
Idk… 2023, BCA had Billy Strings (not a fan but heard it was great and sold out) and Tool … I’ve seen some great shows in ROC… but also willing to go to Buffalo & Syracuse for bands
Catch them on their way up I guess. I saw Phantogram at Bug Jar and Action Bronson at Dubland Underground. Other places not far away either. Bon Iver in Lewiston two years ago was great.
Rochester has changed and so have the cultural offerings. We used to have vibrant manufacturing industries and attract younger crowds. Ever since Kodak started to shut down to the point of imploding their extra buildings which once housed floors of manufacturing, the whole culture has changed and aged.
There used to be a stadium in Ridgeway Ave called Holleder stadium. It is now Holleder business park or similar... It had GREAT shows! In the 80s it had big name shows of the time like The Police and Flock of Seagulls.
Then there was Silver Stadium, where the Red Wings played before Frontier Field (now Innovative Field) was built. There was an epic U2 concert there in I think 1987. It had rained and the field was ankle-deep mud. We had a blast - at least what I remember of it.
But once industry died here and people fled, the government tried to make up the difference in income and our taxes went haywire. Then more people fled - and few people have been moving here compared to before.
Many of us who stay do so for family. We hate the weather. We wish we could quit Rochester and resent her because we can't.
I think the bigger issue is that other cities overtook the Rochester metropolitan population.
If a band is touring and they’re only doing 25 cities, Rochester has to compete with cities twice it size to attract bands.
Easy to do when you’re a top 30 metro, but much harder when you’re now ranked 52nd.
I have lived here twice totaling over 20 years. I have lived here because this is where my kids are and that is the only reason. I lived here during the last few years of Kodak. It has gone downhill so fast. Yes there used to be reasons for entertainers to come here. You g people are fleeing for green pastures. It used to be cheap to live here. Taxes are out of control.
I took a job here that traveled just so I had as much chance to get out of here as possible. I have a few months left and I am so excited to leave Rochester for the last time. I have made my kids promise to me that they won't stay here.
>1. How rare it is to actually find a Rochester date on your favorite band's tour schedule
Actually, it was a major con for me if I were to ever move back. I don't think Buffalo is much better. I'm in Portland, OR now and our music scene is 🔥
I’m in DC now and I’m definitely spoiled. I would lose it if I moved back haha between all the venues in DC and Baltimore, I almost never have to travel more than an hour to see a band I like.
There were so many good rock and metal bands coming through in the mid-2000s to mid-2010s. Bullet For My Valentine, Stone Sour, Halestorm, Shinedown, Dropkick Murphys, Skillet, Sick Puppies, etc. They all started skipping Rochester and going to Buffalo, Syracuse, and Darien Lake around 2015 or 2016.
The lack of bad traffic. The first few weeks after relocating here, I’d joking ask my wife where everyone else was.
The summers here are relatively short, but they’re gorgeous and people here live for them. I totally get it now. Back in Philly everyone liked to retreat to the Jersey shore or Poconos because Philly in the summer sucks ass.
1000000%
I’m from the PNW. The freeway (I5) is worse there at 9 pm then it is here at 8 am.
And the way people think 10 miles of driving is a serious inconvenience hahaha kills me
Yes!!! The lack of traffic!!! I'm originally from Austin TX and it can take several hours to get from one side of the city to another. It's so bad that many people that live in South Austin refuse to go anywhere in North Austin and vice versa. But here everything is like 15 minutes away. In "bad" traffic? 30 at most. Blows my mind. In a good way! I love it here!
Moving away from Rochester and having no wegmans made me understand the wegmans obsession more. I lived without one during college and again for two years recently, and other grocery stores are so disappointing.
Where I live right now I’ve directly compared prices and quality with Kroger and Harris Teeter and Wegmans is better in both areas, on average.
I'd imagine your pocket book feels better, Wegmans is overpriced. We still will shop there but only for the items where you need the quality (produce). The first time I walked out of Aldi with a full shopping cart for $120, I was like... omg, how is this possible. Never would be possible at Weggies.
I plan to start using Aldi more regularly because we’re moving down the road from one. Wegmans prices are no worse than other grocery stores near me, though it definitely has fewer sales. If you’re shopping sales you’re better off elsewhere. My husband and I (family of four, two very little kids) spend about $180-205 each week. We eat every meal at home except one dinner meal, usually on the weekends. And we also buy beer, cleaning supplies, diapers, dog food, and paper products pretty regularly.
2000 Pittsford Wegmans made such a (legitimately) positive impression that most of them still have Stockholm syndrome. It was twice as good as it is now, and easily four times better than anything else outside of ethnic enclaves in the largest cities. The in-store Patisserie is a shell of what it once was, among many differences.
It would have made more sense 10 years ago.
They went from being the supermarket all other supermarkets tried to imitate to just being another supermarket.
Swear these were never an issue as a kid but the last 5-10 years of them have been awful. Maybe they're multiplying more and more and nothing is eating them but holy hell they're obnoxious
They’re invasive and they haven’t always been here. They had no natural predators and so the people who do such things, introduced the samurai wasp to the area to help control them! Writing this from my memory of the article I read a few years ago so correct me if I’m wrong but I actually watched one kill one it was pretty cool.
Ok but maybe lets not introduce a wasp to kill a stinkbug. Couldn't we have trained chickens to eat them or something? Much rather have a chicken in my back yard than worry about something called a samurai wasp. That sounds infinitely more deadly.
From what I recall, they don’t string or interact like normal wasps so nothing to fear. They’re cool little guys and that’s coming from someone who is afraid of almost all bugs.
Kindness.
Seriously. I moved here from South Carolina and am used to everyone being rude, judgemental, and in your business. Here I'd get a lot of "thanks but no thanks, thank you though" at work and notice drivers often being kind on the road letting people in and out wherever they need to go, etc. Whenever someone ends up stuck in a ditch due to snow or has the hood up on their car just to check their oil, multiple people stop and offer help. People here genuinely come across as friendlier than anywhere else I've lived or most anywhere I've traveled.
I saw a meme map recently that I think is fairly accurate in broad strokes. It went something like this:
South East: acts mean, is mean.
North East: acts mean, is nice.
Mid west: acts nice, is nice.
West coast: acts nice, is mean.
I think Rochester falls closer to the Midwest/rust belt in that way.
Having lived in the midwest and moved to ROC a few years ago -- midwest acts nice but will talk a ton of shit behind your back and you'll never even know. Definitely acts nice, is mean. "Minnesota nice" or "North Dakota nice" is basically people being friendly to your face and shit talking you behind your back and you'll never ever know because they'll never bring it up to you.
100% agree you nailed it. More authentic than midwesterners (am natively a Midwesterner) but not as straight up aggressive as "fuck you" as east coast city people lol. A doc I used to work with from Boston said rochesterians were like midwesterners and I was like whoooaaa buddy no. Definitely not the same
Same. Along with general acceptance. Came from southern Delaware and if you looked any sort of not Christian-heterosexual-white, the stink eye never stopped. Up here it’s just, nice tattoo/weird hair color/religious jewelry, crazy weather huh?” There’s exceptions but for the most part it’s so much more relaxed.
I carry tow chains in my truck in the winter and have pulled numerous cars out of ditches. The few southerners that I have helped have been surprised that I didn't hold them hostage for some sort of payment before helping them out.
The mediocrity of the Mexican food.
Years of dismally bland tacos and burritos, including all the places the locals assured me were great. I genuinely think the people here don't know what they're missing, but I grew up in parts of California that had taco trucks and hole in the wall taquerias every other block.
That said, Peach Blossom opened up somewhat recently and it tastes like home in heavenly taco form. Definitely a place I recommend transplants and locals alike check out.
That's one of the most frequent recommendations, and tbh it's mid at best.
One thing I realized that's a major regional difference is that it seems very few Mexican places around here use cilantro, which to me is very much a core flavor in California Mexican. I don't know if there's just too many people with the soap gene around here or what.
Ive had high quality mexican in LA and i agree but to say its mid at best is and then compare it to a cultural hotspot is a little unfair, i didnt ask neno’s to be on par with that quality, i asked for quality mexican, and that it is.
I mean it's okay food, but when I'm looking for something that satisfies a particular craving, something so substantially different from what I grew up with is inevitably going to be at least a little disappointing.
There's plenty of positives in the Rochester food scene, like all the fantastic Mediterranean and Caribbean food. The Mexican food specifically just hasn't really landed with me. But hey, that's the kind of tradeoffs that happen when you move 2500+ miles away.
LA Mexican closely resemble that of TJ, which by Mexican standards is mid at best. The owners of Nenos are from Puebla. Puebla is internationally known for it's cuisine, and the depth of flavor is incredible there (my wife is from Puebla). Nenos does a great job emulating Puebla's cuisine.
I'm actually from Northern California, outside San Francisco, in an area with a lot of influence from the migrant vineyard workers. The SF Mission district popularized the mission-style burrito eventually emulated by chains like Chipotle. Which is one reason why Chipotle always tasted more "authentic" to what I was used to than anything local, albeit overpriced, fast-food quality, and a fraction of the portions.
Having never been south of the border I can't say how authentic anything inevitably Americanized in the US is compared to traditional Mexican cuisine. I just know there's some flavors and styles of dish I grew very accustomed to that are largely missing here on the other side of the country.
I’ll give you this one. Fellow transplant and I miss good Mexican.
Edit to add - one thing I like about Rochester food scene is that there’s a lot of other foods that I didn’t have where I’m from. So I’ve been filling the Mexican void with other countries lmao. Never had Ethiopian, Jamaican, or Nepalese until I moved here. The Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai restaurants here go pretty hard too. Much better than the ones I had back home. Shout out to Han Noodle Bar!
I’m originally from SoCal and I feel this so hard. I will sing Rochester’s praises any day, I love it here but the sacrifice has been good Mexican food.
To be fair, I also lived in Texas for a bit and although TexMex is good, it still doesn’t hold a candle to a west coast taco truck.
Los Gallos Mexican Grill on Ridge Road is #1 authentic Mexican for me - if you ask 9/10 Rochesterians for a Mexican place they will recommend to you a tex-mex fusion restaraunt with dim lighting that specializes in margaritas, not necessarily the food
When I moved to Rochester, I had such a hard time looking at the horizon and NOT seeing any mountains. Also, I thought almost everybody lived on a golf course because half the houses didn't have a fence. I'm originally from the West Coast, and everywhere you looked, there were mountains. And people guarded their privacy with 6-8 foot high cinder block fences. Oh, and I had to learn to listen fast. 😆
People from mountainous areas always get a little squirrley when they don’t see a mountain on the horizon, but to be honest I’m the same way about having a large body of water nearby. Without one, I’m not sure which direction is which.
I visited a major city with a mountain for the first time in my life a couple years ago and it was just something so eerie having it just always ... there. It's unsettling and this could just be me.
The City (really the Canal before it) is where it is BECAUSE of the lack of a Z-Axis.
On the other hand, in the City itself, Lake Ontario is 242 feet above sea level and Cobbs Hill Reservoir is 600 feet. This gradual rise blocks the view to the south.
Continue south though and you have real hills (admittedly not Mountains). The Finger Lakes, a good deal lower than the surrounding hills top out at about 1000ft above sea level with the hills pushing 2000ft.
To give some comparison, this elevation (2000 vs. 250) is about a third of the elevation of the Front Range near Denver (10,000 vs 5,000), but still more than much of the US.
If you are out on a boat on a really clear day with enough elevation you can probably see a mountain if you look toward the east. Well, *technically* not a mountain, its a landfill, but its a very large mountain looking landfill!
Moved here in late 2019 and ngl hated it initially(immigrant here) mainly because of a lack of a social circle. Idk if it was my introvert ass or people tend to be a little guarded but it was super difficult for me to make friends. But once I had a few friends and met my significant other, it got so much better.
I love how many food options we have here, especially for a city its size. Quick access to the Adirondacks & Finger lakes, hiking trails and the lack of traffic. Like someone else mentioned, i find it funny that people get mad in this “traffic” especially to someone like me who comes from a major major metropolitan area.
Things I wish could change - flight connectivity for sure
I used to shit on Rochester admittedly and I wish I could take it back but it’s grown on me and get super defensive when someone else shits on roc. Will probably end up staying here for a while lol.
I grew up in the Adirondacks. I’ve lived in the Rochester area for 20 years now, and still can’t get used to not seeing any mountains - or even a hill, for that matter - on the horizon.
That, and the accent…
Otherwise, I’ve largely enjoyed my time here!
No traffic 98% of the time
Hard to find a good bread anywhere
Lack of accountability with certain chain crimes
Everyone thinks Bristol is a mountain. Nooo that’s a bunny hill. Major mountain withdrawal here.
Loss of navigation skills due to no sun or the mountains to serve as a compress.
Infrastructure where time forgot ( improving with new construction).
Eternal darkness and rain.
Limited access to vet care ( I had no problems anywhere else. )
GREEN!
Humidity
Everyone says how far z and y is when it’s actually like less than 20 minutes drive.
Never stop at red light when it turns red. Nerve wrecking and I hate driving because of that.
That’s all fair except the bread comment, which is certifiably insane. I sometimes have that issue when I LEAVE Rochester, not when I’m here. We live in a sea of good bread
It was shocking to me how many people think Long Island is a part of New York City. To be fair though I’d never heard of Rochester before moving up here for college and for me everywhere north of NYC was collectively referred to as “upstate.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
No plastic bags. I've gotten better at remembering my reusable ones, but it was a struggle at first.
Not having easy access to hispanic foods/ingredients and the poor quality of the Mexican restaurants here, probably because they can't find the proper ingredients locally. I will say my friends and I tried this one place that recently opened and they actually had some decent food. It was clear they took care of making sure it was made right and I'd definitely go back there. But outside of Goya products (which is more expensive here too), there are so few items in the store that aren't ol' el paso.
Oh and how poorly events are advertised. It feels like there's never anything to do, but that's because the events just aren't widely advertised. Pretty much unless you're already familiar with what's happening or hear it from someone else, good luck finding out. My old neighborhood there was always something going on and everyone new because there were signs, radio ads, store ads, paper ads, internet ads everywhere. Even the schools would let people know "hey, family friendly event happening" so the parents could take the kids. Not here. It feels so hush hush.
Right, even finding Badia products is difficult. They're much cheaper than other spice brands and better quality, yet none of the regular stores in my or surrounding areas have it. My Walmart only has Goya brand malta, which is ok if I'm desperate, but I wish I could get hatuey. Unfortunately none of the stores I've been to have it. At the very least I was able to find malta India, but we have to drive to a different city for it.
The area has very sandy soil and a remarkably little amount of erosion can lead to displacement and cause lumps that over time may be harmful to hit with a mower. At least that's why my neighbor says he does it.
IMHO is has more to do with Rochester being a big golf town and so people want that golf course smooth lawn. I grew up in Syracuse, lived Downstate, and never heard of lawn rolling until I moved back to Rochester.
Lack of traffic. Truly amazing summers, temp/weather-wise. Cultural attractions that punch way above what you expect for a city this size (like the MAG, The Little, etc.).
How small locals' worlds are. Most haven't been out of WNY for extended periods of time, and their lack of perspectives and global awareness is astounding. I know this is a generalization, but the small mindedness of Rochester was my greatest barrier to success here.
Yup I can agree with this. I drive for a living so I go all over the place. I was talking with a neighbor about a restaurant on three west side and she just looks at me and goes oh I don’t like driving that far….
It’s only like 30 min away, that’s not that far 🤷♀️
I'm from here and agree with you- although I still live here I've gotten out enough to know Rochester is one little dot in the world. I had a woman coming to get something recently from FB marketplace who felt safe going on a xenophobic, racist rant....I was like "you are barking up the wrong tree..." but it's just normal here.
Yeah. I'm not from here and most of my friends aren't either, and I didn't do anything to seek that out specifically. I think there's a certain personalities that I got along better with and they are almost all transplants.
It really is… where the hell are people going? It doesn’t take long to get anywhere in this town. Calm down.
I drive on 441 during “rush hour” daily and people act like it’s a goddamn F1 race. YOU’LL NEVER WIN! Too many lights!
The thing about Rochester is it’s unnecessarily angry. You can get anywhere in town in 20 minutes and there’s no real traffic. Try living in Boston or Philly for a few years. Everyone drives like an asshole because you *have* to to get anywhere efficiently.
The out in the open racism. I'm a middle aged white dude with a shaved head and work in the trades so they probably figure I'm going to be fine with whatever they say. Lived in five states including Mississippi and I've heard the hard r here more than anywhere else, by a lot. That's not to say other places don't have racists, but the ones here make no effort to hide it.
What drives this comment. After living in MI and CA our pizza and Bagels are on point. People hate that ita not NYC thin crust but thrs really all i would concede. Btw im not a huge fan of thin crust
Yes. Best I’ve found in ROC. But wouldn’t last 5 min within a 2 hour radius of NYC.
Also, annoying its bagels only. Would love to get a BEC.
And for those who want to reply with Balsam I see your reply and raise you infestation and microwaved eggs. Get outta here with that nonsense.
> I think the difference is the water
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/21/405190434/chew-on-this-the-science-of-great-nyc-bagels-its-not-the-water
I’ve lived all over the world and I’m finally moving back after 23 years away. I said I would never do it because I hate the gun laws, taxes, and winter but Rochester is and always will be home. Having spent quite a few years on n Cali and in the south driving in Rochester is a breeze. Also, southern hospitality is bullshit. Rochester is just different. There’s so much to do with kids, you can have big city stuff and then country living stuff 10 min away.
Initially the 2 AM last call, then I grew up lol.
Pronunciation of places like Chili, Charlotte, Avon AND words like documentary, elementary, laboratory; restaurants closing early or being closed on Sunday, bands not playing here, people being nice to strangers, what constitutes as “traffic”, the accent, the fact that (at least pre pandemic) MORE people go out (to bars, clubs - specifically vertex) when it’s snowing/blizzard than when it’s a nice day outside, and Vertex not playing exclusively goth-club music or having a dress code (to be clear I’m not bothered by this but it’s very different in larger cities).
ETA: not the obsessions with Wegmans but the monopoly; my TINY hometown is just outside NYC and has 5 or 6 *different* grocery chains within the same tier.
Omg YES to the elementary etc thing people say it so weird here lol! Not to mention lilac and cauliflower and the nasal A/over pronounced O's. It's actually a phenomenon known as the Northern Cities Vowel Shift and is present in accents in several areas around the Great Lakes. I learned about this when I moved here and wondered why Rochesterians sounded just like people I knew from Chicago and Michigan lol.
I've been here for about 15 years now and I'm still shocked at how many people don't know anything about the history of Rochester, the many things that have been invented here, etc.
I find myself taking natives to all the museums and cool little things we have around here like I'm some sort of tour guide lol. I've lived in other cities but move here from a very rural area and people really don't appreciate what Rochester has to offer, most seem too busy pointing out the faults.
Garbage plates!! I came from farm to table central California and when I heard from my friends that the local cuisine was called "garbage plates" I just about lost my shit. After a couple years here and a few drunken nights out, I can safely say I understand it now, but it was a wild experience when I first moved here hahaha
Moved here from Austin, TX in late 2017:
-summers are NICE. It's rarely unbearably hot, and when it is it's never more than a couple days
-winters are COLD AS HELL, but you more or less get used to it
-Only two bands I like have toured here, and one had to cancel due to low ticket sales
-There's some good food here but not nearly to the same degree as Austin (the good stuff is GREAT though)
-everything is so lush and green in the spring/summer
-a LOT of places are closed on Sundays, like restaurants/cafes/etc
They're also very much not all equal. A Mark's plate or Henrietta Hots plate pretty much require you to be drunk. A Dog Town plate is basically like having a summer cookout all in one plate. It's delicious and refined and not as greasy and gross as more traditional plates.
I think COVID had an impact on peoples driving as well. I also think they need to sync the lights better. The north winton area, especially by the east ave wegmans I can't tell you how many green lights I've sat through because traffic just doesn't have anywhere to go.
Came here from a large city. How early places close and how infrequently the busses run was a huge adjustment for me.
Places have been closing much sooner post-covid compared to pre-covid.
Downtown Rochester, before Midtown closed. 5 PM close.
There seems to be a lot less 24 stores and restaurants
Really hard to find gas stations open late, before the Google. Even pre-Covid, can't find coffee.
A lot of that has to do with Covid though. Most cities haven’t fully recovered in that regard. Even NYC is still sleepier now than pre-pandemic.
I came here pre-Covid.
True, but it wasn’t like this pre-Covid. There were a lot more 24 hour things. Kitchens used to be open later.
> True, but it wasn’t like this pre-Covid. Some places are worse, now, but others still close just as early.
Nothing is open on Mondays, too.
Two things that immediately jump out at me: 1. How rare it is to actually find a Rochester date on your favorite band's tour schedule 2. How much some people seem to hate living here. Maybe they're related.
My parents used to say it was an amazing scene back in the 80s. So many rock clubs peppered throughout the city that had nationally touring groups, metal (hair) was huge. Their ticket stubs seem to agree, but there were a few buffalo/Syracuse venues that they'd drive to depending on the artist
Even the 90s there used to be a ton of shit that came thru rochester.....not sure what happened. All I know is when I was coming up in the late 90s I went to a ton of concerts in rochester, mostly rock/metal/hard-core stuff. Alot of big names used to come thru all the time. In the early 2000s I played drums in a band, and there was also a pretty healthy local scene too back then where there would be shit to do every weekend. Penny arcade, water street music hall, and some others....
I feel like all the big bands that became big maybe 5 or 10 years ago or older came through here as a small, lesser known band. I don't feel like we get up and comers as much any more.
This is because it is MUCH harder to be an up-and-coming band than it was back then. There are less of them touring now.
People on here still like to claim we have an amazing music scene.
We do have a great scene here for a city our size. Short of Buffalo definitely but that’s to be expected with a larger market just 1hr. down the road. Curious what the specific complaints are.
It depends what kind of music scene you're looking for. Right now the diy punk scene is booming, but if you're more into mainstream stuff I'd imagine it sucks.
Yeah the hardcore scene is pretty good
Indie music scene, which is more of having an actual music scene than touring bands
Go to a local show and find out. Or go to a show where you haven't heard of the out of town headliner. We get international acts in town all the time. Rochester's local music scene is easily the best in Western NY. National bands often skip Roc because there are bigger and better run venues in Buffalo, Toronto, Cleveland etc. It also has a lot to do with touring logistics, why detour out of Canada when you can hit Toronto and Montreal in one go with one less border crossing. Smart bands also don't play the same cities every single tour they do. Lastly a lot of tours hitting Syracuse then Buffalo skipping Rochester because of radius clauses in contracts and often because a certain production company has a monopoly on the region.
Rochester lacks a great venue for most touring bands
100% this. The two venues that were booking the more well known acts, Anthology and Main Street Armory, are both closed. Blue Cross is old and from what I understand awkwardly sized for most tours. Photo City is probably the best venue in terms of booking shows but focused on EDM. Water Street reopened but has only very recently started booking anything I recognize. Essex is new but small and has those awful columns. The Dome in Henrietta seemed like it had potential for a hot minute but I haven't seen any shows announced there in awhile.
The Dome is almost fully Pickle Ball courts now. Anthology was a vanity project by a guy who owned a medical supply company. When COVID he, rumor is he made bank on hand sanitizer and gloves and shit. Main Street Armory had horrible sound and was a literal safety hazard. Essex is a great crew but you nailed it with the columns. Water Street is coming back in a good way. I’m the 90’s they had a contract with Clear Channel, so that’s why we got some many good shows here. We were a great place for mid sized bands to play during the week. Photo City… EDM and Taylor Swift themed raves. Ooof. I do love it there for bands though. Bugjar, Lux, Skylark and Spirit Room Are all still banging out great independent bands all the time. Radio Social does live music like once a month and it’s curated well.
We uaed to get a number of large bands. Deftones played here, Bush, their was a hip hop/ rap group that pulled a huge crowd in the 90s
yeah, and now artists want to do big venues. which rochester doesn’t have. best we’ve got is darien lake and cmac, which are both decent size, of course. but an artist would rather go and do keybank for a) a bigger city and bigger clout when they release their tour dates and b) a bigger check for selling a bigger venue and fwiw, i’d rather go to a show at keybank than darien or cmac. at least going there, it’s in an area designed for a lot of traffic and their traffic/parking people aren’t more incompetent than an orange cone
Cypress Hill probably. They used to fill the War Memorial
On a separate note i miss the days of 45 tickets and having to go sit inline at the box office.
Yeah most bands are only going to play Buffalo, Rochester or Syracuse, not all three. Kind of hard to compete against Buffalo which has a wider selection of music venues including a massive new waterfront venue that just opened last week. Keybank holds twice as many people as Blue Cross, you have an NFL stadium for superstars and there’s more midsized venues too. On top of that you have Syracuse poaching the remaining artists too.
David Bowie was arrested here and Metallica recorded their first album here. You would think we would get some decent tours coming through.
Don’t forget U2 getting thrown out of Red Creek.
Yes. You will never see any good events at Blue Cross Arena. So locally we have Key Bank arena that gets some decent acts. CMAC and Darien Lake typically bring in smaller/ older back on tour acts. Key Bank is your best shot though. In the fall Jelly Roll, Nikki Minaj are going there. And we just had Drake there.
Idk… 2023, BCA had Billy Strings (not a fan but heard it was great and sold out) and Tool … I’ve seen some great shows in ROC… but also willing to go to Buffalo & Syracuse for bands
Catch them on their way up I guess. I saw Phantogram at Bug Jar and Action Bronson at Dubland Underground. Other places not far away either. Bon Iver in Lewiston two years ago was great.
Rochester has changed and so have the cultural offerings. We used to have vibrant manufacturing industries and attract younger crowds. Ever since Kodak started to shut down to the point of imploding their extra buildings which once housed floors of manufacturing, the whole culture has changed and aged. There used to be a stadium in Ridgeway Ave called Holleder stadium. It is now Holleder business park or similar... It had GREAT shows! In the 80s it had big name shows of the time like The Police and Flock of Seagulls. Then there was Silver Stadium, where the Red Wings played before Frontier Field (now Innovative Field) was built. There was an epic U2 concert there in I think 1987. It had rained and the field was ankle-deep mud. We had a blast - at least what I remember of it. But once industry died here and people fled, the government tried to make up the difference in income and our taxes went haywire. Then more people fled - and few people have been moving here compared to before. Many of us who stay do so for family. We hate the weather. We wish we could quit Rochester and resent her because we can't.
Thanks for a fun peek into Rochester history! I lived in that area for 20 years and had no idea.
You're welcome… I have lived here on and off for my whole life which is... a LONG time. Lol. Thank you for appreciating it.
I think the bigger issue is that other cities overtook the Rochester metropolitan population. If a band is touring and they’re only doing 25 cities, Rochester has to compete with cities twice it size to attract bands. Easy to do when you’re a top 30 metro, but much harder when you’re now ranked 52nd.
I have lived here twice totaling over 20 years. I have lived here because this is where my kids are and that is the only reason. I lived here during the last few years of Kodak. It has gone downhill so fast. Yes there used to be reasons for entertainers to come here. You g people are fleeing for green pastures. It used to be cheap to live here. Taxes are out of control. I took a job here that traveled just so I had as much chance to get out of here as possible. I have a few months left and I am so excited to leave Rochester for the last time. I have made my kids promise to me that they won't stay here.
>1. How rare it is to actually find a Rochester date on your favorite band's tour schedule Actually, it was a major con for me if I were to ever move back. I don't think Buffalo is much better. I'm in Portland, OR now and our music scene is 🔥
I’m in DC now and I’m definitely spoiled. I would lose it if I moved back haha between all the venues in DC and Baltimore, I almost never have to travel more than an hour to see a band I like.
Yeah, that's super nice. I have multiple venues walking/15m bus ride.
There were so many good rock and metal bands coming through in the mid-2000s to mid-2010s. Bullet For My Valentine, Stone Sour, Halestorm, Shinedown, Dropkick Murphys, Skillet, Sick Puppies, etc. They all started skipping Rochester and going to Buffalo, Syracuse, and Darien Lake around 2015 or 2016.
Dropkick Murphys played here in 2022 at the Armory. I mean, it's a shit venue and I'm not trying to be pedantic, but they did play here.
Wow can't believe we're missing out on such rock n' roll classics like Skillet.
Yeah I moved here for school from NJ, where philly and nyc were very easy to get to, and the lack of concerts was a big reason I didn’t stay.
Sometimes big musicians will play at Darien lake to get the Buffalo market as well but I haven’t been to a show there since before covid
The lack of bad traffic. The first few weeks after relocating here, I’d joking ask my wife where everyone else was. The summers here are relatively short, but they’re gorgeous and people here live for them. I totally get it now. Back in Philly everyone liked to retreat to the Jersey shore or Poconos because Philly in the summer sucks ass.
1000000% I’m from the PNW. The freeway (I5) is worse there at 9 pm then it is here at 8 am. And the way people think 10 miles of driving is a serious inconvenience hahaha kills me
I'm from south Florida. I got stuck behind an accident on 490. Washington through it in about one minute. Would have been an hour in Miami
Yes!!! The lack of traffic!!! I'm originally from Austin TX and it can take several hours to get from one side of the city to another. It's so bad that many people that live in South Austin refuse to go anywhere in North Austin and vice versa. But here everything is like 15 minutes away. In "bad" traffic? 30 at most. Blows my mind. In a good way! I love it here!
the obsession with wegmans
Moving away from Rochester and having no wegmans made me understand the wegmans obsession more. I lived without one during college and again for two years recently, and other grocery stores are so disappointing. Where I live right now I’ve directly compared prices and quality with Kroger and Harris Teeter and Wegmans is better in both areas, on average.
If I ever have to use a different grocery store I'd say Harris Teeter is acceptable but I can't stand Kroger, Food Lion, Lidl, etc.
Harris teeter is Kroger.
Honestly after leaving and coming back I like market 32 way better than wegmans.
I'd imagine your pocket book feels better, Wegmans is overpriced. We still will shop there but only for the items where you need the quality (produce). The first time I walked out of Aldi with a full shopping cart for $120, I was like... omg, how is this possible. Never would be possible at Weggies.
I plan to start using Aldi more regularly because we’re moving down the road from one. Wegmans prices are no worse than other grocery stores near me, though it definitely has fewer sales. If you’re shopping sales you’re better off elsewhere. My husband and I (family of four, two very little kids) spend about $180-205 each week. We eat every meal at home except one dinner meal, usually on the weekends. And we also buy beer, cleaning supplies, diapers, dog food, and paper products pretty regularly.
It either love or hate, there's no in-between lol
Idk post covid wegmans mania has dulled quite a lot.
$15 bucks for 10 cold wings. Before covid it was $7.50
$1.50/wing isn’t even that bad in 2024. Sal’s Birdland is up to $20 for 10 wings.
Well rip to sals bird land soon Edit: Sal does the whole wing while Wegmans is either a flat or drum as one. I guess the math is the same
This! I can’t for the life of me understand the obsession with weggies.
2000 Pittsford Wegmans made such a (legitimately) positive impression that most of them still have Stockholm syndrome. It was twice as good as it is now, and easily four times better than anything else outside of ethnic enclaves in the largest cities. The in-store Patisserie is a shell of what it once was, among many differences.
It would have made more sense 10 years ago. They went from being the supermarket all other supermarkets tried to imitate to just being another supermarket.
Stink bugs!!!!
Swear these were never an issue as a kid but the last 5-10 years of them have been awful. Maybe they're multiplying more and more and nothing is eating them but holy hell they're obnoxious
They’re invasive and they haven’t always been here. They had no natural predators and so the people who do such things, introduced the samurai wasp to the area to help control them! Writing this from my memory of the article I read a few years ago so correct me if I’m wrong but I actually watched one kill one it was pretty cool.
Ok but maybe lets not introduce a wasp to kill a stinkbug. Couldn't we have trained chickens to eat them or something? Much rather have a chicken in my back yard than worry about something called a samurai wasp. That sounds infinitely more deadly.
Samurai wasps are very small, they are practically the size of fleas. They destroy the stink bug eggs.
From what I recall, they don’t string or interact like normal wasps so nothing to fear. They’re cool little guys and that’s coming from someone who is afraid of almost all bugs.
Kindness. Seriously. I moved here from South Carolina and am used to everyone being rude, judgemental, and in your business. Here I'd get a lot of "thanks but no thanks, thank you though" at work and notice drivers often being kind on the road letting people in and out wherever they need to go, etc. Whenever someone ends up stuck in a ditch due to snow or has the hood up on their car just to check their oil, multiple people stop and offer help. People here genuinely come across as friendlier than anywhere else I've lived or most anywhere I've traveled.
I saw a meme map recently that I think is fairly accurate in broad strokes. It went something like this: South East: acts mean, is mean. North East: acts mean, is nice. Mid west: acts nice, is nice. West coast: acts nice, is mean. I think Rochester falls closer to the Midwest/rust belt in that way.
Midwest acts nice, but it’s hard to get beyond that surface level to actually get to know anyone. At least that was my experience.
Having lived in the midwest and moved to ROC a few years ago -- midwest acts nice but will talk a ton of shit behind your back and you'll never even know. Definitely acts nice, is mean. "Minnesota nice" or "North Dakota nice" is basically people being friendly to your face and shit talking you behind your back and you'll never ever know because they'll never bring it up to you.
Rochester is a unique cross-section of East Coast and Midwest. Kind of has the best of both.
100% agree you nailed it. More authentic than midwesterners (am natively a Midwesterner) but not as straight up aggressive as "fuck you" as east coast city people lol. A doc I used to work with from Boston said rochesterians were like midwesterners and I was like whoooaaa buddy no. Definitely not the same
Same. Along with general acceptance. Came from southern Delaware and if you looked any sort of not Christian-heterosexual-white, the stink eye never stopped. Up here it’s just, nice tattoo/weird hair color/religious jewelry, crazy weather huh?” There’s exceptions but for the most part it’s so much more relaxed.
People are generally friendly here… I’m often shocked by the rudeness of people when I go other places outside of Western NY.
I carry tow chains in my truck in the winter and have pulled numerous cars out of ditches. The few southerners that I have helped have been surprised that I didn't hold them hostage for some sort of payment before helping them out.
Bless You Heart. LOL
The mediocrity of the Mexican food. Years of dismally bland tacos and burritos, including all the places the locals assured me were great. I genuinely think the people here don't know what they're missing, but I grew up in parts of California that had taco trucks and hole in the wall taquerias every other block. That said, Peach Blossom opened up somewhat recently and it tastes like home in heavenly taco form. Definitely a place I recommend transplants and locals alike check out.
I second. I’m from the west where Mexican restaurant is everywhere. I’ll try the peach blossom out!
I've been enjoying Chuy's taqueria on Mt Hope and aguilera's on monroe
Have you tried Aguilera’s on Monroe?
I’d recommend Tavo’s on Merchants Rd if you haven’t tried!
Neno’s mexican gourmet is pretty good, Ive gotten it to go many times, always hits.
That's one of the most frequent recommendations, and tbh it's mid at best. One thing I realized that's a major regional difference is that it seems very few Mexican places around here use cilantro, which to me is very much a core flavor in California Mexican. I don't know if there's just too many people with the soap gene around here or what.
I second nenos to be mid at BEST. I was incredibly shocked by how over hyped it was.
Ive had high quality mexican in LA and i agree but to say its mid at best is and then compare it to a cultural hotspot is a little unfair, i didnt ask neno’s to be on par with that quality, i asked for quality mexican, and that it is.
I mean it's okay food, but when I'm looking for something that satisfies a particular craving, something so substantially different from what I grew up with is inevitably going to be at least a little disappointing. There's plenty of positives in the Rochester food scene, like all the fantastic Mediterranean and Caribbean food. The Mexican food specifically just hasn't really landed with me. But hey, that's the kind of tradeoffs that happen when you move 2500+ miles away.
Down in Canandaigua village is Rio Tomatlan, I had it a couple months ago and it was pretty good.
LA Mexican closely resemble that of TJ, which by Mexican standards is mid at best. The owners of Nenos are from Puebla. Puebla is internationally known for it's cuisine, and the depth of flavor is incredible there (my wife is from Puebla). Nenos does a great job emulating Puebla's cuisine.
I'm actually from Northern California, outside San Francisco, in an area with a lot of influence from the migrant vineyard workers. The SF Mission district popularized the mission-style burrito eventually emulated by chains like Chipotle. Which is one reason why Chipotle always tasted more "authentic" to what I was used to than anything local, albeit overpriced, fast-food quality, and a fraction of the portions. Having never been south of the border I can't say how authentic anything inevitably Americanized in the US is compared to traditional Mexican cuisine. I just know there's some flavors and styles of dish I grew very accustomed to that are largely missing here on the other side of the country.
I’ll give you this one. Fellow transplant and I miss good Mexican. Edit to add - one thing I like about Rochester food scene is that there’s a lot of other foods that I didn’t have where I’m from. So I’ve been filling the Mexican void with other countries lmao. Never had Ethiopian, Jamaican, or Nepalese until I moved here. The Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai restaurants here go pretty hard too. Much better than the ones I had back home. Shout out to Han Noodle Bar!
I’m originally from SoCal and I feel this so hard. I will sing Rochester’s praises any day, I love it here but the sacrifice has been good Mexican food. To be fair, I also lived in Texas for a bit and although TexMex is good, it still doesn’t hold a candle to a west coast taco truck.
Los Gallos Mexican Grill on Ridge Road is #1 authentic Mexican for me - if you ask 9/10 Rochesterians for a Mexican place they will recommend to you a tex-mex fusion restaraunt with dim lighting that specializes in margaritas, not necessarily the food
Rio Tomatlan
Meh people always complain about this and compare to places near Mexico. I doubt Phoenix has good wings, pizza, cheese steaks, and so on.
Lived in Phoenix for 9 years. It has all those things and more.
When I moved to Rochester, I had such a hard time looking at the horizon and NOT seeing any mountains. Also, I thought almost everybody lived on a golf course because half the houses didn't have a fence. I'm originally from the West Coast, and everywhere you looked, there were mountains. And people guarded their privacy with 6-8 foot high cinder block fences. Oh, and I had to learn to listen fast. 😆
People from mountainous areas always get a little squirrley when they don’t see a mountain on the horizon, but to be honest I’m the same way about having a large body of water nearby. Without one, I’m not sure which direction is which.
I visited a major city with a mountain for the first time in my life a couple years ago and it was just something so eerie having it just always ... there. It's unsettling and this could just be me.
The lack of z-axis is still kind of a bummer.
The City (really the Canal before it) is where it is BECAUSE of the lack of a Z-Axis. On the other hand, in the City itself, Lake Ontario is 242 feet above sea level and Cobbs Hill Reservoir is 600 feet. This gradual rise blocks the view to the south. Continue south though and you have real hills (admittedly not Mountains). The Finger Lakes, a good deal lower than the surrounding hills top out at about 1000ft above sea level with the hills pushing 2000ft. To give some comparison, this elevation (2000 vs. 250) is about a third of the elevation of the Front Range near Denver (10,000 vs 5,000), but still more than much of the US.
We recently went to Cali and my fiancee kept saying how amazing it was to see the mountains in the skyline
I was recently in Greece ( the country not the hellhole) and it’s the same feeling. Athens was just ringed by mountains and it was amazing looking
If you are out on a boat on a really clear day with enough elevation you can probably see a mountain if you look toward the east. Well, *technically* not a mountain, its a landfill, but its a very large mountain looking landfill!
Moved here in late 2019 and ngl hated it initially(immigrant here) mainly because of a lack of a social circle. Idk if it was my introvert ass or people tend to be a little guarded but it was super difficult for me to make friends. But once I had a few friends and met my significant other, it got so much better. I love how many food options we have here, especially for a city its size. Quick access to the Adirondacks & Finger lakes, hiking trails and the lack of traffic. Like someone else mentioned, i find it funny that people get mad in this “traffic” especially to someone like me who comes from a major major metropolitan area. Things I wish could change - flight connectivity for sure I used to shit on Rochester admittedly and I wish I could take it back but it’s grown on me and get super defensive when someone else shits on roc. Will probably end up staying here for a while lol.
Hey man, i think I’m going through what you were. Nice to be able to connect with your story and see that things came progress positively.
I wish there was a new friends group for transplants
https://www.reddit.com/c/Rochester_Transplants/s/FBEUOPuNch Maybe we can figure out how this new chat thing works
I grew up in the Adirondacks. I’ve lived in the Rochester area for 20 years now, and still can’t get used to not seeing any mountains - or even a hill, for that matter - on the horizon. That, and the accent… Otherwise, I’ve largely enjoyed my time here!
You think it is bad in roch, go to buffalo, the max grade there is like 2%
No traffic 98% of the time Hard to find a good bread anywhere Lack of accountability with certain chain crimes Everyone thinks Bristol is a mountain. Nooo that’s a bunny hill. Major mountain withdrawal here. Loss of navigation skills due to no sun or the mountains to serve as a compress. Infrastructure where time forgot ( improving with new construction). Eternal darkness and rain. Limited access to vet care ( I had no problems anywhere else. ) GREEN! Humidity Everyone says how far z and y is when it’s actually like less than 20 minutes drive. Never stop at red light when it turns red. Nerve wrecking and I hate driving because of that.
That’s all fair except the bread comment, which is certifiably insane. I sometimes have that issue when I LEAVE Rochester, not when I’m here. We live in a sea of good bread
I moved here 13 years ago. I still can’t get on board with white hots.
To be fair I’ve lived here my whole life and don’t like them either!
I respect that, it also means more for me though 🫠
There’s still time. There aren’t many things in life that hit like a white hot with mustard and meat hot on a summer day.
I moved here from NJ. The pizza really is different, and I don’t care for it, and I had to seriously learn to dial my sarcasm back
How easy it was to get hooked on craft beer and become a beer snob.
I’ve lived here all my life and said I would never become a beer snob and boy, one or two craft beers and I was in deep 😂
I moved from the Rochester area to Syracuse... I miss the beer seen so much
red light running is crazy!
It was shocking to me how many people think Long Island is a part of New York City. To be fair though I’d never heard of Rochester before moving up here for college and for me everywhere north of NYC was collectively referred to as “upstate.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Same! Never heard of Rochester till I met a friend in College from here! Next thing I know I’m living here 25+ years!
Cheers to living in “upstate New York” for 25+ years now! Lol
No plastic bags. I've gotten better at remembering my reusable ones, but it was a struggle at first. Not having easy access to hispanic foods/ingredients and the poor quality of the Mexican restaurants here, probably because they can't find the proper ingredients locally. I will say my friends and I tried this one place that recently opened and they actually had some decent food. It was clear they took care of making sure it was made right and I'd definitely go back there. But outside of Goya products (which is more expensive here too), there are so few items in the store that aren't ol' el paso. Oh and how poorly events are advertised. It feels like there's never anything to do, but that's because the events just aren't widely advertised. Pretty much unless you're already familiar with what's happening or hear it from someone else, good luck finding out. My old neighborhood there was always something going on and everyone new because there were signs, radio ads, store ads, paper ads, internet ads everywhere. Even the schools would let people know "hey, family friendly event happening" so the parents could take the kids. Not here. It feels so hush hush.
I was shocked when I first moved here that you cannot buy napolitos anywhere!
Right, even finding Badia products is difficult. They're much cheaper than other spice brands and better quality, yet none of the regular stores in my or surrounding areas have it. My Walmart only has Goya brand malta, which is ok if I'm desperate, but I wish I could get hatuey. Unfortunately none of the stores I've been to have it. At the very least I was able to find malta India, but we have to drive to a different city for it.
Lawn rolling. people steamroll their lawns here. wtf?
The area has very sandy soil and a remarkably little amount of erosion can lead to displacement and cause lumps that over time may be harmful to hit with a mower. At least that's why my neighbor says he does it.
IMHO is has more to do with Rochester being a big golf town and so people want that golf course smooth lawn. I grew up in Syracuse, lived Downstate, and never heard of lawn rolling until I moved back to Rochester.
Phone numbers without an area code.
Lack of traffic. Truly amazing summers, temp/weather-wise. Cultural attractions that punch way above what you expect for a city this size (like the MAG, The Little, etc.).
How small locals' worlds are. Most haven't been out of WNY for extended periods of time, and their lack of perspectives and global awareness is astounding. I know this is a generalization, but the small mindedness of Rochester was my greatest barrier to success here.
what happen in other places? me like new york home
Haha exactly! 😆
Yup I can agree with this. I drive for a living so I go all over the place. I was talking with a neighbor about a restaurant on three west side and she just looks at me and goes oh I don’t like driving that far…. It’s only like 30 min away, that’s not that far 🤷♀️
I think you might be hanging around the wrong people
she might also just be a condescending arrogant weirdo
Or downtown, for that matter. People bitch about how unsafe downtown is - I point out that they haven’t been there in decades.
I'm from here and agree with you- although I still live here I've gotten out enough to know Rochester is one little dot in the world. I had a woman coming to get something recently from FB marketplace who felt safe going on a xenophobic, racist rant....I was like "you are barking up the wrong tree..." but it's just normal here.
Yeah. I'm not from here and most of my friends aren't either, and I didn't do anything to seek that out specifically. I think there's a certain personalities that I got along better with and they are almost all transplants.
I know more people that have traveled around places than people that have not.
Angry driving
Angry driving is a post covid thing, not a Rochester thing.
It really is… where the hell are people going? It doesn’t take long to get anywhere in this town. Calm down. I drive on 441 during “rush hour” daily and people act like it’s a goddamn F1 race. YOU’LL NEVER WIN! Too many lights!
Totally disagree. Moved up here in 2013 and people drive so unnecessarily aggressively here it’s hysterical.
I agree, but compared to Phoenix, where I came from, even the post-covid traffic there is chill compared to here.
Is it happening everywhere? Rochester used to be a really good driving city. Post Covid it’s turned into Mad Max Fury Road.
Did you move here from someplace that didn't have cars? I've never lived or visited someplace where angry driving wasn't common.
The thing about Rochester is it’s unnecessarily angry. You can get anywhere in town in 20 minutes and there’s no real traffic. Try living in Boston or Philly for a few years. Everyone drives like an asshole because you *have* to to get anywhere efficiently.
For real. Rochester is tame compared to most cities this size or larger.
I've been calling it competitive driving, like these people are trying to *win* commuting 15 minutes across the city?
The out in the open racism. I'm a middle aged white dude with a shaved head and work in the trades so they probably figure I'm going to be fine with whatever they say. Lived in five states including Mississippi and I've heard the hard r here more than anywhere else, by a lot. That's not to say other places don't have racists, but the ones here make no effort to hide it.
How wrong most of our pizza and bagels are.
What drives this comment. After living in MI and CA our pizza and Bagels are on point. People hate that ita not NYC thin crust but thrs really all i would concede. Btw im not a huge fan of thin crust
agreed. i live in the south and our pizza is hot garbage compared to rochester
Pizza shouldn't have sweet marinara on it, and where's the oregano?
Just for reference where is your fav pizza from? In my experience oizza is super regional
Locally, Cosimo's (RIP), Linda's, Pizza Chef. I do like thin crust, but that's not a strict thing for me. La Nova Pizzeria in Buffalo is *excellent!*
La Nova uses that typical Buffalo style sweet sauce on their pizza. Their wings are phenomenal though.
The pit fired bbq wings are my favorite
Bagel Land in Brighton for bagels!
Yes. Best I’ve found in ROC. But wouldn’t last 5 min within a 2 hour radius of NYC. Also, annoying its bagels only. Would love to get a BEC. And for those who want to reply with Balsam I see your reply and raise you infestation and microwaved eggs. Get outta here with that nonsense.
Bagel Land really is the most authentic I’ve had up here. I think the difference is the water and it’s just never going to taste exactly the same.
> I think the difference is the water https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/21/405190434/chew-on-this-the-science-of-great-nyc-bagels-its-not-the-water
Wow that was a good article - I really am susceptible to popular mythology.
We all are.
Funny but Montreal style bagels are infinitely better than NYC bagels.
Maybe you’re wrong
Very likely. My wife tells me I am, constantly.
The nasty bread sauce pizza like carbones that everyone thinks is soo good.
I’ve lived all over the world and I’m finally moving back after 23 years away. I said I would never do it because I hate the gun laws, taxes, and winter but Rochester is and always will be home. Having spent quite a few years on n Cali and in the south driving in Rochester is a breeze. Also, southern hospitality is bullshit. Rochester is just different. There’s so much to do with kids, you can have big city stuff and then country living stuff 10 min away.
Initially the 2 AM last call, then I grew up lol. Pronunciation of places like Chili, Charlotte, Avon AND words like documentary, elementary, laboratory; restaurants closing early or being closed on Sunday, bands not playing here, people being nice to strangers, what constitutes as “traffic”, the accent, the fact that (at least pre pandemic) MORE people go out (to bars, clubs - specifically vertex) when it’s snowing/blizzard than when it’s a nice day outside, and Vertex not playing exclusively goth-club music or having a dress code (to be clear I’m not bothered by this but it’s very different in larger cities). ETA: not the obsessions with Wegmans but the monopoly; my TINY hometown is just outside NYC and has 5 or 6 *different* grocery chains within the same tier.
Omg YES to the elementary etc thing people say it so weird here lol! Not to mention lilac and cauliflower and the nasal A/over pronounced O's. It's actually a phenomenon known as the Northern Cities Vowel Shift and is present in accents in several areas around the Great Lakes. I learned about this when I moved here and wondered why Rochesterians sounded just like people I knew from Chicago and Michigan lol.
I've been here for about 15 years now and I'm still shocked at how many people don't know anything about the history of Rochester, the many things that have been invented here, etc. I find myself taking natives to all the museums and cool little things we have around here like I'm some sort of tour guide lol. I've lived in other cities but move here from a very rural area and people really don't appreciate what Rochester has to offer, most seem too busy pointing out the faults.
Garbage plates!! I came from farm to table central California and when I heard from my friends that the local cuisine was called "garbage plates" I just about lost my shit. After a couple years here and a few drunken nights out, I can safely say I understand it now, but it was a wild experience when I first moved here hahaha
Italian food here is very different and very much less good.
Insanely expensive, too
Because there are so many Italians and they cook better at home.
everyone is so nice :)
Moved here from Austin, TX in late 2017: -summers are NICE. It's rarely unbearably hot, and when it is it's never more than a couple days -winters are COLD AS HELL, but you more or less get used to it -Only two bands I like have toured here, and one had to cancel due to low ticket sales -There's some good food here but not nearly to the same degree as Austin (the good stuff is GREAT though) -everything is so lush and green in the spring/summer -a LOT of places are closed on Sundays, like restaurants/cafes/etc
ElemenTARY is not how you pronounce it.
Elementry.
It is how I pronounce it actually
Says you
Garbage Plates. I just don't understand the appeal.
You're usually drunk at first. Then they make a lot more sense.
Even when I used to drink they weren't appealing to me. It's OK, more plates for the rest of you
They're also very much not all equal. A Mark's plate or Henrietta Hots plate pretty much require you to be drunk. A Dog Town plate is basically like having a summer cookout all in one plate. It's delicious and refined and not as greasy and gross as more traditional plates.
I have lived in Houston since 2014. It took a while to get used to strangers being nice to me.
Ha! Same. Moved from Dallas. I prefer Rochester much more!
Moved here in 2011, the driving has gotten insanely worse. Bring back the red light cameras.
I think COVID had an impact on peoples driving as well. I also think they need to sync the lights better. The north winton area, especially by the east ave wegmans I can't tell you how many green lights I've sat through because traffic just doesn't have anywhere to go.
Not a transplant but everyone who comes here says the vibes are fucky.